SANS FAMILLE
By ROY NORTON
■c
]■
E came to Holcomb quietly
and unobtrusively, with a
large tag carefully tied
round his left arm bear
ing a printed legend which
bore evidence of laborious
painstaking on the part of
not entirely acquainted with the Eng
lish tongue. It read as follows:
are nine-year old and orphlng.
, an ' Michel Lafayette, who
* or P; 5 Holcomb. She's big camp In Ster
boy have billet In en
K(> t0 s,, ' hes fathalre. Be
ilnd and shove heem along, s'il vous plait.
Mes name Is Jean Oulllot
some one
Lafayette.
And Jean Guillot, a pathetic little
figure, worn by long Journeying in
iteerage, second-class railway coaches
*nd bumping stages, bore ample
marks that the instructions had been
literally followed and that he had
dergone much "shoving along.'
was the last to alight from the inte
rior of the old Concord when, with
■hrilUng brake and loud clattering
halt, it stopped before the "Gold Dig
ftnd he was so stiff and sore from
constant Jolting that he almost fell
when his wooden sabots struck the
ground. He straightened himself up,
drew his grotesquely big cloak around
him, and peered from beneath his
chapeau with bright, fearless, Inquir
ing eye b at the group of miners who
surrounded him.
un
He
He was a curiosity to them, in his
peasant garb which smacked so
strongly of the provinces of far-away
France, and beside, he waB the first
hoy to Invade this camp high up In
the hills where men wrought for gold,
fought for it and then with equal fer
vor gambled or danced It away when
the day's work was done.
"A mighty little cuss to come so far
alone," commented the stage agent as
be looked from the letter of Instruc
tion In his hand to the. boy. "Ain't
none of us here, I reckon, ever done
ao such travelln'.''
"Might git him to give a lecture,"
tome one suggested, and others passed
equally facetious remarks; but
through It all Jean Guillot Lafayette,
still studying the faces around him,
stood mute.
The sun had set some time before,
painting the top of solemn Old Baldy's
snow-cap a warm red and filling the
summer air of the dead day with a
singular languorous quietude. Thus It
wan that when the stage-agent vented
an exclamation on reading the tag on
the traveler's arm It was beard by all.
He stood away from the lad. shoved
the brim of his hat back with an awk
ward gesture, and stared In pertur
bation at the others of the group.
"Good Lord!" he ejaculated In dis
tress. "Good Lord!" .while the men
of the hills looked at him questlon
Ingly.
"Boys," he said, "this little feller
was sent for."
They shifted on their feet, some of
them taking a step or two forward,
and waited for the agent to continue.
"Mike Lafayette was his father."
They grew suddenly quiet. ''And I
expect the reason the boy came Is be
cause his folks in France Is all dead.
The tag says he's an orphan.'
"And God knows he's one now, for
sure," muttered another.
"Anybody hye who can talk
French ?"
The silence which followed Indicat
ed that no one spoke that vastly for
eign tongue. Spanish would have been
at their command, but French—no.
"How In the deuce eue we to tell
him that his daddy—you all knew him
— was killed In a cave-ln almost a
week ago?" the stage agent began;
but that difficulty was unexpectedly
overcome by the boy himself, who
■poke for the first time.
"Eat ees to say, monsieur,' he said
In painstaking English, "zat I now
have no fathalre to meet? That he
Is mort? My fathalre Michel Lafay
ette Is keeled?"
He had planted himself squarely
before the stage agent, selecting him
aa the man in authority. His capot
had been thrown back with one wide
appealing gesture until its two flap
ping ends rested across his shoulders,
exposing his sturdy brown legs and
voluminous breeches of homely drill.
His Ups trembled vaguely and his se
rious brown eyes threatened a flood
of tears.
The agent looked at him with a
world of kindly sympathy, and then
at the others. Jean stared at them
after another as If demauiding an
one
explanation, and each in turn dropped
hla eyes before this brave picture of
anlsery.
The boy's hands, after one Impul
sive, halting movement toward hla
eyes, waved an expressive, open-fin
gered gesture of despair, dropped
back to hla sides and then clasped
themselves together. He was learn
ing to know and cross palms with
tragedy, and with none to help him
In his battle.
