The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-17
INTO A BURNING MINE.

INTO A BURNING MINE. Kitty Mims is not a common name, nor can it be truthfully affirmed that it is at all suggestive of romance. Yet Kitty Mims was remarkable young woman, but this was due as much to her unusual surroundings as to her, un- doubted personal charms. .,e.. 5< simon Mims, Kitty's father, was the landlord of the Aurora Hotel. the only tavern in the mining town of Experi- ence, Nev., that agreed to furnish ae- l ccmmodations for man and beast and kept its pledge to the letter. Simon Mims was known far and near as 'the doctor,'' and he felt not little proud of the title. T ain't never grad dyated, as ye mout say he would ex-
 plain to strangers who came for q pre- seription, but thar's two pains set on relieving every time, and they're the pains that most troubles folks in these diggings-they're hunger and thirst. Are you troubled that way, friend?" Of course Kitty Mims had suitors, and of course she was the cause of much heart-burning among her many admirers, for it must be confessed she was not ignorant of her charms, and she used her charms with a fascinating tyranny against which the strongest did not dare to revolt. %a$aT a. a Rufus Ford, the superintendent of the mine, was confident, fine-looking fellow, and he boarded at the Aurora
 Hotel. Up to the time of his meeting
 Kitty he was in profound ignorance of poetry as an art. But his soul was touched so that he attempted to com pose a song, in which he designed hav- ing darling Kitty Mims'' at the end of eyers- stanza, He failed miserably in the effort, as more practiced rhyiner might have done. n
 If the name had only been Ford,"'s 1 he said, ''Id had no trouble with 1t. | There's 'adored' and 'fioored' and 1 sgored' and"
 And swored' "said Tom Reed, com- 1 ing to the foreman's aid. 1 " MT. Ford refused any assistance. in this connection that savored of profan- l ity, and it may be added he had no ad-
 miration for the young man who volun-
 teered his help.
 Tom Reed was tall. we'll built man
 Of six-and- twenty, "bashful as gal,'' his companions said. He was the only | man in Experience that neither drank nor ganbled. .S 1 It was Rufus Fords privilege to sit at the table on which Kitty Mims waited. He was always Kitty's first partner at the dances, and the very 1 first time buggy drove down the one
 street of Experience Kitty sat in it be- side the young superintendent.
 Tom Reed spent many of his spare
 hours at the hotel, watching for Kitty I Mims and pretending not to see her when she came in sight. I On her nineteenth birthday Tom sent her bouquet of wIId flowers he | had gathered in the hills that morning --in honor of the occasion the whole
 camp took holiday-~and in the center l of the blossoms he hid a golden heart which he had himself rude1y fashioned from nugget he had long kept by him. 1 It was rumored that Rufus Ford had
 sent to Frisco for "dime-ant ring"
 and that Kitty would wear it at the 1 dance that evening" fs '.' As often before the dining room of 1 the Aurora Hotel did service this night as a ballroom, and from the crowded
 doorway Tom Reed looked at the dan cers, and he caught the flash of a jewel on Kittys hand.
 | During the evening Kitty managed | to go near to where Tom Reed was
 standing, and she whispered.
 ''Thank you. Tonl.' His eyes did not ! deceive him. Some of his flowers were
 in her dark hair, and the golden heart Ihung from a chain that encircled her smooth, white throat.
 Tom Reed did not wait longer, but went to his cabin up the mountain side and lay down, but it was not to sleep. ! He could not define his feelings, could give, if questioned, no adequate cause for the tumultuous joy at his heart. i He was too happy, for reason, too
 much excited for rest.
 1 It was near daylight when, he fell 1 into doze, but in his dreams he still saw the blossoms in her hair and the
 heart of gold upon her breast. l She was calling his name-louder- louder. She was beating on the door.
 "Tom Reed! Tom Reed! For Gods sake come out. The mine is on fire!"
 He sprang up and threw open the 1 door.
 1 There stood Kitty, white-faced and excited.
 1 See, Tom! see! There are eight men
 in the shaft and eight of them mar ried-"
 Tom Reed did not wait to hear more.
 He saw the pillar of smoke shooting up i from the mouth of the mine, about which the people crowded, the bravest ! not daring to descend the fatal open | ing. Even Rufus Ford had lost his | head and seemed paralyzed. What are you about, Tom Reed! ! Don't go down, man! Don't!' shouted ! the people. Stand by! the tlRe has not touched the shaft. Pull up--usual signal!" That was all Tom Reed san The next instant he was lost to sight. He