The morning Astorian., March 18, 1908, Page 3, Image 3

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WEDNESDAY. MARCH II. 1901.
THE MORNING ASTORI AN, ASTORIA, OREGO N.
3
CHARM OF
1
l 1 1 t
THE DESERT!
J All around him the deiert unrolled
In the morning light, vast, silent,
mysterious: vast, with the vastnesi
of the iky; silent, with the silence of
the grave; mysterious, with i myst
cry no ninn hat ever fathomed, He
stretched out hli arm ami breathed
great draughti oi the fresh, cool air
It filled hi body with new life and
vigor, like strong wine.: , He wni not
appalled by the vastness, nor the si
lence, nor the mystery. He reveled
in it, lived in it, and was glad to be
alive in it and yet he did not know
how glad he was.
Sut the sun had arisen, and the
morning coolness was giving way to
the awful heat of the day, and he
must make the mountains by night at
any cost, for there and at no place
between was there, water to be had
So he turned back to his camp by the
pring, whose waters trickled 'from
between two huge boulders.
A he prepared his simple meal of
aeon ana coiiee, ne winea to nis
two traveling companions, one sol
enm-cycu uurro, uie inner a sun
more solemn-eyed black cat. The
former he had purchased for the
mall sum of $15, the latter he had
found wandering about the deiert,
half-starved, and it had followed him
bout on his wanderings ever since.
These three were great friends,
more friendly than man can ever be
come to his beast in civilization ; for
the three traveled together day after
day without seeing another living
thing except the wild animals of the
desert and mountain. They knew
liardthip and suffering together, and
each bore it in his own way: the
burro always silent, plodding, imper
turbable; the cat with many a protest;
and the nun with cool sclf-retiaoce
nd judgement
The little mouse colored burro and
the big black cat knew more of the
thoughts and life and dreams of this
stalwart, sunburnt, master of theirs
than ever did a wife know of her hus
band or a girl of her sweetheart.
Day in and day out they listened to
his talk of his past life, of his present.
and what he hoped of the future. Al
ways they listened In silence, like
Indian braves around a council fire,
making no comments, yet always
with attention.
The cat's name was "Satan" the
burro s ' ra.icnce, and the man s
Robert Page, and the big, eight-inch
Colt's revolver at his side he called
Frudence."
Robert Page had come from the
Cast two years before, broken in
health, and with little money. He
had regained his health, ami was now
looking for his fortune. Two years
of prospecting in the deserts of Cali
fornia had straightened out his six
feet of manhood, until now one could
hardly realize him to be the same
frail piece of humanity who had ar
rived there two years before.
Breakfast over, he fed the scraps
o Satan, and packing his outfit on
thVyback of Patience, he filled his two
canteens at the spring and the jour
ney began. .
On they plodded: the man with his
eyes ever alert for mineral signs; the
burro, solemn and Imperturbable; the
cat with the swinging trot of its kind.
But Satan was not made of the same
tough liber as the other two, and soon
he began to lag behind. At this,
Tage paused and helped the big cat
to a seat on his own shoulders, where
Satan sat in perfect ease, occasionally
tapping Page's car with a playful
paw. But after awhile Page began
to weary of the burden on his shoul
der, and Satan was transferred to the
back of Patience, who acknowledged
the added weight by a shake of the
head that made her long cars crack
like a pistol shot.
Thus they traveled all day, suffer
ing from the great heat exhaustion,
and thirst, for the water gave out at
4 o'clock; but always the lure of gold
kept up their courage.
It was dark when they reached the
spring at the foot of Sager's Peak.
After midnight kb was awakened
by Satan, who was Handing on his
face, with clawi Inserted Into his two
weeks' growth of whiskers, his back
arched, and spitting his fear and hat
red at something In the darkness just
beyond the little circle of light which
still shone from the embers of the
camp fire. Page's awakening
thought was that Indiana were try
Ing to scalp him,
"Here, here, you devil!" he mutter
ed, when he found out that it was
Satan. "Lets go my face, will you?
Ouch, you're pulling all my whiskers
out, you blootnin' fooll What ails you
anyway?'
As soon as he could get the cat dis
entangled from his beard, Page reach
ed for his pistol, at the same time
noting everything around him. Pati
ence standing trembling by the little
fire, arid Satan by hit aide still spit
ting his fury at the darkness. All
this told him that It was an animal he
must deal with, probably a coyote.
lie turned on his side and searched
the darkness with his eyes. Two
eyes from the black void met bis own,
two yellow balls of fire. There was
no light to shoot by, but he did not
hesitate. Raising Prudence, he fired
without attempting to aim, and as
he report echoed along the moun
tainside, theie came an awful scream
mingling with the echoes, that made
Page have queer feelings in the reg
ion of his stomach, and that made his
hair feel starchy. No coyote could
have made that noise. Then a long,
dark body shot into the air, high
above him, a streak of white showing
on its breast, and again Prudence
roared out, and a streak of flame split
the darkness. This time Page fired
at the splotch of white, and the ani
mal clawed the air in convulsion
movements, stuck against , an over
hanging ledge, hung for an Instant In
the void, then came tumbing down at
Page'a feet, bringing with it a shower
of earth and stones.
