Southern Utonian | 1888-03-02 | Page 2 | Big Ben and the Waif

BIG BEN AND THE WAIF were we afraid ot of dig big ben well yes to a certain limit there were five fire of us in a bit of 0 cabin out in the silver country arid and big den ben was boss of the ranch for or several reasons first and foremost he was too much for any one of single handed and secondly lie had many good points about him while he was overbearing and brutal at times lie ho was the best miner in the party and no bad luck could discourage him with any one else as boss we wa should have scattered at once for the winter was coming on and we had been down on our luck lick all the fall break up hunt for luck sneered big bon ben whenever anything was said about abandoning our claim well Wel lyou you are a lot of coyotes a cussed bad lot you yon got the pluck ofa of a sick wolf avol 0 11 I some of you try toavalu to walk off and leave me in the lurch yes I 1 would D j your eyes but ill turn to and lick the hull bull crowd out of your boots it if I 1 hear bear another growl big den ben insulted us a dozen times a day and on three tarco or four occasions he laid hands on us in a violent way but somehow wo we stuck there As I 1 told you vou lie ho was a practical miner the ilar hardert dest worker in the lot and wo we leaned on him in spite of 0 the fact that we hated bated him we could coald have shot him bici down in some of the quarrels and the verdict would lave have been served liim him light but we knew that he bad a good heart down indis in his bosom and the hand which clutched knife or pistol was always restrained ono one afternoon while I 1 was minding the cabin and the other men were ivere at work in the tunnel or shaft a stranger entered he had come up from the forks three miles mile away lie ire wasa was a boy of ac or thereabouts n m ith a girls voice and shyness and lie he was hungry and in in rags it was bitter cold slid and yot yet his clothing was ivas of the thinnest land kind anil ami he had hungered so long that lie ha was more than a shadow I 1 A welcomed and fed and warmed him and then lie told me that his name was charley mand bland and that lie he had wandered out there to look for hi his s brother james from whom he had received no word for two tn o or three years they were orphans and both had been bound to farmers in illinois both had been ill III used and charley finally followed tames example in running away this boy had been knocking around the silver camps for six months sometimes meeting friends and sometimes treated like a dog and lie had found no trace of his brother some one down at the gulch it was v as it abruel cruel thing to do had told him that james was ot dt our camp and lie he hall had perilea periled his life to come up there arid and tee iee i ee on that day as I 1 shall never forget there was a 1 foot of snow on tho the ground a blizzard raging and tho the thermometer marked 10 begs below zero the boy w was asleep when the men returned from tho the shaft big ben was out of sorts at tho the way things had been going and no sooner did he hear and see the lad ind than he be called out lie ile cant stay here another lien hour we dont run a poor house housa and wo ave let no be baby laced faced swindler eat cat our hard earned provisions IllA ill work vork ill work albard as hard as ever I 1 can protested the boy with a sob in his throat threat theres no work for you youve got to move on to tho the camp above 71 the tour fell of us protested in chorus and we iva took such a firm stand that deadly weapons drawn arid would have been need but for the action of the boy lie v ais terribly frightened over the row lie had biad been the innocent ia cause of and as the fiur of as biad gour pistols leveled at big berland ben and meant to shoot it if he moved a foot tho the boy opened the cabin door arid and glided out into the dark and bitter night with the silence and swiftness ot of a ii shadow hadow yon are his hia murderer we said to big bl den ben as we are lox lowered cred our weapons and he growled D if we bookin took in every acting glewwe elar we should be crowded out of 0 house bonse nud and home before new years what Is it to us whether lie he lives or dies I 1 think he felt conscience stricken within the hour hofei er as ho be went to the door and acted ca as it he hoped to see the lad standing outside the boy had been gone halt half an hour before we fully realized what his going meant and then ihen two of us went out olit with the lan lantern terii and be tearched arched and