"Eet ees, then, that I, Jean Guillot
Lafayette, am sans faunllle; that I
have nosslng — nos-slng — no
Voila!"
There was some bitter, vibrant un
dercurrent of grief In the plaintive,
precise drawling of the "l have nos
slng, no one," that made a mourn
ful appeal for sympathy, and with one
Impulse the men surged forward and
surrounded him, those who were near
est dropping to a knee to bring their
statures on a par. The first to proffer
compassion and the one to whom the
turned after one quick com
one.
orphan
FIREB0AT NEW YORKER'S CAT
the New Yorker warn ranging 1
Was Rescued From a Big Water
side Fire That Swept Pier
14 Last Summer
Kitty
The fireboat New Yorker has for a
bons- pet in the shore quarters of Its
at the Battery a cat that was res
waterslde fire; the big fire
June swept pier 14, North
men
cued at a
that last
river, at the foot of Fulton street, says
the Sun.
While
F. L. Nelson
prehenslve glance was big Andy Ken
dall. Not that Big Andy was prepos
sessing, for he was of the gray-eyed,
lean-jawed type that would scarcely
be selected as sympathetic.
Jean's aplomb gave way to a tem
pest of tears as he sought refuge In
the strong, shielding arms and burled
his face against the broad,
stretched shoulder whose blue shirt
pillowed his face. His ill-shapen peas
ant hat fell off unheeded when he
lifted clear of the ground as his
lector stood erect.
"Boys," the miner announced, "I'm
goln' to take the little cuss. He looks
good to me, and I've got plenty of room
up at my place."
It was so like a decision that they
felt called upon to nod acquiescence,
and opened out for him as he marched
away up the hillside to his cabin in
the dull of the evening, picking his
way around boulders and carrying the
boy who was sans famille. They stood
without a word until they Baw his
door open and close, and then turned
again to each other.
"Well l'U be hanged!" the agent
said : and in th|s they concurred, find
ing great poverty of expression in
such an unusual combination of cir
cumstances. Besides, they were not
men of much speech.
The coming of Jean Oulllot I-afay
ette acted as a damper on Holcomb
that night, and In the huge log dance
hall the singing of the fiddlers and
strumming of the guitars failed to
evoke the usual hilarity. Even the
games beneath their shaded tin lamps
were poorly patronized, and the gen
tlemen who dealt them and garnered
much thrift thereby joined the group
which listened to all the stage agent
had to Impart.
It was scant enough; merely that
the boy had beeu handed over by the
railway uificials at Los Angeles, to
gether with jvhat was left of his tick
et and a letter of instruction which
had been passed from hand to hand
in the course of its travels until It
was begrimed and stained by many
thumb and finger marks.
it waB from the village cure of
"Monttgny sur Vingeanne," wherever
that might be.
It was a kindly letter, In which the
good old priest bared a portion of his
heart In telling of tbe love he had
long felt for "the petit Jean, whom I
christened, and whose mother, a very
good femme of excellent family, I had
the pleasure of burying."
They couldn't quite understand the
use of the word "pleasure,' but passed
It by as a slip of English. There was
an undernote of vanity also In the
naive statement that "he's good Eng
lish speak, because have not I, the
cure on Montigny sur Vingeanne, him
taught? I who have traveled far and
been to Angleterre?"
Up in the cabin on the hill the ar
rival had sobbed himself to sleep In
Kendall's arms long before the moon
came up, and the camp had lost some
of Its interest and turned back to old
er ways In response to the seductive
clicking of the roulette-bails nud the
strident Invitation of the strings.
Even in the shadow of distress It was
neither fitting nor natural that every
thing should come to a halt because of
an unwonted happening.
But Andy Kendall didn't come down
from bis cabin that night, nor was
he thinking of the morrow's work and
his "diggings," the most prosperous
of all, where twenty men answered
his beck and call and tore for him
from the earth the scales of potent
gold. He sat on his threshold, total
ly unconscious of the softened music
of the dance hall In the flat below,
and in the wreaths of smoke from
his pipe built castles around Jean
Oulllot Lafayette.
When the sun approached In the
morning and by Its call awoke the
thrumming life of the hills, Andy tip
toed from his bunk, and with stentorl
ous splutterings washed his face In
the tin basin Just outside the cabin
door.
