The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 3, 1904, Page 7

THE SAN FRANC ISCO SUNDAY CALL. 1 came to the ville just ple out In ; enjoyed perhaps remarked e Fourth n the tops and when at prepara- n Bunny ted furry iy to do Mr. and eir hu- he Dec- d how the ed it, so it nnyville as The morn- d bright and 1 and & and purring lage. wear my new hat? v dress? C. col hese asked numerous cht bv families. dren in rabbit 1 say like real mammas, 1 might get your hat racker: or some last the hour for the streets of ws and doors ust like real push - homes were h eager pink and sniffy noses, g paws st fur, brown and were waving 2s they saw the hing rst of all were tizens of Bunny- r They were wn by squir- and in the Jack Rabbit. g, with his long ¢ and blue rib- his buttonhole. % and clapping ge passed, but make a noise had ich hand, as the 2 heard. screamed funny Nt- s pro- tem flutes ith long of drums and cornets gourds mbination, and all Dunnyville felt justly il talent. As the ¢ "Star-spangled Ban- all the crowd oices. To a hu- 1ly have sounded purrs, big and Mit- beinge are so must have "the the heart of a child erstand these things. in twins, the little Bunnys, ete., Lk big bogie man! Take him 1 afrald—the big devi] will And the mammas loving- d them by saying: *“Oh, ne! i ot hurt you. That is only the E Dragon-Hare,. and he loves chil- ren. He can't help being so ugly. He 1 any harm by it.” came, wriggling and squirm- spitting fireerackers. Vol smoke and one explosion after another came from its great eyes and mouth. No wonder the dear little rab- bits were afraid. But the mammas and papas knew it was not a “really” la dragon, because they could see it was just made of a lot of big skins, and they could plainly see sticking out from beneath its long sides the furry feet of the rabbits who carried it and whose bodies were beneath it. So when all this was explained to the children they were no longer afraid, but threw lighted firecrackers and peanuts at it and laughed loudly to see them disap- pear in its cavernous mouth. After the parade was over they all D) went_ to the park, where the bana played the rest of the day. There was lots of fun, especially for the children. Ever¥ one had taken a nice lunch and sat under the trees to eat it. “Oh, how good everything tastes on the Fourth of July!" sald Johnny Easter, as he nibbled on a red apple and cracked a peanut. The owner of the corner store in the forest had almost grown rich from the quantities of firecrackers he had sold. Every child in Bunnyville had been given some money, so no one was unhappy. The older rabbits said it would be better to keep the fireworks until it ‘was aarx, so tney were content to watt, and put in the time drinking red lem- onade, colored with thimble-berries, and in eating. a great many peanuts Wwhich their fond parents had scratched out of some one’s peanut patch in the dark hours of the night when the peo- ple and dogs were all asleep. They. had taken thelr pumpkin carriages and gopher coachmen and In this way had been able to carry home great quantities. The owners of the peanut patches were painfully surprised to find no peanuts when they looked for them and could not {magine how any animal could get away witn such quantities. They would not have wondered so much if they had seen the blg pumpkin carriages and the numerous busy rabbit papas and brothers hrd at work with teeth and claws. Steallng is not wrong when one is a rabbit, for there is really no other way to get anything, a.d the Fourth of July would not be the Fourth of July without peanuts and red lemonade and popcorn balls. The rabbits were very fond of popcorn, either raw or popped, and could cracl it nicely with their sharp little teeth. They had great fun popping it, too, on the camp fires at night, and many had been the rabbit giggles and burnt Ak 719 . i D Kvfi')/ // paws and singed whiskers while this went on; but they'had had more than enough fun fo atone for those acci- dents. One appreciated popcorn balls #0 much more if one did all the pop- ping and had not yielded to the temp- tation of eating it up at the time. And then the deliclous sticks of peppermint candy! All the baby rabbits were suck- ing a stick, and it tasted so good, for it was a luxury they did not often have. Best of all was the night, which fell early in the great redwood forests of California. It found all the rab- bits full of fun and ready for a good time. All gathered together under the trees and it was like