The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-12-06

How Mrs. Potter Worked the Bunco
Game.
Observation-Disclosures

When Jim Potter wrote to the other
owners of the claim: 81 came out here
to see this thing through, and I am
going to stick to it as long as there
is ghost Of a hope" they, in disgust.
had said: 'Then stick and be darnned.Y
Both of which he did.
Potter believed in the "Ten Strike"
because he knew it had been badly
managed and had had no chance to
show up to it's prospect. Moreover.
every cent he had been able to raise
mad gone into it, and it was a, desper-
ate game with him between beggary
and opulence. To Mrs Jim. however.
he wrote only the sunny side of the
story, dwelling upon the beauty of the
world about him, their golden pros
poets, and his hope of returning to her
in the spring. So it was only natural
that, when Mrs. Jim grew tired of
waiting for his homecoming, she an
nounced that she had made up her
mind to come to him
Suddenly Jim Potter's point of view
veered around to this Eastern-bred wo-'
mans probable Impression of the Ten
strike life, and straightway the sftua-
ton appeared impossible. But on the
other hand, he argued, If he wrote to
her that. since her experience of the
country had been only grassy slopes,
shady lanes, artificial lakes, and fire.
quent summer showers, a California
mining camp was too rough place for
her 11,o asr~f.+ ~; -.1.
her, and trouble would ensue How
ever, the thought of his wife's presence
gradually broke down his weightier OBJ,
5ectfons to her coming, and after count
ing in the sacrifices her being here
might entail--throwing into the balance
her loyalty and good sense-the scales
still hung even; but sadding his own
longings for her the drawbacks flew
up as light as trifies: SO it was with
an almost boyish enthusiasm he wrote
for her to come.
The day of Mrs. Potters arrival the
camp put on festive mood, the boss
himself being the only one who seemed
to fear the result, but when, after
alighting at the door of the little shack
that was to be her home, he saw this
girlish little woman in her smart trav-'
cling suit shaking hands with the wife
of O'Halloran, the nightwatch,a Speg-
hetti, the sluice~tender. and ORourke,,
the shift-boss he drew back to watch
them and call down blessings upon
their homely heads. The three big
trunks the little woman had brought
were put in the woodshed, as there
was no room for them in either the
.parIor' or Kitchen as the two
rooms were designated, and when at
last the reception committee had with
drawn, Jim, sitting on soap-b box be-.
cause his wife had the chair, waited,
nervous and wretched, for her to break
the silence
Mrs. Potter slowly took off her hat
and veil, and. after looking vainly for
a place TO put them, threw them on
the bunk. Then, with clearer vision,
her swift glance took in the two bare
rooms, the rough walls, her picture
pinned against a board, the bunch of
glowing Mariposa lilies In a broken
pitcher-took in, too, the big, half
penitent figure of Jim looking ruddier
and handsomer than she had ever seen
him. Then the contrast between this
and the life she had left struck her
with the humorous side up. their eyes
met, and she laughed a bubbling, reck-
less laugh.
"It will all come out right" Jim add
ed, after going over the situation in de-
tail, eff we can only hold on while
longer
s'And we will do it." little Mrs. Jim
answered, with a light in her eye that
made Jim feel how much richer than
a millionaire he was already. There
after, the life of the Potters resolved
itself into grim struggle to hold on
And they held on merrily and cheer
fully several weeks. Then, one even
ing, Jim came home glum, and after
dinner aroused himself to say: The
men at the mine are getting suspicious.
Being paid in stock don't go as well as
it did, and when they strike me for a
few dollars can't offer them half a
shared"
Whereupon Mrs. Jim looked up
brightly, and said in manner that at
least seemed sane: I'VE must get that
out of their minds at once. How would
it do for meAto give them a party?
Potter not being in mood for Joking
did not take the trouble to look up.
But the idea had taken firm root in
Mrs. Potter's mind, and preparations
for a party were promptly begun.
"Shure an it's goin' to be gran |
affair." Mrs. O'Rourke conflded to Mrs.
Sheehan over the Back fence a few
days later, for every word discreetly
dropped by Mrs. Potter under the seal
of strict secrecy was passed from fence
to fence gathering force and originality
on its way, till the prospective party
promised to rival in magnificence a
Fourth of July celebration.
"And who would be sayin' the COM
pany is gone broke?" spoke up Mrs
O'Halloran one day. "Shure, thin Pot
terses is just spindin' money like wa
Their on this party"
When Potter, after hearing these
startling rumors, charged them up 10
his wife, she only smiled. gayly, and
made him confess that the minersS con-
;depce in the commands finances SEEM |