The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1906-05-10
THE WAY TO YUHA.

II wAs a January morning on III
Colersdo. clear and snAppy. Christ
mas and Ncv-ycar bad come and ron
like ordinary Sundays al Ehrnberg.
/. To-Day Bes~ey I-cc. trying no. y
think ihs. bef college naies were hcck
ing back 10 the old campus after thei
holidays. sDd turning rosolusely sgaii
! and again from wondering what moth
.r sDd the children were doing now,
had fired herself from the perslsten
I litiie fiock that thought teacher" be
long.d 10 them Saturdays rs well al
week days, and had gone for q lonl
tramp across the mesa, gaining CON
fort from the fsr-lying mountains,
/ Bcissy les Was ia need u comfort
She had left college in her junior year
and come awny 10 this little adobe river
station that existed only ~ furnish sup.
plies 10 the outlying mining-camps,
Now she was teaching its school Of
seven little haif.brecd Mexicans and
one little white child. in order that her
younger brother, Don. might have his
'chance." She was getting sixty-five
dollars month, and doing her own
washing, that she nigh, send forty dol
lars home. But she did not tell about
the washing in her letters; she simply
said that twenty-five dollars was all
she needed. She paid the storekcep-
er's wife that twenty-five for board.
She did not tell them thss there was
only dirt floor to her bedroom. either.
or that she was 10 afraid Of the Indians
that il vas hard 70 sleep At night.
And nov New-yesr had passed and
no letter had come from home; no
Christmas greeting had helped her
through the lonely day. To be sure,
the mail, after il left the train at Mo
hawk Summit, had 10 come three days
by stage.
But they know all that" thought
Betsey Lee. standing on the trail above
the arroyo, ''they know all that, and
might have written early enough. They
Ought to know how lonely I'd be. Don
ought TO think. And it's two weeks
and I'm alone" and Betsey Lee stop
ped suddenly.
"Now III drop all such nonsense"
she said aloud. ''l'm going into that
arroyo and get some branches Of that
Crucifixion thorn and bunch OF red
mistletoe TO decorate those old mud
walls Of mine"
The children, coming in search Of
her, met her swinging along the trail,
her arms full Of gray and red beauty,
and singing gaily.
30 teacher, Mrs. Day sent us
message from Quartzsite! Come
quick!" Chiquta Blanca was crying.
Isl, 81, mAestra-telly -phone!"
cried the Mexican girls.
"A telegram" painted Chiquita.
Betsey Lee heard that last'word, and
dropped her gay burden. "What did
it say, Chiquitaf she demanded.
1T said you must come right home,
and something about somebody named
Don"
The children stood, wide-eyed, star.
ing after Betsey Lee, who was flying
down the stony trail TO the village. II
was not until she flashed out OF sight
among the adobes that they started
after her, the Mexican children filing
the air with shrill cries OF lamentation. |
They found her sitting on the steps
Of the store quite white, and painting |
from her run, listening while the store
keepers wife repeated the message
over and over:
"Come at once. Don low with ty-
phoid." That's just as it came over
the telephone. Gus made il very slow
and loud, and made me 20 over il af-
terward."
''The steamersf" questioned Betsey |
Lee. "There must be one!".
"No boat till nobody knows when,"
cried the storekeeper's wife, 'and the
stage does not go out until tomorrow
that would be four days before you
nould reach the railroad, and no telling
how long il would take to reach Frisco
theni'
1.-TWO days. said Betsey Lee. think
ing fast.
"A thousand milesi Three days at
The least"
'.ls there man herei" said Betsey |
Lee, standing up.
40 my childi Not a man in this
place! Every one went when old Tim
berline showed those nuggets he found
ut the old LaPaz diggings they're
stalking ont claims there now. There's
not man left but old Alexander. and
he's only an Indian"
Old Alexander lay stretched along
he adobe wall OF the corral, summing
himself. His hair WAS bound up in
red handkerchief, and yellow one
was tied across his mouth; for Alex
,nder was Yuma, and, like others Of
his tribe, considered fresh air hnrtful
o his lungs. He lay on his back, his
,rms under his head. One brown foot
ragged contentedly across his knee.
,etsey Lee had always stood in great
error Of him, Now she walked close
o the wall.
Get dewn, Alcxanderl' she said
ternly.
''Qnien sabef' muttered Alexander /
lie did not move, bat watched the girl