Show l UNCLE JIM AND UNCLE BILLY I I I i1 L > BY BRET HARTE 1 r L r L i I t PAT I It was nearly amonth before Cedar camp was convinced that Uncle Billy I and Uncle Jim had dissolved partJier sbip Pride had prevented Uncle Billy from revealing his suspicions of the < tiuth or of relating the events that I r Preceded Uncle Jims clandestine flight and Dick Bullen had gone to Sacramento Sacra-mento by stage coach the same morning morn-ing He briefly gave out that his partner part-ner had been called to San Francisco on important business of their own that might necessitate his own removal there later I this he was singularly assisted by a letter from the absent Jim dated at San Francisco begging him not to be anxious about his success suc-cess a he had hopes of presently entering en-tering a profitable business but with no further allusions to his precipitate departure nor any suggestion a reason rea-son for it For two or three days Uncle Billy was staggered and bewildered in his profound simplicity he wondered if his extraordinary good fortune that night had made him deaf to some explanation 1 ex-planation of his partners or more terrible 1 ter-rible if he had shown some low and incredible intimation of taking his partners part-ners extravagant bet a real and binding bind-ing In his distress he wrote to Uncle Jim an appealing and apologetic letter albeit somewhat incoherent and inaccurate curate and bristling with misspelling camp slang and old partnership jibes But to this elaborate epistle he received receiv-ed only Uncle Jims repeated assurances assur-ances of his own bright prospects and his hopes that his old partner would be more fortunate singlehanded on the old claim For a week or two Uncle Billy Bulked but his invincible optim ism and good humor got the better of him and he thought only of his old I partners good fortune He wrote him regularly but always to one address a box at the San Francisco DostolHce which to the simpleminded Uncle Billy suggested a certain official importance im-portance To these letters Uncle Jim responded regularly but briefly From a certain intuitive pride in his I partner and his affection Uncle Billy d to the did not show these letters openly ccmp although he spoke freely of his former partners promising future and even read them short extracts I is I edless to say that the camp did not accept Uncle Billys story with unsuspecting unsus-pecting confidence On the contrary a I hundred surmises humorous or otherwise I other-wise but always extravagant were afloat in Cedar Camp The partners had quarreled over their clothesUncle Jim who vas taller than Uncle Billy had refused to wear his partners trousers trous-ers The had Quarreled over cards Uncle Jim had discovered that Uncle Billy was in possession of a cold deck or mark pack They had quarreled over Uncle Billys carelessness in grinding grind-ing ui half a box of bilious pills in the mornings coffee A gloomily imaginative imag-inative mule driver had darkly sug gfstPd that as no one had really seen Unch Jm leave the the camp he was still thee and his bones would yet be found in oie of the ditches while a still more credulous miner averred that wlut he had thought was a cry of a fcti fch owl the night previous to Uncle Jims disappearance might have been I the agonized utterance of that mur dtred man I was highly characteristic characteris-tic of that campand indeed of others in California that nobody not even the rnist ingenious theorists themselves Inliexed their story and that no one took the slightest pains to verify or disprove dis-prove it Happily Uncle Billy never knew it and moved all unconsciously in this atm pherl > of burlesque suspicion And thtn i singular change tookplace in the attitude of the camp toward him I < nd the disrupted partnership Hitherto Hither-to fvr no reason whatever all had I > pet to put the blame upon Billy po = siuy oecause he was present to re I one it As the days passed that slight licence ar > tf dejection in his manner which they had at first attributed to I ervjree and a guilty conscience now betran to LI a absurdly in his favor I Here was poor Uncle Billy toiling in the Titdits thile hs selfish partner was loii ijj in the lap of luxury in San Fran II cito Ince Billys glowing accounts of nee Jims success only contributed to the sympathy now fully given in his I behalf and their execration of the absconding j I ab-sconding partner I was proposed at Biggs store that a letter expressing the indgnauon of the camp over his heart Itss induct to his late partner Wil ham Full should be forwarded to him Condolences were offered to Uncle Billy II and unCouth attempts were made to hr his loneliness A procession of haf a dozen men twice a week to his czen cabin carrying their own whisky and winding up with a stag dance be fre the premises was sufficient to enlighten en-lighten his eclipsed gayety and remind him of a happier past Surprise working parties visited this claim with spasmodic essays toward helping him II and great good humor and hilarity prevailed pre-vailed I was not an unusuaIthing for Ian I an honest miner to arise from an