Waterbury Democrat., 1901-07-05
HOW SOPHIE HARKINS
 GOT HER GRAY SWITCH
By John H. Raftery.

 corners called him the hermit and wondered at his long white hair and beard, his impenetrable loneliness and utter disregard for all mankind: He lived on the bar near Placerville so long that only the old-timers knew how he happened to set up his cabin there and finger alone while more progressive miners sought new dig gings or deserted the placer mines al- together to seek their fortunes in buried mines of quartz.
 It was in the early days that Bill Shea and Nat Harkins came to Cali fornia from Ohio. They were like brothers, holding together closer even than ties of blood could hold them, suffering, toiling, fighting and living. las it seemed, wholly for each other. Nat was the more brilliant Of the part ners- He had the gift of gab" and made friends faster than Bill. The latter talked to nobody but Nat and flor two years nothing came between them. Hard work and diligence net ted them each a comfortable sum from the golden sands of the river, and even when smarter gold seekers ACStACSSly away 41Ol1 tuO OAd bar Bill and Nat bade them good-by without a sign of yearning for new fields of work or adventure. They had built cabin and the place had become home to them. When Nat was sick Bill nUrsed him. When Nat iswore, Bill blasphemed in sympathy. If one wandered from the path of virtue amid the red lights of Placer vile, the other was always at hand to guide his errant footsteps, to de- fend his rights with words or money, and to fight if necessary for the cause which, no matter how slight, was mu- tual
 The partners had been living on the bar two years when the Tiffin family struck Placerville. They came from Ohio, and of course Nat looked them up" There was daughter Sophie, and Nat discovered her. Then Bill, as in duty bound, also discovered her.
 Finest gal ever breathed!" swore Nat
 Bill.
 "BilI." said Nat, after long pause, ''Tm goin' t git that gal T know the reason whyl"
 You kin git r." said Bill with an emphasis on the ''you," because he thought Nat was so superior that he. might have anything he went after.
 At first Daddy Tif1in, Nanny Tiffin and Sophie herself were inclined to flavor" Bill. He was handsomer, steadier and came from the county which Tiffins called "home." But he never got within hailing distance of the lovely Sophie. Nat was so all- fired eloquent that he talked the whole family into loving him before Bill had summoned enough nerve to squeeze the girls fingers. Everybody, including Nat, knew that Bill was hard hit when his partner left him night after night to woo the buxom Ohio girl, but nobody except Bill him. self knew that the biggest sacrifice of his unselfish life began the night when Nat said "Bill, I'm goin' t. git that gal r know the reason why"
 There might have bean treason why" but Bill was not that kind of a partner. Nat married Sophie all right, and Bill was at the wedding, sitting round sheepishly and wishing everybody we'll. He didn't even have sand enough to kiss the bride till Nat forced him to face the music, and then he seemed so ashamed and scared that he went home looking quite pale and s.done."
 Nat and his bride settled in Placer vile till the placers seemed about played out, and then Bill staled him for a prospecting venture in the back Icountry.
 But the chasm between them grew wider Bill lived alone, worked hard Ter, drank harder and spoke less than ever Nat struck it richer and rich Ter. He offered to pay back to Bill all of his money, but the silent one Igot angry and swore that it wasn't la loan, but gift, and added:
 "A married man ain't got no right ,payin' out money eff he kin git outen it. The money ain't yourn nohow. Leastaways it's as much Miss Sophie's .as yourn.'
 So Nat kept the money and waxed richer and richer, while Bill, all alone. worked his rocker from day to day, ltin everybody said he had washed out Ithe last grain of gold from the aban- doned diggings.
 Poor Bill, growing old, became the joke of the neighborhood Nobody believed that he was getting even a living from the exhausted placer, and yet he worked away, summer and win ter, sluicing the familiar sands. nib- bling his bacon alone in his hut, speak sng to no one, dreaming at the sky and the river and watching the purple shadows creep across the green and yellow shoulders of the Sierras.
 Meanwhile the Harkinses had moved to Sacramento, living there in sur passing grandeur, rich beyond the young dreams of Partner Nat" and f0rgetful of the silent one left alone on the bar Bill never visited, Nat | never visited. But only one of them | <orgot. One day blaek-bordered letter ad-