7.
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 7, 1904.
f (
HAT are you crying for,
Jackrabblt?" asked the
Indian mall carrier, set
ting hi pouch on a
rock by the trail aid to lift up his
.friend, the small boy whom he had dis
covered Weeping- as he was swinging
along to China camp on his monthly
trio.
"Jsckrabblt," otherwise Paul Thorns,
the prospector's son. aged 11, and very
much ashamed that he had been caught
In tears even by a Pavo Indian, prompt
ly denied the accusation, and then, boy
like promptly explained the very thine
lie denied. Hla distress. It appeared,
was only a reflection of that which
gripped the cabin In the canyon where
his father, with -two ribs broken and
leg out of commission, waa bearing
' as best he could the misfortune that
prevented him doing the aasessraent
.work on the most promising; claim In
the Black range. .
' Of course It the boy had not been a
tenderfoot he would never have told
his troubles to an Indian, but Paul
had not been in Arlsona long enough to
thoroughly assimilate the doctrine that
there la nothing human about the red
man, but hla anatomy, and he had made
. quite a friend of Juan Tecalote, the
Pavo' tribesman who carried the 'mall
, to China, camp a friendship that, waa,
perhaps, particularly welcome to the
Indian, aa the mon about China camp
accepted the frontier view of hla people
In Ha moat emphatic form.
The very fact that the Pavo waa en-'
gaged In such an unsborlglnal under
taking ns work only intensified the un
flattering estimation In which he waa
held by the men whose - Infrequent let
ters he packed monthly serosa two
mountain ranges and a. desert. He waa
only tolerated because of the certainty
. that no white man would take the lob.
All there Is to China camp la a store
kept by a Chinaman where you can buy
giant powder, blankets, bacon and such
, other - thlnga as can be brought from
. Bolomonvllle, 70 miles away on a burro
back, but there are many mining clalma
In the mountains of that section of the
territory and on the first of every
month the miners and prospectors come
In from as far away aa the Red hills
' to get their mall and replenish their
supplies. Naturally, they timed their
coming by the arrival of Juan Tecalote
and so )n addition to carrying the mall
he was a sort of human calendar, for
when Juan appeared swinging .over the
trail Into the basin where the atore
waa located they knew the first of the
month had come. ' .
So far away ln miles and interests
were they from other men that this waa
really the only division of time they
kept track of and to make sure that
' jio miner should fail to know it the mall
carrier always set lire to a pitch pine or
a Spanish bayonet as be crossed the
divide as a notice to all concerned that
It was mall day at the Chinaman's."
Far up the hill the signal smoke was
still giving the notice when the Indian
spoke to the crying boy. , The mall car
rier was n no hurry. The day was
young. The government gave him two
dare In which to cover the route between
' Bolomonvllle and China Camp, and he
could make It In one If he had to, so be
sat at the trail aide with the boy.
"Now. Jackrabblt. let's have the whole
"It's about the mine, Juan," replied
the boy.
"Well, what about ItT" aaked the mall
carrier. "It's the beat claim around
here, lan't ItT"
"Tea. It la," aald the prospector's son.
the tears starting again, "and we are
going to lose it.".
'How's thatr
"Well,, my father hurt himself so that
.he can't do his asaeasment work, and he
hasn't got money enough to hire It done,
land the McCanlassea and Red Cummlnga
, ,know about It and they are going to
Jump the claim the flrat of the year, and
'the worst of It Is thst an expert was out
there and examined the claim and wss so
struck on it that be bonded It and prom
ised to get a company to develop It and
work It for half a title In the spring, and
;dnd said that meant we would have a
iwhole barret of money, and now we are
J going to lose It and the McCanlasses and
(Red Cummlngs will have It"
' Then, because Juan Tecalote was an
Indian and could not be expected to
iknow the Intricacies of the mining law,
. the boy explained that the law demands
that to hold a claim the locator of It
must do upon It at least $100 worth of
work a year. If he falla to do thla the
claim lapses back to the government
'and Is subject to relocation by the first
jman who cares to file a notice on 1 after
- in nrm vi ine next jrvar.
' The Pavo listened to the recital with
an occasional word of sympathy.
"Why doesn't your mother relocate the
miner' he asked. For a benighted In
dian Juan- Tecalote occasionally dis
played a vast amount of knowledge of
the expedients or the white men.
"They won't let her," said the boy.
"They are coming down here New Tear's
Eve, and are going to keep anybody else
away from the mine. Tou know the Me-
Candlaases.
