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Show i "PYRITES SAM. : J 1 nY n. n. nowi.ns. fTTTTtrTtTlr1ftV WE all thouprlit I'yrltca Bnm wiu a lool the very day lie utriick the ciiiii, but vcro not abxoltitoly ccrtnlu until Die nlffht ho camo In with hl pockets full of pyrites of Iron, and, toh-Iiifr toh-Iiifr each limn aside, privately Informed lilur, with many inJunetloiiM an to c-rrrcy, c-rrrcy, that ho linil discovered nml located lo-cated n brass mine. Ann rule, wo Jmcl (,'rotvn cry lred of inltlatliig cmtv tenderfoot that ramo nlont; into the noBtcrlcs o( ipiartz intulnir. riinuing tliclii the dllTcrenee between Rold-lwur-hi(r quartz and country rooUj between n truollssuroniideoutncteln; betneen f-mnlte, porphjiry, ochlnt, npiir, wrpen-tine, wrpen-tine, quarlzlle, etc.; of tretuls, cllpn, Kpurs, angles, etc.; of Hhnftn, IiiiiiicIh, slopes, I ii7CHiiud drifts; of Iheniunlp-utatlon Iheniunlp-utatlon of the horn spoon or koII pan; how to distinguish the resultant mII incut-, if gold, from mica, pyrites ormd-phurcttt; ormd-phurcttt; In 11 word, teaching thorn In an hour or two all we had learned after years of toll and nrhattoii. We had reached this stage of the "llreil feeling" feel-ing" when Kam brought In fds ,-brns" tpcclmcus, and not a man of us would tell him what It was. "Uh-huli." we said, as ho carefully exhibited bis deceptive-looking find. What did we think of ItV Why, it was a great find. unit very hlgh-grado ore if It was bram. "If" why of course it was brass; look at it; anybody euuld tee what it was. Wo admitted that tlie could; yea, anybody that Knew anything any-thing at nil. Ho wo penult ted Sam lo work nwny In Ignorance of ids claim for two weeks until he received returns re-turns from tliu samples cent to I.os Angeles for assay. Thcu the "Jlrass Monkey," as Snm called It, siiutdown, and ho went to prospecting again. , Me was so pertlstent nnd indiibtrioint in ids deiermluatlon to "strlko it rich" that wo llnally liegan to hac n fellow feeling for him nnd to nppnclatc lils pluck; sympathy he did not need. lie was Jolly and good-natured, nnd did not drink to excess, nml was never known to turn a card for money. In n friendly game. In his tent, the suggestion of "draw" at only a, dollar limit was pl-waya pl-waya met by the quiet statement Hint ho aover played for money, that ho was raised differently, and, besides, his money "came so hard" that ho knew he would bo u bad loser, lie was always ready with his sympathy when another's an-other's ledge "pinched," "petered" or "broke olT," nnd encouraged him nil he could; always hud n song or a story for n bad night, and In tho c cut of sickness or injury had home aimple icnicly in tho way of poultice thut his luothcr "uscd to use." In fact, he was one of those happy-go-lneky, light-hearted fellows, handy about camp, and a friend to everybody, but one could not get rid of the imprv&slon that he "didn't hno any moro sciue than the law allowed." al-lowed." Therefore, it was accepted as a matter of course, when a tenderfoot struck enmp one day in tho first stages of desert fever, that Sam should take entire charge of htm nnd dose him with wild sage and 'Vquaw" tea and concoct appetizing dishes with bacon, beans, rlco and Hour. As a "stnycr," malarial or chngrea fever fe-ver Is not to be compared to dceert ft er. Tho Iattor drags along and hanga on day nftcr duy, week after week, and, although tho patient may bo able to crawl about, he Is weak, debilitated nnd nerveless, and "don't enro a'rnttle out of tho box" whether ho lives or dlc. 