called for him the snow tras iraa being whirled about in a furious manner and the wind was rising to a gale and tile the bitter cold drove us ns back lifter after a quarter of 0 an hour it was vai true that we ave had little enough to eat and that we ne n e were cramped cramp tI in our cabin but tile the idea of driving that pale pala faced orphan boy out dut to freeze was waa something we could riot not get over it was just the thing needed to ot us up in rebellion against our boss iund nd that night we ave throw off the yoke and gave it to big ben right and left we had two or three rows before bedtime and all turned in sulky und and indignant whew but what a night that wasl tho the cold increased until the rocks were split and the wind roared until our cabin threatened to topple over nt at every blast at midnight Es dig den ceil crept calef carefully eliy ont ot df his bed and opened tho the door and t then lien I 1 almost forgave him tor for his brutality conscience had been ceu at work and bli heart bear was touched lie ho hoped to find the boy crouched on oil tile the threshold ind and I 1 heard him sigh and mutter to himself ns as ho he shut tho the door and returned to ills his blankets the strongest binau in our party clad is aa we ave were for the winter could not have stood against that blizzard h 1 alf en an hour and I 1 fell to brearn of finding I 1 poor charleys frozen corpse corle on the trail leadin leading down to tho forks and of his big blue als eyes being wide open and staring tit it me in III ti a reproachful way vor for next morning wo we hid had sonae some canned opened a new can rion flora our slim store wo it bitout autv and all ate our full shares and were on t the he point of starting out to search tor for the boy when ono one of tile the rien men was taken ill inside Insi doot of halt half an hour bour till nil of 0 us were taken flown down with bains nains arid and cramps arid it w avns 3 evident that thai wo we had been poisoned by t tue meat goliad wo had no antidote of any sort and ono one after another ent to bed to suffer tho the most agonizing pains and to lobe loa consciousness big ben bell was tho the hardest lift hit of all while 1 I perhaps suffered the lea least t tv that at is while nil the others raved and shouted and lost their senses I 1 was all the time dimly conscious of everything going on the blizzard was still raging in and d the thermometer was in marking arking a still lower degree when the door opened and charley walked in I 1 saw him but I 1 was flighty and it seemed to me that he v ia as dead I 1 remember his big looking down upon each of us in a strange scared way and starting to retreat when one of too the men shouted 1 a I loud curse I 1 was tile first to come back to life as it were and that was twenty tour four hours after being first taken the pains were gone as I 1 opened my eyes but I 1 was weak and wretched wiet wi etched chod like ono one just over a terrible fever tho the boy charley was wag standing before nio me as I 1 opened my eyes and he bent down and whispered YOU xou have nil all beau terribly sick and I 1 think one man is dead can call you eat something I 1 did feel a 1 bit hungry and I 1 had no sooner signified signi fled it than ho he came to me all with ith a bowl of broth As I 1 afterward learned tile the storm had driven a couple of hares to eck feck f shelter at the door and lie ho had bad secured both of them lie did not know the cause of our sickness but stis suspected some calamity and wis was prepared to feed us as soon as is we could eat cat it seemed that thac when big ben drove him out he stumbled into the ravine a quarter of it a mile away and found shelter under a ledge itow how lie kept from freezing to loath death that night leaven heaven only knows indeed heaven preserved him it froze our water arater pail solid when standing within six alx lx feet of the lire fire and there lie wan out in tile tho cold in iii a threadbare suit morning lorning came ho he returned to the cabin tp to make one moro more appeal NO I 1 to iad found us suffering and out of our minds and the fire about gone goine out had it riot not been for him we should have frozen stil 1 I as i pokers jokers for on that lay day it avas sl of begs below belov zero all lay day long arid and kt it went down almost to 40 dogs when night came on the boy kept up a rous iii fire dressed his rabbits for soup and all dagand day and an all night louz ions ha be kept forcing strong coffee down conr threats that doubtless helped us its to pull