one big family for fun and frolic and good will. There were games of leap frog among the rabbit boys, and so much pleasure seemed to be derived from it that even tke rabbit papas threw aside their dig- nity and paper collars and joined in o / thing, as it would be a bad example to the daughters. But it was great sport even to watch it. Many of the gray-whiskered papas joined their sons and scampered madly up to the tops of the highest trees, throwing redwood acorns down at the merry crowd. Many games were played by the children, the sedate elders looking on the while. Thkere was “hunt the handkerchief,” “hide and go seek,” “puss wants a cor- mer” and others. A great deal of fun was created by the snapping bonbons, and the young rabbits were delighted to find that they popped like firecrack- ers when pulled apart. Little Bob White pulled so hard om one that it broke and he fell back on the edge of the bon- fire and singed his tail. It hurt a little bit, but, fortunately, there was a bush of witch-hazel growing near and his mother chewed up some of the leaves for a poultice and bound up the burnt tail with her handker And the kers; Oh my! what fun they were! There were some teeny, wee ones for the babies, some middle sized ones the other chil- dren and some big grown-up rabbits, made such a terrib made the babies put t paws over their fy The mamma d ig noise very mu er, scared the bab but th and boys were delighted and louder the noise the better they liked It is tru® there were a goc many singed whiskers and ey would tails grow again, and an and papas smelling for srew again. The skyrockets looked like they shot up in the dar than the tops of the big could not last always, that could not b a time for the o holi were equally as good if as the Fourth. After an a Mayor Jack Rabbit and so tions by the B t throng of back to the creep Into But alas S0 many stomach ache ade and pope kept busy all up Dr. Cottontail, who prescribed a liberal dose of hot catnip or “rabbit- nip,” he called it, and that soothed the pain. And the last to be seen of the bables their ma: 1:as had them wrapped snu them the well known lu the game. Indeed, it was a great temp- s, Baby Bpnting, tation to the mammas also, but they P o would not do such an undignified — ! AT THE ‘ | . SNAKE ROCHK MINE | ] By Frank H. Sweet l - - OYCE KILLIAN was only two made a fortune out of the mine and weeks from a select boarding then when you lost the vein you school in the East, where the leased it to Mr. Tem ough mis- 2 ladies were zealously Tepresentations. He paid you ffty FOURE. o with the thousand, and has sunk more than guarded from all contact fifty thousand in searching for that rough outside world. Yet this morn- _ . T re yesterday, ing she was tearing down Snake-Rock from nearly he took Canyon upon a mustang, not three out less than $1000, e told me that months from a bronco buster, with you were up there yourselves only a gaudy, cumbersome horse trappings short time ago trying to induce him to that had been brought up from Mexico more as a curiosity than for use. But there was no fear nor consclousness in her face, and instead of tryilng to check the mustang her hand went out from time to time to stroke and pat its neck encouragingly, as her voice urged it on. When she left the canyon she struck a more level country, and here the mus- tang was let out to its full speed. Bed- rock was still ten miles away, and she must reach it and be back to the mine before night. It was already well on toward noon. Bedrock was a one-streest town which commenced and ended in tents, with a few unpainted frame buildings in the center. It was an hour after noon when Joyce slipped from her horse in front of the office of Gregg & Graw, mine brokers and operators. Both of the proprietors were in, and both rose at her entrance. Young ladies of Joyce’s type were not yet common at Bedrock. “I wish to see you about the Snake- Rock mine lease,” Joyce began gra- clously. Gregg bowed, but not before the visitor imagin * she saw a swift glance flash between the partners. “I understand it expires in ten days,” sald Gregg blandly. “You are Miss Killian?" “Yes. We—Mr. Temple wishes to renew the lease on the terms you pro- posed.” “Visiting at Snake-Rock Camp with your aunt,” went on Gregg. “You see we've all heard—or guessed. When—er —I8 the interesting event to come off, it you don't mind?” “It you are alluding to my mar- riage with Mr. Temple, it has not yet been announced,” answered Joyce coldly. “But