Year: 1872

The gentleman from Reno was


not to bo kept from the children,
and actually succeeded in seducing


Harry to his side by displaying an


enormously heavy gold watch,


which | noticed he carried in his
trousers pocket with only strap of
buckskin attached to it. Harry,


no declared, "lavored his father


nightly; had just such a pug nose
as Hank had, and his eyes had the
same queer kind of q squinny that


Hanks did Scared though L was
at the stranger, l could not help de-
nying that my husbands eyes had n
cast in them, or that his nose was u
pug. But my visitor coolly told me
that he couldn't see it.


Presently discovered small boy
toiling over the wastes of sands in
front Of the house; the door bell
rang, and Norah brought me in
note, the messenger departing in
rapid somcrsaults, by way of diver
sion, before [ could stop him and
send out for help to the city. lie
had brought me evil tidings; my hus-
band wrote in a hurry to say that he
had been called across the bay to at
tend IN old patient, and would not
be home until the next morning !
This was dreadful news, indeed.
Alone in the house with this strange
ly acting man, with no one near,
night shutterng down, and my hope
Of my husbands return suddenly
cut Off; was ever woman 30 horribly
situated? But in the darkness OF
de'pair | caught one gloam of hope.


There WAS no excuse Tor the gen
tleman from Reno to tdrry any
longer. | told him, with i'll conceal
ed triumph, that my husband would
not be at home until the next day
and he would be sure to meet him
at the uine o'clock boat. So / rose
and looked Significantly at bis huge
soft hat, hanging on my best of
Clytie, stood ready to show him to
the door. He said, "Oh, well, it
don't make any difference to me, !
can Jest wait hero for him, | Ireckon
you can bunk me III somewhere, and
il won't be lonesome to you if You
have man about the house, seeing
as your old mans not round.


In vain | protested that | was
used to being alone (Which WAS
fb), and that it would not bo CON
venlcnt for me to have him stop.


Io declared with no rible Irony that
| should be half scared to Gcath it !
was left alone, and that he could
"lop down. on the floor or anywhere
if [ had no spare bed for him. He
had Jared much worse before now in
Reno.


So ho stayed. | can never forget
nor dospict the horrors of that night
He sat alter supper chatting with
rascally nonchalance of all sorts of
improbable things which "Me and
Hank" had done when they camped
together in Brandy Canon in 1850,
just as though my refined and pre-
cious husband ever knew this rough
creature before me, or had shared in
the adventures which he now spun
out in his wild talk of the days of 80
at Hog Bar and Brandy Canon. He
took up one of my fragile hyacinths
blooming in the window, (the wind
blows 50 we cannot raise flowers out
doors in Jenkins street, and nursing
it with his plastored lips, said:
Now, that's purity; wo don't have
no flowers up in Reno" | deluded
myself into the notion that he gave
a little sigh, but he added, disdain-
fully, Us if rallying himself owe
don't have no time to fool away on
posies, you bet"


Every once in q while he got up
and walked the room, and then |
thought my time had come, but he
only strobe across the little parlor
with two or three long steps,
making the house rattle in every
Joint, SO that [ thought it would
come down about my ears, and then
he sat down again. Once he extended
his walk into the door-yard, but soon
came back, smelling dreadfully with
tobacco smoke, which the wind, now
lulled to zephyr was not strong
enough to blow away. The children
having been put TO bed, and Norah,
sniveling with apprehension, being
permitted to curl herself up in
corner of my own chamber, had
nothing to do but sit up with fear
full sort of fascination and listen va
cantly to the discursive talk of the
gen tleman from Reno.


l sat and looked ut him as he half
nodded in his chair, wildly wonder
ing if he could not 60 to sleep, and
if L could not seize him and pinion
him before he could awake. l
thought how terrible he would strug-
gle, and how Norah would hear him
and come bowling down stairs, or
vainly scream for help from the win
1ows. Sometimes thought I would
rise up and fercely ask him why he
did not begin his bloody work, and
put me out of misery? But as l was a
iimid and nervous little woman, /
did no such thing, but let him run
On with his talk, and wondered at
his voice, which actually, now that