Hyar's one
of the little gal's stock'n's thet I hooked off'n the line. The daddy o'
them little ones was a good, hard-working miner, an' he crossed the range
in the line o' duty, jist as any one of us is liable to do in our dangerous
business. Hyar goes a twenty-dollar piece right down in the toe, and hyar I
lay the stockin' on this card table--now chip in much or little, as ye kin
afford."
Brocky Clark, a gambler, left the table, picked the little stocking up
carefully, looked at it tenderly, and when he laid it down another twenty
had gone into the toe to keep company with the one placed there by Dawson.
Another and another came up until the foot of the stocking was well filled,
and then came the cry from the gambling table:
"Pass her around, Jack."
At the word he lifted it from the table and started around the hall. Before
he had circulated it at half a dozen tables it showed signs of bursting
beneath the weight of gold and silver coin, and a strong coin bag, such as
is used for sending treasure by express, was procured, and the stocking
placed inside of it.
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