about the lease. Will you kindly make it out as soon as pos- sible? I have some shopping to do in town, and it is a long ride back to camp. Mr. Temple will sign the pa- pers and return them at once. Thers are only ten days and he wishes to self- Jhave the matter arranged without de- lay.” “Why didn’t he come down self?”” demanded Graw bluntly. “He is very busy at the mine and I convinced him that I could attend to 1t just as well,” Joyce answered. “He sald it was to be made out at twenty- five thousand and—your own offer.” Graw laughed aloud. “That offer was made four weeks ago,” he said, “and Temple declined 1t.” You mean you will not renew it for that?"” “Exactly.” Joyce lost some of her color. What little money she and her aunt had was invested in the mine, as well as Hugh Temple’s, and the lease ran out in ten days. “Well,” she said slowly, “I am au- thorized, In case you should decline to recognize your offer, to raise the amount to what was paid last year— fifty thousand.” “Which we must decline,” sald Graw suavely, “with real regret, you understand. And I will add that we would decline a hundred thousand just as promptly.” “You mean that you will not re- lease the Snake Rock mine on any him- fx terms?” the girl's white lips asked. “Exactly. We expect to resume operations there ourselves.” “I understand you have heard. And I suppose you call this business. You re-lease the n exhausted. “As Temple has vein, richer than ever,” coolly, “we propose to operate it our- selves. ‘But you may teil him that if he will turn the mine over to us at day- light to-morrow we will pay him back one-half the year's lease—twenty-five thousand.” “And let him lose the other seventy- five thousand,” flashed back Joyce. “No, thank you. We will hold the mine until the very last moment of the lease.” But once outside she wondered if she had done the best she could. He was down in the mine working flercely with his men at the almest pure vein which the explosives had uncovered, and be- lleving that she would return with the new lease. Only ten more days, and he did not know it. What could she do? Before she had gone a hundred yards she knew, and instead of keeping on toward tae stores, she hurried to the only printing office Bedrock contained. An hour later the town was conspicu- ously posted with: “Men wanted at the Snake-Rock mine for ten days. Wages $15 a day, pack mules $10.” Ordinary wages for good laborers was §4 or $5. Bosses and superintend- ents did-not average $15. In an hour men were leaving regular jobs of work and ruthlessly breaking contracts. When Joyce finished her shopping and started for home she found stragglers and groups with picks and . shovels scattered along the trail for two miles or more. But she reached the mouth of the mine first and sent an imperative summons for Temple to come to the surface. When he joined her a haif- hour later, twenty men were walting for jobs, with fifty hurrying up the slope, and between the fifty and Bed- rock came half a thousand more. The regular force of the mine was less than a hundred men, but the next morning a thousand names were on the payroll, divided into day and night shifts. A great stream of ore rolled up out of the mine to the backs of the pack mules and on the smelter at Bedrock, whence ‘came certifi- cates of credit with figures that would have staggered a mine-owner of mod- erate ideas. But Temple did not even see them. He was down in the mine, working and watching day and night to see that the great stream should not slacken for even an instant. Joyce Insisted on a share In the work and remained at the mouth of the mine with book and pencil, keep- ing a record of the stream as it flowed past, and it was she who took charge of the credit slips as they came in. So a week went by, eight days, nine days, and the tenth was nearing its close when Temple came up from the mine and staggered weakly to where Joyce was standing with her book and pencil. And behind Temple came the half thousand men of the day shift, slipping through the mouth of the mine like the colls of a mighty ser- pent. The vein had again disappeared, and four hours of the lease remained. When Temple looked over the credit slips the weariness left his face.. “I knew it would be something stu- pendous,” he said to Joyce with a long treath, “but nothing like this. We will divide two hundred thousand of it among the workmen—Iless than one- quarter—and then for the East.” (Copyright. 1904, by Frank H. Sweet) iscovered the hed Graw