He was Interrupted by a foreign sal
utation, "Bon Jour, monsieur," and on
peering up through the cascade of
soapy water, which rivuleted from the
brown mop of hair across his eyes,
behold his guest.
"Hello, young feller," he returned,
with a kindly grin. ''Feelln' better,
are you? That's a good boy."
And then, his nose rubbed to a shin
ing ruddiness by the aid of a coarse
towel, he refilled the basin and ex
tended a homely Invitation for Its
use. He whistled as be busied himself
frying crisp the long slices of bacon
for their morning meal, and laughed
when he discovered Jean watching In
open-mouthed amazement the deft
ness with which he threw huge flap
jacks Into the air, turning and dex
terously catching them In mid-flight
as they fell.
"Eet ees valre clevalre," remarked
Jean In frank admiration. "Monsieur
Is un bon prestidigitator. He Is what
you call a zhugglure. Eb, Is It not
so? Très bien!"
Once again Kendall broke Into a
great hearty laugh, but It failed to pro
voke so much as a smile from the
was
pro
I
grave-eyed exile who merely looked
astonished. They sat down to their
breakfast together, and the boy an
swered questions with no abatement
of seriousness.
Apparently he was i
studying tha problem of this new life !
along In the slip to the south and
throwing tons of water there was seen
walking back and forth on the string
piece a kitten. Death was close to it
on both sides, on one hand from the
fire and on the other from the deep wa.
ter, but whether from intelligence or
just simply by instinct, the kitten
stuck to the stringplece, drenched with
water. And now the pilot of the New
Yorker sheered her In a little closer,
and as she slid slowly past with all her
pipes playing a man stepped up with
one foot on the boat's rail and the
other on tbe stringplece of tbe wharf
Into which unkind fate had thrown
him, and coming to a conolualon.
Whan hit sparing meal was finished
he drew his shoulders up with an
Inimitable little shrug of rare elegance
and began:
"Monsieur—ah—pardon I do not
know your name?"
"Kendall. Andy Kendall," the min
er rejoined, staring at his strange In
terlocutor with his open mouth pur
sed Into something approaching a
whistle of astonishment, while his
gray eyes twinkled humorously.
"Ah, merci! Monsieur Andahken
dal, I am now sans famille. I must
the work get. The good cure"—and
here his eyes suddenly filled with
moisture at abruptly recalled memories
of home—"the good cure said to me
when I the long voyage start: 'Jean,
my leetle son, remember sis: You
must always pay as you go. Eet ees
a long journay you take, ail through
your life eet ees a long Journay,
Sometimes the way ees hard; but,
mon cher, you must always pay as
you go; even If through your nose.'"
He paused and bravely blinked away
the gathered tears, while the miner
coughed loudly to conceal his own
strangely Intermingled desires to
laugh and cry.
"Yes," he questioned, "and what
now?"
"I am without family and must pay
as I go," was the response In the
same precise English.
"Don't you worry about that! You
are goin' to live with me. You don't
have to work You're to be my son,
and-''
"Hut eet ees not my fathalre you
are." interrupted his guest, with a
slight tone of wistfulness, "and—and
I must pay as I go."
Plainly Jean was declining adoption,
although it appeared attractive. Big
Andy made no reply but ate steadily,
lifting his eyes between mouthfuls to
stare in kindly fashion at the boy
who gave an equally frank and un
abashed Inspection to his host.
"Don't you like me, young feller?"
Kendall asked as he folded his arms
and leaned dangerously far back on
the rear l"gs of his wooden stooj.
Jean tlulHot Lafayette slowly and
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"YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK.
YOU'RE TO BE «Y SON.»
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO
with exactitude made parallel rows
with his knife, fork and spoon across
his plate, daintily wiped his fingers
on the borders of his somewhat soiled
handkerchief and folded and placed It
In his pocket before answering:
"Yes, Monsieur Andahkendal, I lak
you valre much. You are valre big
and kind; but—you eat the food wiz
your knife."
There were great condemnation and
reproof In his tone. Andy's arms un
folded, and bis chair resumed Its nor
mal position on the floor while he
gaped In open-mouthed astonishment
at his monitor. Then with a shriek
of amusement be doubled over the ta.
ble. The boy, with the utmost grav
ity, as though fascinated by the widely
open mouth and firm, white teeth,
scrutinised him until he gained self
control and assumed a look of con
trition.