Satan, who had been watching all
this paralyzed with fear, leaped to
one tide as the dark form came down
almost on top of him, and with
frightened meow!" sprang lightly
to the equally-terrified Patience's
back, where he clawed hair out of the
little burro by the pawsful.
Page threw some wood on the fire
and examined the animal, keeping a
wary eye on it the while. It was
huge mountain lion, and stone dead,
with a bullet hole between its eyes
and one in the white spot on its
breast. He dragged the body to one
side, quieted the cat and burro, and
throwing some more wood on the fire,
rolled himself in his blankets again.
The next morning he arose, as us
ual, with the sun. He ate his break
fast and started into the mountains
alone, with the intention of prospect
ing some leads he had seen there be
fore and returning to camp in the
evening. He swung his pick over his
shoulder and started to ascend the
mountain. On the first ledge above
his camp he stopped and stared,
speechless with amazement, at some
thing on the ground.
It was the place where the moun
tain lion had struck the night before,
and it had broken off the end of the
ledge, revealing a vein of glttering
yellow gold. With a cry of joy Page
bent over to examine it. He picked
up some loose particles and crumpled
them between' his fingers. Then, ris
ing to his feet, he drove his pick deep
into the ledge, sending the bright yel
low particles flying in every direction.
He bent excitedly over it again, his
hands trembling nervously and his
ureatn coming last, as tar as the
pick had entered the gold still showed
and the vein grew perceptibly larger.
"It's the beginning of a good one,"
he cried exultantly to the mountains
above him. Then he bent over the
side of the ledge and scanned its base.
"If it holds out," he said aloud, "I
ought to find it again down at the
bottom;" and dragging his pick after
Page thew himself on the ground and, him, he slid down and dug frantically
crank with long, gurgling draughts.
Patience buried her muzzle to the
yes in the cool liquid and seemed to
breathe in the water, ' while Satan
sought the far end of the spring and
lapped up the water in a more gentle
manly manner, keeping a distrustful
eye on his two companions the while.
He had never conquered his heredit
ary dislike of being near water, no
matter how thirsty he was.
After they had all drank their fill,
camn was made, sunner was cooked.
anTin no time Page was rolled in his
jHankets sleeoine the sleeo of ex-
n.iusuon unucr me irowning wan ot
he mountain.
at the base of the ledge, where it join
ed the mountain side. Soon he un
covered the vein again, still wider
than at the top.1; He threw hi9 pick,
and his exultant cry echoed along the
mountain side. At last the fortune
was found, he told himself over and
over again. Now he could go back
to his old home and live like a white
man. But even with the thought, his
eyes unconsciously wandered to the
great, yellow waste below him and
lingered there almost lovingly.
All day he worked at his claim,
staking it out, and getting specimens
of the ore. And always as he worked
his thoughts were ' of his old home
and th girl who was waiting, there
for him, Yet often his eyes would
wander" to '; tha beautiful scenery
around him and he would breathe a
sigh of regret
' Three months after this, Robert
Page stood on the platform of the
little depot at Bismark, bidding fare
well to h's old friends and partner,
Jim Boadie. Jim was little and dried
up, and had a complexion like the
desert. Jim was now sole owner of
Satan and Patience, as a present from
Page, who was going back to his old
home. s :.
Page had $20,000 to hi credit in a
San Francisco bank, and more com
ing from the "Mountain Lion", Mine
he located.
,, "I don't envy you much," Jim was
saying. "You'll go back there and
get old and fat and married. YouU
look back on this life here and wish
you could come back for a breath of
the desert and mountains, and your
wife won't let you. You'll want to
prospect again, just for the pure love
of the game, and your wife won't let
you. You'll want some sow bosom
for breakfast, and your wife will call
you a heathern. But good luck to
you, though I do hate to see you
throw your life away like this."
"But I'll come back some time,1
Page protested, as his eyes roved
hungrily over desert and mountain.
"No, you won't, not if you get mar
ried," said Jim, with a smile. Your
wife won't let you."
It was six weeks after this that one
day J in Boadie, who happened to be
again in Bismark after supplies saw
Robert Page alight from the west
bound passenger train, suitcase in
hand and a broad smile on his face.