Indian Juan did know the McCand-
lasses, as did everybody else In south
eastern Arlsona, for the roughest, mean
eat act of half -breeds that ever stole a
horse or looted a prospectors camp. Ter
rlfylng a woman and Jumping a cripple's
claim were exactly In their line, and with
auch prise as Thorne'e mine, already
aa a-ood as sold, the Pavo knew that Mrs.
Thome would get neither courtesy nor
consideration at their hands.
"Well. Jarkrahblt." said the Pavo, "It
looks like a hard Imposition and I guess
the mine la gone, but mnybe something
can be done, and If It can you can call
me a clear sign If I am not the Injun to
dn It. You run along home and tell the
folks I'm coming to see them on my
way backand don't cry any more."
It was one of the peculiarities of Juan
Tecalote that In China Camp or Solomon-
villa his talk waa all grunts -and he said
"heap big snow" and "catchum much
firewater" and trailed off into Pavo
speech whenever he had anything longer
to narrate,-but when he spoke to the
Thorns boy be spoke like a white man..
It may have been, his Infrequent lapnea
Into civilised apeech that started the
story that he was. a Carlisle student.
wh.o played football and responded to
toasts at banquets, He did not look like
it with hla breech clout and blanket and
head band of red cloth, but you can't
tell anything about an Indian by what he
says or looks like and a Pavo Is the most
mysterious of all the red men in Amer
ica. -
The cunnlngest whit man that ever
shuffled and cut Is a guileless child
In an Indian poker game, and all other
Indians are credulous Innocents In com
parison with a Pavo. The next people
to the Pavos ia the Tonto trioe iomo
means fool, and the Tontos got their,
name only by being; measured up agatnat
their clever neighbors.
The Pavos are the only Indiana In the
southwest that never had a war either
with the other tribes nr with the whites.
Back in the long ago time when the
Apaches and the Comanches got to mak
ing war medicine the twin chiefs of the
Pavos marched evenly matched bands of
medicine men Into each of the hostile
camps, with exactly the same quantity
of nowdanaltan and other-potent spell
working materials, and these talked so
much at the pow-wows that the simpler
minds of the warrior bands reeled under
their eloquence and logic and were con
vinced. Apaches and Comanches alike,
that the Taus weie llielr-brothers anil Hnndayt
their totem fellows, so that whichever
aide waa victorious the Pavos Invariably
collected the ally's share of captured
ponies and squaws, and that without
having taken the slightest risk. In fact,
the Pavo never takes risks; he has the
greatest contempt for the sort of In
dian who waves his blanket, sings his
brag song and dashes .Into the Happy
Hunting Grounds without his hair.
When the white man came the Pavos
held a long secret session In the council
lodge, and for once no medicine men
were sent into the camps of the Indians
who were mustering- to sweep the In
vader off the earth and live forever on
his big horses. Instead they snuggled
up close to the white man, with a tale
of persecution that stirred hla - sym
pathy. They were the guides of the
walk-a-heaps over the- mountains and
deserts to the fastnesses of the h os
tites, and, though for once they missed
their toll of loot from outlying ranches,
they had compensation In lasues of army
blankets and soldier rations, and they
had big white men In blue clothes to
guard their villages from the resentment
of the nor lies, and the era of pence
end prosperity that came to them, when
the hostlles were finelly herded on res
ervations or sent away to the east, wai
better than the year of the big killing,
when two branches of the Apache na
tion exterminated each other and left'
the Pavos the combined store of both
war forces. ;'
When Indian fights became simple
history elderly gentlemen csme out
from the colleges to study the gentle
Indian tribe whoae religion forbade them
to make 'war.' and traced their kinship
to the Brahmas, and wmte about their
mildness and simplicity so well that
pence societies and Sunday schools and
missionary guilds and the Olive Branch
league all remembered the poor and
virtuous Pavos on the frontier and sent
them the proceeds of Innumerable straw
berry festivals snd Christmas collec
tions. Intelligently Invested In smoked
pig and blankets, with only the Irre
ducible minimum of. hymn books and
bibles." Oh, the Pavoe were converted
to the last papoose! They fell to the
flrat mlssionsry that came to them to
him and to every one chat succeeded
him. regardless of denomination or
creed; and they became and still remain
the best fed. moat prosperous and most
cared for wards the government ever
had. which la o obviously a triumph of
I'avo philosophy that they have not bad
to kill a medicine man since Llxard-Who-Looked-at-the-Moon
had a vision
and got them to put mesquUe berries
Into the pulaue'at the time of the Great
Brewing.