"Do you think, General Lafayette,"
he said, "that If I were to stop knife
gobbling and try to be civilized
again, you could conscientiously adopt
me as a father?"
And Jean Guillot, after Inquiring the
exact definition of the unknown term,
agreed that he would consider such
a possibility, but politely added that
he thought It might take some time
to reach a conclusion. A strange dor
mant wisdom of fatherhood must have
taught the big miner the right road
to the little foreign heart which held
him aloof and refused to enshrine him
in a dead man's place, for from that
minute he no longer urged the plan
of auioptlon but treated with Jean Gull
lot on a different basis. He negoti
ated with him as a man, only the
twinkling of his eyes betraying his
discovery of humor In the situation.
"I'm a trifle short of help," he an
nounced. "Now, you say you want to
pay as you go. Well, I'll give you a
chance; I'll hire you.
Jean Guillot became all attention,
and with an unsmiling face watched
I him.
i
! water to the miners, and If you think
"1 want to hire a man to carry
it
and lifted the kitten safely to the fire
boat's deck.
After the fire was out and the New
Yorker had gone back again to tie up
at the Battery they took the kitten
ashore and installed her In the house
on the wharf. They have never given
her a name; they called her Kitty
when they got her and she's been
called Kitty ever since.
Kitty Is now a full grown cat, and
she Is a trim, good-looking animal. She
Is at home everywhere about the housp
and on the wharf and not a bit shy,
jf'.'u'r* strong enough HI gtvs you the
Job."
"Jobl Job? What ees you would
give ms? What you call 'job,' mon
sieur?"
"It's
ment."
"Ah! Tries bien!"
"And IT! pay you an ouaae a month,
and you're to live here with me." He
fathomed the look of perplexity and
hastened to explain. "An ounce of
gold is—let me see—I think it's about
a hundred francs of your money, un
less I've clean forgot all I learned
when I was a kid."
The boy's eyes slowly opened until
they were very big and round, and
then relaxed into such a smile of de
light that they were almost shut. It
was a fortune, and the engagement
was closed. And thus a water car
rier was installed Into the workaday
life of tne Jumper mine, which at first
created much amusement for the
rough but good hearted gang who
worked it.
True, the creek, clear and limpid
and cool, ran directly through the
ground and nearly always within
reach; but when the situation was
explained the men went athirst rath
er than cause grief and disappoint
ment by declining to drink from the
bright tin pail. If they resorted to
the brook It was surreptitiously, and
no one could ever forget the look of
anguish In the carrier's eyes when he
discovered this breach of etiquette;
but he said nothing, for he was en
tirely undemonstrative and all of life
with him was a very serious business.
In time he became "the general"
by common consent.
Once the general's Industrious legs
grew tired and he succumbed to the
inviting shade of a big flr tree which
treacherously sang a song of the free
winds and lulled him to sleep. It was
hard to forgive himself for this lapse,
and that night big Andy Kendall, smo
king his pipe and reading one of those
rare treasures, a month-old newspaper,
heard a few small, whimpering Bobs
from his helper's bunk.
He went over and knelt beside It,
tenderly reaching a long muscular arm
situation. Employ
-er
«
across and drawing the general to
him.
"What Is It, old man?" hs said In
aoftneas,
home
a voice of unaccustomed
fancying that desolation and
sickness were torturing his protege.
Perhaps they did have something to
do with It. The little hands slid slow
ly up around his neck, and he felt his
heart beat with sheer delight, but he
did not speak because he knew it
was not the way. He bided hla time
until the general, stifling his
vouchsafed an explanation.
"You will me no longer like. Mon
sieur Andahkendal, because, because
I went to what you call pound my
dam ear."
sobs,
And the big miner, shuddering with
suppressed laughter, assured him with
many caresses that sleep
crime, but was considered a water car
rier's inalienable prerogative and, in
deed, a part of bis bounden duty.
Andy Kendall underwent a subtle
change after the arrival of the general.
Before then be haul gambled as did all
men of Holcomb. Before then he had
been known to drink when In tbe
mood, and had blithely danced when
so Inclined; but now the mellow
green of the layout and ha were
strangers, he seemed Immune from
drouth, and danced no more.