Jim looked as though lie saw a ghost
when Page walked up to him with
outstretched hand. .
"But but where the wifer Jim
blurted out, looking over Page's
shoulder as though trying to see an
other ghost
"Where's Satan V asked Page in
return. -.
"Over there," said Jim, pointing a
shaking finger at the cat, who was
sitting on the depot platform regard
ing the staton agent deftly rolling big
trunks aboard the baggage car.
"Come here, you devil youl" called
Page, and Satan, recognizing him,
suitcase, store clothes and all, ran for
ward and sprang lightly to Page's
shoulder, where he sat and affection
ately tapped the ear nearest him with
a soft paw,' purring loudly the while
"But your wife, where is she?" de
manded Jim, still in some trepidation
"Wife," repeated Page, with i
sheepish grn. "Why, I wouldn't give
Satan here for the best wife in the
world. I'm not a marrying man,
Jim."
"And you've come back to stay?"
gasped Jim, seizing the other's hand.
"Sure," affirmed Page. "Did you
think I could stay away from this
country long? Oh, I love it all!" he
cried passionately, as he scanned the
scene before him.
"Did you turn her down?" asked
Jim, still in some doubt as to the lady.
Page shook his head. "I'll tell you
how it was," he said ."I went back
there, and everything was changed
for me. I lived there twenty-four
years, then came here and lived for
two, and the two years here knocked
all the civilization out of me.
"The girl wasn't the same either.
We were both disappointed, I guess.
She thought, somehow, I'd be the
same, and I thought she'd be the
same, but the two years had changed
us both a lot. We didn't know each
other when we met. I think when
I left there she pitied me, and wasn't
really in love. I was in love with
her then, but not with her as she is
now.
"There was another fellow, too,
who was tryng to monopolize her
some, and one night at a big affair
they were having, he and I tangled.
It wasn't my fault, though, for I was
only too willing that he should have
her, but I wasn't feeling good that
night. I had to wear a dress suit
that almost cut me in two every time'
I bowed, and strangled me every time
I turned my head. I used to wear
these things when I was a younger
and more foolish, but it's a lost art
with me now, and the quicker I get
into a khaki suit again the better I'll
like it. . - -
"I don't remember how our little
affair started, but he got to making
Insinuatng remarks about me and
mine, and of course I told him a few
things myself. Then he asked me if
I'd brought my mule with me he'd
seen some snapshots I sent the girl
of me and the burro. I told him it
was only natural, the interest he
showed, as mules liked to know
about each other, but that he would
find mine on its native soil, where he
ought to be; that mine. had sense
enough to keep its place. j
"He slapped me In the face then,
right there before every one.' I for
got what was expected of ma in a
bunch like that counldn't remember
anything only that I was some mad
myself. I reached for old Prudence,
and Jim, I never felt so homesick in
my life as I did when I didn't find
the old gun at my aide. I thought I
must be dreaming at first, but be atill
stood there, looking like he was about
to swell up and bust, and every one
laughing at me. Right then I got
hOStlle. .i
"But land sakes!" broke "in Jim,
excitedly, "didn't you hit him?"
"Sure I hit him," said Page confid
ently, "and I hit him tome hard, too.
He got up and made for me, and I
hit him again. Then the whole bunch
of white-fronted gents jumped me at
once. They said, after it was all over
they just wanted to part us and keep
peace in the house, but they went at
it rather-rough, and I couldn't see
anything but red, so we-all tangled,
and I had the fight of my life. They
told me next day, it was the most dis
graceful thing that ever happened in
that town but I thought right then
that life might be endured if they had
that kind of a time often; and if the
girl st'H wanted me, I was surely
bound to take her. It was a queer
sight when it was over. There was
paper callars and neckties all over
the floor. Me and my hundred-dol
lar dress suit looked like a caricature
of Happy Hooligan. It was a beauti
ful row, though, and when I invoiced
after the deal I found I'd had a good
time and a pair of black eyes. But
the other guy didn't wake up for two
hours. ; '
"The next day the girl told me a
few things and said I ought to know
the way back to the place where I
learned such rude ways. I told her
I thought I knew a way to get there
pretty quick; so we parted, and I
came straight here.
"And say, Jim," Fage finished, as
he disentangled Satan's paws from
his hair, "I guess she was right, too.
Did you ever see such a scenery as
uiatr via you ever breathe suchj
pure air at this? Oh, I tell you this
country is good enough for me, and
a prospector's life is good enough for
me, t,oo. Me fpr California and the
West all the time!" tj ;;.. yV
Z"Swe agreed Jim, with a grin.
'"Suppose," taid Page, "we go to
San Francisco tomorrow for one
good time, then hit the trail again.
