Show sa t 4 0 wi o y S S old joes grubs grio alvi lb fake shahe I 1 tt by edith king latham a 1 1 11 a 11 copyright by Short tory story pub co boj old joe cuncill was a picturesque feature of life in faugl kaugers Sau gers ers pass although tho townspeople were not greatly impressed with the quaint side of the old mails character to them it was warf an old story once both comical ad pathetic but now grown stale from frocil frequent reading ever since ethe founding of kaugers Sau gers old Joe had 11 i ed in the history of the little mountain settlement at first as aa a pioneer owner of the first firof stamp mill and afterward through the sharp vicissitudes of a miners life lie he had slipped down to ills his present position of the forlorn lilt but over hopeful fortune seeker meeker his solo possessions a lanky mule a rifle ride and a meager prospecting outfit with this stock in trade lie ho was wont to sot set out on oil his expeditions through lr I 1 county P afen ofen travel ing its aa fr far south as redding alid and sometimes washing out two or three dollars a week in gold on the banks of the sacramento where it rushes through the narrow mountain canyons As it happened this year old joe cuncill Cun nIll had varied ills his usual program by remaining till nil winter and well into the summer in kaugers Sau gera gers and it was not until one morning in july that he and his mule were seen in marching order slowly making their way down the countin road toward the south three men sitting on the veranda of the shasta house were discussing a new mining boom suddenly one of them slapped his knee and brought his chair down with a thud orthe oa jhc thc fi figg r 1 say boys ive got an idea give us some fun and set up ull the an tient prospector in the highest heaven of joy lets grubstake him I 1 loud bursts of laughter greeted the proposition hut but after a little the hugeness of the joke began to appeal sty angly to these prominent citizens of kaugers Bau Sau gers an hour later the bewildered old man plodded in a daze beside his yack tack mule with the pleasant 1 I esq she jest cried she was so glad to see me lion alon of a hearty meal and the arnaz ing reality of three brilliant twenty dollar gold pieces clanking their shining sides against each other in hip pocket the grubstake was kept a secret between the three partners of old joe 4 who amused themselves by mysterious lous allusions to a wonderfully rich new syndicate but no amount of argument could persuade them to reveal more than this the rumor grew that the mill owner the storekeeper eted the hotel man had haq had aquiat a quiet up tip on a big thing and ad the klie town to n was w s prepared for the announcement that the syndicate r cate had out the tha place or that monster improvements were to be in 1 produced trod at kaugers Sau gers but they were totally unprepared a for tile the announce j ment which burst upon the little town i toward the last of october the bosti postmaster haster reb received rebelled elved word from his brother inlaw in law charley charle mason Al asoli who farmed between shasta and red ding that old joe carmill had struck pay ciril darf the portion of the letter concerning joes fortunes ran as follows A baff B ix piece of news for kaugers Sau gera gers 1 44 af spread it Wa around round old joe has made his 7 strike tit at last ne neit ilea it in it tats time sure got anotoli another 1 cr tellers fellers claim cheap wait valt for or ahe lie amay but experts say its tile the sure auro thing better make a 4 little fuss over the old feller welcome home etc it was all quoc duj sudden let nie know how he bk rot got home bome vm im going Z down to t 0 S F tomorrow to morrow forgot to say 0 o e leaves on tile the 1110 1140 strain thursday morning yours CHARLEY t tile the news spread like wildfire through kaugers Sau gers and in less than an hour after the letter was read everybody know knew the story of the three double eagles and their sequel the three men who had grub grubstaked staked the successful miner were the most surprised of all A reception committee was appointed to welcome the lucky miner I 1 on oil thursday morning Sa kaugers Sau gers tigers rose early and decorated the buildings on main alain street with garlands of spruce and ali and cotton flags left over from tile the last lait fourth of july celebration half an hour before train time the platform of the little railway station was crowded with expectant sauger ites all the jokes of the past six months were revived to while away the long moments before the train was due but no joke was as potent to bring a laugh as the idea of the entire town of kaugers Sau gers pass turning out to honor the arrival of old joe Clin cunnell nill whom three months before tile the very dogs had not considered worth a bark an echoing whistle from far down the canyon at last bi ought brought silence an and I 1 tho the crowd mado made way for the reception committee to step close to the track with a warning screech scree cli from the engine and A clanging of the bell th the 1 train swept around a curve rumbled over the bridge and