One speech of his. made but a day
or two after the exile's arrival, was
long remembered. It was when some
of the women of the dance hall ven
tured to protest against his laying full
claim to the boy whom many would
have taken to satisfy the ever hun
gry mother love. They unwisely asked,
with reckless taunts and Ill-tuned
jeers, by what right he had taken tbe
no
lad.
"You want to know why I took
hlnj?" he snarled, backing up against
the log wall and defiantly staring
around. "1 did It because I'm fitter
to care for him than any of you, or
any roan in this camp."
"1 took him, too. because I wanted
him, and If there's any man here
wants to Jump my claim let him speak
She has never run away
house to roam ashore;
says at home, and it would be hard
lor her to find quarters more agreea
ble.
from the
she always
When Exercise Is Harmful.
"Office workers should not take ex
ercise after their day's work," said
Dr. E. A. Walker of Boston,
root reason Is that though headwork
is not exercise In the sense that It de
velops the body, it most decidedly Is
exercise In that It quickly Induces fag
"The
up now and well have It out. W# will,
so help me God I"
The challenge was so vicious that it
went unanswered not only then, but
from that time on; nor was It jested
about, for even brave men do not wan
tonly trifle with ready death. His
guardianship of the kithless one was
thus established and undisputed. Be
sides. as a distraction, there came oth
er babies to the camp; two of them—
both tiny girls—the elder scarcely
more than five years of age, who la
soiled pinafores rambled In and out
among their mother's tubs, made mud
pies on the dumps, and occasionally
upset the tenor of the camp by get
ting lost.
They were the offspring of a for
lorn and dilapidated woman who In
troduced herself as the derelict of
"Mike O'Shaughnessy, Hivln rlst him,
as good a la-ad as Iver filled two shoes.
A man, lvery Inch of him, who hadn't
a stake of maneness In him as wide as
tbe black of your linger nail."
And "thlm O'Shaughnessy kids"
dropped Into the life of Holcomb as
completely as had the general; but
tbe latter bestowed more attention on
them than did any one else.
Indeed, his little heart, with Its bur
den of working responsibility, had
longed for childish companionship, and
with a gravely patronizing air be as
sumed a very paternal attitude toward
the newcomers.
That they appreciated his Interest
was shown by the fact that they often
transferred whole castles of mud to
his front door-step, and over them all
Big Andy would step with solicitous
care and a merry gleam of understand
ing in his eye. Only once In the long
summertime was the lad given a lec
ture.
"General," the miner said on that
memorable evening, "what's this the
big O'Shaughnessy girl's tellln' round
the camp about your killin' a snake
a few days ago? You ain't never said
anything to me about It"
Jean Guillot Lafayette shrugged his
shoulders and turned his hands palms
outward with an Inimitable gesture,
but declined to talk until Kendall In
sisted.
"Eet was the evening In, Monsieur
Andahkendal. and I follow the chil
dren up the gulch." This with an air
of bashfulness,
quickly. So!"
strated by jumping to the floor and
fixing his eyes with dramatic fervor
on a charred spot, whereat the miner,
carried away by the recountal, also
stared.
"Z-z-z-z-rr-r-r-rtp ! " the general's
R's rolled qutverlngly. "I r-r-run to
them. Eet ees a valre angry sairpent
whose head move so!" Now his
slender hand wove to and fro in dis
tant Imitation of a rattler's head. "I
seize the stone! I hurl it thus! Voila!
That ees all!"
"Monsieur Andahkendall" sat for a
long time studying as to how he might
explain the danger and death that lay
In the serpent with the "Z-s-r-r-rlp"
on his tall, administer reproof for such
recklessness, but at tbe conclusion of
bis homily was shocked by the discov
ery that the general's vocabulary, by
camp contact, was becoming consider,
ably enlarged.
"Eet ees not Monsieur Andahkendal
who would say to Jean Guillot Lafay
ette: 'R-r-run away and let the salr
pent eat the young ladles.' No. no,
no, no! He, the gr-r-rand monsieur
would say"—and here hla voice as
sumed a great depth of houseness—
"'See him In hell first, Jew; see him
In belli"'
The admonishment took the form
of a discourse against swearing.