idle an gatht ring in some cabin and excuse himself with the remark that hed reckon hed put in an hours work in Tncle Billys tailings And yet a before be-fore i was very improbable if any of tlu 5e reckless benefactors really believed be-lieved in their own earnestness or in the pravity of the situation Indeed a kind l of hopeful cynicism ran through their prformances Like as not Uncle Billy is still in cahoots i e shares with his old pard and is just laughin at usa us-a hfs JM ndin him accounts of our tomfoolin And so the winter passed and the I rains and the days of cloudless skies and chill starlight nights began There I T ere still freshets from the snow reservoirs reser-voirs pied high in the Sierra passes and the bar was flooded but that I I passed too and only the sunshine remained I I re-mained Monotonous as the seasons were there was a faint stirring in the j camp with the stirring of the sap in the i pine and cedars Then one day there was a strange excitement on the barMen bar-Men wen seen running hither and thtlier but mainly gathering in a crowd on Uncle Billys claimthat still n tamed the old partners names in The Fall and Foster To add to the excitement there was the quickly repeated re-peated report of a revolver to all appearances ap-pearances aimlessly exploded in the air by some one on the outskirts of the assemblage As the crowd opened Uncle Un-cle Billy appeared pale hysterical breathless and staggerin ga little under un-der the backslapping and handshaking handshak-ing of the whole camp For Uncle Billy ly had struck it rlchhad just dis ruA < red a pocket roughly estimated to be worth 15000 Although in that supreme moment he missed the face of his old partner he could not help seeing the unaffected delight de-light and happiness shining in the eyes of all who surrounded him I was characteristic of that sanguine but un certam life that success and good fortune for-tune brought no jealousy nor envy 10 the unfortunate but was rather a promise prom-ise and prophecy of the fulfillment of their own hopes The gold was there nature but yielded up her secret There nctur < wa no prescribed limit to her bounty Bo strong was this conviction that a ongsuffering but still hopeful miner in the enthusiasm of the moment stooped down and patted a large boulder with the apostrophic Good old gal Then followed a night of jubilee a next morning of hurried consultation consulaton with a mining expert and speculator lured to the camp by the good tidings and then the very next nightto the Utter astonishment of Cedar Camp Hide Billy with a draft for 20000 in Ins pocket started for San Francisco and took leave of his claim and thc th-c mo forever faien Uncle Billy landed at the wharves of San Francisco he was a little lit-tle bewildered The golden gate beyond was obliterated by the incoming e t leg which had also roofedin the whole i aso city and lights already glittered along II the gay streets that climbed the gayer sand hills As awestern man brought and thrilled up by inland rivers he was fascinated by the tall mated seagoing sea-going ships and he felt a strange sense of the remoter mysterious ocean I which he had never seen But he Was I impressed and startled by smartly 1 dressed men and women the passing i of carriages and a sudden conviction that he was strange and foreign to what he saw It had been his cherished cherish-ed intention to call upon his old partner part-ner in his working clothes and then clap down on the table before him a draft for 10000 as his share of their old claim But in the face of these brilliant liant strangers a sudden and unexpected unexpect-ed timidity came upon him He had heard of a cheap popular hotel much frequented by the returning gold miner who entered its hospitable doors that had an easy access to shpps and emerged in a few hours a gorgeous butterfly but-terfly of fashion leaving his old chry I sails behind him Thence he inquired his way hence he afterwards issued in garments glaringly new and illfitting But he had not sacrificed his beard and there was still something fine and original orig-inal in his handsome weak face that overcame the cheap convention of his clothes Making his way to the post office he was again discomfited by the great size of the building and bewildered I be-wildered oy the array of little saviare I letter boxes behind glass which occupied I occu-pied one whole wall and an equal number num-ber of opaQue and locked wooden ones legibly numbered His heart leaped he remembered the number and before him was a window with a clerk behind it Uncle Billy leaned forward li Kin you tell me if the man that box 690 blongs to is in I The clerk stared made him repeat the question and then turned away But he returned almost instantly with two or three grinning heads besides his own apparently set behind his shoulder Uncle Billy was again asked to reseat his Question He cuestion did so Why dont you go and see if 690 is in I his box said the first clerk turning with affected asperity to one of theO the-O = The clerk went away returned and said with singular gravity He was there a moment ago but hes gone