This short story of the Pavo people may
seem like a digression from the proper
thread of this narrative, but there are
Indians and Indiana, and It Is Just aa
well to have a line on the character of
the race to which Juan Tecalote belongs
when you follow hla adventures and ex
ploits, for the Pavo's . mind makes a
mixed track when It travels, and there
cannot be too much light for him .who
would read the trail. -
Paul Thome heard something like this
from his father when he returned to the
ahack In the creek bottom and reported
hla conversation.
"I'm afraid It's a caae beyond your
Indian friend's fixing," aald the crippled
prospector. "He's smart enough, but
Cunning Isn't deuce high In this.. The
only thing that could kep the McCand
lasses off our claim would be a man with
a kuti and I can't be that man. They
wouldn't stampede for an1 Indian."
Meanwhile Jean Tecalote had reached
China Camp and dumped his bag of mall
on the floor. He hung about while the
miners - helped themselves to their let
ters. - ' - '-
Presently he addressed Fong Chlng, the
store keeper. - ; -----
"What you callumT" he asked, point
ing to the gay calendar on the wall
the enly thing of the aort In 70 miles
from which one of the miners was tear
ing off the October leaf: he knew It was
November because the mall had come.
"No an be him," replied the Chinaman,
Vman alio i!m loi'k see what fo come
A reply tha amused every miner In the
place, the more so as Jean Tecalote'a face
remained ns grave as the blank aide of a
tcml-nton. '
When Juan was gone, however, the
Chinaman noticed that the gaudy calen
dar had vanished, and attributed Ita dis
appearance to the well known propensity
of Indians to possess themselves of bright
colored things. He did not value the
souvenir that had come to him In a
case of plug tobacco, for Fong Chlng
kept account of the passage of the days
on an apparatus that looked like a grid
Iron strung With beads, snd his year
dated from the anniversary of the as
cension of Quong Tsu to . the throne,
so he promptly forgot the Incident.
The mail carrier did call at the Thome's
cabin on his way back to Bolomonvllle,
and talked with the Injured prospector,
but said little beyond that he thought
there wan a chance to aave the mine.
If they did not talk about It to anybody
else, and a promise that tie would see
them again on his next trip.
"The trouble Is," said the crippled
Thome, "that you can never tell about
an Indian. He may Just be talking to
hear himself talk that's an Indian trick
all over. Besides which I never heard
one of them say 'ethical conelderatlona'
before.- That la the Pavo. though you
simply can't corral their Ideas or miens
their schemes. However, all the chance
we have lies with him, sowe will have to
take what hope we can out of an Indian's
dreams."
' The boy, though, had faith In his Pavo
friend and waited Impatiently for the
first of the next month. On the day
the mall was expected little Paul Thome
waited until sundown on thjt trail, but
no colujnn of smoke mounted to the clear
sky from the high divide, and no Indian
came trotting down the rocky path.
"Yon must have counted wrong," said
the father, "or else the Pavo quit and
said nothing about Itthat would be a
typical Pavo trick."
But the next day Juan Tecalote ap
peared aa usual with his mall bag; the
smoke went up from the Big Divide and
the-mlners came In to get their mall.
They were all waiting for him at. the
Chinaman's, the McCandlnsses with the
others. There, was some little argument
among them, old Bill McCsndlana Insist
ing thst according to his count the mall
waa a day late, while Joe McCandlnss
Jeered at him for not knowing how many
day there were In November.
"Bay. Pavo, alnt you i day behind!"
demanded, the old man of the Indian.
.'. ' " ''
"Ain't talkum English." replied the
patient aborigine from the corner where
he was making a meal of sardines and
crackers, and he continued: "Ha-oo-nay-gotnay-Pavo.
how," which .-might mean
almost anything. .. .
Joe McCandlasa answered for htm. -j
"How could he be late?" asked this
younger of the tough brotherhood,
whose specialty it waa to be dead sure
of everything. "Can't you read," and
he pointed to the proclamation of, the
postmaster general posted up1 In the
store notifying the public that the mall
would be delivered at China camp on the
flrat day of every month. "Thero
haven't been any snowstorms or wash
outs or anything else to cause a delay,
have there? You better pull In your
horna."
This logic, was convincing, and the
elder McCandlnss' doubts having been
resolved by the absolute authority of a
government proclamation the subject
was not referred to again. The Indian
chalked the travel croas on hla moc
casins, painted anew a ' red stripe -on
each cheek In token "of the "' return
Journey, and alouched out of the store
and hit the back trail. ....
Indian Juan did not; however, make
his home trip without a detour to the
Thornes' cabin.