I have plenty' of money to stake us
both for the rest of our days, I guess,
and we'll prospect for the fun of it."
Their hands met in a grip that
made both take a short breath. They
turned down the one street of Bis
marck, Jim telling what had happened
since Page left, Page listening eager
ly to every word, while Satan walked
solemnly behind. Harry Chester
BcdwclL
Prof. H. A, Howell, of Havana, Cuba,
Recommends Chamberlain'
Cough Remedy.
"At long ago as I can remember
my mother was a faithful user and
friend of Chamberlain's Cougb Rem
edy, but never in my life have I real
ized itt true value until now," writes
Prof. H. A. Howell, of Howell't
American School, Havana, Cuba. "On
the night of February 3rd our, baby
was taken tick with a very severe
cold, the next day wat worse and the
following night hit condition 'was
desperate. He could not lie down
and it wat necessary to have him in
the arms every moment Even then
his breathing wat difficult I did not
think he would live until morning. At
last I thought of my mother's remedy,
Chamberlain's Cough Remedy, which
we gave, and it afforded prompt re
lief, and now, three days later, he
hat fully recovered. Under the cir
cumstances I would not hesitate a
moment in saying that Chamberlain's
Cough Remedy, and that only, saved
the life of our dear little boy." For
sale by Frank Hart and leading drug
gists. . '' . . '
TO CURE A COLD IN ONE DAY.
Take LAXATIVE BROMO Quinine
Tablets. Druggists refund money if
it falit to cure. E. W. GROVE'S
signature it on each box 25c. 1
. s -' I ' V
1 y; W
ih f ..., ( k . - -.it
" 1 PEARL GIRARD
With "The Toymaker," Astoria Th eatre, Sunday Night, March 22nd.
Create an Appetite
BY DRINKING BASS' ALE AND
GUINESS STOUT WITH YOUR
DINNER PUT UP IN NIPS. . IT
IS A SYSTEM BUILDER. RECOM
MENDED BY ALL PHYSICIANS!
PRICE, $1.50 PER DOZEN.
AMERICAN IMPORTING CO.
589 Commercial Street
THE GEM
C. F. WISE, Prop. "
Choice Wines, Liquors ' - Merchants Lunch Frea
and Cigars ' 11:30 a. m. to 1:30 s m.
Hot Lonch at All Hours. sj Cent
Comer Elrvtn'tn and Commercial
ASTOIU ....... . . C2IG0
7:
30 Tonight
First Performance
Vim Be Given
) ' At The
Bijou Dream
484 COMMERCIAL STREET ,
BETWEEN rifTEENTH SIXTEENTH
Moving Pictures
and illustrated
Songs
PERFORMANCES LASTING ONE HOUR,
FUN AND AMUSEMENT FOR ALL
Admission 10c
Children 5c
PROGRAM CHANGES MONDAY .
I WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY
TEETH
The Old Reliable
. CHICAGO
PAINLESS
DENTISTS
Cor. Commercial and Eleventh Sta.
' ASTORIA, ORE.
Phona3901
, Headquarters
PORTLAND, ORE.
Are equipped to do all kinds ol
Dental work at very lowest prices.
Nenrooa people and those amicted
with heart weakness may have no
fear of the dental chair.
22 K crown........ $5.00
Bridge work, per tooth....... 100
Gold fillings .. ... ... .. $1X0 op
Silver fillings ..50c to $1X0
Best rubber plate.. ........ ..$800
Aluminum-line plate $10 to $15.00
These offices are modern through
out. We are able to do all work
absolutely painless. Our success is
due to uniform high grade work by
gentlemanly operators having 10
to 15 years- experience. Vegetable
Vapor, patented and used only by
at for painless extraction of teeth,
aOc A binding guarantee given
with all work for 10 years. Exami
nation and consultation FREE.
Lady in attendance. Eighteen of
fices in the United States.
Cor. Commercial and Eleventh Sra
over Danriger store.
More than two-thirds of your Ufa
you wear shoes. Did you ever think
of that?
The Dr. A Reed
Cushion Shoe
Was built to give your feet comfort
two-thirds of your life; the rest you
sleep. -
The W. L Douglas
Shoe
hai a world-wide reputation. Wear
one and be up to data.
S. A. GIMRE
543 BOND STREET. "
Opposite fisher Broa. ! -'S
Best kinds of logging' shoes, hani
made, always on hand.
ASTORIA
DANCING
SCHOOL
Exchange street, opposite Skating
Rink. Open every dav and evening.
Pupils can enter any grade from
beginning to advanced classes. Our
weekly social dance, every Wednes
day evening, has become very popu
lar. Admission, gentlemen, 50c; ladier
free. !m!! '