THE HISTORY OF YANKEEJIM.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1283, 20 January 1883, Page 4

THE HISTORY OF YANKEEJIM.

One scorching afternoon' in July; 185—, the Haugtown stage creaked slowly over the plank roadway forming the principal street of Sacramento city, finally coining to a full stop in front of the I'll Donult Hotel. It had not exactly stopped before the knot of idlers were collected to stare, as they hail dono year in and year out, at the dozen or so dust begrimed passengers who alighteil and who began thrashing themselves like men who had been out in a heavy fall of snow, instead of having just finished the hottest and dustiest sixty miles of road in America. This particular stage usually made connection with the day boat for" Tho Bay," as iJan Francisco was universally termed in the interior; but on this occasion it had como in too late by an hour at least, and the boat was consequently at the moment twenty miles down the river. Upon learning this disagreeable piece of intelligence the bela'eil travellers scattered, grumbling it the detention, which each took great care to explain could never have been worse timed or more inconvenient to himself than upon this particular afternoon. One traveller, however, stood apparently nonplussed by tho situation for a moment or two longer, until his pyo caught the word "Bank,"in big golden letters, staring at'him from the opposite side of the street. He crossed over, read it again from the curb-stone, and then shambled in at the door. He knew not why but once within, he felt a strange dwtire to get out again as soon as possible. But this secret admonition passed unheeded. Before him was a counter, extending across the room, at the uack of which was a solid wall of brick. Within this was built tho bank vault, tho iron door of which being half opened discovered bags of coin piled upon the floor, and skim from which the dull glitter of gold dust caught the visitor's eye directly. Tho miikllo of the counter was occupied by a pair of tall scales o' beautiful workmanship, in which dust was weighed, while on a table behind it wero trays containing gold and silver coins. A young man, who was writing and smoking at the same time, looked up when the door opened to admit the person of whom wo were speaking. To look at the two men one would have said it was the bank clerk who might bo expected to feci tho presentiment m evil, Really the other w.is hulf bandit in appearance.

In the solitary individual who li;\s just entered tho Bank we shall describe not ono man only, but a type ol the thousands who, like migratory ante, passed and repassed the great highways leading to the mine 3 of th< Golden State. He was a bronzed, bcardud, and weather-beaten fellow. dreaß«d in a faded woollen shirt, pantaloons secured at the hips by a belt, and tucked loosely within a pair of miner'; boots, a bimd-brimraed felt hat that had been has'ily crushed upon hi; head, and » pea jacket dangling fron his left shoulder like the short cloak of an ancient cattle drover. The haft o! a bowie knife protruded, ready to be grasped from his belt; and when hi walked a big "six-shooter" flapped against his hip at every step. Th man seemed a walking "rsenal; bu' had the well dressed young person behind the counter been searched, ; " Derringer" would have been found it his pocket, while a revolver lay con Ysnient to his hand underneath th. oounter. Although he was alone and unnoticed, yet the stranger's manner Tas undeniably nervous and suspicion.Addressing the cashier, he disjointed!} laid:

' I say, mister, this yer boat's left: can't get to -Frisco afore to-morrow J' (inquiringly). 'That's so,' the cashier assended,

'Well, 'continued the miner, 'here'; my fix; bound home for the Sta'cs' (dropping bis voice); 'got two thousand stowed away; don't know a live IV.hv in this yer burg, and might get knifed afore morning in some fandango. Seel ' That's so,' repeated the unmoved

official. Then, seeing his customer had come to an end, he said, I reckon you want to deposit your money with usi' ' That's the how of it, stranger. Look it up tight wlnir I kin coine for it tomorrow.'

' Down with the dust, then,'observed the cashier, taking the pen from behind his ear and preparing to write; bu; seeing his customer throw a wary glance right and left, he beckoned him to a more retired part of tho Bauk. where the depositor very coolly divested himself of his shirt, in each corner o:

which five fifty dollar "slugs" wer; knotted. An equal sum in dust was then produced from a buckskin belt, al. of which was received without the leasl comment upon the ingenuity with which it had been concealed. A certificate in due form was then made ou specifying that .lurries Wilde had deposited with the " Mutual Confident and Trust Company," subject to hi ordef, two thousand dollars. Glancing »t the scrap of crisp paper as if hardly comprehending how it could be an equivalent for his precious heap of coir Mid dust upon the counter, Jim heaved a deep sigh of relief, then crumplint the certificate tightly in his big fist he exclaimed; 'Thar, Ikiti tat and sleep now, I r ckon. Blamed if ever I knew afore what ut cowa - d a rich man was!" He then sutrted for the door, hesitated came back lo the counter, and asked the clerk in a confidents tone—'l say, what light be the valley of that biizzum-pin of yourn 1 The old woman at-home might like some kind of a trinket, you know.' The clerk eyed the questioner sharply, carried his hand hastily to the diamond bluster flashing in his shirt front and said shortly, 'Sixty ounces,' Jim gave a long whistle, and went out in search of a night's lodging. Ou: man, who had acquired among his fellow-miners the nickname of" Yankee Jim " had been a sailor before the mast, W iien the ship's anchor touched the bottom, bo with his shipmates Btarted at once for tho "diggings," where he had toiled for two years with varying luck, but found himself at lust in possesion of what would be considered a little fortune in his native town. We see him now returning,

filled with the hope of'u liujipy meeting with' the wife and children liehodleft behiud. , But while Yankee Jim slept soundly, and dreamed blissfully of pouring golden eagles' into 'Jane's lap, his destiny was ! being fulfilled, j The great financial storm,of; 185— ; b«rat upon the State, unheralded. Like a thief in the night the one fatal jword passed over the wires that shut the door" of every bank, and .jnade the boldest turn pale. Suspension was followed by panic, panic by ruin l and dismay. Yankee Jim was only an atom swallowed up in the' general and overwhelming disaster of that day. In the morning he went early to the bank to find it shut fast, and ah excited and threatening crowd surging to and fro before the doorß. Men with, hnggard faces were talking and gesticulating wildly. Women were weep-, ing and wringing their hands. A sudden faintness came, over him. What i could it all mean'? Mustering courage to put he question to a bystander, he was told to look and read for himself. Two omnious words) Bank closed," were posted on the front of the building. For a moment the poor fellow could not seem to take in the full meaning of the calamity that had fallen like a thunderbolt from a clear sky,: but as it dawned upon' him 'that his little fortune was swept away for ever, and with it the hopes that had opened to his delighted fancy, the blood rushed to his brain, and bis face grew purple. Then he fell back in a lit, deprived of sense or motion. The first word he articulated when he came to tyiuself was, " Home." Some kind souls paid his passage to San Francisco where the sight of blue water, and of the big ships gallantly riding at their anchors, seemed to revive him ajlittle, Wholly possessed by his one idea of getting home, he shipped on board the next home-bound steamer, going about his duty like a man half-stunned, and who see-*, without comprehending, what is passing around him. The sailing of a home-ward-bonnd steamship was one of the events of these days, To say that the whole city turned out to witness, or rather to assist at, her departure, would hardly be an exaggeration, On shore, jests and good byes popped like champagne corks. ■

My own knowledge of the chief actor hi this history began at four o'clock in the morning on the third (layout of port. The California's engines were suddenly stopped, There was a hurried tramping of feet, a rattling of blocks on the dock, succeeded by a dead silonce —a silence that could be folt. j I jumped out of my berth; and ran! on lock. How well I can recall that -eene! The morning cold, damp, and nggy, was an utterly dismal one. A

tale light s l 'hrough the heavy

nist, but L wi; !m thick to see a cable's length from the ship, alhough we distinctly heard the rattle >f oars at some distance, with now and ■"■ hen a quick shout that sent our 'marts up into our mouths. We listened intently. No one spoke. No

me needed to be told what these

Jiouts meant. The huge bl.ic' I" " lay silent and motionless, Although fhe gloom hid it from us, the neai

vicinity of the coast was announced by the roaring of the surf, distinctly

mdible in that death like stillness, We could not even make out the mastheads

or the fog in which they seemed dissolving. But in the vessel's wake fetched a half-luminous streak 'of

>Wphorescent form, until it mingled

vith and was lost in the colorless vapour over-hanging the torpid tropio <ea, Down this luminous track, and into the gloom beyond, our eyes were itrained to discover the secret of the ,'ow. How long .it was I cannot tell,

or minutes seemed hours then; but at last he heard the dip of oars, and the boat shot out of the fog within a Msouit's toss of the ship. I. remember hat, as they came alongside, the upurned faces of the men were ghastly md pinched, One glance showed that he s'arch had been in Vain, v '