Thla time he revealed hla plan, and
Its simplicity made the broken-legged
prospector stare and almost shout:
"Well, who but a Pavo would ever
have thought of thatr'
And, Mr. Thorpe," the painted savage
eoncludedh1ir-repori, -i sTncereTyhope
that If our little deception is successful
you will take that boy of yours out of
this country and to some place where
he will have advantages of education
and a respectable surrounding. Nothing
could be more deleterious, and malign
than the atmosphere of a mining camp
to the manners and morals of a child."
"Well, you Just bet that's what I'll
do," responded the prospector heartily,
and he shook hands with Juan Tecalote
Just aa if the mail carrier had been a
white man. '..'.
Then the Pavo, with his paint stripes,
his travel cross and his bag of big medi
cine loped off up the trail.
The last month of 1903 passed without
particular event In the Black Rants. In
the cabin In the creek bottom Thorne,
the prospector, -struggled back to a
semblance of wholeness; be reached the
crutch stsge and wan able to hobble to
the door of the shack, and catch a look
of the McCandlnsses as they went by
that set him to fondling his Winchester
and cursing his luck. - As for the Mo
Candlasnes and Jled Cummlngs, they
were .religiously marking oft each day
as it passed w.lth a notch In the beam
over the door of their camp keeping
separate account to guard against any
possibility of, mistake. When the
notches numbered tl the McCandlasses
took some blankets and what whiskey
they had and started for the Thorne
claim. They pnnned the cabin by the
creek, and aaw (he crutched and band
aged prospector In the door, a deprensed.
Impotent figure without even the spirit
to answer their derisive hall, and then
they swarmed up the hill and waited for
the new year. It waa a long, cold vigil
on a bleak mountain top, but the prlss
was worth It, though they shivered and
swore and kept their blood moving by
building a huge clru of the largest
atones they could lift to serve as a de.
ponltary of the ready prepared location
notice. "Red" Cummlnga was not there;
it was his psrt to watch the Thome
cabin and act In the unlikely contingency
of an attempt at Interference from that
quarter.
All things come to an end at last and
even, a cold watch on wind-swept
Bummtt Is not an Infinity, though It
seems like It, and at one minute pant
midnight.' by the watch, the location
notice of the "Kasy Money" claim was
deposited In the monument of stones ac
cording to the laws of the United
Btatea, made and provided, and the
regulations of the land-office.
But one' step remained to complete the
procedure; the location notice must be
recorded at Bolomonvllle and then the
"Easy Money" would be the property of
the McCandlasses Mining company to
do with as it liked.
" Seventy miles on horseback is a stilt
ride In a day and a night, when' the
miles run over such country, as lies
between Bolomonvllle and the Black
range, but it Is best to do thlnga as
quickly as they can be done when you
are claim-Jumping, so Bill McCandlnss
started out for Bolomonvllle as fast as
his pony , could feel the trail In the
darkness, and It was barely sunset when
he reined up before the big adobe build
Ins; that contained all that waa official
In Bolomonvllle. Bill had nearly killed
hla. horse and he was weak and sore,
but the consciousness of success sus
tained him. He had had no adventures
on his long ride and had met but one
person, Mrs. Thorne, at whom he flung
an unreatralned leer of triumph. She
was tolling back to the cabin In the
creek by eaay stages, and BUI figured
It out that she had .been to Bolomon
vllle to see a lawyer and ascertain If
there was not some legal way of per
petuating her husband's claim to the
mine; but BH1 -McCandlnss knew the
mining law; he knew that ever since
It existed men with good claims have
sought a way round the provision that
Involves f 100 worth of aaneaament work
each year, and have found no trail, so
the lonely woman was to him merely
an. exponent of his own success.
He did not even meet the mall carrier,
though 'it waa his day, and the claim
Jumper had been aort of watching out
for him from the time he crossed the
big divide not with any particular tn
tereat, but much aa a man watchea for
a familiar landmark or. mile-post along
a perfectly known road.
Sore, but happy, then, BUI McCand
lnss appeared before the county clerk
of Graham county, Out of . his -dust-covered
saddle bags he fished a copy of
the location notice which II hours be
fore he had deposited ta the monument
of stones on top of the Black range.
"It's the Thome claim.! he could not
keep from confiding to the shirt-sleeved
official aa the booka were opened for
the Inspection of the record.
"The Thorne claim!" t "claimed the
clerk, cloning the book agnln. "Why,
you're a" day lute on that. Mrs. Thorne
wan In here lust 'night with It."
"Last night." cried the claim Jumper.