'Pills was tho condition of thnt tenderfoot. tender-foot. During the mjddlc of the day he dragged himself about the camp in tho sun, but th- remainder of the timo ho spent in his bunk in his tent. One nlgJit, when most of the bojs were assembled in the "Ilednock," Sam came, in, and, going up to the bar, drank alone, contrary to his usual custom, then turned his back on the crowd, leaned his elbow on tho bar and gazed out into dnrkneM, at tho snme time twisting his mustache fiercely a& it worrying oer something. "What's wrong, Kam? Patient dead?" nome one nsked. "No," Mild Shin, "but 1k' 11 lwyln' up there whihin' he was, 1 tell jou, pnrtl iiers," he continued, turning to the crowd, "l'o bctm In hunt J nek injMflf fco'vo nil of n;SI guess an' seen olli-orK olli-orK tu hard luck, hut tluit poor cum up there's in the hanlcat rtreuk of luck 1 eer iee. lies plum dow 11 to bedrock an' nary color." "That's uothln', Bam; wo'e nil lieen theie many a time. Whut' the matter, out of grub'."' "Naw, he nln'tout of grub, an' won't be as loug'b Sam's got any; but It's somebody else. I got iv letWr for him to-day on the tage an' took it down to him. After ho read It lie Jest turned over with hU back to mo an' laid quiet, but purly soon I shifted to wfiere 1 could see his face, uu' I'll be denied it lie wasn't cryJn', yen, atr, oryln" like 11 baby, lie's thut weak, auu know. 1 sajs to him cusy like: 'What's the matter, pnrd?' " 'N'othlu',' he toys, 'only more hard luok.' "'Oirl gone foack on jouV 1 mhl, thlnkin' to lie oheerful an' iiiakln' up my mind to Josh him, "'No,' ho my, 'It 'ud n-beon 'bettor for her If she had long 'gc. Head that,' he sajs, an' liandixl me tids," ooncluded Saul, nuil he drew n letter from hU pocket. It was dated from an Ohio village vil-lage and read ns follows: "My Own ror ilushandi Your loving letter recslvcd ysattrtlsy, but tt found us, oh, so downhearted and wishing for papa. Dear husband, It seems that our troutles nUntw end Mr. Ithoadenhaa clianeoil jr mj.L ! -"" iM'iiMi-"-" hM mind and will loreclos the mor'gage You know lio mid lforc you went away that If w tsld the Intercut up he would let It stand awhile lohfrrr. Well, n-hen the inorlRan'' was due t sold the mw and took tamo "f the money you lifi ine to live on i owl iMid the six months' back Uilerest I Now, he ks)8, as the mortgage Ii duo he must have his money and will foreclovc 1 1 trleil all the companies and banks In bor 1 row the money to pay htm, but they all say thut 12.010 In too Me a loan on the place limy won't loan over ft.fO, and lie won't take a second tnortgaito to sc urc tho other f?"0 Yet It does "win hard, when tlio place ought to to worth three ilmis fl.COO. I've trlid every way to sell It, hut I can't get no one lo give anything above tho mortuntre. Everybody knows It Is mortgaged mort-gaged and arc waiting to buy It at sheriff's sale. Ilho.idcs knows this, too. and now be says It will save us lots of trouble and costs If wo will Rive him a uullclalm deed and surrendi r penerable possession. I Ittttgrd him to wait awhile, but after he bad learned you had gone out lo the mines he nald he would not wait a day; that ycu wen on a. wild goose ehaee, ond, dear Inn bantl, bo even Intimated that ha bcllovrd you wero neer rointng baeK lo us. That inado mo angry and I may have nald things to hint that I should not, but I could not help It- Now, dear husband, I cannot stay hero after having sold (ho cow, tbcro Is nothing to do here, you know, txeept washing and Ironing and home cleaning, nnd I am not strong enough for thnt. Mra Hlmmoim will lake Hcsslennd let her help v. Ith Hie housework and go to school, and 1 will sell the chickens, pigs ond furniture and tako little Charllo and n to Cleveland to try to get stwlng or something. It will lie, oh, so hard, but It cannot lw helped. Now, dear husband, do not worry, wo will get along some way. lUmcmber tho words or tlio prophet: 'Onco I wag young, but now I Am old, but never have I seen the righteous forsaken or their seed lagging bread.' Now, dear hueband, take caro of your health, nnd If you do not llnd anything out tB ere soon, come back to us, we miss you, oli, so much. JIvcry night llessle prs fur her papa, 'way out In Hie mines,' and that bo may find somothlng rich. You may bo sure that I ocho hcrprayeis. Write as soon as jou get this, dear hujband, for 1 tannot stay hero long, "Your loving wife, ".MAOOIK." Tills letter wns passed nroitud; two or three Mlurtcd to read it ulouil, but they brol.o down, nnd it was silently passed from one to another. It was welt for Mr. lthoadcs thnt he was not in co