THE 
 FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 BY 
 
 ELLEN E. JACK 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 M. A. DONOHUE & CO. 
 PUBLISHERS 
 

 COPYRIGHT. 1910. 
 BY 
 E. JACK 
 
 *3 
 
 ^ 
 
 
8- 
 
 U>. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 Captain Jack Looking for a Company to Buy Mine, 1907... 53 
 
 Captain Jack at One of Her Mines 67 
 
 Captain Jack's Fort in the Woods 75 
 
 Captain Jack at Her Camp 97 
 
 Captain Jack's First Camp, on the High Drive, Near Colo 
 rado Springs 103 
 
 Captain Jack Mining Queen 127 
 
 Captain Jack Starting for Her Mines 171 
 
 Captain Jack Queen of the Rockies 179 
 
 Captain Jack After a Day's Work 197 
 
 Captain Jack Lost in the Mountains 203 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I WAS born November 4, 1842, in New Len- 
 tern, Nottingham, England, my parents 
 being William and Elizabeth Elliott. My father 
 was one of the patentees and manufacturers of 
 the famous Nottingham lace curtains. We be 
 longed to the Quaker sect, and the house I was 
 born in was the original Fox homestead, it hav 
 ing been occupied in continuous time for over 
 three hundred years. I had five brothers 
 William, Charles, Isaac, Henry and Frank 
 who all entered the British navy as midshipmen, 
 afterward becoming officers of higher rank. I 
 had also three sisters Eliza, Lydia and Betsy 
 Ann. My sister Betsy Ann was burned to 
 death when very young, and my sister Lydia 
 got married, I going to live with her afterward. 
 
 One chilly evening in the beginning of Novem 
 ber, in the year 1849, I stood, a little fair-haired 
 girl dressed in the English style of low-necked 
 dress with short sleeves, looking at a string of 
 covered wagons belonging to a tribe of gypsies 
 that were looking for a place to camp. It was the 
 time of the Goose Fair at Nottingham, which is a 
 beautiful, thrifty and prosperous manufacturing 
 
 5 
 
6 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 town of England. The law was very strict, it 
 being imprisonment or fine if gypsies were found 
 camping on the highway or on city property. 
 They were trying to see if they could get per 
 mission to occupy one of the fields, and as they 
 caught sight of me watching them, they spoke 
 in their own language. Then the queen, a tall, 
 dark woman, came over to me and said : 
 
 "Who lives in that house among the trees ?" 
 
 I said, "My mamma. " 
 
 "Well, you are the fairest little one I have 
 ever seen. Come and take me to your mamma. ' ' 
 
 So she took my hand and we both went to 
 my mother, and the queen told her she would pay 
 her well for the use of the ground while the fair 
 lasted and that not a blade of grass should be 
 harmed by her tribe if she would let them in* 
 My mother said, "They say gypsies steal child 
 ren. Would thee steal mine?" 
 
 The queen said: "I give thee my hand and 
 pledge that we will not steal anything belonging 
 to you, or let anyone else, if we know it." 
 
 So she gave five pounds to my mother, then 
 she turned my hair back from my forehead and 
 said: 
 
 "This child was born to be a great traveler, 
 and if she had been a male would have been a 
 great mining expert. She is a Rosicrusian, born 
 to find hidden treasures. She will meet great 
 sorrows and be a widow early in life. Fire will 
 cause her great trouble and losses.", 
 
 My mother did not believe in fortune-telling 
 and paid no attention to the predictions of the 
 queen. After that the gates were opened and 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 7 
 
 the tribe came in. It was getting cold and dark, 
 but I wanted to see what they were going to do, 
 so I stole away to watch them at their work. 
 Some were putting up the tents, others were 
 making camp-fires; all was life and everyone 
 knew what to do. When the work was done 
 they all gathered around the fire and sang and 
 played fiddles, tambourines and other instru 
 ments of which I do not know the names. I 
 could not understand a word that was said, and 
 that puzzled me very much. It was a strange 
 sight to see such a merry lot of dark-looking 
 people outside the tents and around the big fire. 
 We afterward learned that they were the Bos- 
 well tribe, and that the men were veterinary 
 doctors and horse-traders and the women made 
 fancy baskets and told fortunes. 
 