out to stretch his legs Its rather crampin at first and he cant stand i more II than ten hours at a time you know I I I I H I tIt I I t t h < I SayIt Aint a Her Jr It But simplicity has its limits Uncle Billy had already guessed his real error in believing his partner was officially connected with the building his cheek had flushed and then paled again The pupils of his blue eyes had contracted into suggestive black points Ef youll let me in at that winder young fellers he said with eaual gravity Ill show ex how I kin make in box with yer small enough to go a out erampin But I only wanted to know where Jim Foster lived At which the first clerk be ame perfunctory per-functory again but civil A letter left in his box would get you that information I informa-tion he said and heres paper and pencil to write it now Uncle Billy took the paper and begun I be-gun to write Just got here Come and see ma at He paused A brilliant idea had struck him he could impress both his old partner and the upstarts at the window he would put in the name of the latest swell hotel of San Francisco Fran-cisco sail to be a fairy dream of opulence opu-lence He added The Oriental and without folding the paper shoved it in the window Dont you want an envelope en-velope asked the clerk Put a stamp on the corner of it responded Uncle Billy laying down a coin and shell go through The clerk smiled but affixed af-fixed the stamp and Uncle Billy turned away But it was a shortlived triumph The disappointment at finding Uncle Jims address conveyed no Idea of his habitation seemed to remove him farther far-ther away and lose his identity in the great city Besides he must now make gocd his own address and seek rooms at the Oriental He went thither The furniture and decorations even in these early daysof hotel building in San Franeico were extravagant and overstrained and Uncle Billy felt lost and lonely in his strange surroundings But he took a handsome suite of rooms paid for them in advance on the spot and then half frightened walked out of them to ramble vaguely through the city in the feverish hope of meeting his old partner At night his inquietude increased in-creased he could not face the long row of tables in the pillared dining room fled with smartly dressed men and wemen he evaded his bedroom with its brocaded satin chairs and its gilt bedstead and fled to his modest lodgings lodg-ings at the Good Cheer house and appeased ap-peased his hunger at its cheap restaur ant in the company of retired miners I I and freshly arrived eastern immigrants immi-grants Two or three days passed thus I in this quaint double existence Three cr four times a day he would enter the I gorgeous Oriental with affected ease and carelessness demand his key from the hotel clerk ask for the letter that I did not come go to his room gaze I vaguely from his window on the passing pass-ing crowd below for the partner he could not find and then return to the Good Cheer house for rest and sustenance susten-ance On the fourth day he received a short note from Uncle Jim it was couched in his usual sanguine but brief and businesslike style He was very sorry but important and profitable business took him out of town bqt Billy would not see all the sights before be-fore he Uncle Jim returned Disappointing Disap-pointing as this procrastination was to Uncle Billya gleam of hope iradiated it The letter had bridged Over that gulf which seemed to yawn between them at the postoffice His o d partner had accepted ac-cepted his visit to hn Francisco without with-out question and had alluded to a renewal re-newal of their old intimacy For Uncle Billy with all his trustful simplicity had been tortured by two harrowing doubts one whether Uncle Jim in his newfledged smartness as a city man such as he saw in the streets would care for his rough companionship the other vhether he Uncle Billy ought not to ten li at once of his changed fortune But like all weak unreasoning men he clung desperately to a detail idea of astounding he could not forego his old tounding Uncle Jim by giving him his share of the strike a his first intimation inti-mation of i and he doubted with more reason perhaps if Jim would see him after he had heard of his good fortune afer Uncle Billy had still a frightened recollection of Uncle Jims sudden stroke for independence and that rigid punctiliousness which had made him doggedly accept the responsibility of his extravagant stake at euchre With a view of educating himself for Uncle Jims educatng saw the sights of San Franciscoas an overgrown over-grown of somewhat stupid child might have seen themwith great curiosity but little contamination or corruption I fearhe could hardly be called a pure man for he sometimes rewarded vice as better people never rewarded virtue and there are legends still extant In tlere San Francisco of his largess to certain women who need not be otherwise I mentioned which startled them into a I sentimental yet grateful confusion But I think he was chiefly pleased with watching the arrival of the Sacramento and Stockton steamers at the wharves in the hope of discovering his old partner