The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-05-30
The GRAY SWITCH.

old-timers knew how he happened 70 set
UP his cabin there and linger alone while
more progressive miners sought new dig
gings.
1t was in the early days that BIZ Shea
and Nat HarkiHs came TO California from
Ohio. They were ike brothers. Nat was
the more brilliant Of the partners He
had the gift Of CAB" and made friends
faster than BiH. The latter talked 10
nobody but Nat. and for two years moth
ing came between them Hard work and
diligence netted them each a c0mfOrta-
bic sum from the golden sands OF the
river, and even when smarter gold seek
ers drifted restlessly away from the old
bar Bill and Nat bade them gOod-by
without a sign OF yearning for new fields
Of work or adventure. They had built a
cabin and the place had become home 10
them. When Nat was sick BIZ nursed
him. When Nat swore, Bill blansphemed
in sympathy.
If one wandered from the path OF virtue
amid the red lights Of Plscerville, the
other was always at hand TO guide his
Grant footsteps to defend his rights
with words or money, and TO fight If nee
essary, for the cause which, DO matter
how slight, was mutual
The partners had been living on the
bar two years when the Tifin family
struck Placerville. They came from
Ohio and of course Nat looked them
up" There was a daughter-Sophie, and
Nat discovered her. Then BIZ, as in
duty bound. also SAscovered her.
Finest gal ever breathedr' swore Nat.
Finest ever seen the dayl' echoed Bill
Bill" said Nat, after long pause,
I'm goin' I git that gal r know the
reason whyt'
You kin git err" 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 Tiffin, Nanny Tiffin
and Sophie herself were inclined &c ia
vor Bill. lie was handsoner, steadier,
and came from the county which the
Trims called home" But he never got
within hailing distance Of the lovely So
phie. Nat was so ALFRED eloquent that
he talked the whole family into loving
him before Bill had summoned enough
nerve to squeeze the girls fingers Every
body. 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 himself knew that
the biggest sacrifice Of his unselfish life
began the night when Nat said: "Bin,
I'm goin' to sit that gal r know the
reason why"
Nat married Sophie all right, and BIZ
was at the wedding, sitting round sheep
ishly and wishing everybody Well. He
bride till Nat forced him TO face the
music.
Nat and his bride settled in PlacerviIle
till the placers seemed about played out,
and then Bill staked him for a prospect
ing venture in the back country.
But the chasm between them grew
wider. Bill lived alone, worked harder.
drank harder and spoke less than ever.
Nat struck IL richer and richer. He Of
n q ~
money, but the silent one got angry, and
swore that 1t wasn't a loan, but q gift,
and added:
"A married man amt got no right pay
in out money ef he kin git outen It.
The money amt yourn, nohow. Least
wise it's as much 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, till
everybody said he had washed out the
last grain Of gold from the abandoned
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 winter, sluicing the
familiar sands.
Meanwhile the Hardness had moved to
Sacramento, living there IN surprising
grandeur, rich beyond the young dreams
of Partner Nat and forgetful Of the
silent one left alone on the bar. BIZ
never visited. Nat never visited. But on
~ one of them forget.
One day a black bordered letter ad-
dressed to Mr.. William Shea" came to
the PiacerviIle postofice. Bill got It.,
and the next day, dressed in an old suit
of shining broadcloth. he went down in
the stage to the west-bound train. Sophie
didn't know him at the funeral If she
saw him at all through her tears she did
not recognize the white-haired. bent old
hermit Of the bar. He came back silent
as he went. and resumed the aimless rOu-
tine OF washing the sands.
One Saturday old Bill failed to show
up at his trading place in Placerville, and
jenkins, the trader, knew something was
wrong Jenk was one Of the old-timers
and he had figured the silent one for him
self. So he rode over to the bar with
BINS weekly supply of bacon and -four.
He found the hermit sick and in bed. The
hearth was as bare as the old pine cup
board, but Bill paid for the grub and
thanked jenkins into the bargain. The
pile of yellow dust that the hermit
weighed out was a very little pile. but
the trader knew better than to pry into
poor Bills affairs.
A week later Mrs. Nat Harhins. nee
Tinin. arrived in PlacervilIe and was duly
found Bill. and wanting 10 help him.
didn't know how to 20 about it, She
argued TO the effect that the money he
had loaned her husband was a source Of
annoyance TO her. but Bill only shook
his head and answered:
"Loan2 I never loaned Nat no money.
Miss Sophie. Nary cent, nary. nary
nary
She tried to cheer him UP. invited him
TO Sacram ento, rallied him about his
splendid head Of snow-white hair and
showed him how her own once raven
tresses had not only whitened, but grown
thin and scant-
''yym you sen me your hair. BilIy' she
laughed one day.
"In give it 20 you. Miss Sophie" ne
Quavered. seriously Really, now. would
you Ike & git tn hairy
II have my heart set on IL. Bill" She
saw G chance at last. But 1 won't take
il for nothing: III buy Il or 90 without.
Il matches mine exactly. Law, What
lovely switch e would make Come. Bill.
for old times sake WIN you take five
hundred for you hair
"Gee laws Miss sophie SIX bits = cit
f. ALL whiskars throwed in" But she
insisted on paving q fair price and at
lasr agreed. .'for cid times sake" 20 g.
u the barber AZ Placer7dlle and get a hair
cut IS hen be walked out Of The shop
with a close cropped pob Fiacerviile mar
veied and the gossips agreed that The
WEtler Harlzins was courtin Hermit
Bill But when the barber circulated
The Story that Bill bad collected a hun
dred dollars for his hirsute crop. the lis
telers allowed that Biu was purity
Helrt. onsentinccr-aI cid COCK
Tear AFTER years AIRS. Harsins came %
Placervira n buy old Blls crop of hair.
He was persuaded that whizkers were
as eo1d as ans other hair q rnaze
switches ard rats ard e. he continued ~
hang On 20 1ffe by a hair. But az last
8Efss er-hfs f-uuF no answer - hey rap
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