"What good did It do her to come here
on New Year's evet"
"What alls you. Bllir anxiously in
quired the clerk. - "How long have you
been .coming from China campT"
"Smarted Just after midnight and come
right through." replied - the travel
stained man fnom the hills. "What are
you trying to give meT"
"Don't you know this Is January ST"
Even then It did not all dawn on Bill
McCandlana; his mind was back track
ing his count of days, and suddenly
came to a scene In the Chinaman's store
with a Pavo Indian and Fong Chlng en
gaged In broken talk about the calendar
that was' not there when It was looked
for later on.
He became conscious that the county
clerk waa still talking. "Yea," that of
ficial was ssylng; "and that reminds
me that they have relocated the claim
under the funniest nnme I ever heard
for a mine. There's the "Blue Buxcard'
and the 'Dollar Sixty-five and the 'May-be-Bo-Yes,'
recorded In this office, but
what do you think of calling a mine the
'January I T " ' i I
"It's a crooked deal." protested Bill
McCandlnss,
In here from that claim In a day!
"I guess she did It all right,." per
alsted the clerk. "8h came In with that
Pavo that carries the mall to China
camp, and aha tells me the Injuns had a
relay of ponies all the way to the camp,
and a buck board ' to fetch her ..from
where the road begins."
The' county clerk of Graham county
still speaks In tones of awe and admira
tion Of the salutatory of. Bill McCand
lasa' fervid declaration of Intention, and
fancy swearing; la a common accom
plishment out In Arlsona. .
After the fireworks of objurgation had
eorruscated to a pauae this much was
rescued from oblivion:
"Done by an Injun trick! But I won't
stand for It. I'll make that red coyote
sweat yet. There'll be a good Indian
around here before sun up. If you hear
But the homicidal purposes of BUI
McCandlnss. as far aa they concerned
Juan Tecalote. were destined to fall, for
that young; Indtan. having fully recov
ered, amid the healthy outdoor environ
ment of hi tribal territory, from the
nervous exhaustion consequent on too
strenuous a devotion to a post-graduate
course and to football, was already on
his way back to the eaat, without hav
ing mentioned It to anybody which
was Just like a Pavo.
Children Save'$22,000 in Penmea f
A'
CCORDINO to a report made to upon him the necessity' of saving his
the recent annual meeting of
the Penny Provident associa
tion, the boys and airls of the
West TDea Moines, la., schools have de
posited a total of $22,81.1S In the three
L school years the organization has bean
in existence. Their withdrawals have
been much less than half this amount
and they how have on deposit a total of
11.6J.S.-
This statement shows the exact con
dition of the deposits from year to year
since the association began business
Btamps sold and deposits- made
for school year ending June, . -
104 $7,01.01
Btamps sold and deposits made
for school year ending June,
l0t MI1.1I
Stamps sold and deposits made
for school year ending June, .
. 1901 1.398.14
money for something better than merely!
satisfying a gum or cigarette appetite. I
. "Penny saving teaches the proper use
of money, to save for- some worthy ob-
Ject, auch aa education. - .' ;
The habit of saving Is In Itself an
education, and the child who receives an
early training In saving small amounts!
will acquire that will make it natural
and eaay to save lnrger amounts In later!
years, and therefore not have to look '
forward to an old age embittered by!
poverty. ' i . !
'The institution of the penny savings
In the Dea Moines schools has been an
excellent thing and has been fraught! '
with much good."
ovmB to com.
Total deposits from Novem
ber, 1901, to June, 1904. ,..122. 881.83
Total number depositors since Novem
ber. 190V .0.
. Number accounts on June, 1904, 1,6(9.
. Average amount of each account,
$8.07. .( .
In speaking of the association and Its
Influence, Mra. Marie VM. Carrel), Its sec
retary, made the following atatement:
' '"The Penny Provident association was
established In the schools In October,
1901. Its., object Is to encourage and
make attractive the saving of email
sums of money by school children. This
'No, woman could a rodelwlll Induce the child to be thrifty.
economical and happy In the possession
of something all Its own and imp reus
.' From the Salem 8tntesman.
- The rortland Journal thinks that aa
Salem Is attempting to 'Secure motor
lines running out of this city In differ
ent directions, to centralise trade her;
and make it possible for thfl proposed '
.double track electric road between the
capital city and Portland to become a y
benefit to Balem. that the metropolis
should alno do aome work of the same
kind; and . especially urges- the eon
structlon of the road to the Nohalem
and Tillamook, count rlen. An excellent
idea. And the completion of that ilne,
which cannot be deferred much- longer,
will be followed by a great and perma
nent boom In the coast country. There
Is untold wealth to be developed over
there, and vast room for new people and
ins investment oi outside capital.
'I
'' V
r-r-