The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-18
The girl From gold Gulch.

The excursion season was at its
height, and the Alaska liner, Senator,
was crowded. There were tourist par
ties from all over the country; gold
seekers Of all sorts and conditions on
their way to the ice fields; Nome gov
eminent officials on their regular
rounds of Inspections companies of
school teachers eager to crowd the trip
into their short vacation; the inevita-
BILE bridal couples, and several family
parties; but the girl from Gold Gulch
was travelling alone.
The first day out was SO rough that
all the women kept quietly out of sight
all but the girl from Gold Gulch,
who confided to the captain that the
motion Of the ship was not unlike that
of bucking horse and that she rather
liked it. So, crushing her cap down
over her eyes, and buttoning her rag
Ian close up to her chin, she strobe res
olutely UP on deck to find herself mon
arch of all she surveyed.
BY the end Of the day she had ac-
copied every possible courtesy from
every man on board, and was begin
ming to think she saw her way clear
to a pleasant passage. But when, the
next day, the other women, white
faced and miserable, began to stray
gle upward, the wild-rose color, and
the ability Of this girl to walk the
decks in slippery weather, became to
them a personal affront, for seasick-
ness Is not conducive to the practice
of Christian charity. So every day
thereafter the little group that formed
itself into an exclusive for'ard circle,
made common cause In discussing the
improperly of this young girls tray
cling without a chaperon.
Miss Mamie McGinnis, of Gold Gulch,
never joined that group. Not that she
knew; or would have cared if she had,
that she was the target for their crit
icism. She always found herself the
center of another group on the oppo-
site side, where she held full sway, or
promenaded the decks with some
equally good sailor till the others had
gone below; following always her own
sweet will, and never suspecting she
had not the benediction of the elect.
It was Mrs. Whitewall- Warde who was
the most Mortified by Miss McGinnis'
escapades. She, with her three florid,
raw-boned daughters, had come to
America first to visit her son, Algie, on
his cattle ranch. and now with Algie
himself, more forid and raw-boned
gether, she was making a flying trip
to Alaska to see her youngest son,
Winston.
One evening even as they caucused
on the probability of her being an ac-
tress or chorus girl on her way to join
her troupe, two figures swayed into the
arc of light emitted from the cabin. The
wind-blown hair of the girl, and the
frilIs about her shoulders left no doubt
as to her identity, for her gowns were
also subject Of disappproval among
the elect, but the tall black figure be-
hind her was lost In the shadow. A
dozen pairs of eyes strained eagerly
to see who it might be, their owners
conjecturtng and commenting on what
new freak of indiscretion she was up
to. Then, as if in answer to the GU
rious gaze riveted upon them, the fig
ures turned and came to a stand-still
under the light.
The mans cigar had evidently gone
out, for with a gay little laugh the girl
took his proffered match, reached out
her arm, and Steadied herself against
his ready shoulder as If he had been a
mast. Then there was sudden swish
of frills, the CLEAN of a shoe buckle
and something more-and the girl had
struck the match, man fashion, on the
sole of her boot, and was holding the
tiny flame to his cigar.
At this the English woman turned
with Mortified countenance to point
moral to Algie, who had not seemed to
disapprove this terrible girls conduct
sufficiently, but Algie had slipped his
leash and was not at her elbow. The
next flare of the match showed A1gie's
f1orid face bending over the laughing
closing over the pink fingers that held
the match.
Hoping no one but herself had seen
this fashlight picture, Mrs. Warde,
with characteristic arrogance, turned
the topic of discussion and dominated
the conversation SO skillfully that no
one had a chance to refer to the sub
ject uppermost in every mind, until she
felt 1t safe to Withdraw. Then, cluck-
ing up her raw-boned brood, she fled
into the bosom of her family, there to
call down curses on the curly head of
this terrible girl who was trying to
entangle poor Algie in her meshes.
The captain, of course, was taken in
to Mrs. whitehall Warde's confidence,
and treatened with being reported to
the company if he did not put the girl
in irons to save poor Algie. or stop the
ship and put her off, and the clouds of
disapproval from the rest Of the elect
gathered so thickly that the very air
seemed charged with explosives. Even
the girl at last began to realize that
she was not entirely popular with this
faction; she had not taken much notice
of the women heretofore, and their dis
approving chances had escaped her.
When the full force Of their attitude
struck her, she turned abruptly to Al
gle with: us your mother worried
about somsthing?"
Jaw, she's bit chafed about some
thin she saw last night, you know,
he explained, looking somewhat brow
beaten himself.
"And your sisters, too" she con-
tinued, cheerfully, they look as If they