The general took to walking on
moonlight nights, unaccompanied; and
the miner, wondering at these peregri
nations, shadowed him only to observe
that he strolled tentatively past the
O'Shaughnessy cabin a few times. In
the manner of a love-sick swain, and
then, satisfied that all was well, re
turned nonchalantly to bis home and
accustomed seat before the big fire
place which now roared Its cheer In
the crisp nights of fall. But the gen
eral never told of hie adventures and
rarely talked of himself.
It remained for the days of early
winter to bring about the general'B
most Important more and display his
promptness of action. It was when
the Widow O'Shaughnessy seized by
sudden heart failure, fell to the floor
between her tubs, abandoning them
forever In the great and last relin
quishment. It was Jean to whom the
frightened babes appealed, and for
once he dropped his pall and ran as
fast as his little brown legs would
carry him to the tiny cabin; and then,
awed and stilled, and with atairtled
eyes, returned to Big Andy.
The miner In turn hurried to the
cabin, followed by otbers, and tbe
camp women ladd out for burial the
first woman to occupy the cemetery
at the foot of the shielding pines. The
camp women also gave bousing to tbe
weeping and wondering little girls
and, on tbe following day, kept them
away from the trying scene when tbe
widow was gently yielded to the fra
grant earth which enfolded her In Its
breast after all her yearns of work and
worry and weariness. The general
stood beside the grave, dalm and un
emotional. watching with his unfath
omable eyes the funeral whose sig
nificance he fully grasped.
With the otbers he returned to
work, but In an unusual mood of list
lessness. and finally, as the day waned,
disappeared. The srtght came and the
^juices stopped. The lights glowed
from the cabin windows, auid all the
dance hall music began Its callous
whining. The moon came peering
over the tops of the silent. Impassive
forests which bordered Holcomb, lifted
above them until It transmitted the
s-ow r'anes of the peaks into fields of
diamonds which gleamed In splendid
i-t-uc, and then an alarm was given
"Hah! They stop
And here he demon
*
most pathetic for a man to expect any
good to come from taking more exer
else when the exercise Involved in
the day's work has already tired him
out.
"One takes It that young people
have had sufficient outdoor exercise
reasonably to develop their frames be
fore beginning office work. So when
once they have started In the office In
earnest it Is much better fer them to
r»e'lze at once that their days of hard
physical strain are over and that
it
la
In
of
as
as
on
as
to
all
were lost—had disappeared from the
cabin where they had been left alone
for a brief time, and could not be
found.
Everywhere they searched, even
the new-made mound out beneath the
shadowy pines, but without result.
The camp waa In a turmoil of anxiety.
Andy Kendall, returning from a late
trip to his sluices, Joined is the quest
but with no more success than tbe
others, and at last went to his cabin
to secure a lantern.
In the doorway of bis abode he dis
covered the general who. calm and
Imperturbable, was standing with
something foreign in bis attitude,
some unaccustomed pose of independ
ent determination. The miner's quick
eye noted the change. It was the first
time he had ever seen him with his
hands in his pockets and a suggestion
of a swagger,
away with the lighted lantern, and
then, in quick inspiration closely ukU
to divination, whirled abruptly at the
foot of the steps and faced the boy.
Jean,' he asked in a tone of un
usual peremptoriness, "do you know
where the little O'Shaughnessy girls
are?"
He started hurriedly
The general paused for a moment
before
answe»Mng, which hesitancy
was also marked by his guardian;
then, nlcn slow grace, shrugged his
si' .uiJers until the right one was ele
vated almost to his ear and aifewered
very truthfully:
..y
. monsieur, 1 have them."
The lantern dropped from Hi* An-
dy's hand to extinguishment, while
Its globe wont tinkling away over the
rocks in a cascade of slivered gluss
and he started to say: "Well, l'U be
-'' theu thought better of it. Right
well he knew Jean Guillot I-afayette.
"Would you mind telling me, old
man," he said, with kindly condescen
sion, "where they are?"
