Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-19
THE BITERS BIT
 n Story of Girls and Gold
By DOUGLAS WEnsHE.

~'re day in North Alaska (where the eli
 mates rather cold)
 anaerlng Frospector made a lucky find
 ..4a', get excited, but he wrote his bear
 .tlgs. down,
 -sl mushroom town.
 Wandering Prospector-known to in-
 seq deed ol partnership in language
 .lat F. smith and Lanky Sam, two
 -4lls of doubtful fame,
 ,--.ly arranged with them to start
 .-en summer came.
 ser frightful hardships, which were
 .-aringly forborne,
 --Icultles vanquished with flood of
 .-acned their Eldorado. This endur-
 . Wltn a loud ''IIurrah' their hard
 Il promised land. =-
 CT " was nrat not repeated T; but most en-
 the disappointed lips of Pete. and n and Mat.
 ling circumspectly were three hg-
 n: *Those chaps have sold us.
 ,s." Said Matt: Those chaps are -. .ers." ..-
 t was right dear reader! Will you
 ne introduce
 three women mlnerS-Aoa, Kate
 3-ers, who had Iaboree with indif-
 Lit success
 ..vely as typist. lady clerk and gov -Iness. @ Three sisters who had kicked against the Who saw that Woman earns to-day's but not to-morrow's s bread: Who bitterly , resented Miss Fortunes play Of frowning on her sisters, while she gave her smiles to Man. .. Who, therefore. went as miners on search for afluence, And hit by intuition-which is Woman's ex- On Pete's own pet discovery. and knowing naught about
 His previous arrival, there. had calmly "cleaned it out. Now bold, bad -desperadoes, such as Pete,
 and Sam and Mat, Could hardly be expected to en0ure a thing They guessed the situation, and awaited But covered with their shooting-drons the artless sisters Bruce.
 The ladies were astonished. but they held their hands up high.
 And swore they had no weapons (which, But women facing firearms get so terribly The pretty, futtered sisters quite forgot
  Believing them. the gentlemen their pistols And Mat informed them sweetly that his mates had; come to stay; While Pete inquired politely-had they used And Sam remarked: "Good-morning! You can leave our gold and slope" Then Ada d answered . bFaxsly; Eoya What we And Mary said: "It's cowardly to steal woman's gold! But since you seem to want the place we Il If you wifi give us haf your gold andahalf your food supply.
 ''We came, you see, believing that million each would do; But when we had our million, we'll. we rath- And so we went on mining, but we stupidly Our fo5d was strictly limited in this unter- tile spot. ttz "our labors were expressing, and one day That all we had for breakfast was piece of bacon rind! And healthy arctic appetites a-clamoring for meat! Necessity and hunger overcome such things as taste. r We killed and cooked and ate a dog with most indecent haste.
 And when our plates were emptied. we sat 1,+ and and crle6 b5tst nn6 f;.rds Gr1ea. o.ha aa gie died. .>~.-- .f,- with dogs-er-well decreasing we could only struggle through - By leaving all our gold behind, and that We could not do;
 And so we sat and waited, on the chance that someone might l Arrive before our dear, dumb friends were l all put out of sight"
 The speaker ceased. Sam. Pete and Mat
 conferred space apart Then Pete addressed the ladies: There's our traps, you'd better start And cook yourselves and us meal, while Can do to help you on your way-and what The ladies cooked; the men conversea in lowered tones aside; And Mary Mary caught s.!c hy ehsnss the words "a She whispered to her sisters 'They are making up 8 plot To share our gold among themselves when we have all been shot"
 The ladies paled. but suddenly thought She softly said: Their evil plans we'lf They stsftled ts tie ,aa, us, ane we forgot pistol Let's pull them out, and shout; Hands up. But. Mary asked, despondently. pray how are we to load?
 We've never carried cartridges for fear they ''No mat matter. Kate said: scornfully, they're such craven lot, That when they see our weapons they'll surrender on the spot" It happened as she prophesieo. Without unSue delay, Sam, Pete and Mat surrendered ina shame faced, sulky way; And after their revolvers had been given up to Kate
 The ladies held council to decide their captives' fate.
 The consultation ended. Ada said: ''You must admit We're perfectly entitled, sirs, to shoot you where you sit. '' But better feelings sway us, and your plot ting we forgive; ,. We know how you were tempted, and we'll kindly let you live. we see that had you given us the half of all your stuff To stay and mind. and then return, you'd not have had enough; And so, to compensate you. since your goods, we must acquire, WeH give you half our fortunes for the things which we desire.