The boat was secured, the huge padUer struck the water like clods, the 'ioavy floating ma.'s swiihg'slowlyrdiind o her helm: • But at tho instant .when

•ve were turning away, awed by 'the ■nystery of this death'scene, a cry came mt of the darkness—a yell of agony md deepest horror—;that nailed us to -,he deck." May I never/bear the like

igain, 1 Save me, for God's sake save no I" pierced through and through the silence till a hundred frantic "voices teemed repeating it, The ory was lo tear that eveiy eye instinctively turned ;o the spot whence it proceeded—so

Lear that it held all who heard it" in

■ireathless, in sickening suspense, ; ,H»d she sea really given up its dead 1 Before

me might count ten the boat wis again iianned and clear of the ship. '• I recollect tlie figure of the first officer Hs ;; he <tood erect in the stern sheets, with the filler ropes in his hand, peering into the og, I can see the men springing like

;igers to their work, and, tho cutter ossing on the seething i.brine astern

ike a chip. Then, the ,fog shut them rom view'again. But never more was bat voice heard on land or sea. . It .vas the last agonised shriek of retiirninj; consciousness no doubt, an the Pacific closed over Yankoe Jim's head. At eight bells we assembled around the capstan at our captain's call, when the few poor effects of the lost man

were produced. : 'His kit contained onfe or two soiled letters, a daguerreotype ■A two blooming child)en hand-iri-hand, i.piece of crumpled paper, and a few articles of clothing. I noticed 1 that vhile smoothing out the creases in thfe

wrap of paper, the captain.. becamq

ileeply attentive, then very red., Clear: ng bis throat he began as follows It's an old sea custom tosellliy motion the kit of a shipmate who dies '•in blue water. Yon all know j its''d iustom of the land to 1 search fw last will of a deceYsed friend as soon ps the funeral is over.'' The man'- : ;Ve" lost this morning shipped by bis. fo'costle .or 3ea name-avery.coran)on : thi|ig among •iailors: but I've just found out hit) crue ono since I stood;on this spot; aqct what's more, I've found out thathe b'ad been in trouble. V An right here that he found it toobheavy tor him. God knows. But it's more

to the point that he -left a wife imd twd ■liiildreti, whose s'ole dependence he was: Gentlemen and mates take ,oif...your hats while I read.yoii this letter." | .Tho letter, which ibore: evidence, of

| as' . follows t-r.. ;....'.'.l'- . .' '' '

"Oh, James.!: ; andvare:;you" really comiiig.i'liome, and with such a lot of money, too | -Oh, I can't beliovo it all. How happy we shall lie once moro l ,It makes nie.feel just like a young girl again, when you and I used toiroara in • the berry pastuni hand-in hand, and ii&rer coveted anything in the wide world,, .but to.be together. You havn't forget that, .my lad, have you? or the old cedari on the clift where you asked file for your own wife, and the heaven over us and tho sea at our feet, all so beautiful, and we so happy 1 Do come quick. Surely God has helped me to wait all this long, weary time, but now it seems as if I couldn't bear it another day.. And tlielittje boy,.James,just your image j it's can say, (■' Papa, como home.', .How can you have the heart,to stay,in,that wicked place.'

' ■ When he had finished, some of the lady passengers were crying softly. Hea then read the fatal certificate of deposit, folding it up so that all might see.

■ 'Now, ladies and gentlemen,' ho went on, 'you've heard the story, and .can put this and,that together. When we get to Panama, I'm going to write to the , widow. It's for you to say what kind of letter it shall be. That's why I've asked you here. Now, purser, 'put tip the certificate of deposit.'

.'How much am I offered—how much i' said the purser. Ten, twenty, forty, fifty dollars were quickly bid. Then a woman's voice said seventy, and then the bidding ran up to a hundred and fifty. It was knocked down to a red-shirted miner, who laid three fifty dollar pieces on the capstan, saying as he did so—''Tain't half enough cap, Sell her agin—sell her agin.'

The gale went on, each buyer putting the certificates up for sale again, until tho noble emulation ■ covered tlie capstan with gold. 'Stop a bit purser,' said Captain M—, counting the money; 'tliat will do/ ho continued; 'the sale is over. Here are 'just two thousand dollars, The certificate of deposit is redeemed.'