The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-08-07
. QUEEN OF COOKS

dreamed not of prohibition and when
n "a much more certain than now
to get In a mining town II dram of de-
cent stun Incapable OF blowing the cork
out.
Plainly there was something astir.
Everybody had on his best. "A new
barmaid had arrived (there Is no hope
for the wretches who would rob the
dlggers of that comfort)-at Widow
Browns pub. In twos, threes or skies
the whole place dropped In four or Ave
times IN hour to have ''another gaze"
She was the sole topic OF CONVERSE
ton. Amt she clean?" said one.
"That wur a slashing feed we had to-
day" said another. "Best tucker ever
I struck added a third, with a furtive
glance from beneath the rim of a hat
that seemed intended as a cover for his
face.
BY the end Of the week the newcomes
was no longer a stranger. Everybody
knew her. She was a Of over
thirty, marvelously preserved and had
been queen Of many gold PUSHES. She
had never been married.
The nan who has sperrtsa quarter OF
q century in the Australian provinces
has seen ten civilizations anyway.
There Is ground for belief that later
civilizations have degenerated.
The woman Of today is not the cook
of the past. There is an air OF cindcr.
ed chops about the present haplcss
creature. Today too many matrons
want their daughters to play the pi-
anner." Too many mothers wash tile
clothes and get the languit girls TO
bring them in. Thus the man passing
by the clothesline is deceived. There
fore our civilization Is comparable to a
needle which has been too finely sharp
ened and too much reduced at the sides.
This reduction has been visible
throughout Australia for twenty years
past.
Now, the consequences of this fatal
terrible. The bad cook is only a slow
murderess.
But there was grit in our barmaid.
She was none of these. She could pro-
duce a meal worthy Of man, and dig
ging breeds men. She was tidy to a
hair. She was trim and she was hand
ONT
infatuated with her. Dfggers go that
way. They sit in the solitude Of their
huts and dream of the ideal in the
guise OF the haIldiest flesh and blood
substitute. In the night 1t Is their
companion. In this way do single min
ers love a million times-it is their pc.
lygamy. They love with a distant.
moth for the STAR"
They are pleased If she visits their
claim and watches the water flying
from the sluicing nozzle. They show
her the rainbow under the jet; they
bring her nuggets. And If she speaks
to them, be 1T only a Good day. they
fancy that their affection is making
Roadway and rejoice in every fiber OF
their being.
Out Of her admirers the charmer re-
duced the cluster to two, and between
these the contest was terrible. They
hung about the place like unto dogs
chained. She ran against one or the
other or both each minute. She spoke
to them singly or in a pair forty odd
times an hour. 1t was evident to the
boys hat something was looming up.
The a%spirants were named Louis and
Charles. both Frenchmen and over for
ty. The worst of a Frenchman is that
France hangs like a plumb bob before
his nose, and everything has to be re.
gardel across France. But the regard
here was not of conceit-it was fury.
One night there vas Il rumor that
Charles had struck a pile" in his
claim. People began to bet whether
our ideal would be influenced, by the
find. 1t was freely asserted that night
would see it decided.
l was hot and restless during the
evening. and l went down to the sea
beach. two miles distant. I sat on a log
and smoked and let the sweet hum OF
the Pacific eat its way into my ears,
This content of reyerie surpasses the
pleasure of books and is the nearest ap.
proach to the pleasure Of gratified love
which Il mind undistorted can discover
on this crude planet.
Suddenly | saw a figure streaming
out toward the sea. 1t was Louis.
Don't be II fool" l said as l locked
my arm in his and led him away. He
had been rejected. Additional confirma.
ton was granted when the pair We're
seen out walking for a stroll on the
morrow.
wedding "a most informal transaction),
as / had all my work cut out to guard
Louis. May l again take such a
contract!
Every wedding involves a question
Of sentiment. One morning the hus-
band went to cut wood. He returned