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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1887)
Till; 11K11MIT OF TIIK SISKlYOfS. .VI fire-water U-foru seeking a couch lieiicjith the spreading branches of some not-dis-taut fir, or in rainy weather, rolling up in their blanket to "court the balmy" upon the Hour of the saloon, despite the hilarity of the more wakeful guest. No attention wag, therefore, paid to the new comer, until he stepied up to the rudo bar, made of a blab Hawed from the tido of a log and turned with the bark Hide downward, and oiTered Johnson a dollar for the loan of a blanket until morning. A man without a blanket in tho moun tains was as rare a night aa one without a borne on the plains, and in a short time every pair of eyes in tho room waa carefully scrutinizing tho stranger. Ho was a tall man, of refined features and expression, polity in his manner and dig nified in his bearing, and yet tho fact that he was traveling without a regular outfit created such a suspicion in tho minds of the preprietor and his patrons, that the object of it could not but see it reflected in their countenances. John son gruflly said he had no blankets to lend, but would sell him ono for ten dol lars. The stranger at once turned on his heel and passed out the open door as silently and unexpectedly as ho had eutered. A few dpys after this incident at llet syville, a miner whoso claim was located farther np tho stream, noticed, while fol lowing down its banks on his way to the camp, smoke rising through the tree top on the side of a little gulch leading upward from a flat along tho stream. Curiosity led him to follow up tho bank of tho little brook, which poured in al ternate foam and crystals down its steep and rocky bed, and see who was camped in that beautiful, but lonely, spot- As cending a few hundred yard, he ol aerved a rude cabin of brush and poles, standing a little back from the brook. From a clay chimney, protruding from ono corner of tho structure, issued tho column tf smoke which had first attrac ted hia attention. Ho climbed tho bank and entered tho cabin, expecting to find the owner within, as ho had olmervod no siifns of his prettenpA nn tlm nntid The hut was empty, not only of tho owner, but of everything which could be classing! as furniture or domestic equipments, save only a few freshly cut lir boughs in ono end, which wero evi dently used as a lied, and a clay fire plaeo at tho other end, in which was blazing a lire of dried branches, whoso ragged ends gave evidence of having been broken by hand. Thero waa nei ther axe, spado, pick, nor, in fact, any article whatever usually seeu alout tho cabin of a miner, and no camping uten sils of any kind Tho hut was, evident ly, but two or three days old, and was jiiHt such a structure as a man of intelli gence and ordinary ingenuity could erect with tho aid only of a largo pocket knife. The thick branches which funned tho corner jxmts and cross pieces, among which tho lighter ones wero entwiuod to mako the sides and top, had Ixx-n sharp ened with a knife and driveu into tho ground with a largo stone, as tho whit tling, discarded branches and discol ored stones scattered alxmt on tho out side plainly witnesseL Thero wero signs of a meal having been cooked, but no preparations for another were visible, savo only tho blaz ing firo ami a few sharened sticks with charred ends, which had evidently len used for broiling spits. Tho intruder waited some time for the return of tho unknown occupant, and then, his desiro to reach camp conquering his curiosity, ho left tho iicM and resumed his jour ney diwn tho stream to IMsyvillo. In tho course of his stay in camp he made inquiries al;ut tho owner of tho hut, only to learn that it cxihtenco was un known to tho frequenters of Johnson's. Only he and tho mysterious builder had,
