Arizona republican., 1907-01-13
THE GROWING OF DOLLY
 By E. ". RIDLEY 6EAL

T
 not have made that mistake but he was
 crazy about her; mad, hungry for her
 love and would have carried her off be-
 hind that switchtail mare of his only
 he knew it was no good-we'd have
 had him before he got clear.
 Dolly" he pleaded, 'Over in Seattle
 where my folks live there's a home for
 you Whats Bill to you-or the Creek?
 Forget them. dear. and come with me,
 Dolly he cried. putting his head down
 on his arms, q love you, Dolly, and l
 can't live without you. sweet
 She came over and touched his shoul-
 der. Charlie" she said very softly. her eyes wet and shining. you mustn't
 come here again, boy. If I'm true to
 Bill it may help him out, but won't
 do anything to push him down. You
 mustn't come here again
 She went back to her desk on the
 little platform and hid her face in her
 hands. Cuthbertson heard sob and
 started to his feet.
 Dolly" he gasped. Dolly"
 "Go away, Charlie," she cried.
 q can't leave you, Dolly-I cant
 leave you like that"
 He moved toward her, but the trem-
 ulous little hand waved him back.
 He hesitated. staggered blindly to the
 door. struck his head against the post
 and went reeling out into the sun
 shine. Such sunshine! Flooding the road with a splendor which seemed to
 mock at suffering; filling the air with rapturous life and the pulsing melody
 of birds.
 IL was the last fine day the Creek knew that summer. l never saw such weather. There have been years when there was scarcely enough water to wash the dirt, but this time most of the claims were flooded. There was ten feet of water in mine. And the Big Cascade divided into two streams, broke course right across Bills shaft filling il up in a few minutes and going on again. roaring. riling. twisting, turn
 ing. tearing up big trees, cdIying
 everything before il. until it jumped the Devils Ledge three hundred and twenty feet to the valley beneath. The boys said drinking seemed to be
 in Bills family but there wasn't much
 joking. We missed Charlie's laugh.
 He mixed up with the crowd as he had
 always done. but no one had the pluck
 nor the inclination to challenge his wit And it seemed odd. too. that he and Bill Slocum should get so chummy. Though chummy hardly describes it, for they rarely said word to each other that any one heard beyond Good day or
 Good night as the case might be. But Bill slowed down on the liquor. doctor s orders. he told Remington. And night after night he and Charlie would sit at the same table like a Quaker meeting until lO o'clock chimsd, when Charlie would get on his feet and say Good night. Bill" and Bill would say Good
 night. Charlie" and ten minutes after follow him out and go home. too.
 Things grew steadily worse. Dolly Britton took a school on the other side of old crow. and with her going all
 the luck left the Creek. Joe Wetherall lost his wife. and we could ill-spare any of the women Then little Tommy Denton fell in the Cascade and was drowned and we couldn't spare the children either: yet the Creek missed Eli Morton about as much as it did Dolly. He was a good, honest man. with the fear of God written on his
 weather beaten forehead. Sheriff, jus
 tice of the peace. arbiter of all disputes, the law and the prophets from Old C,ow's Pass to the top Of the Twin Sisters.
 'Irs a queer world" said Charlie Cuthbertson to me that night, those
 hat dre least needed and most auyiOus
 to go stick to the earth like burrs.' Well. good times and bad times all pass over, so they say. The weather broke and the sun shone again; com ing out with ten fold power after hiding
 so long: licking up the wet until the roads were dry as powder. and the bis ! Cascade dropped back into it's old ,,drse and the miners returned 10 their claims. All except Bill, that is, he went up every day. but 1t took
 good six weeks for the shaft to empty itself. But he'd stopped drinking, ow- ing to Charities influence; and he was going to find that vein himself, or die in the attempt.
 At last Bills shaft was dried out, and the boys went up one afternoon to help lower him down and get things rigged up a bit so as he could work by himself. Bill was down the shaft, and We were SAdilNiil6 oApN4iu "'''''-s' for his signal when Charlie drove up. He halted the mare and came over. Whats doing, boys?" he asked. Just then Bill gave 9 shout. and then another. quick. excited, as if something had half smothered him, and the boys began to haul away like mad. When he came up he was trembling so he could scarcely hold on to the cage, his face white and queer looking.
 What is it. Bill-rattlers? ?' we ask. ed.
 "The bucket he cried gasping as if he couldn't say more.
 Cuthbertson snatched up the bucket, dropped it as if it were hot and jumped for the mare. He had her head turned around in a jiffy. and the next minute was rattling down the pass like a lu- lnatic. It didn't take Switchtail long to get out Of sight. I can tell you. She slapped up the grade from Bills mine to the Big Cascade as if it were level ground: likety bang across the bridge and down the slope on the other side, her tail whipping back and forth like a housemaid's duster. Bump into a
 hole: bang over a rock; but nothing seemed to bother Charlie. He sat with the reins hanging loose in his hands. eyes wide and eager. lips murmuring triumphantly.
 Dolly My darling, My darling. old Crow was soon left behind; the