The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-09-15
A BLIND LEAD.

 the seat before the Dewdrop, in Lead vile, Col, at the close of long, hot, summers day and surveyed the assem- bled company
 Affiliations come to us all,' an- swered Sandy McGee. who had invest ed all the savings of twenty years hard work in hole in the ground, and an unlimited supply of water under the impression that there was a silver mine somewhere about 1t.
 When mans claim peters out it ain't no fault of his'n," returned Spike with marked emphasis, "but when he falls in love-real love, mind you with something in frills from a dancing shop here, he's just bucking up again his own luck, so there.
 "I'll allow he's skeesicks, just no &C., count at all, but he's had punishment enough I reckon, If she'd have him, which she won't, he will never see her again.
 That's the plumb foolishness of 1t. He goes and buys wildcat claim, on her advice, sticks enough cannoite in- to it to lift the hull show from here to Kingdom Come, blows his own eyes out, and hangs around useless de- pendent upon the charity of the com- munity''
 Finds his way about, too, some thing marvellous" cried Lowdown Nut tall, who, with a good pair of eyes, fre- quently found it very difficult to get from the Dewdrop to his shanty.
 Let him alone for that The ques tion is what does he do it for? What is his object nosing around?"
 "Got a notion there's something in that played-out claim and he's going to strike luck all of sudden
 The laugh that followed this sally was hushed by the appearance of a new figure upon the scene.
 Talking about me, boys instead of tending to the sluice-box? l reckon there ain't much cleanup when grown men spend their time playing 1t low down, and on woman, at that"
 Sandy threw himself up into an at- titude of outraged virtue, mildly tenn pered by tangle-foot whisky and af- ter a brief but comprehensive glance at the speaker, kept his eyes imploringly raised to the darkening sky above his head
 Yet Kitty Witte was worth looking at twice, at least that was the opinion of more than one man in Colorado de- spite her ill-htting tawdry dress the cast-off costume of a more prosperous siren, and a hard-ixed smile which had no suggestion of mirth or kindliness atoutit. She was above middle height, spare but muscular, and might have been any age from eighteen to eight and twenty.
 i've were tall1in' of Jethur Ark wright, the only feller that runs un- der his own name. reckon, in this section, when you happened along" re- piled Ehud, constituting himself spokesman for the crowd
 Really! sympathy's cheap naow ain't it?' More saleratus than four for a hungry man? Yes, I'm telling you right straight ther ain't a man here has paid Jethur back for half what he done before his affiiction came, and each one of you thinks himself the good Samaritan with a little tin halo Who says different?H
 Nuttall leaped forward as if about to speak thought better of 1t, swallowed something took some time to pass down his throat, and subsided. McGee, still addressing his gaze to the sky above, murmured:
 She's a terror when she's aroused"
 Ehud, feeling his position becoming acute, shifted uneasily on his seat.
 We aint partners, he growled.
 No, but judge the time is comin' when you'd wish you were, for all your cunnin There's more senses than one, but some folks ain't even got horse sense.
 With this parthian shot Kitty turn ed away and was soon lost to sight in the gathering gloom which seemed to presage stormy night,
 "What the nation did she mean by that?" inquired Nuttall, with be- wildered look at each of his com panions in turn.
 "Mischief!" cried McGee, coming down from the clouds to mundane mat ters with such suddenness that the observation seemed to be jerked out of him.
 Let those take on that speed of work that likes to-" continued Nuttail. If a blizzard ain't blowing up, call me 8 Dutchman to the end of my days. I shall make straight break for the warm corner by the stove and let the hull univarse rip
 Suiting the action to the word, he turned in at the door, letting out a flood of light and warmth which would have carried Ehud in his wake if Sandy had not uttered hollow groan.
 Here's the poor, possessed, unfor- tunate fool wanderin' again. Would ye let a daft man gang tae his death?'
 "How do you reckon to stop him?" demanded Spike, within whose bosom the lust for the spirits was having a keen contest with much worn and enfeebled conscience.
 Sandy, with a sympathetic sigh, pointed an memorable if shaky hand towards the approaching figure of a man.
 Tall, and with kindly features, Jethur Arkwright had that about him which proved that he was man of superior stamp to most of the Leadville crowd As Nuttall had remarked, he seemed able to find his way about for quite a long distance without help of any kind,