November 3, 1971 (12 pages)

y of Six’ the wedded pair. He was witty and eloquent as he dwelt on the esteem and affection in which the couple were held, feelingly lavish in invoking the blessings which they deserved, and the crowd nearly raised the roof in‘its vociferous endorsements of his sentiments. There were loud calls for a response, but Tex only grinned and bowed, and Ruth bubbled over with glee, urging her bashful spouse to get on his feet. "For mercy's sake, say something,'" she cried. "I hope you ain't struck dumb"; and Rance and Mike fairly lifted him out of his chair. Great beads of perspiration stood on his face, he awkwardly shuffled from one foot to another, and finally stammered out: "Boys, I. reckon I'd rather ride the worst mustang ever raised in Texas than try to make a speech, I haven't got Rance's gift of gab; we were raised different, and language don't come spontaneous; but I'm a powerful happy man, and I've got reasons, (here he looked lovingly at Ruth) the best of reasons, for a good: woman has took pity on me and roped me into the corral. I'm out of the band of wild cattle, and rll soon be tame enough to feed out of the hand. No more roving the plains for me, for we reckon to have a range of our own, and when we do, you'll always find the bars down and a welcome when you ride in." Tex sat down amid the shouts of approval that followed his characteristic speech, Then there were yells for Mike, and that worthy responded: : "You've had the .extremes, the. illigant:-and flowery -sintinces ‘that Mr. Poole took up like a sponge when he wint to college, and the native speech that my friend Tex picked up on the border; now you want the Irish of it. I want to say to yez that ye were an uncivilized lot of haythen until Mrs. Ruth, God bless her! took pity on you and learned ye manners, She's made a dacent camp of The City of Six; a foine wife she will make for a dacent man—although I look upon it as undacent for him to talk about being ‘roped into’ the marriage state, for Hiven knows, he's been bawling outside the fence like a sick calf for the past six months, begging to be let in; and lucky he was, for he was only a maverick, as they say in Texas. We are proud of them both and lonely we will be whin, as I understood is their future intintion, they have the glorious mountains, the pure strames, and the pine forests of Sierra, to take up their risidence in a cow country, where there is no hump in the earth, rivers run stagnant, and not a tree to the square mile of country. Maybe we can persuade thim to stay until the ould mine plays out. May it be a year before that happens! And now I want to tinder a little token that the byes en oe Neg mae ‘ have delegated me to presint in honor of the event. Bring them in, you saffron-colored gossoon!" Tong trotted out and returned, bearing a silver box chased with scrolls and fretworked and the initials of the bride. _ Opening it, Mike picked out gingerly a massive necklace of exquisite design and workmanship, to which hung a pendant encrusted with seed pearls with a beautiful bronze pearl in the center, the work of an East Indian jeweler, a master of his art. He handed it to Ruth, who for the first time in her life was speechless. Tears of sentiment and pleasure dimmed her eyes:as she struggled to overcome her emotion, and she finally gasped out, "oh, how good you all are!" Her heart went out to the rough men that she had bossed and scolded and cared for, and they were as pleased as a lot of happy children. Then Tong staggered in under the burden of a Mexican ’ saddle and bridle, the gift that had been chosen for the groom. It was one of those wonderful affairs affected by the Mexican dandy, the saddle pommel -sheathed in beaten silver, and at least two hundred Mexican dollars riveted to the stamped leather coverings; the bridle reins.and reata of the finest braided hair, and the whole outfit an equipment that would serve to turn a native vasquero green with envy. The miners had sent a messenger to Santa Barbara with orders and coin to get the best to be had, and he had succeeded in his mission, Again, Tex responded briefly, echoing his wife's words, "how good you are, boys!" and the formal part of the feast was over. , ae For men of temperate habits, they did full justice to the champagne, which sparkled and bubbled in the plebeian teacups, and was enjoyed with as much zest as if served in finest ~ erystal goblets; they joked and bantered, and as the minutes slipped away, at last grew uproarious; at which stage the wedded pair quietly retired and sought their modest quarters, leaving the roisterers to their gaity. There was one couple who took but little part in the merriment. Mrs. Wakefield was distraught and dazed. The same words of congratulations spoken by her husband, his abrupt withdrawal from the scene, and his prolonged absence with Dot, filled her heart with a vague and oppressive terror, while Brant sat as impassive and emotionless as a sphinx. "What ails them?" asked Mike of Rance, "sure, one would think it was a funeral instid of a wedding' from the way they behave." "Oh, I suppose she is thinking of the difference between Tex and her husband," replied Rance, as he watched Brant and the woman make their exit, although the explanation did not seem to satisfy him, and it was a perplexed and troubled gaze that followed the retreating pair. He had paid no attention to the growing intimacy between them, given it no thought; but now he remembered that they had been practically left alone, and he recalled that in his interest in the daughter he had neglected the mother and deserted his quondam friend, It came to his memory that in the past months he had noticed them occupying the porch together, and he wondered. "Oh, damn it, what a fool I am," he muttered impatiently, struggling, as he stepped out of doors and walked toward the office, to dismiss the disloyal thoughts from his mind. He had not gained the threshold when Dot came fluttering out of the twilight, sobbing and gasping with incoherent speech. CHAPTER XVIII WAKEFIELD IS HIMSELF AGAIN “OH, Rance, dear Rance!" she cried, tottering into his outstretched arms — a thrill pierced him as the affectional call smote his ear, —"come with me quick, Father is waiting for you at the spring, and he is no more crazy than you are," _(To be Continued) The Nevada County Nugget, Wednesday, November 3,1971 7 ‘ j € ae