stopped putting impatiently kaugers Sau gers held its oreath ordath at last a familiar figure was seen to descend front from the high steps all aboard ab oaid shouted the conductor signaling na ling the e engineer gincer ri As the engine began to gather momentum slowly in puffy jerks for the upgrade up grade run there was spilled from the second day coach an accumulation 0 of t females of assorted sizes which P plied fled up in a heap on the cindery path beside the track then rose one by one and meekly tagged the steps of joseph Cun cuncill nill capitalist the train crept out of 0 sight eight around the curve but kaugers Sau gers did not know it the brass band was silent and the reception committee stood stock still and stared stupidly the committee at last regained its presence of mind and stepped up to old joe but sau gers gars guest of honor was timidly ma king tor for the trail behind the station was the short cut to the town isaac pendleton stopped him Il hero billere too joe old follow fellow you aint coln to give us the cold shoulder are you what you in such a hurry for old joe glanced gla 0 aced nervously at the storekeeper then at the unusual crowd crowl ills his face turned ashen lie he clutched at his wrinkled throat you aint coln to make me swing for it air ye he be pleaded piteously the reception committee laughed its turned ills his head sure no joe mr air pendleton replied tills this judge lynchs lyncha party though all the other prominent officials are out but to honor you come on to the bus and tell us its all about it but joe fell to trembling so BO that he could scarcely stand ask ask her shell tell ye lie he stammered pointing behind him the gaze of the crowd was transferred to the aggregation ot of females which presented dented a shrinking front to the public eye the oldest ot of about 45 summers unkempt and forlorn eyed gathered the youngest aged two to her breast grouped around her the remaining seven ranging from 18 down and cast her eyes on the ground in frightened confusion the old miner braced himself and tu turned arned bravely toward the crowd well ye see mr air pendleton he said keeping his eye on the mild faced storekeeper it was like this I 1 was prospect in a smile went the rounds of the crowd an that night the mule died an I 1 was peggin along afoot kinder lonesome an I 1 come across down the creek a woman and eight eig lit kids what their husband and father had died a week before and shed been doln odd jobs round the diggins and was clean beat out an ail lonely like well when I 1 come along she jest cried she yas was so glad to soe see me cause I 1 looked like her old dad an the children called me grandpas grand pap an she was goin to pull up stakes nn make tracks for the poor farm so I 1 aez come along with me to the parsons the one what peddles ills his gospel talk through tile alie country aez 1 I because there seem to bo be also ISO to do seelia how sho she have no per an ali I 1 thought liebbe yo bo be terrible put out gentle men ilion if r used the rest of the money to como come back to sauger Snug ers IS nu an set up tip mely maly nn an the children childre ii the crowd was very quiet but what nebout your our pile joe asked ling after a moment illow how much and where did you make the strike strike repeated joo joe in bewilderment 1 I ninke make none this time less aloiys the t e strike A groan ran through the multitude disappointment was pictured on a 1 hundred faces some looked fairly menacing it was not often that kaugers Sau gera gers be stirred itself as it had for this occasion which had ended so BO absurdly they tile would bo be a butt for the ridicule of the whole county suddenly the hotel man stopped stepped up to the woman and spoke to her in a low tone then lie ho faced the crowd coys boys youre the poor pool crit to death with tho the tender beelin for charley mason alason alarin out of your eyes the reception committee will be responsible for the up of a testimonial to that gentleman you leave that to us its but were a pack of fools just the same not to see that tills this Is the biggest joke in california bigger than the Barne barieses ses strike if old joo joe bring back nine times more than wo we expected then im c crazy r a zy whoever heard of a claim that panned out such nuggets as these here pointing to the eight young women 1 I find filid 11 he continued that this estimable lady mrs joseph cun la Is a past master at the wash tub what do you say to setting her up in the grubstake laundry and requesting that heathen clothes des destroy troy er chin lee to seek another sheep range s gave a lusty roar dark clark had touched a vulnerable spot every man who wore a collar clutched at its ragged edges with ono one hand and throw threw his bis hat la in the air with tho other tile the bus was filled with kaugers Sau gers guests on its way to town and the imported band was not wasted it was not equal to the wedding march but old joe and ills his wife and her progeny rode in state to supper at the shasta house quite as blissfully to the tune of A ilot hot time in the old town tonight to night |