The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1903-07-10

through the sagebrush in that vicinity.
but saw no sign OF the runaway. When
she rushed back out Of breath and said
she could not find him. there was n
cOmmotion in that. two rom cabin.
The mother and Edna joined in the
search. and the neighbor women helped.
They knew he couldn't have gone far,
but il was getting late. and Jack want
eel To be home and cleaned up when
papa got back After half an hour or
SO ii began 10 look serious. She was a
stranger and didn't want to make trou-
BILE. but the child must be found before
night. She let a neighbor boy run down
To the postoftice and tell the men,
Within an hour the camp was desert
ed place. Every miner off shift, every
gambler, saloon keeper, storekeeper and
all the women and children were on the
hills looking for the lost boy. The pure
thin air of the mountains does not per-
ceptibly improve the morals, but it does
seem To expand the heart.
Ben Jones knew what ii meant when
he declared war. If there had been
drop of coward blood in him, he
wouldn't have done il. John Walker
was no desperate, but was an old west
erner and knew what a gun was for
and always backed his opinions. In the
two years they had worked adjoining
mines Ben had never seen move that
wasn't absolutely square. and every
body said there was not yellow streak
in him. but this was a clear case OF
steal. He reckOned the temptation was
too strong for the old man. He had
swung his southwest stake, fixed the
surveyor and thought he stood to win
in the courts and probably did. To go
TO court was to play into his hands, but
this case wasn't going TO court. The
ground was hls by every rule of right,
and he would keep it or be carried off
with his boots on, law or no law. SO he
barricaded the tent, and either he or
one of the miners was always on guard
with a Winchester across his lap.
He was on watch and half doing be-
fore the fire, which tastes good in this
altitude at night, even in summer,
when he heard a little noise about an
abandoned incline n little way up the
hill. With his gun at cock he stepped
quietly up there and was Mortified TO
hear a baby voice come up from the
hole, Papa, Ize failed; tome Diet Jack,
papa" followed by sObs. There was a
little child in the incline; that was
clear. 1t was a mystery how it came
there and Il miracle how it had lodged.
but ii was there and alive. He called
down: Keep still. my boy. I'll come
and take YOU 10 papa. Don't move till
l come: that's il good boy" And with
out Il moments hesitation he walked
down the shelving. sliding floor and
was back on the surface quicker than
| am telling it, sitting on bowlder TO
get the tremble out of his knees and
wiping the cold perspiration from his
face, but with his treasure trove safe on
his arm.
II wasn't much of Il trick. was it?
You could have done it and without
getting nervous either-that is, If you
knew nothing about the incline and
had thought, as you naturally would,
that the boy was on the bottom. But if
Ben Jones did and then had done it
there isn't a miner in the whole of
Floyd district who wouldn't be proud
to drink with you. We miners are not
very alarmingly good, but we do like
nerve. Ben dug the incline and knew
that for some eighteen feet ii went into
the ground at an angle of about thirty
degrees and then took a fall of fully
sixty degrees TO the bottom of the
Shaft, more than 100 feet away. To
take that frightful fall and roll down
the Jagged wall was to be torn into ten
thousand pieces. Jones wouldn't have
gone 10 where the boy lodged without
rope attached to him and two strong
men at the other end for all the wealth
Of Mercur, and yet within thirty sec
onds of hearing that plaintive call he
was there.
He was soon all right and asking the
little fellow how he got there. Il DIES
walked. and | failed down hard" was
the calm reply. "I'ze awful hungry. |
want somothn' Jack tired Jones
took him To the tent, struck light, got
some bread and butter and Il little milk
they had brought up from camp as a
surprise for their morning coffee, and
the three miners-the men were awak-
ened by the observation-disclosures 10
interview the intruder and learn how
he came up there on the mountain at
midnight, more than two miles from
the camp and at least a mile from any
ether cabin. He was entirely content
ed, sitting ON Jones knee munching
bread and butter, but could give little
information about himself His name
was Jack. and his other name was
Buster" when papa was home. Papa"
was his father and mamma" was his
mother. He lived with papa, mamma
and Tatie and Edna" The little fell
low was communicative enough and
disposed TO be good company. but they
couldn't even guess to whom he be
lOnged. Soon he looked into the young
miners face and asked: who is GU?
What on nameY Jones answered
promptly: I'm Uncle Ben. Call me
Uncle Ben Jack" "All ite." with a