, 1901-08-15
Jason Gazed in Stupid Wonder.

scar n yellow verdure on a vacant
lot. gazing upward at the sky Among
the million glittering lights that dot
ted the azure arch he saw u one
the Polar Star.
Suddenly. like a long, dead memory,
there came to him the picture OF a girl
with wistful ayes and golden curls.
standing under the naples, with the
moonlight kissing her upturned face.
Fumbling in his pocket. he pulled
out a dirty wallet from whence hi
took a faded violet. he pressed the
blossom to his lips. then staggered to
his feet and STROBE away through the
night.
When one has no money travelling is
SLOW and uncertain. But in January
Jason reached Colorado.
Footsore and weary. but with the
bright vision of his Princess Mildred
before him, he was limping across the
foothills. The air was bitterly cold
but dry, and not the faintest breeze
was stirring. Before him the cold.
gray mountains pressed their snow
capped peaks against the cloudless
blue. The sunshine fell with uncom-
mon brilliancy. n the atmosphere
was SO transparent hat objects fifty
miles away appeared scarcely as many
rods.
OF a sudden he felt a sharp pain on
his face as though he had been stung
by a bee. Again and again he expert
enced the painful sensation, although
not an insect could be seen. Then h.
noticed that a mist was swiftly hiding
the mountains from his sight. A
breeze sprung up and the air became
a dazzling mass of scintilating par
ticles like diamond dust.
Jason paused and gazed with fran
tic, startled eyes. He knew that the
dreaded "White Death" was wrapping
its chilling shroud around him. He
had heard old miners tell of the
White Death" and he knew the glis-
tening fragments in the air were par
ticles of ice so solidly frozen that they
reach ones lungs before they melt. He
knew that deadly pneumonia invari-
ably claims the luckless traveller who
inhales the breath of the White
Death"
But although frantically he gazed
around him. there was no habitation
visible, no building in which shelter
could be sought. He wanted to cry
out In his agony. but he dare not open
his mouth for fear the ice would fill
his lungs. He too a greasy bandana
handkerchief from his pocket and tied
1t across his mouth.
Then to his agonized eyes. there
came from out the mist the figure of
a girl. The features were those of his
Princess Mildred, and she seemed to
teckon him. He followed her INT she
led him to a deep ravine.
Weak and exhausted. he flung him
self over the edge and rolled down the
bank. The ravine led upward to a
chasm in the side of the mountain,
from out of which a small stream
flowed. Staggering onward. he finally
pulled himself into the chasm INT
found shelter under a projecting ledge.
Piling a quantity of loose powders
across the entrance, he soon had a
snug retreat into which the ice-laden
breeze could not enter. Then he lay
down to rest.
1t was daylight when he awoke and
the air was clear. He felt no evil eff
fects of the storm and was about to
continue on his journey when his eye
was attracted by a brilliant glitter in
the tiny stream. Falling upon his
knees. he peered into the crystal wa.
ter. Directly below him a hollow had
been worn in the rock by the current
The bottom Of this pocket was lined
with gold dust.
Jason gazed in stupid wonder for
several moments, then a mist daZed
his eyes and a wild exhilaration pos
sessed him. Clambering down the
rocks he greedily scraped the gold
dust into his handkerchief, and then
cautiously withdrew.
A week later he was az work with
pick and shovel n pan. searching for
the lode from which these particles
had been washed. And one evening
the light of the setting sun fell upon
him. picking great nuggets out of a
ledge his pick had penetrated, and
laughing Historically.
And that is how Jason located the
famous Princess Mildren Mine.
A man and a woman stood under the
naples. The man was holding both of
the woman's hands. and his eyes and
the moonlight were looking down into
her upturned face.