The sun. (Wilmington, Del.) 1897-19??, 1901-01-24

M OTHER TUBES and I were the
wi only passengers in the heavy, old
stage coach as it slowly crept up the
steep and rocky ascent Of Golden pass.
1t was a raw cold November day or
we would have ridden outside with
Shorty, the driver, but as there was
fine, chilling mist in the air, we were
glad to wrap ourselves up well on
the back seat of the inside of the
coach. Mother Tubbs was already in
the coach when entered it at Silver
Gap camp. She greeted me quite as
If were al old friend, although / had
never seen her until that moment.
She was large, motherly, comfor-
table looking woman of about IS
years, and she was loquacious to the
last degree.
"My man he says that my tongue is
loose at both ends she said, merrily,
soon after had seated myself by her
side in the coach / had thought that
she might prefer to have the back
seat to herself, and l was about to
take the front seat when she said:
YOU'D better set here by me, for
it's more comfortable riding forwards
than backwards, and then there amt
but Just this one robe in the stage,
and we can both use 1t if you set here.
Much as I've trailed round in stage
coaches in the last 25 years, it makes
me dead sick to ride backwards"
"Have you lived here in the Rockies
rs years?"
Indeed, have, my son. And amt
ever been out o sight of 'em in all
er, I am. My land! the booms I've
lived through, and the camps I've seen
go up and down in that time! | went
all through the Leadville boom. and
the Gunnisen county booms, and
here I am on my way to another one
over here in Poverty cullen, where !
reckon you are bound for. Some o.
the boys they say boom wouldn't
be with anything il Mother Tubbs
want in it. That's what they call me
Mother Tubbs. And land knows ]
have mothered enough of 'em to have
earned the title"
We had ridden about ten miles. and
sanity in very entertaining way.
Presently we rode down into narrow
gulch, where five or six log cabins
with sunken roofs and fallen doors in.
dicated the existence of little min.
ing camp in days long past. Mother
Tubbs glanced out of the window in
the door of the coach, and said, with
little sigh:
Dear me! Here's all there is left
Of old Camp Fancy. and when then
cabins was built it was thought il
would be the biggest mimi camp il
the country. That's what the miner!
think about ev'ry new mimi camp
There was as many as a thousand
miners in this gulch one summer, ant
there were tents and cabins all up ant
down the gulch. Then the min'ra
veins all petered out. You see tina
cabin mp by that big bowlder?"
"Yes; / see it."
well, l KEEP lodgin' house Their
20 years ago, and sometimes KEEP 3
people over night IN the three. littl
rooms that cabin had. ] never thinl
of them days without calm to min
something that happened one nigh
along the first O. the boom, whe
there want great many folks in tn
yuch yet. I'll tell you about it II yo
say So"
80 please do"
swell, it was one real cold and storm
lay in November when the stage com
along and dropped a single passenge
at my house, and I'd never had sue
4 passenger dropped there befor,
She was yaller-haired, blue-eyed, il
nocent lookin' young thing of abou
10, whose pa and ma had no bizness t
let her be trav'lin' round alone, eve
, # she was on her way to marry tn
fellow she was engaged to. But
t was like this: The girl was incline
: to be weak-lunged, and the doctor
! n Der home back east had said tha
the thing for her to do was to git OF
10 the mountains as soon as she coul,
. Well, It so happened that she was ell
: gagged to be married to a young fellt
; who had come from her home out hei
. to seek his fortune. He had got tt
Q hinin' fever, and had come to tn
!. gulch, thinkin' there was to be b
@ boom here. He had little money,
/ when the girl writ him what the do
n tors had said about her, he sent wor
o for her to come right out here, an
, they would be married. He was flu
!, D hope about the future, and he kne
!, they'd git along all right. Well she
! got here day or two ahead O. tim
n so he want here tn meet how Z
! was back on the hills prospect1n',
: I just mothered her, and TOLD her
d make herself right at home there
II my house, and they could be marri
ir there if they had a mind to when h
p beau showed up. She was such an
nercent lamb that took right to HI
l. and she was head over heels in 10
/ with this fellow. She showed me
u photographs before she had been thI
II hours in the house, and I reconized
ID as the face of young chap who h
in stayed a day or two at my house
d few weeks before. HIS name "
n Harvey Briggs.
"Wsll- the girl was all PLAYED {