part-ner among the passengers on the gangplank gang-plank Here with his old superstitious I tendency and gamblers instinct he I would augur great success in his search that day i any one of the passengers bore the least resemblance to Uncle I Jim or if he had met a singlepersons j questioning eye Indeed this got to be II I the real occupation of the day which he would on no account have omitted revived each and to a certain extent I day in his mind the mornings work of their old partnership He would say to himself Its time to go and look up Jimand put off whathe was pleased I to think were his pleasures until this act of duty was accomplished In this singleness of purpose he made very few and no entangling acquaintances I acquaint-ances nor did he impart t any one the secret of his fortune loyalty reserving it for his partners first knowledge To I a man of his natural frankness and simplicity this was a great trial and was perhaps a crucial test of his devotion I de-votion When he gave up his rooms at the Oriental as not necessary after his partners absence he sent a letter with his humbler address to the mysterious mys-terious lock box of his partner without fear or false shame He would explain I I it all when they met But he sometimes some-times treated unlucky and unreturning miners to dinnerand a visit to the gal I I I lery of some theatre Yet while he had I an active sympathy with an understanding under-standing of the humblest Uncle Billy I who for many years had done his own and his partners washing scrubbing mending and cooking and saw no degradation de-gradation in it was somewhat inconsistently incon-sistently irritated by mental functions 1 in men and although < he gave extravagantly extrava-gantly to waiters and threw a dollar Ito I-to the crossing sweeper there was always I al-ways a certain shy avoidance of them in his manner Coming from the theatre the-atre one night Uncle Billy was however how-ever seriously concerned by one of these crossing sweepers turning hastily before them and being knocked down by a passing carriage The man rose and limped hurriedly away but Uncle Billy was amazed and still more irritated irrita-ted to hear from his companion that this kind of menial occupation was often of-ten profitable and that at some of the principal crossings the sweepers were already rich men I But a few days later brought a more notable event to Uncle Billy One afternoon af-ternoon in Montgomery street he recognized rec-ognized in one of its smartly dressed frequenters a man who had a few years before been a member of Cedar Camp Uncle Billys childish delight at this meeting which seemed to bridge over his old partners absence was however how-ever only half responded to by the ex miner and then somewhat satirically I In the fullness of his emotion Uncle i Billy confided to him that he was seek I ing his old partner Jim Foster and j I reticent of his own good fortune spoke I glowingly of his partners brilliant expectation I pectation but deplored his inability to I find him And just nowhe was away Ion I-on important business I reckon hes I I I got back said the man dryly I I I didnt know he had a lock boX at the postoffice but I can give you his other I I address He lives at the Presidip at Washerwomans bay H < stopped and I II looked with a satirical smile at Uncle I Billy But the latter familiar with California I Cal-ifornia miningcamp nomenclature saw I nothing strange in i and merely re I peatod his companions word Toull find him theer Goodby So j long Sorry Im in a hurry said the exminer and hurried away I Uncle Billy was too delighted With the prospect of a speedy meeting with I Uncle Jim to resent his former associates I I associ-ates supercilious haste or even to wonder why Uncle Jim had not informed I formed him that he had returned I was not the first time that he had felt how wide was the gulf between himself and these others and the thought not I only drew him closer to his old partner I as well as hisold ideasas it was now I possible to surprise him with the draft But as he was now going to surprise him in his own boarding house probably I prob-ably a handsome one Uncle Billy reflected I re-flected that he would do so in a certain I style He accordingly went to a livery stable and ordered a landau and pair I with a negro coachman Seated in it in his best and most illfitting clothes he asked the coachman to take him to I the presidio and leaned back in the cushions as they drove through the streets with such an expression of beaming gratification on his goodhu mored face that the passersby smiled at the equipage and its extravagant occupant To them it seemed the not unusual sight of the successful miner on a spree To the unsophisticated Uncle Billy their smiling seemed only a natural and kindly recognition of his happiness and he nodded and smiled back to them with unsuspecting candor can-dor and innocent playfulness These yer Frisco fellers aint all slouches I you bet he added to himself half aloud at the back of the grinning coachman Their way led through wellbuilt streets to the outskirts or rather to that portion