Comstock Lode (Nev.) -- Fiction; Miners -- Fiction; Virginia City (Nev.) -- Fiction
The Colonel, Professor and Alex, with Miller, Carlin, Ashley and
Harding, rode in the mourning carriages. These were followed by a long
line of carriages and quite one thousand miners on foot. At the grave
the services were simply a prayer and a hymn sung by the Cornish
quartette. They made his grave close beside that of Wright's; they
ordered a duplicate stone to be placed above it, and left him to his
long sleep.
Yap Sing was paid off and a handsome present made him, the furniture and
food in the Club house was distributed among poor families in the
neighborhood, and on the evening train the four living men, with the
body of their dead friend, moved out of Virginia City.
A great crowd was at the depot to see them off, and the last hands wrung
were those of the Professor, the Colonel and Alex.
On the way to Reno, Carlin said to Miller: "One thing I cannot
understand, Miller; whatever possessed that broker to turn over that
money to you when he was not compelled to?"
"I have no idea in the world," said Miller, "except that we are old
friends."
"But did you never do him any great favor, Miller--any particularly
great favor?" asked Carlin.
"No," said Miller, "I cannot think of any." But after a moment's silence
he added: "By the way, come to think of it, I did do him a little favor
once. I saved his life."
"How was it?" asked Carlin. "Why," answered Miller, "he and myself had a
running fight with a band of renegade Indians. There were seven or eight
of them at first, and we got them reduced to four, when one of them
killed the broker's horse. It was a very close game then. It required
the promptest kind of work. When the horse fell the broker was thrown
violently on his shoulder and the side of his head and was too stunned
to gather his wits together for a few minutes. I had a gentle horse, so
sprang down from him and let him go. I got behind a low rock and
succeeded in stopping two of the Indians, when the others concluded it
was no even thing and took the back track. But the broker was "powerful"
nervous when I got up to him. The worst of all was, I had to ride and
tie with him for seventeen miles, and he was so badly demoralized that I
had to do all the walking."
At Reno Miller bade the others good-bye and took the west-bound train.
Carlin sent a dispatch to an Illinois town. Late in the night the
east-bound Overland express came in; the body of Brewster was put on
board, the three friends entered a sleeper and the long ride began.
CHAPTER XIX.
Following a long established habit our three travelers were up next
morning shortly after dawn.
The train was then thundering over the desert northeast of Wadsworth.
Carlin noticed the country and said:
"This must be almost on the spot where poor Wright saw his wonderful
mirage."
As he spoke the bending rays of the rising sun swept along the sterile
earth, and a shimmer in the air close to the ground revealed how swiftly
the heat waves were advancing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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