Year: 1879

Burt Wilson, famiIiarly known in and
about Kentucky Gu.ch as the Blind
Miner toiled slowly Up the mountain
side TO where his cabin was situated.
/. seemed impossible for one deprived
Of sight to follow the windings Of the
narrow and dangerous path leading
along the brink of precipices down
which it made one dizzy even TO look
But he hesitsted net. Daily use had
made him familiar with every step. He
had Travelled it long before deprived Of
sight, going to and returning from
labor, and getting. even then, his share
from rocker and hume the tame as W hen
the fall Of Q Ito be lifted earthly
darkness had not fallen on his eyes
Not that he was 90 useful. though
strong and energetic. but because his
'pards Pisied bis severe affilction, and
looked upon his sterling qualities A.
pure as the gold for which they ,Oiled.


And there vas another reason that,
perchaEcs. influenced them still more
made them the more tender, and caused
them to keep the company intact. and
faithfully hand over just share Of the
profits.


The rcason-the most potent Of all in
California before the transition from
(st least semi i-outla wism to SEINE civil
lization - was . daughter. and the iu-
fuence for good, the suttle charm, the
respect given TO pure womaubood then.
can lever be rightly estimated. II was
such as was never before seen ia that
locality, and the chances are against its
being repeated. Men who had left
home and comfort and wife and child.
ren-yOunger men who had left their
sweethesrts behind in the States for
the delusive dream Of speedy wealth -
looked upon almos. anything Of femi-
ninity 81 but little lower than the an
gels aud when i: embraced youth and
beauty, there was scarcely any rational
limit to the homage given.


such was jeanette Wilson, the one
motherless child of the sightless miner.
Not that she possessed asy uncommon
share of ply sical beauty. though gifted
with pair OF bright black eyes. an
abundance OF curling hair OF the same
inky hue. we'll developed form. and
ringing and merry laugh. But she was
woman. and that was sufficient to
turn half the heads ia the Gulch.


She bad come, when but little child.
into .he wilderness with her father. had
grown up comparatively uneducated,
without the society Of any Of her own
sex, had rxmbled at will with her strong
and impulsive nature never checked or
trained. and stood on the verge OF wo>
nhood-a rustic beauty wild for
est flower, very fair to the eyes Of the
men around her, aud treated by them
with next to reverence.


Without any guardianship save that
of her father. with love free to run riot.
with many o tempting lure offered, it
was . wonder she had not yielded to
tho cntreaties of some of the young
miners aud married. But such was not
the case Sho appeared to fancy her
own saucy Independence too we'll. and.
truth 81 tell. looked higher than any in
the Gulch for q mate.


In that she was not Gone to blame.
A large portion Of it rested upon her
father. He believed her to be the
brightest and most besutiful being on
earth, and would have resented as a
bitter insult any whisper that she would
not have graced the throne Of England
aud outshone the Empress Of France.
Completely wrapped up in her. he
could have seen no fault even had his
eyes been those Of the eagle, and he con-
sequently fostered and increased the
pride thatw as already outrunning safety
in drcss aud somewhat free. coquet-
tish ways. Yet the father was stern
man guarded tho honor Of his child to
the utmost-his pride in her alone
would have made him do 90. and he
would never have forgiven an insult to
her. Indeed. his passion when aroused
upon the subject was an uugovernable,
next to insane one. and woe be to bin
who should cross his path.


As he was toiling up the steep path.
he WAS thinking OF his child-that she
was still unsettled in life-that his own
must be nearing o close. and it was
time something was done in the mat
ter. Resolving to talk to her at once
about it, he pressed forward and gained
. point near to where his cabin was sit
uated. when his ever listening ear
caught an unfamiliar sound-one that
caused his siehtless face to flush and
pale by turns. and his strong nerves to
shake convmlsively.


1t was not his Jenny singing-not
merrily passing the time as was usually
the case when awaiting his return. All,
no-a very different sound. and he
reeled 90 drunken man and sat down
heavily. Blindness had trained his
hearing as acutely Is his touch, and
every sound Was as clear to him that
came from the vicinity Of the little
cabin as the thunder that rolled above
the rocky crest Of the Sierras. But at
that moment he cursed his want of sig ht
a. never before. and for q single brief
quarter Of an hour Of it. would have
given his life. Yet ALAS hearing must
now be both eyes and ears for him; aud
mastering the terrible emotion of the
moment. he crept nearer, hid himself
beneath the thickly>growing bushes
and listened with his very soul strained
against losing the slightest word.


Word? Aye. his petted, his idolized
daughter Was conversins with someone e
that someone q man wh, So voice was
unfamiliar to him -and she was plead
ing earnestly-for what? The LOGGED
for boon was ole he could not at first
fathom (not having heard the previous
conversation.) but why should his dar-
ling Jenny plead to any man for any