of the city which seemed I to have been overwhelmed by shifting i sanddunes from which halfsub merged fences and even low houses barely marked the line of highway The resistless trade winds which had marked this change blew keenly in his face and slightly chilled his ardor At a turn in the road the sea came in sight and sloping towards it the great cemetery of Lone Mountain with white I shafts and marbles that glittered in the sunlight like the sails of ships wait ing to launched down that slope into the eternal ocean Uncle Billy shuddered shud-dered What if it had been his fate to seek Uncle Jim there Dars yar Presidio said the negro coachman a few moments later pointing point-ing with his whip and dars yar WashAvomans bay Uncle Billy stared A huge quadrangular quadran-gular fort of stone with a flag flying above its battlements stood at a little distance pressed against the rocks as if beating back the encroaching surges between him and the fort but further inland was a lagoon with a number of dilapidated rudely patched cabins or I cottages like stranded driftwood around its shore But there was no I mansion no block of houses no street I not another habitation or dwelling to I be seen I Uncle Billys first shockof astonishment astonish-ment was succeeded by a feeling of relief re-lief He Md secretly dreaded a meetIng meet-Ing with his old partner in the haunts of fashion whatever was the cause that made Uncle Jim seek this obscure retirement affected him but slightly he even was filled with a vague memory mem-ory of the old shiftless camp they had both abandoned A certain instinct he kpew not why or less still that it might be one of delicacyrmade him alight before they reached the first house Bidding the carriage wait Uncle Billy entered and was informed by a blousy Irish laundress at a tub that Jim Foster or Arkansaw Jim lived at the fourth shanty beyant He was at home for hes shprained his fut Uncle Billy hurried on stopped before the door of a shanty scarcely less rude than t eir old cabin and half timidly pushqd it open A growling voice from within a figure that rose hurriedly leaning on a stick with an attempt to fly but at the same moment sank back in a chair with an hysterical laugh and Uncle Billy stood in the presence of his old partner But as Uncle Billy darted forward Uncle Jim rose again and this tune with outstretched out-stretched hands Uncle Billy caught them and in one supreme pressure seemed tp pour out and transfuse his whole simple soul into his partners There they swayed each other backwards back-wards and forwards and sideways by their still clasped hands until Uncle I Billy with a glance at Uncle Jims bandaged ankle shoved him by sheer force down into his chair Uncle Jim was first to speak Caught bgosh I mig ter known youd be as big a fool as me Look you Billy Fall do you know I what youve done Youve druv me outer the streets whar I was makin an honest livin by day on three crossins Yes I he laughed forgivingly you druv me outer i by day jest because I reckoned I reck-oned that sometime I mightrun onto your darned fool faceanother laugh and a grasp of the handOand then I bgosh not content with ruinin my business by day when I took to i at night you took to goin out at nights too and so put a stopper on me there I Shall I tell you what else you did Well by the holYI owe this sprained foot to your darned foolishness foolish-ness and my own for it was getting away from you one night after the theatre that I got rim into and run over 4 overYe Ye see he went oh unconscious of Uncle Billys paling face and with a naivete though perhaps not a delicacy equal to Uncle Billyg Own I had to play roots with ydu with that lockbox lock-box business and these deters because I did not want you luiow what I was up Ito for you mighln like it and might think it was Icfwerin to the old firm dont yer see I > wouldnt have gone into it but I was played out and I dont mind tellin you now old man that when I wrote you that first chip per letter from the lockbox I hednt eat any thin for two days But its all right now with a laugh Then I got into this businessthinkin it nuthin jest the very last thing and do you know old pard I couldnt tell anybody but you and in fact I kept it just to tell you Ive made 956 Yes sir S56 solid money in Adamg tCos bank jist outer my trade I Wot trade askedUncle Billy Uncle Jim pointed to the 10 corner where stood a large heavy crossing sweepers broom That trade Certainly said Uncle Billy with A I quick laugh tIts Its an outdoor trade said Uncle Jim gravely but with no suggestion awkwardness or apology in his manner man-ner and thar aint ImucH difference between sweepin a mossin with a broom and rakin ovdf > tailfngs with A rake only wot ye got with a broom you have handed toye and ye dont have to pick it up ant fish i out the wet rocks and sluice ushin and its a heap less tirin to the back Certainly you bet said Uncle Billy enthusiastically yet with a certain cer-tain nervous abstraction Im glad ye say sbfor tyer see I i didnt know at first hovyould tumble to my doin it until Id made my pile And ef I hadnt made it I