The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-12-23


each carried our eatables to Perky's
place.
Perky's place used to be a grocery
store before Hard Up had eaten the in
sides out of it, The shelves and draw
ers and barrels were empty now, but
Perky bobbled up behind the counter
as cheerful as ever.
Put 'em down anywhere, Tisdal,"
he said
| took a half a sack of potatoes,
ten pounds of flour and a little dob OF
lard, everything in the wide world we
had to eat at our tent, and raised
them to the counter. Smith and Viii
bur had deposited their puny commits
saries near. the same place. The
three of us stood and looked at each
other grimly.
Bob Weston came next bringing a
piece of side meat and some flour.
His good natured face quivered little
and he hurried out He had bigger
family than any of the rest of us.
Old man Calgary came last. He
hadn't been able to get out the night
before, and he came in to learn just
what Perky's scheme was, Perky
told him.
ITS no use waiting for Brundage
to come back" he began. He's been
gone ten days now and we might
as well make up our minds that he
has skipped and left us to hold the
sack. But there amt any use stand
ing around and crying about it. Will
burs going to start for the station
right away. He'll bring the provisions
back on a burro if he can get one for
nothing, and he expects to be back
in three days. Meanwhile we're pool
ing the eats-more economical, saves
wood. you know-and since Brundage
has skipped out with the team wood
is an item, for we can't very we'll
carry it here by armloads across tve
miles of sand. Wen need to run only
one cook stove. Tisdars, and lilly
is going to boss the soup house. It's
a plain case of united we eat little
bit, divided we starve.' So bring your
eats"
At that moment my wife appeared
with lilly Durham and some of the
other women, all loaded with dishes
and things.
IF you men will hustle the stove
over well soon have things in shape
said Tilly She was handsome, buX-
ON girl who had worked for the
Brundages before their abandonment
of US. '..,,
We set the stove and then started
across the sand toward the separator,
lying like a great red caterpillar at the
edge Of the mesa, and wondered as
we approached it why it had looked
80 good to me the first time had
ever seen it. De-.
That was when it lay tumbled all
about under the big eucalyptus tree IN
Rrundages back yard at Los Gatos.
Brundage was talking about the con
trivance-he was eternally talking
about it, what it could do when 1t
came to sitting microscopic particles
of gold dust out of desert sand and
gathering them in a neat little canvas
sack that hung from the tail end OF
it.
He talked to us, the six of us, count
ing Perky till we felt the weight 81
the dust sitting heavily down into our
own pockets. He wanted to get a nun
dred or more people in the scheme
but we. the donkeys, persuaded him
that six we're enough to start on, and
to mitigate his disappointment we SUD
scribed all we had.
BY the time we had set the concern
out in the Mohave desert and got IL
going we were in a position to chris
ten our little hamlet appropriately
without any great stretch Of our ma
gination. Lord knows, times were
hard enough even then, but we Kept
hoping, hoping.
Perky's enthusiasm outlasted every
bodv else's. If Brundage said this OF
that was the matter, that pulley was
too big or shaft too long or maze
one of the thousand excuses ne was
accustomed to when explaining why
the thing didn't work, it was PERKY
who always tried to laugh or joke oul
disappointment away,
His enthusiasm had led him to thihF
that at no distant date our tiny camp
that was before it was name0--Woui'
become the metropolis OF the arc
Southwest, and the man who had starr
ed the pioneer mercantile business
therein would be millionaire IRON
that source alone, That's how ne cam
to be in the grocery business on Uni
side.
The Pendergas' Mercantile con