February 9, 1972 (12 pages)

Q The Nevada County ‘Nugget, Wednesday, February gota. _ = —— _ i (Continued from last week) — Mike fell into a reflective mood and held his peace for a time, while Wakefiela gazed at the bright fire that sparkled in the fireplace, watched the flames leap up the chimney, and fell musing over all that had happened since they had climbed the trail and found their fortune in the old channel, Their few thousands had increased until they were comparatively rich men, and yet he felt that he had paid a heavy toll for it, At least, the strenuous part of it was over. Thenceforth he would plod along as of old and trust to Providence to set things right. As he looked out into the dusk after bidding his trusty partner good-night and saw the moon at its full rising over the eastern ridge, memory cast back to an evening when, standing at the door, he had seen the crescent hanging in the west, and there had come to him the sense of the mystery of things, of something above and beyond his comprehension, a feeling that had stirred him to the depths and started him on the road to an unbalanced mind. Now it was not "Dido standing on the wild sea banks," or "Troilus sighing his heart to Cressid"; no, his thoughts. went to a peaceful valley where, perhaps, a lonely woman "waft her love to come again to Carthage." Through the winter, which was a mild one, the mine continued its uninterrupted yield, although both Mike and Wakefield knew that a few months more would see the end of it unless, which was unlikely, the channel turned on its course and ran into the mountain. Still, they had no reason to complain. From the beginning of operations in the Winter of '52 to the opening of Spring in '54, after paying all expenses each partner had over seventy thousand dollars to his credit, and with six months more before it was worked out there would be a further dividend of fifteen thousand dollars each. This sum judiciously invested would be enough to keep the wolf from the door. Then there was the chance of striking gold in the mine over at Hepsidam, the property the partners had jointly bought from Phillips and on which they were vigorously driving the bedrock tunnel toward the supposed channel. The responsibilities that Wakefield shared with Mike in the joint management acted as a sedative to his nerves, and the mountains as a tonic to his overwrought brain. He was no longer moody, erratic, or despondent, and it was not long before he began to plan for the future. And his plans were not selfish; they. embraced the welfare of another as well. Wakefield's thoughts went back to his younger days, when he toiled on the farm, or worked in the village, and when his ambitions did not extend beyond the county horizon. He had won the belle of the town, and settled down to the narrow existence his environment. made a necessity, and as he looked back, had found contentment anda fair measure of happiness. She had been in all ways his helpmeet, and discord had not dy ‘It under their roof. It was only when he had gone out into the big world that calamity followed prosperity. Now he was lonely and longed for his old home life. Perhaps the longing was due to his now regular correspondence with his wife and the fact that ‘both had fallen into the habit of exchanging news and confidences, and it seemed as if each was seeking reconciliation and a reestablishment of the old relations. Letters from Dot were frequent and brimful of the joy of life. A severe critic might have objected to the fact that the greater portion of them was given over to eulogies of Rance, who from her point of view was a special creation, a man in whom she could discover no faults, and who, it seemed from her words, had no other mission than to make her happy. -"Niver mind her, she'll wake up from the drame one of these days," commented Mike after listening to several extracts exalting her husband, "and find him a man just like the rist of us." "Be's a lazy devil." Here Mike abandoned his cynical attitude. "Why shouldn't he be? "He's a capitalist the same as the rist of us, and he wasn't born for work, I couldn't like him better if he was me own. I wish he was back, for I long for a sight of him and his purty wife." That event was not very far off. They had spent the winter at the old Mississippi home, were going to visit Washington and New York, return to California, and ina month they would arrive at San Francisco. Tex had~ been heard from by proxy. Ruth had written frequently, one particular epistle to Wakefield upbriding him for his quixotic exploits in the thief-catching, and another of advice and entreaty to visit them in their new home, of which his wife was a part: Tex had carried out his plans and bought J4 SG his cattle ranch — a principality according to her description, — and was devoting himself to rounding up the stock, riding fiery mustangs over the country from morning till