Again the general considered for an
instant, and then gravely beckoned the
miner inside. He took the sputtering
candle from the rough pine table, tip
toed to his own bunk, carefully de
posited It on the edge, shielded the
verlng flame with one tiny hand, and
with the other gently drew back the
outer blanket. ,
Soundly sleeping beneath, with their
hair done up In rough little pigtails,
clad In tbclr white nighties and
clasped In each other's
"thlm O'Shaughnessy kids."
Big Andy Kendall took one look and
ran out of the cabin and down the
trail shouting to all he met: 'Tvs
found 'em! I've found 'em!
to look any farther." And when the
searchers clustered around him with
many questions he explained that the
missing ones were then In his cabin,
a>d that he would "take care of 'em
all right through the night."
The miner tramped slowly up the
hill to where the general was still
standing quietly on the threshold,
went In, closed the door quite softly,
hung his white hat on a peg, and
plenlshed the logs In the fireplace b»
fore speaking.
"Jean," he said, "you brought them
here?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"What are you goln' to do with
them?"
"Keep them, monsieur," he respond
ed with the utmost gravity. Beating
himself on the low stool which had
been made for his especial benefit and
watching the sparks that went roar
lng up the blackened vault.
Big Andy waited for a moment and
then ventured another question:
"How will you care for them?"
"On ze money I make—my hundalrd
franc. Eet ees a fortune, une bonne
fortune." He turned to the big man,
peered across the vivid pathway ol
light from the blazing logs, and then
with great wistfulness continued: "1,
Jean Guillot Lafayette, am suns fam
ille. I shall adopt a famille. 1 shall
work valre hard for famille."
"And leave m
very softly and was very curious, fal
tering note of bitter heart-break in hla
voice; some tone suggesting grlevoua
disappointment that he who so loved
the boy should not be taken Into con
sideration.
He bad tried, he said to himself, Ood
knew he had tried to win this lova
and had wooed It with care; but it had
always been elusive and unyielding
Even now, after all these months, hi
was but second Id the exile's affection!
and the barrier seemed unbreakable
He bent suddenly forward and leaned
his forehead upon bis hand, shleldini
his eyes from the dancing glare of tha
flames.
For the first time elnce they had
met each other the boy crept over to
him unasked, forced himself on tho
waiting knee and clasped his arma
around the weather-beaten neck.
"Monsieur," be whispered as II
afraid to roles his secret aloud. "1
want them valre bad; but I could not
you leave even for them; because 1
luf you valre much."
Big Andy Kendall hugged him al
most fiercely and gulped out: "Well,
general, you don't have to leave ma
You're my little boy, and if you'ro
hankerin' after 'em you ean have tha
little girls. We'll take care of 'em, ma
and you, and welcome,
pose," he said as an afterthought, fol
lowing an Interval In which they held
each other very tightly, "that tho
whole blamed camp'll say I'vs started
an orphan asylum."
The barrier was demolished now fop
ever, and they found that, aifter all,
they were very dear to each other.
And as the general for the first time
snuggled Into Andy's arms to sleep ho
turned drowisly over, and In his great
happiness whispered:
''Ah, mon pere, 1 am no longer ssno
famille. Ees eet not. Monsieur Andah
kendal, what zey call godem good to
have a famille?"
And Big Andy Kendall, smothering
a chuckle and omitting rebuke, agreed.
(Copyright. 1910. by F. L. Nelson.)
In
to
a
of
arms, wer«
No need
! «•
Andy spoka
But I sup
"The body and system easily attune
themselves to circumstances even to
overclvllizcd and consequently rather
unnatural circumstances, and Indoor
headworkers will soon find that a good
^ täte of health can be maintained with
little or no exercise."
Better Be Careful.
"1 hope to grow gray In their serw
Ice."
"Very laudable ambition, very laud
able. Put don't scorn the hair dye to
long. You know there's fad
be
to
IDAHO STATE-NE
Neal Leigh, aged 28, was st
Twin Falls haB three ban: t v it
total capital of $300,000 and i.
of over $1,500,000.
The Oregon Short Line bran ;.
Burley to Oakley Is now
and train service will be put < .
lightning and killed near Twit:
CO !
Some twenty contractors
work on the grading of the I'....
road out of Burley and the wo ;
be pushed with all possible spe< i.
The indications are that the
valley as a whole will prod; c
larger crop of fruit than ever
Experienced and capable otcliar
are not concerned at all.