in p. "lie told me all about it," Raid Sam. "They wiis flvo acres In the homo place that he got from his fnthcr'n estate close to town, tin' lie bought the more Jolnln', inoitgnffin' the ten to make up tlio balance ol the money. He'd a-madc It nil fight, but times got hard, uu' first one, then another of them got sick nn he had to keep on n-iuortguglii'. He nco he could nctcr pay out, so he conic out here to sec if he couldn't strike it, lenvln' marly nil tho tntiney thej had with his wife, nil' this cuss llhoadcs so) In' that he'll let the mortgage Stan' unulher year, now dern him. See thnt stoln there That's from u bunch of tipple blossoms that was in the letter; he 'lowed they must n-beeu from the yellow harvest trees back of the garden, gar-den, poor cuss. 'Take kcer of yer health, dear liusbnn',' an' him n-lnyln' lint on his bacti tip there In his tent, without money enough for a month's grub. 'Conic back toon to us' huni-ni. l.ook here, purdncrs, let's unswer lies-sle's lies-sle's prayer, an' show this Idler llhoades whether inlnin' ischasln' wild geese ur not. Mebbc 8ntn' n dern fool, nn' 1 know he ain't got much money, but he kiii rustle. I'llgopnrty nigh my pile on it there's SO; who'n nil in on UV" and he Hummed two 20s nnd 10 on the bar. It wns Just like Sam, and w hucver heard nn appeal like that go uu-aifswcfcd uu-aifswcfcd In o mining camp? There were (lO men In tho room, nntl every man saw Sam'o ante, nnd those that did not have that amount borrowed it from their friends. In a lew moments $'.',550 in gold lay piled un the bar. Sam'o eyes glistened as lie counted the money. "Everybody's in on the game," he said; "won't he be paralyzed? Now, pardners, every one of you come down and see what he lias to say." "No nonsence, Sam; you take it down, an' tell us what he snjti to-morrow." "No, I'll be denied if I do. Some of you fellers got to come along, I ain't n-golii' to play this hand alone any longer." So three or four of us went with him. Well, there Is no use going Into details. What would1 you or uny other nwin say under tllio cireum- btauccn? llnally he wanted to gtvc us a note or send n mortgage back ns security, se-curity, but we laughed at him, and nil of us crawled) into our blnnkcts that night coobcious of "having tono something some-thing thut might balance something elso on the debit side of the recording angel's ledger. He wi too 111 to travel alone, and ut last, ufter repeated urg-Ings, urg-Ings, Sam vrtis Induced to accompany hiui. "You can bet your life," said Sam, "that I'll give Mr. llhoodca the camp's respec'n." ?tit long alter that my purtner and I left the gulch and drifted Into Cripple Creek. One day when court was in session wo dropped in tohec bow n court organlml under the code operated. "Well, I'll be d ."unuttcrcd my partner part-ner bb he pointed, to the prisoner's dock. There were two ipen iu It, I'y rites Sum ntoil the tenderfoot. Thcnirt-ccinvil to grow suddenly ulos tn the courtroom, nnd we went out. At noon we went down lo the Jail, nnd wers allowed 'to see tho prisoners. "Jlelto, Sum; how's lihoudcaV" "Hello, hello; how 'sthe boys (low nut Tough Nut?" nnd Sam nnd his jKirt-ncr jKirt-ncr grinned, "IH(k here, Swm, you done tho oauip up In gHd alMnie, mid you know we won't Miut-ul, but tell ticnhout it." "Stir; but then they til n't nothln' to till; this Is my pnrdlier, nu' there wo no fovur, no Ithoades, no Maggie, no liossle, jio Charlie, no inurtgugc, no farm, no cow , no no upplc hlosfcoms, uo linthin', but jet tno un' him." "An' 40 hiols," said my partner, as we w cut out. lie mude u brief mental cul-ouWitlon, cul-ouWitlon, then Mild: "Sum was there thrco inonMu nn' his jMixlner one, an' they cleaned up tw cho hundred un'iif-ty un'iif-ty rnoli; not lwd, Specially when they vfMiUdlu'nut from another trick they'd ill i. in hi." Across tlio street I saw u building witli swinging doors nnd red wtudows. 1 point eil to it nml naked: "Whnt'll you take, .lack?" "1 'low it '11 tnko iibout four fingers of hot Sootoh to settle my stummloL" nnd he took It. St. IxmlsOlobe-Dem-ocrat. |