night, accompanied by a lot of "shiftless" Mexicans, who had transferred their allegiance and services to the new proprietor. She was sure he ye be brought home some day with a broken neck or be trampled to death. by the wild cattle that roamed over their possessions. As for herself, she was mistress of a household that nearly drove her to distraction — lazy, incompetent, trifling hussies, who rebelled at the Senora interesting herself in household cares and expected her to live a life of dignified ease and luxury. She confessed, this was not altogether distasteful; on the contrary, she found herself yielding to the atmosphere of idleness and falling into the pleasant ways of Spanish habits and customs. Mrs. Wakefield was a permanent guest, and they had struck upja close friendship, The visitor was restored to perfect bodily health, but was at times somewhat depressed in spirits, However, the frequent letters from her husband were having an excellent effect. Dot had written that she and Rance would return early in June, and Ruth proposed that the event should be celebrated by a reunion at the ranch of\ all the partners. They could do no less than greet the wanderers by their presence, Of course, Wakefield could not refuse, and this was especially meant for the benefit of Mr. Donovan, who, Ruth said, had not had a holiday since the mine was discovered. "I'm persuaded to go," intimated Mike, when the invitation was received.-"It's full of curiosity I am to see Tex wid the matrimonial yoke on his shoulders. In me opinion, 't was a lucky day for him whin the widdy made up her mind that 't was her duty to look after him. She is a woman of sinse and judgment, to say nothing of her capabilities as a cook, I can't consave of her lading an idle life, for she looked on it as a deadiy sin. Maybe marriage has given her absolution, I'll see. the truth of it wid me own eyes. We'll-take the risk of the foreman running things for a couple of weeks, if you're agreed, and make the trip." Wakefield was agreed and more than pleased that Mike would accompany him. The return of Rance and Dot, both dear to him, would be a propitious time for a meeting with his wife, and softened by absence and chastened by his experiences, he was prepared to ask forgiveness, where in his wrath and resentment he had believed he could not extend it, So he was ~ glad when the letter came announcing that the absent ones would sail from New York on a certain day and that the steamer ] .

Q The Nevada County ‘Nugget, Wednesday, February gota. _ = —— _ i (Continued from last week) — Mike fell into a reflective mood and held his peace for a time, while Wakefiela gazed at the bright fire that sparkled in the fireplace, watched the flames leap up the chimney, and fell musing over all that had happened since they had climbed the trail and found their fortune in the old channel, Their few thousands had increased until they were comparatively rich men, and yet he felt that he had paid a heavy toll for it, At least, the strenuous part of it was over. Thenceforth he would plod along as of old and trust to Providence to set things right. As he looked out into the dusk after bidding his trusty partner good-night and saw the moon at its full rising over the eastern ridge, memory cast back to an evening when, standing at the door, he had seen the crescent hanging in the west, and there had come to him the sense of the mystery of things, of something above and beyond his comprehension, a feeling that had stirred him to the depths and started him on the road to an unbalanced mind. Now it was not "Dido standing on the wild sea banks," or "Troilus sighing his heart to Cressid"; no, his thoughts. went to a peaceful valley where, perhaps, a lonely woman "waft her love to come again to Carthage." Through the winter, which was a mild one, the mine continued its uninterrupted yield, although both Mike and Wakefield knew that a few months more would see the end of it unless, which was unlikely, the channel turned on its course and ran into the mountain. Still, they had no reason to complain. From the beginning of operations in the Winter of '52 to the opening of Spring in '54, after paying all expenses each partner had over seventy thousand dollars to his credit, and with six months more before it was worked out there would be a further dividend of fifteen thousand dollars each. This sum judiciously invested would be enough to keep the wolf from the door. Then there was the chance of striking gold in the mine over at Hepsidam, the property the partners had jointly bought from Phillips and on which they were vigorously driving the bedrock tunnel toward the supposed channel. The responsibilities that Wakefield shared with Mike in the joint management acted as a sedative to his nerves, and the mountains as a tonic to his overwrought brain. He was no longer moody, erratic, or despondent, and it was not long before he began