through or at least four of us its tho the other inan whose name was avas hale had his teeth firmly cleu clenched bleached cle ached ched dmd from tho the way liis his features were distorted and his limbs drawn up it was evident that lio lie died in great reat agony in III of 0 hours 1 I was able to be ba up and assist charley in a caring for the others but it was far into night before the last hut man mail could uso ilse liis ills tongue in r n sensible manner I 1 it t was big ben and when consciousness returned and he be saw the white faced boy ending bending over him tho the great tyrant u whispered bisp ered aye tho corpse of thola lad has risen up tip to confront and accuse nia me it was a cruel thing I 1 ed did to drive him wit out and alid tile lord will never forgive me for icv it I 1 while out of danger dan or we were yet weak and almost helpless and none of us lis could attend the ire fire or do a bit of cook cooking ina tor for nearly a week tho the whole work den devolved olal d upon the boy and no one could h ve dona better lie ho was cook ri nurse doctor and protector all in ill orr on ile he got three more mora I 1 ciares aares and a couple of birds and I 1 dont believe ft a spoonful of tho the broth went down his ov n thi bloat oat well we 1 l 1 I for one had been watching big ben to ece cee what licA lie would rould do 10 the first moment hoaas ho was able to sit up ho called charley and pulled the frail little fellow down on his big breast paying it if only forgive me ill pray to the lord to do the sa same salio lio im rough and wicked but to turn a lad ake I 1 ke you out alt 01 0 doors on such a night as that me at all old satan must have I 1 had d possession of me ine 11 that great bis big fellow cried like a child find and charley cried with him ind and I 1 in might as well oi awit n up ahat wo all cried what made it more colemn was the fact tb that tbt t wo we had a corpse at the door when it was V as known low that italo hale was dead none of tho the other four of m u could lift a liand band how the boy got tho the body out of doors I 1 never could understand but get it out lie didi did arid and fraas it was three long mon months t Is b before c fore wo we could give it christian burial on oa the morning alien we ave all got out of 0 bed fc feeling pretty strong again charley went to bed 11 ith a fever and bea before ore noon was raving crazy I 1 tell you it was awful to hear him cry out every few ral minutes ti in his delirium i oh bell dont drive no me out crt ml work ill dorkas ork as bar hard its as I 1 can aitu ill 1 every very cry went through the mg big fellow like a bullet lie ile nursed and soothed the poor boy with nil all tho the tenderness lio lie could command and two or three times carried him about in his big arms as a father would his ailing babe there wasa was a doctor at tho the forks and after dinner big ben braved the blizzard and made tho the trip down and back bacic the doctor could not be induced to return with him olvin owing g to the cold but he be sent bome med medicine icille poor charley was beyond human aid lloA however vever lie raved j of f a through throng t tin dot anoon and midnight night and next orning morning truck struck with loath death ilia his mind ind camol camel anc to him at tho the last and as we stood olvea im ho he calmly said baid 1 I knowing te going to die but im not afraid I 1 I 1 ra fa father and mother it in I 1 heaven chaps brother james I 1 ia 3 there too its sd will 10 w all f elt 11 bad enough bis big den ben was 1 compia broken brokell down ile ho got down on nr hi pea es aud and begged charley to borgi forgive ve hin javIl avil I 1 never saw a man ian feel the an act as he did ay acs Cs il III a t pvc va you replied tile boy alft d if yoi y to god heu hell forgive too las has it comi com taht so soan soon again no my 11 answered one of the mm imen tal ind ant I 1 ct cl i see any of you any more ile goodby good by t me talco take your liand land tor for ca C and thi that ho he breathed his last and jhc thc there lw were e a tavo two to rest in the amov 1 until uie spring i g came did dad you ever hear of charley G gulch leb yes of course you have and if you ou have passed that way you have seen t ofle 0 boys grave the head board contal contains s only tile name cut deep by dig big dens eife lut but tile story of the boys lievois has been told iu in every mining ca barap MP I 1 im ul ne nevada vada a and nd it haa bas never been told without brinling moisture to the eyes eves of all listeners yew york sun