wouldnt hey set eyes on ye again old pard never Do you mind runnin out a min it said Uncle Billy rising You see Ive got a friend waitin for me outside and I reclwnhe stammered Ill 1 just run out and send him off so I kin talk comfble to eYe e-Ye aint got anybody youre owin money to said Uncle Jim earnestly anybody follerin you to get paid eh For I kin jest set down right here and write ye off a check 6n the bank No said Uncle Billy He slipped out of the door and ran like a deer to the waiting carriage Thrusting a 20 gold piece into the coachmans hand he said hoarsely I aint wantin that kerridge just now ye kin drive around and hev a private jamboose and then come I and wait for me at the top o the hill yonder hltl Thus quit of his gorgeous equipage he hurried back to Uncle Jim grasping his 10000 draft in his pocket He was nervous he was frightened but He must get rid of the draft and his story and have it over But before he could speak that he was unexpectedly stopped by Uncle Jim Now look yer Billy bey said Uncle Jim I got suthin to say to ye and I might as well clear it off my mind at once and then we can start fair again Now he went on with a half laugh wasnt it enough for me to go on pretendin I was rich and doin a big business and gettin up that lock box dodge so as ye couldnt find out whar I hung out and what I WAS doin want it enough for me to go on with all this playaetin but you you longlegged orang cuss must get up and go to lyin and playactin too Uncle Me Billy playactin Me lyin gasped Uncle Jim leaned back injhis chair and laughed Do you think you could I fool me Do you thing I didnt see through your little game o goin to I that swell oriental jest as if yed made a big strike n all the while ye wasnt sleepin or eatin there but jest wrastlin yer hash and havln ar roll dOn at the Good Cheer Do you thinr I didnt spy on ye and find that out Oh you longeared jaqkass rabbit Helaughed until the tears came into his eyes and Uncle Billy laughed too albeit until the laugh on his face became be-came quite fixed and he was fain to bury his head on the table And yet said Uncle Jim with a deep breath Gpsh I was frightedjest for a minit I thought mebbe you had made a big strikewhen I got your first letter and I made up my mind what Id do And then I remembered you was jest that kind of a open sluice that couldnt keep any thin td yourself and yould have been sure to have yelled it out to me the first thing So I waited And I found you Out you old sinner He reached forward and dug Uncle Billy in the ribs What would you hev done said I Uncle Billy after > an hysterical collapse col-lapse I Uncle Jims face grew grave again Id hev Id hev clared out Out er Frisco out er Californy out er Amur ky I couldnt hev stud it Dont think I would hev begrudged ye yer luck No man would have been gladder than me He leaned forward again and laid his hand caressingly upon his partners armdont think Id wanted to take a penny of Itbut Ithar I Wouldnt hev stood up under it To hev had you you that I left behind comin down here rollin1 in wealth and new partners and friends and arrive upon me and this shantyandhe threw toward the corner of the room a terrible terri-ble gesture none the less terrible that I was illogical and inconsequent to all that had gone beforeandafldthat broom There was a dead silence in the room With it Uncle Billy seemed to feel himself him-self again transported to the homely cabin at Cedar camp and that fateful night with his partners strange determined de-termined face before him as then He even fancied that he heard the roaring of the pines without and did not knoW II that i was the distant sea But after a minute Uncle Jim resumed re-sumed I Of course youve made n little raise somehow or you wouldnt be here Yes said Uncle Billy eagerly I Yes Ive got He stopped and stammered Ive gotafew hundreds hun-dreds 0 ho said Uncle Jim cheerfully He paused and then added earnestly I say You aint got left over and above your dd foolishness at the Oriental as much as 500 Ive got said Uncle Billy blushing a little over his first deliberate and affected af-fected lie Ive got at least 572 Yes he added tentatively gazing anxiously at his partner Ive got at least that Jee whillikins said Uncle Jim with a laugh Then eagerly Look here pard Then were in velvet Ive got 900 put your 5500 with that and I know a little ranch that we can get for 1200 Thats what Ive been savin up forthats my little game No more minin for me Its got a shanty twi e as big as our old cabin pigh on 100 acres and two mustangs We can run i with two Chinamen and just make it howl Wet yer say eh 7 He extended ex-tended his hand Im in said Uncle Billy radiantly grasping Uncle Jims hand But his Unce smile faded and his clear simple brow I wrinkled in two lines Happily Uncle Jim did not notice i Now then old pard he said brightly I bright-ly well have a gay old time tonight one of our jambooces Ive got some whisky here red herons and crackers I and a deck o cards and well have a a little game you understand but not I for keeps now No siree well play for beans I A sudden light illuminated Uncle Billys face