 The queen had a grand-daughter a year older 
 than I, whose name was Zephey. She was a 
 marvel for one so young. She could dance and 
 sing, play the tambourine and castanets, and 
 with bones between her fingers would keep 
 time to her dancing. She was very pretty and 
 it was a treat to see her at her antics. A great 
 attachment sprang up between her and me, and 
 she tried to teach me her songs and told me many 
 things about the tribe. 
 
 It was now getting toward the close of the fair, 
 and on Saturday the queen got Zephey and me 
 to go with her to the walnut grove and get a 
 great collection of husks. I soon found out what 
 they were used for. They put them in a large 
 pot of cold water, which they hung over the fire 
 to get the color out. With this they dyed their 
 
8 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 hair, then diluted some with water and put it 
 on their faces, necks and arms. This made their 
 black hair as glossy as silk and gave them a 
 clear, olive complexion. They fixed themselves 
 up in this way on Saturday night and on Sunday 
 morning went in a body to the church. The 
 men had knee-breeches and buckles on their 
 shoes, the old men wearing black stockings and 
 the young men red ones. Black hats with red 
 bands around, and shirts with turned -down 
 rolling Byron collars, some with red handker 
 chiefs and some with black for ties, completed 
 their picturesque costume. The women wore 
 black beaver bonnets with long white plumes, 
 and long scarlet cloaks with yokes that covered 
 their dresses. They walked in pairs to the 
 church and took seats together in one corner. 
 After the service two of the young people were 
 married. It was a gypsy wedding conducted 
 according to the laws of England, but they had 
 another form which they went through after 
 they got back to their tents. 
 
 They all came outside and formed a circle 
 around the bride and groom. The queen had 
 a gold charm in a piece of black velvet hanging 
 in the center of her forehead, which she always 
 wore. She had on a white dress with wide, 
 flowing sleeves. Zephey carried a wreath and 
 bouquet of everlasting daisy flowers. They 
 stood in the center of the circle. Then the 
 queen threw up her left sleeve and above the 
 elbow was a bracelet in the form of a serpent, all 
 a-glitter with diamonds and rubies. She then 
 took a penknife concealed within the bracelet 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 9 
 
 and going over to the groom cut a small hole in 
 his shirt, right over his heart. Into this she 
 put the bouquet and then placed the wreath on 
 the bride's head, saying: 
 
 "The fresh, beautiful flowers that bloom with 
 their fragrance in the sun soon droop and perish, 
 the slightest frost withers them, but I crown you 
 with the everlasting daisies, which storm nor 
 frost cannot destroy,, My children, may your 
 lives be as simple and your love for each other as 
 everlasting as these simple wild flowers." 
 
 Then the songs started and all kinds of merri 
 ment and feasting were indulged in until a late 
 hour. 
 
 The next morning at sunrise they took down 
 their tents, packed up and went away and I saw 
 no more of them for two years. 
 
 My great-grandmother was 107 years old and 
 very childish. People would come for miles 
 around to see the old granny who lived in the old 
 homestead originally the home of George Fox, 
 from whom our family was descended. My 
 grandmother's maiden name was Mary Fox 
 and her mother was of the same name, all born 
 in this homestead, which consisted of beautiful 
 grounds that surrounded the quaint old thatched 
 cottage. It stood on the bank of the river 
 Trent, and the famous regattas could be seen 
 from the bank near the house. The house was 
 buried amid the old oak trees and the sides were 
 covered with creeping ivy and clinging moss 
 roses. The roof was covered with mosses of 
 different colors and a more romantic and beauti 
 ful place could not be found. Clifton Grove, 
 
10 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 which was a great pleasure resort, was one-half 
 mile from us, and Willf ord, our little village, was 
 one mile from Nottingham. 
 
 Granny knew that I attracted as much atten 
 tion for being a very smart and attractive child 
 as she did for her great age and ancient appear 
 ance, and in consequence took a great dislike 
 to me. If she could find me alone she would 
 beat me unmercifully and tear my hair out by 
 the handful. In fact she became so vicious that 
 mother had to keep a constant watch on me 
 for fear she would kill me. 
 
 I would go out rambling in the fields and hills 
 when my mother would be absent, singing to 
 myself and filling my apron with blackberries, 
 primroses and wildflowers. While on one of 
 these excursions to the hills I thought of what 
 the gypsy queen had told me, that I was born 
 to find hidden treasure, so I procured a knife 
 and went down to the bank of the river Trent 
 and began to dig, thinking this was the bank 
 my father had spoken of when he said he had put 
 his money in the bank, but all I got for my 
 trouble was to have the folk laugh at me. 
 
