THE GREENBACK KID

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 24, 18 June 1908, Page 7

THE GREENBACK KID

He came into the Greenback milling camp one afternoon on the stage, having paid his fare by helping the driver change the horses at the stations. Though only a boy, his face wore the seriousness of- manhood. His father had been killed in a dynamite' explosion at the ' Silver Bell,' and Tiis mother had died of fever soon after. * ' A kid around a mine is as useless as a hole in a doughnut,' Simpson, the foreman, told him when he approached that worthy. But the boy looked up Hudson, the big 'superintendent, and was more successful. His name was Rodne,v Harris, hut he- was known by the miners as the ' Greenl ack Kid,' or just c Kid.' He got along well tfilh all except Simpson, the fore-

StmT 16 ?^^^ - sli P to. curse and re? ninen inn + ce h lanng , he W ? uld disc harge v -him. A^tils occur! arrival at* ab ° Ut a **** after R « tioi^fn^Ln ll^? 11 ?'■ that day there was consternaofltoe sudZfl'v ii/n ? Ig !O1! O1 ! g „at the superintendent's ?,!£« ,s, s " ddenl y clanged out loud and shrill, as it did when there Was a fire or a serious accident. Almost instantly blue and red-shirted miners filed out of the bunk house and cabin. From, up the canon came a roa? and a crash as of a hurricane tearing the forest The earth trembled, and the mountain sid°es were shaking it s a slide ! cried the superintendent. * There's a big snow slide on Preston's Peak ! Run for your lives ! * Then he xan up the hill to the shaft house to give the alarm, calling the men to get them out before the shaft like rat? UP? tO PreVent them from bein S buried . Then came the slide. Half Preston's Peak broke t°Jf ?< *?**<. a i ld slip , ped down - leavin S a g^at deep scar. At first it moved gently and easily ; then it jumped and leaped. Towering pine trees broke and snapped like straws under the avalanche of snow and earth The cabin and buildings of the upper part of the camp weie crushed and buried beneath a mountain of debris. After the first slip had passed, the crowd looked up and beheld a little cabin, half-torn from its foundations, hanging at the base of the avalanche. ' It's Simpson's cabin,' said one. ' Simp, Simp ! Where is Simpson ? ' the superintendent anxiously inquired. 'He's in the cabin asleep ! ' half a dozen answered. A shudder ran through the crowd. Though accustomed to dangers, there was not one but whose heart sank at the thought of the big foreman in the doomed cabin. Was there one among them who would go to the rescue ? Some one rushed suddenly from the crowd. ' The Kid ! The Kid ! ' a hoarse voice shouted, and then all knew the truth. They vainly tried to stop him. Up n up he climbed, with the gravel rattling and rolling under his feet, and the snow slipping treacherously The watchers below, held their breath. He reached the cabin and tugged viciously at the door, which, refused to open. Finally he tore it from its hinges and rushed in. Shortly he appeared at the door supporting the limp and intoxicated foreman. The crowd cheered lustily. The boy shouted into the ear of the dazed miner, and when he looked out,, he understood. Impending dan- . ger sobered him. The boy clinched him tightly by the arm and started down the slope, tugging and pulling with all his strength, and wading knee-deep through the spongy snow. When half way down the slide broke with a_deafening roar, and hurled its tons of snow and earth upon the camp. The cabin was swallowed up .instantly, and the boy and the man were caught in the van of the whirl. They were lifted high and thrown completely j over the mill, the wall of which held the snow and saved them, as they were scooted far out to the open valley and safety. Eagerly the men rushed forward to pick them up. Simpson was hurt a little, but was soon on his feet ; but the boy was wounded, and blood flowed from a cut upon his head. It was some time before he regained consciousness, and when he opened his eyes a half-hundred men were standing about him^ all waiting anxiously, almost breathlessly., N--- ' Thank God ! ' spoke the big miner, ' the boy breathes again ! I want to be the first to thank you, lad, for what you have done for me this day. Were it not. for you I would have been buried deep under that mountain of snow, so deep that all the miners in the camp couldn't have dv.c me out in a year.' 1 That's all right,' Rodney answered. ' I only did what any of the miners would have done.' '. You're wrong, sonny,' interrupted Hudson, the superintendent. 'We all had the chance you had, but wouldn't take it.' 'That's right,' chorused the crowd. 'The Kid is the pluckiest one in the camp.' 1 And I want 1o rennv you, my boy,' continued Simpson, chokingly, still holding Rodney's hands. 'How can I do it ? ' ' ' Just be mv friend.' answered the boy, simply. • 'With all mv heart, '; the miner replied, squeezing hard the boy's hands. ' From this time we're pards, never to nlay quits.- -" And they never did.— Exchange.