Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1911-06-02
S A N S F A M | L L E
Copyright by y. L. Nelson
By ROY NORTON


sessing, for he was of the gray-eved
lean-jawed type that would scarcely
be selected as sympathetic,
Jeans aplomb gave way to a tenn
pest of tears as he sought refuge in
the strong, shielding arms and buried
his face against the broad. out
stretched shoulder whose blue shirt
| pillowed his face. His ill-shapen peas
ant hat fell Off UNDECIDED when he was
| lifted clear OF the ground as his pro-
tector stood erect.
| Boys" the miner announced, I'm
goin' to take the little cuss. He looks
good to me, and I've got plenty OF room
up at my place
1t was so like a decision that they
felt called upon to nod acquiescence,
and opened out for him as he marched
away up the hillside to his cabin in
the dull of the evening, picking his
way around boulders and carrying the
boy who was sans famille. They stood
without word until they saw his
door open and close, and then turned
again to each other.
We'll I'll be hanged" the agent
said; and in this they concurred, find
ing great poverty OF expression In
such an unusual combination of cir
cumstances. Besides, they were not
men of much speech.
The coming of Jean Guillot Lafay-
cite acted as a damper on Holcomb
that night, and in the huge log dance
hall the singing of the fiddlers and
| ctr ntVr1Fra i've g
evoke the usual hilarity. Even the
games beneath their shaded tin lamps
were poorly patronized, and the gen.
tlemen who dealt them and garnered
much thrift thereby joined the group
which listened to all the stage agent
had to impart.
1t was scant enough; merely that
the boy had been handed over by the
railway officials at Los Angeles, to-
gether with what was left of his tick
ct and letter of instruction which
in the course of its travels until 1t
was begrimed and stained by many
thumb and finger marks.
1t was from the village cure of
"Montigny sur Vingeanne," wherever
that might be.
1t was kindly letter, in which the
good old priest barred a portion of hia
heart in telling of the love he had
long felt for the petit Jean, whom l
christened, and whose mother, very
good femme of excellent family, I had
the pleasure Of burying."
They couldn't quite understand the
use of the word pleasure but passed
1t by as a slip of English. There was
an undernote of vanity also in the
naive statement that hes good Eng
fish speak, because have not l, the
cure on Montigny sur Vingeanne. him
taught2 1 who have travelled far and
been to Angleterre?"
Up In the cabin on the hill the ar
rival had sobbed himself to sleep in
Kendalls arms long before the moon
came up, and the camp had lost some
Of its interest and turned back to old
er ways In response to the seductive
clicking of the roulette-balls and the
strident invitation of the strings
Even in the shadow of distress 1t wss
neither fitting nor natural that every
thing should come to a halt because Of
an unwonted happening.
But Andy Kendall didn't come down
from his cabin that night, nor was
he thinking of the morrow's work and
his "diggings," the most prosperous
Of all, where twenty men answered
his beck and call and tore for him
from the earth the scales Of potent
gold. He sat on his threshold, total
ly unconscious of the softened music
of the dance hall in the fiat below,
and in the wreaths of smoke from
his pipe built castles around Jean
Guillot Lafayette.
When the sun approached in the
morning and by its call awoke the
drumming life of the hills, Andy tip
toed from his bunk, and with stentori-
GUS splutterings washed his face in
the tin basin just outside the cabin
door.
He was interrupted BY foreign sal
utation, Bon jour, monsieur" and on
peering up through the cascade of
soapy water, which riyuleted from the
brown mop of hair across his eyes,
behold his guest.
Hello. young feller," he returned,
with a kindly grin. "Feelin' better,
are you? That's a good boy"
And then, his nose rubbed to a shin
ing ruddiness by the aid of coarse
towel, he refilled the basin and ex-
tended a homely invitation for its
use. He whistled as he busted himself
frying crisp the long slices Of bacon
for their morning meal. and laughed
when he discovered Jean watching In
open-mouthed amazement the deft-
ness with which he threw huge flap
| Jacks into the air, turning and dex-
terousIy catching them in mid-fight
as they fell.
"Eet ees vaire clevaire," remarked
Jean in frank admiration. Monsieur
is un bon prestidigitator. He is what
you call a zhugglure. Eth. is 1t not
SO? Tres bienI"
Once again Kendall broke into a
great hearty laugh. but 1t failed to pro
woke SO much as a smile from the
grave-eyed exile who merely looked
astonished They sat down TO their
breakfast together. and the boy an