 About a month later granny sat watching a 
 winding sheet in the candle and said she would 
 not go to bed until she found out if it was a 
 young or old person who was going to die. She 
 said it was a sure token of early death if the 
 winding sheet dropped off before the candle was 
 much burned; if it stayed on until the candle 
 was burned out it would be an old person; if it 
 dropped in the middle it would be a person of 
 middle age. So she watched the candle until 
 it was burned out and then said: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 11 
 
 "I will go to bed now, for I have found out 
 that I will soon leave this place and will meet 
 William, my husband." 
 
 At 10 o'clock the next morning she was dead. 
 Then I could go about without having my hair 
 torn out. 
 
 Two years have passed and Nottingham Goose 
 Fair is close at hand. I have not seen aught of 
 the gypsies, but I had a presentiment that they 
 would come this year, so I began to gather dry 
 leaves, as the fair is held in November and the 
 leaves were falling. I gathered a large bed of 
 them and was as busy as a bee, gathering sticks 
 for their fires, so that when they came they would 
 have them at hand. I did not work in vain, for 
 two days before the fair the gypsies came and I 
 got hugged by the whole party, old and young, 
 for the trouble I had been to in preparing for 
 their reception. I was surprised to find how 
 beautiful Zephey, the 10-year old gypsy girl, 
 had grown. She asked me if I remembered the 
 songs she had taught me when she was there 
 before, but I was too young to recollect. The 
 queen brought me a tambourine for a present, 
 which delighted me very much, and I soon began 
 to sing the gypsy girls* songs. 
 
 There was a horse disease, like the glanders, 
 raging at the time, but known at the present 
 time as the epizootic, and the gypsy king, Bos- 
 well, being a veterinary surgeon, made plenty of 
 money doctoring horses. 
 
 The gypsies were making preparations to de 
 part when the little girl Zephey took sick and 
 died. I was so much attached to her that they 
 
12 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 could not persuade me to leave her until the 
 funeral, which was indeed a very sad affair . 
 Eight young gypsy women dressed in white, 
 with white silk hoods and white scarfs, crossed 
 over the right shoulder and tied with black rib 
 bon under the left arm, were the pallbearers. 
 Two went first, two on each side and two behind, 
 carrying the coffin, and when halfway to the 
 church they changed places. The two that were 
 in the front and the two behind took the places 
 of the four that had been carrying the coffin, 
 and the latter fell into the places of the four that 
 had relieved them. All the band of gypsies 
 followed by twos, the Women wearing long 
 scarlet cloaks and large black beaver bonnets 
 with long white plumes. 
 
 When they got to the grave in the church 
 yard, they all knelt around the grave and began 
 to chant in their own dialect, which I could not 
 understand. I stood at a short distance watch 
 ing them with tears coursing down my cheeks. 
 After they had performed their strange burial 
 rites, I remained and gathered my apron full 
 of wild flowers, which I strewed over Zephey's 
 grave. Then I sat down and sang: 
 
 "Death has been here and borne away 
 
 A sister from our side, 
 Just in the morning of her day, 
 As young as me she died. 
 
 "Not long ago she filled her place, 
 
 And sat with us to learn, 
 And now she's run her mortal race, 
 Which never can return." 
 
 It was sad for me so young, sitting all alone in 
 the twilight, as darkness came and I looked at 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 13 
 
 the last resting place of one I loved as a sister. 
 I had never seen death before and it seemed as 
 though I could not have so beautiful a girl as 
 Zephey was left all alone in the ground with 
 darkness coming on. I dried my eyes, however, 
 and went home with a very heavy heart, but 
 could not sleep until near morning. When nurse 
 came to my bed I was in a raging fever. I had 
 scarlet fever and was in a dangerous condition. 
 
 When the gypsies learned that I had caught 
 the fever from Zephey they were very sorry 
 and insisted that I was too young and fair for 
 this world and that I would follow Zephey. In 
 my ravings I would be singing the burial hymn 
 and be gathering wild flowers for Zephey 's grave. 
 I was sick for many weeks and knew nothing, 
 and when I came to my senses again the gypsies 
 were all gone. 
 
 The next spring my parents left the old home 
 stead which had been the home of my ancestors 
 for over 300 years. My father bought the 
 Albion brewery in Manchester and we moved 
 there. The business was a failure, however, 
 and we lost a lot of money. 
 
