The St. Mary banner., 1906-06-30

iy Interested in the young mans story
Six months he replied, and in
that time l have visited every city OF
any pretension in Nebraska and Kan.
sas; | am now on my way to Denver
and if unsuccessful there, shall con-
tinue my search further westward
And have you as yet discovered
no clue; nothing to give you en-
couragement?
Nothing, the lapse of time seems
to have erased all traces, if any exist
ed. My only hope is to meet him face
to face, or in some city directory or
hotel register, to come upon his name.
Several times l have found the name,
but as often have been disappointed
Z" 1 fear you have taken upon you
a life-task. my boy. Your brother
might be within stones cast of you.
and yet you be ignorant Of his pres
ence'
81 realize the truth OF what you
say, but l know of no other course to
pursue he replied with a tinge of
sadness
"'Well, I shall be glad to render
you any assistance l can. You GER
tainly are entitled to that, at least,
| by all who know your mission
Thank you, SIR he answered, the
sincerity Of his words being manifest
in his look and tone. May | be so
bold as to ask how far west you are
ha
Certainly, to -, in the western
part of the State. Quite distance yet
by rail, and then a long overland
stage ride
81 think shall stop and look about
Denver he replied, but you almost
seem neighbor to us at home-queer,
isn't it? And | dislike to lose your
company.
When we arrived at Denver my
newmade friend kept close to me,
stopping at the same hotel and there
We met daily. l remained in the city
the greater part of week, and when
the morning of the day of my depar-
ture arrived l bade my young compan-
ion goodbye; wished him success in
his search Though | confess | had
little hope), and took bus for my
depot. l arrived at the depot some fif-
teen or twenty minutes before my
train time, and having nothing special
to do, spent the passing minutes walk
ing up and down the platform observ-
ing the arriving 'busses and carriages,
and their alighting occupants. Just
as the porters were calling All aboard
for Colorado Springs, Pueblo and in
tervening points, a carriage dashed
up to the depot, and to my astonish-
ment, my young companion, satchel
and green bag in hand. who alighted.
and rapidly approaching me, said: 4
have concluded to so with you, as far
as Pueblo, l intended going there at
any rate, you know, if not successful
here. can run down there and come
back here later
All right, my boy l replied, you
are the judge in this matter, and |
shall be glad of your company. But
hurry up, or you will miss the train"
1T required but moment for him
to secure ticket, and we were soon
in the carriage speeding southwark
At Pueblo l remained over but a sin
gle day, as l was now desirous to has
ten on my journey. My friend kept
close to me, and accompanied me to
the depot. He had said nothing of
going further but l observed he had
his satchel and guitar with him. Ar
irving at the depot, found my train
ready to pull out, and turning to him,
! feelingly bade him goodbye and
again wishing him success, entered the
car and took a seat on the side next |
the platform. A tap on the window |
drew my attention, and looking out, l |
saw the young man standing close to
the car, indicating a desire to further
speak with me. | threw up the win
dow. His chin quivered and tears
were in his eyes as he spoke
Captain, l can't stay here. I feel
l must go with you. l want to visit
the mining camps. Brother Will may
be there, and now that l have COM
pany, l think should CO.
Unable to take thought or time for
as the train was beginning to
move, could only say, Jump aboard,
You have no time to lose,' and in an
instant he was in the seat at my side
Our journey to Gunnison was with
out incident. Arriving there we at
once transferred to the stage The
coach was one of those stoutly con-
structed vehicles that in earlier days
was used on the overland routes on
the plains, but which, having been su-
by the railway, now found
it's home in the more remote mountain
regions. where the railways had not