to plan for the future. And his plans were not selfish; they. embraced the welfare of another as well. Wakefield's thoughts went back to his younger days, when he toiled on the farm, or worked in the village, and when his ambitions did not extend beyond the county horizon. He had won the belle of the town, and settled down to the narrow existence his environment. made a necessity, and as he looked back, had found contentment anda fair measure of happiness. She had been in all ways his helpmeet, and discord had not dy ‘It under their roof. It was only when he had gone out into the big world that calamity followed prosperity. Now he was lonely and longed for his old home life. Perhaps the longing was due to his now regular correspondence with his wife and the fact that ‘both had fallen into the habit of exchanging news and confidences, and it seemed as if each was seeking reconciliation and a reestablishment of the old relations. Letters from Dot were frequent and brimful of the joy of life. A severe critic might have objected to the fact that the greater portion of them was given over to eulogies of Rance, who from her point of view was a special creation, a man in whom she could discover no faults, and who, it seemed from her words, had no other mission than to make her happy. -"Niver mind her, she'll wake up from the drame one of these days," commented Mike after listening to several extracts

exalting her husband, "and find him a man just like the rist of us." "Be's a lazy devil." Here Mike abandoned his cynical attitude. "Why shouldn't he be? "He's a capitalist the same as the rist of us, and he wasn't born for work, I couldn't like him better if he was me own. I wish he was back, for I long for a sight of him and his purty wife." That event was not very far off. They had spent the winter at the old Mississippi home, were going to visit Washington and New York, return to California, and ina month they would arrive at San Francisco. Tex had~ been heard from by proxy. Ruth had written frequently, one particular epistle to Wakefield upbriding him for his quixotic exploits in the thief-catching, and another of advice and entreaty to visit them in their new home, of which his wife was a part: Tex had carried out his plans and bought J4 SG his cattle ranch — a principality according to her description, — and was devoting himself to rounding up the stock, riding fiery mustangs over the country from morning till night, accompanied by a lot of "shiftless" Mexicans, who had transferred their allegiance and services to the new proprietor. She was sure he ye be brought home some day with a broken neck or be trampled to death. by the wild cattle that roamed over their possessions. As for herself, she was mistress of a household that nearly drove her to distraction — lazy, incompetent, trifling hussies, who rebelled at the Senora interesting herself in household cares and expected her to live a life of dignified ease and luxury. She confessed, this was not altogether distasteful; on the contrary, she found herself yielding to the atmosphere of idleness and falling into the pleasant ways of Spanish habits and customs. Mrs. Wakefield was a permanent guest, and they had struck upja close friendship, The visitor was restored to perfect bodily health, but was at times somewhat depressed in spirits, However, the frequent letters from her husband were having an excellent effect. Dot had written that she and Rance would return early in June, and Ruth proposed that the event should be celebrated by a reunion at the ranch of\ all the partners. They could do no less than greet the wanderers by their presence, Of course, Wakefield could not refuse, and this was especially meant for the benefit of Mr. Donovan, who, Ruth said, had not had a holiday since the mine was discovered. "I'm persuaded to go," intimated Mike, when the invitation was received.-"It's full of curiosity I am to see Tex wid the matrimonial yoke on his shoulders. In me opinion, 't was a lucky day for him whin the widdy made up her mind that 't was her duty to look after him. She is a woman of sinse and judgment, to say nothing of her capabilities as a cook, I can't consave of her lading an idle life, for she looked on it as a deadiy sin. Maybe marriage has given her absolution, I'll see. the truth of it wid me own eyes. We'll-take the risk of the foreman running things for a couple of weeks, if you're agreed, and make the trip." Wakefield was agreed and more than pleased that Mike would accompany him. The return of Rance and Dot, both dear to him, would be a propitious time for a meeting with his wife, and softened by absence and chastened by his experiences, he was prepared to ask forgiveness, where in his wrath and resentment he had believed he could not extend it, So he was ~ glad when the letter came announcing that the absent ones would sail from New York on a certain day and that the steamer ] .