y of Six’ the wedded pair. He was witty and eloquent as he dwelt on the esteem and affection in which the couple were held, feelingly lavish in invoking the blessings which they deserved, and the crowd nearly raised the roof in‘its vociferous endorsements of his sentiments. There were loud calls for a response, but Tex only grinned and bowed, and Ruth bubbled over with glee, urging her bashful spouse to get on his feet. "For mercy's sake, say something,'" she cried. "I hope you ain't struck dumb"; and Rance and Mike fairly lifted him out of his chair. Great beads of perspiration stood on his face, he awkwardly shuffled from one foot to another, and finally stammered out: "Boys, I. reckon I'd rather ride the worst mustang ever raised in Texas than try to make a speech, I haven't got Rance's gift of gab; we were raised different, and language don't come spontaneous; but I'm a powerful happy man, and I've got reasons, (here he looked lovingly at Ruth) the best of reasons, for a good: woman has took pity on me and roped me into the corral. I'm out of the band of wild cattle, and rll soon be tame enough to feed out of the hand. No more roving the plains for me, for we reckon to have a range of our own, and when we do, you'll always find the bars down and a welcome when you ride in." Tex sat down amid the shouts of approval that followed his characteristic speech, Then there were yells for Mike, and that worthy responded: : "You've had the .extremes, the. illigant:-and flowery -sintinces ‘that Mr. Poole took up like a sponge when he wint to college, and the native speech that my friend Tex picked up on the border; now you want the Irish of it. I want to say to yez that ye were an uncivilized lot of haythen until Mrs. Ruth, God bless her! took pity on you and learned ye manners, She's made a dacent camp of The City of Six; a foine wife she will make for a dacent man—although I look upon it as undacent for him to talk about being ‘roped into’ the marriage state, for Hiven knows, he's been bawling outside the fence like a sick calf for the past six months, begging to be let in; and lucky he was, for he was only a maverick, as they say in Texas. We are proud of them both and lonely we will be whin, as I understood is their future intintion, they have the glorious mountains, the pure strames, and the pine forests of Sierra, to take up their risidence in a cow country, where there is no hump in the earth, rivers run stagnant, and not a tree to the square mile of country. Maybe we can persuade thim to stay until the ould mine plays out. May it be a year before that happens! And now I want to tinder a little token that the byes en oe Neg mae ‘ have delegated me to presint in honor of the event. Bring them in, you saffron-colored gossoon!" Tong trotted out and returned, bearing a silver box chased with scrolls and fretworked and the initials of the bride. _ Opening it, Mike picked out gingerly a massive necklace of exquisite design and workmanship, to which hung a pendant encrusted with seed pearls with a beautiful bronze pearl in the center, the work of an East Indian jeweler, a master of his art. He handed it to Ruth, who for the first time in her life was speechless. Tears of sentiment and pleasure dimmed her eyes:as she struggled to overcome her emotion, and she finally gasped out, "oh, how good you all are!" Her heart went out to the rough men that she had bossed and scolded and cared

for, and they were as pleased as a lot of happy children. Then Tong staggered in under the burden of a Mexican ’ saddle and bridle, the gift that had been chosen for the groom. It was one of those wonderful affairs affected by the Mexican dandy, the saddle pommel -sheathed in beaten silver, and at least two hundred Mexican dollars riveted to the stamped leather coverings; the bridle reins.and reata of the finest braided hair, and the whole outfit an equipment that would serve to turn a native vasquero green with envy. The miners had sent a messenger to Santa Barbara with orders and coin to get the best to be had, and he had succeeded in his mission, Again, Tex responded briefly, echoing his wife's words, "how good you are, boys!" and the formal part of the feast was over. , ae For men of temperate habits, they did full justice to the champagne, which sparkled and bubbled in the plebeian teacups, and was enjoyed with as much zest as if served in finest ~ erystal goblets; they joked and bantered, and as the minutes slipped away, at last grew uproarious; at which stage the wedded pair quietly retired and sought their modest quarters, leaving the roisterers to their gaity. There was one couple who took but little part in the merriment. Mrs. Wakefield was distraught and dazed. The same words of congratulations spoken by her husband, his abrupt withdrawal from the scene, and his prolonged absence with Dot, filled her heart with a vague and oppressive terror, while Brant sat as impassive and emotionless as a sphinx. "What ails them?" asked Mike of Rance, "sure, one would think it was a funeral instid of a wedding' from the way they behave." "Oh, I suppose she is thinking of the difference between Tex and her husband," replied Rance, as he watched Brant and the woman make their exit, although the explanation did not seem to satisfy him, and it was a perplexed and troubled gaze that followed the retreating pair. He had paid no attention to the growing intimacy between them, given it no thought; but now he remembered that they had been practically left alone, and he recalled that in his interest in the daughter he had neglected the mother and deserted his quondam friend, It came to his memory that in the past months he had noticed them occupying the porch together, and he wondered. "Oh, damn it, what a fool I am," he muttered impatiently, struggling, as he stepped out of doors and walked toward the office, to dismiss the disloyal thoughts from his mind. He had not gained the threshold when Dot came fluttering out of the twilight, sobbing and gasping with incoherent speech. CHAPTER XVIII WAKEFIELD IS HIMSELF AGAIN “OH, Rance, dear Rance!" she cried, tottering into his outstretched arms — a thrill pierced him as the affectional call smote his ear, —"come with me quick, Father is waiting for you at the spring, and he is no more crazy than you are," _(To be Continued) The Nevada County Nugget, Wednesday, November 3,1971 7 ‘ j € ae