The Kingman Townsire comp ;:i
completing Its organization wo V
week, and the embryo city on the
railroad will soon make its bow t
publ c, says tbe Nyssa Journal.
Farmers in the country adjacent
Nampa are Jubilant over prospects
their lines this season. Every port
the farm industry gives exceptional
j P romi « e for record productions,
Charles P. Hartley of Emmett,
president of the state horticultural
board. 1 b a "bear" on the fruit
tion, says the Boise Statesman.
can see but half a crop for Idaho
year.
be
an
Addison T. Smith, private secretary
to United States Senator Ileyburn,
has tendered to Chairman Charles
Heltman his resignation of the off
of secretary to the Republican
committee.
Pocatello Is now raising $10,000
turnpike a pole line road to
Fork to connect with the macadam
Ized sand road. The pole roaa
shorten the road to Ross Fork
will be a splendid automobile
way.
Boise will shortly have but one
phone system. A merger of the
business of the Bell Telephone
pany and of the Independent
pany has been practically completed.
lacklng only the working out of
details.
Selecting the dead of night and
Isolated spot near the homestead
when accompanying his mother,
nest S. Hesse, a prominent civil
neer of Boise, committed suicide
shooting himself through the
near Moro station.
In an effort to curb vice, Kellogg
and Wardner have joined hands in
passage of a Joint liquor license
which, for mining towns, Is almost
revolutionary in character, and places
the closing hour at 12 midnight,
the opening hour at 6 a. m.
A hermit In that vicinity for years,
the body of a man named Cunningham
wns found at his cabin on a ranch
which be had worked In a small
about eighteen miles northwest
Mountain Home, last week. Death
was due to natural causes.
The buildings at Kelly's
Springs, near Boise, were destroyed
by fire last week, supposedly of lncen
d ary origin, causing a loss to
owner of about $20,000. L. W.
tnau was badly burned before he
caped from the burning building.
MrB. Lydia HeBter, aged 46, wife
P. J. Hester, a wealthy retired capit
alist, was almost Instantly killed
the ferry landing on Snake River
avenue, at oewlston. She was thrown
from a buggy, striking head first
the macadam roadway. Her skull
fractured by the fall.
In a shooting affray at Jarbidge
week, W. H. Connors of Twin
was shot In the back and face by
man named Flynn, who Bhot Connors
In the back as he passed his (Flynn's)
tent, and in the duel that followed,
shot him In the face. Connors
recover.
Suit has been brought agalnat
Oregon Short Line by Jesse Richards
to recover $450 for the alleged killing
of two horses at Arlrao, January
1910. The company contends that
animals were trespassers on railroad
property and that It Is therefore
responsible
Enraged, It Is said, because
wife refused to leave the home
William P. Neal, In Boise, Joseph
Felthouser, owner of a Boise Mattresa
factory, Is thought to have attempted
to burn the place down. He was
rested and booked on a charge of
son.
The famous Dead Ox Flat dlstriot,
near Welser, but across Snake river
In Oregon, will, before very long,
one of the leaders as a fruit producer,
and already over 2,000 acres at
east end of the flat are being planted
to fruit trees of many varieties and
alfalfa.
At a special election at Blackfoot
vote upon bonding the city for
new high school building the meauure
carried by ninety majority. This
sures a $50,000 high school building.
Plans are already adopted and con
struction work will begin at once.
The work of listing the various de
linquent corporations ln Utah, Idaho
and Montana was commenced by
force of clerks in the Salt Lake office
of the Internal revenue collector last
week. It Is estimated that there are
300 delinquent corporations in the
three states.
After following a- trail of horse
thieves that kopt him hot on the road
for over 800 miles and took him Into
the three states of Nevada, Oregon
and Idaho, Deputy United States Mar
shal M. Prussa of Nevada arrived
Nampa last-week to find his men.
At the Salt Lake office of the Utah
Idaho Sugar company, where an ac
curate report is kept of the rainfall
throughout all parta of Utah and Ida
ho where beets are planted. It was an
nounced last week that the rainfall
had visited almost all of the best sec
tions, Idaho especially being favored.
That the reputation of the Idaho
summer normal schools is spreading
rapidly throughout the country la
evinced from the fact that there will
be many teachers' from Canada who