Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1935-05-31
this homely but expressive miners
AuTocAsTER senN.

men in Dalton's camp.
81 will ask you n more ques-
tion," said Wade, in the deep
silence that followed. "Do you love
the defendant, Maitland?"
Pete's gray eyes were Swallowed,
She bit her lip as she had done that
day when she recovered from the
throes of cold. Two big tears
rolled down her cheeks. II have
told the TRUTH she murmured.
ri think, Your Honor" said
Wade, that the question has been
sufficiently answered."
Next morning, when the court
reopened, Garnet produced an I'M
expected witness. He looked to-
ward the real of the courtroom and
said, "Rose Valery.'
At the name, Fallon came up
right in his chair, startled out of
the detachment. He turned his
head in frowning unbelief.
But he was unnoticed by the
courtroom as Rose approached the
stand. Though the river had car
ried many rumors of her beauty,
this was her first appearance in
Dawson.
Indifferent to the crowds stare,
she looked at the accused men and
then at Pete, with some inward,
unreliable thought. Her dark eyes
showed a glitter of fire when they
crossed with Fallon's, who, slouched
back now, carelessly, while she was
being worn
miss Valery," said Garnet,
where were you born?"
II don't know" Rose answered.
Her low voice had the quality of
plucked harp strings.
"Where were you cared for as a
child?"
"In the convent school at Notre
Dame at the Mission Dolores in San
Francisco. l was taught music and
singing at the convent" Rose ven
tured, until l was IS, but l was
restless, and discipline only made
me unhappy. I decided to run
away, and did, and so became a
professional singer.
81 had a plan Of reaching the
gold country. A little after dark l
climbed over the convent wall at a
place where a sloping barn roof
touched it. I got on a street car
at Guerrero Street. AS / hadn't
any carfare the conductor put me
off at the second stop, two blocks
below.
"a boy was singing in a high
soprano voice in front of an open
air bootblack stand next the saloon,
where the sports were getting
shined up for the evening.
"It surprised me to see the men
at the shoe-stand throw him money
even one alf-dollar piece-for
what wasn't really a good song, or
very good singing, except for be-
ling strong and clear. While he
gathered up the coins, I sang the
refrain of the song. The boy was
away but the men encouraged me,
and we tried to sing each other
down. AS it was easier to chord
with him, l sang alto, and our duet
stopped the shoe-shining. When we
finished, the men gave me a hand
full of silver; one of them handed
me a dollar piece.
"It divided what / got with the
boy, and then he wanted us to
throw in together and play the cor
ner, but 1 said l was going to
Nevada to sing in the gold camps.
"The boy got excited and want
ed to go. While we were talking
it over, a shadow fell between us
from the street lamp, and I found
that the man who'd given me the
dollar was standing there listening.
$50 you're headin' for Nevada?'
he asked.
when 1 agreed we were, he said
he knew all about the country; had
been there not so long before and
brought out a heap of gold, and he
was going again, so he could give
us a steer and see that we were
treated right.
"On the car going downtown,
he said something to the boy I
couldn't hear, and gave him a gold
coin. The boy got off, telling me
he was going to buy some things
and meet us later.
I wasn't so sure about the mans
looks. He was big, rather hand