The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-05

.
/ available men, but soon found that he
I would have to seek elsewhere for
/ gang adequate to such an undertdk-
! ing. He imported one from Rocker
Vile. As the winter came on. he found
! 1t expedient to start the boarding house
/ in order as he said. ITO get those
I cusses up in the mornin' afore the sun
! sets" The move necessitated a COOK
/ and cookie" and the weekly purchase
! Of provisions Since he had the Inen
| handy, he argued. there was no reason
| why he should not finish up the email
| details and odds and ends of the camp
| in a respectable manner and so he
made many little eXtraneous improve
ments, such as a flag pole and rockery
/ of pink quartz from the Custer trail.
| Three or four were always away from
! the mill, leVelling up, clearing out or
| decorating. From Kansas City he
| imported some chickens with crested
| heads and number of pigeons of an
cient lineage. The latter promptly flew
| back to Kansas City. AS the novelty
of them had worn off Billy took their
| loss philosophically. In regard to eX-
ternals the camp began to wear a very
prosperous air.
Copper Creek, too was busy. over
! forty men were hard at work on the
| Great Snake itself. Upward of fifty
| claims were in the course of develop
| ment near at hand. With the compile
| ton of the mill would begin the crush
| ing of ore: with the crushing Of ore
would begin the camps commercial
| output; with that, provided 1t wee
| satisfactory, would come more capital
lists anxious to invest. 1t behooved
| the claim owner TO have his exhibit of
shaft and tunnel ready for the public
! inspection When you reflect that three
| men usually worked on a claim and
! that Copper Creeks entire population
| at that date was a little over $50, you
can readily see that 1t was indeed a
| lively camp. Even those who were
not actually engaged in prospecting
| operations found their time fully oc-
| cupied in providing for those who were.
| Black Jack had an assistant now. Mo-
roneys paper came out as often as
| once a fortnight and was beginning
| to be mentioned by the Deddwood
Miner as our esteemed contempo-
rary." Bill Martin had been seen
| sweeping out his own office. The dozen
| of women and girls who had drifted
| in with newcomers, scrubbed, cooked,
| washed and sewed in a struggle to keep
| even with muddy boots, miners dppa-
tites. and the destructive demands of
| miners work. Even Frosty improved
his customary incoming SLOUGH.
The men who seemed to enjoy un-
| limited leisure could be counted on the
! fingers of one hand. Cheyenne Harry
! laughed at it all. His one claim was
known to be a mere excuse for eX-
| istence, a symbolic reason for his con-
nection with Copper Creek. Every
| body knew really why he stayed.
| He was supposed to be Independently
rich, though none claimed any knowl-
| edge of how he came to be So Then
there was the gambler, the faro man,
who sat on the hotel porch MI the
| morning smoking endless cigarettes,
| his moustache brushed neatly away
to show his white teeth, his fine in
scrutable eyes looking cynically from
| his equally fine clear cut face, speak
| ing seldom smiling never, impertuo-
able, Indifferent, cat-like. And there
was Durand, but he did not count.
And there was Michail Lafond.
To be sure the half-breed was build
ing a new dance hall to which the
camp entire looked with anticipatory
| delight but that was a matter of four
| walls and a smooth floor. He needed
only to give his orders, After a per-
| functory morning inspection he had
the day to himself
The work at the Great Snake inter
ested him, as it did everybody He
| occupied the morning about the works,
| pokng into odd corners, questioning
the workmen, making suggestions to
| Billy. He sent the horse dealer to
| Billy and mentioned to the whim man
that he might find a purchaser there.
He often was enabled in his vaster
| leisure to perceive the little things that
lacked and to point out their necessity
to Billy, which individual was of
course always duly grateful and hast
ened at once to remedy the defect.
After more or less heightened visit
the half-breed returned to camp. If
ii happened still to lack some time
- Id NJ rv.rN ~
the editorial rooms or exchanged sem
tentious comments with Bill Martin, or
chatted with one or the other of the
visitors who happened to be in town.
After dinner he disappeared until sup
per. The time was spent with Du-
rand. The assaying was long since
finished but the two men had grown
fond of each others companionship.
1t was a silent companianship for the
most part Lafond smoked intermina-
bly, his short black pipe, turned up
side down, watching the naturalist set
| ting carefully the delicate wings of a
butterfly or arranging in paper cylin-
der the skin of bird, or searching,
specialized, in black volumes of gov
eminent reports. Occasionally, when
Durand looked up from his absorp-
ton, they exchanged few swift re-
marks, elided, compressed, telegraphic;
for they understood each other so we'll
| mat the una DrlQgeQ form OF speech
was no longer necessary. On fine
days they beat the brushy creek hot
toms for the Mira, the rare Papilo,
which men supposed to be extinct And
then, after the early darkness of Win
ter fell, they would be seized by
strange obsessions of loquacity
Jacques the raccoon, a ball of fur UNI
der the faint red stove, blinked at them
shrewdly. wondering what it was all
about.
In the evening. of course, Lafond had
the Little Nugget to take care If The
saloon had as yet no rivals. The size
of the town perhaps warranted an
other establishment, but Lafond was
a monopolist by nature. He treated
the men we'll, with a geniality be-
hind which were unsounded depths OF
reserve. Therefore, they respected
r him. The space about the iron stove
before the bar came to be the TowE
Hall. Matters of public importance
: were discussed every evening. Billy
: there told things he ought not to have
told. The atmosphere was expansive
7 encourag ed one to show off. After one
had recounted the obvious. one was
inclined in the heat of the moment tc
/ fall back on the confidential, merely
for lack of something else to say. The
camp to a man knew the amount OF
= Billys expenditures, the number OF
: his shafts. 1t heard extracts from al
| his and the Company's plans. A gooc
, many of the cooler heads felt the in
trinsic diciousness of this; bu
= after all there could be no traitors