again but he said with a grim desperation Not tonight Ive got to go down town That fren o min expects me to go to the theayter dont ye see But Ill be oilt tomorrow at sunup and well fix up this thing o the ranch Seems to me youre kinder stuck on this fren grunted Uncle Jim Uncle Billys heart bounded at his partners jealousy No but I must you know he returned with a faint laugh I say it aint a her is it said Uncle Un-cle Jim Uncle Billy achieved a diabolical wink and a creditable blush at his lie leBily Jim And under cover of his festive gallantry gal-lantry Uncle Billy escaped He ran through the gathering darkness and I toiled up the shifting sands to the top of the hill where he found the carriage car-riage waiting Wot said Uncle Billy in a low I confidential tone to the coachman wot do you Frisco fellers allow to be the best biggest and riskiest gamblin saloon here Suthin hightoned you know I The negro grinned I was the usual case of the extravagant spendthrift I miner though perhaps he had expected a different question and order I I Dey is de Polka de El Dorado I and de Arcade saloon boss he said flicking his whip meditatively Most gents from de mines prefer de Polka for dey is dancing wid de gals thrown in But de real prima facie place for gents who go for buckin agin de tiger and straightout gamblin is de Arcade Ar-cade cadeDrive Drive there like thunder said Uncle Un-cle Billy leaping into the carriage II True to his word Uncle Billy was at I his partners shanty early the next I morning He looked a little tired but happy and had brought a draft with I him for 575 which he explained was I the total of his capital Uncle Jim was I overjoyed They would start for Napa that very day and conclude the purchase I pur-chase of the ranch Uncle Jims sprained foot was a sufficient reason I for his giving up his present vocation II which he could also sell at a small profit His domestic arrangements I were very simple There was nothing j I to take with him there was everything I to leave behind And that afternoon I at sunset the two reunited partners 1 i were seated on the deck of the Napa boat as she swung into the stream I Uncle Billy was gazing over the rail ing with a look of abstracted relief toward to-ward the golden gate where the sinking sink-ing sun seemed to be drawing toward him in the ocean a golden stream that was forever pouring from the bay and I the threehiUed city beside I What I Uncle Billy was thinking of or what the picture suggested to him did not transpire for Uncle Jim who emboldened embold-ened by his holiday was luxuriating in an evening paper suddenly uttered a ongdrawn whistle and moved closer coser to his abstracted partner Look yer he said pointing to a paragraph he had evidently just read just you listen to this and see if we aint lucky you and me to be jest wot we air trustin to I our own hard work and not thinkin of I strikes did fortins Jest unbutton yer oars Billy while I reel off this yer thing Ive list struck in the papers and see what dd fools some men kin make othemselves And that theer reporter wot wrot itmust hev seed it reeJy Uncle Jim cleared his throat and holding the paper close to his eyes read aloud slowly A scene of excitement that recalled the palmy days of 49 was witnessed last night at the Arcade saloon A stranger who might have belonged to that reckless epoch and who bore every evidence of being a successful Pike county miner out on a spree appeared at one of the tables with a negro coachman coach-man bearing two heavy bags of gold Selecting a faro bank as his base of operations he began to bet heavily and With apparent recklessnes until his play excited the breathless attention of every one In a few moments he had won n sum variously estimated at from 80000 to 100000 A rumor went round the room that it was a concerted attempt to break the bank rather than the drunken freak of a western miner dazzled by some successful strike To this theory the mans careless care-less and indifferent bearing toward his extraordinary gains lent great credence cred-ence The attempt if such it was however how-ever was unsuccessful After winning ten times in succession the luck turned and the unfortunate bucker was cleaned out not only of his gains but of his original investment which may be ulaced rouglily 20000 This ex traordinary play was Witnessed by a crowd excited players who were less impressed by eVen the magnitude of the stakes than the perfect sang froid and recklessness of the player who it is said at theclose of the game with liberality tossed a 20 gold piece to the I banker and smilingly withdrew The man was not recognized by any of the habitues a < the place There said Uncle Jim as he hurriedly hur-riedly slurred over the French substantive sub-stantive at the close did ye ever see such Godfoisaken foolishness > I I Uncle Billy lifted his abstracted eyes I from the current still pouring its un I returning fold into the sinking sun and said with a deprecatory smile Never Nor even in the days of prosperity that visited the Great Wheel ranch ofFal of-Fal and Foster did he ever tell his I secret to his partner |