 One of my sisters got married to a wealthy 
 merchant, and shortly after her marriage my 
 father took sick with cholera. Every one of our 
 neighbors became frightened for fear of con 
 tagion and left mother all alone. When I came 
 home from school I found my father in great 
 agony and nobody there to care for him but 
 mother, so I went to the bed to rub him and do 
 all I could to relieve his sufferings, but at 6 
 o'clock the same day he died. 
 
14 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 Shortly after the death of my father my 
 mother went back to New Lentern, near Not 
 tingham, to live and I was left with my married 
 sister. They owned a large house which no one 
 would live in for ten years, as it had the reputa 
 tion of being haunted. Her husband had it all 
 newly painted and furnished, so we went to live 
 there. The first night we were there all the bells 
 in the house began to ring and we all got out of 
 bed to see what was the matter. We made a 
 search, but found nothing, and the servant 
 girl left the next morning, saying the devil 
 was in the house. My sister was very much 
 frightened and her husband was puzzled. 
 
 The next night it was worse, if anything, than 
 the former, for the bells rang so that we could 
 not get any sleep. My sister would not stay in 
 the house and left the fourth day, but I was 
 anxious to see a ghost and remained to satisfy 
 my curiosity. I slept all day and at night lit a 
 rush-light candle and sat waiting for Mr. Ghost 
 to make his music. I sat a long time before I 
 heard or saw anything, but began to think we 
 would have no concert that night, and was just 
 about to go to bed when the bells began to ring. 
 
 I was sitting at the head of the stairs looking 
 up to the bell wires, which were all in a row in 
 the hall, when I saw the ghosts, a whole drove 
 of rats, running back and forth over the wires. 
 Their weight on the wires running back and 
 forth caused the bells to ring. My sister came 
 back the next day and when she found out the 
 cause of the ringing she felt ashamed. Her 
 husband put dogs and ferrets to work and soon 
 got rid of the rats, 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 15 
 
 In a week or so after I had solved the great 
 mystery of the haunted house my sister gave a 
 party, to which she invited many nabobs, 
 among them being a German family who brought 
 with them a young gentleman, a Russian, who 
 had come to England to finish his education. 
 He was a very fine musician, a handsome man 
 and highly educated, his large brown eyes hav 
 ing a dreamy expression. He went by the 
 name of Carl, and when he sang and played my 
 gypsy songs he made himself a great favorite 
 with the company. After that night he came 
 often to spend the evenings at my sister's and 
 she began to joke about it and said I had a beau. 
 
 I thought so myself, but would not acknowl 
 edge the corn. Things went on smoothly for 
 months and we took long rambles together, 
 afoot, on horseback and in carriages, and he 
 would call me his fairy. I thought him the 
 finest man in the world, and with him I was the 
 happiest creature on earth, but without him 
 the world was a blank. We would sit on the 
 bank of the river and I would play the guitar and 
 sing, "Ever of thee I am fondly dreaming," 
 while he would be all attention and throw peb 
 bles into the brook. 
 
 When I had finished my song he took my 
 hands in his and declared he could and would 
 not live without me. He asked me to become 
 his wife as soon as he had finished his studies, 
 and so we became engaged. He called me his 
 darling, I called him my beauty, and thought 
 this world was fairer than ever before. 
 
 But alas! How soon was my air castle doomed 
 
16 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 to fall and I doomed to disappointment! My 
 foreign lover was called back to Russia to do 
 military service, which was the custom of the 
 country. After he had been gone three weeks 
 my cousin, a young man by the name of Jack 
 Dickson, came to the house and one evening 
 asked me to go to the opera house to hear 
 Piccolominni sing. I did not care to go, as I was 
 grieving over the absence of my lover, but my 
 sister begged me to go, so I went. I felt very 
 sad all evening and paid no attention to the 
 prima donna, as my thoughts were far away at 
 that time. When we left the opera house I felt 
 faint and caught hold of Cousin Jack. He went 
 to buy a bouquet of flowers, and as I stood on the 
 sidewalk waiting for him I was struck in the 
 bosom three times with a dagger, the blade 
 entering just above my heart. Jack came 
 running to see what was the matter and was met 
 by Carl, my Russian lover, who said that he 
 would kill him if he put a hand on me, as he 
 would rather see me dead than another man's 
 wife. I fainted from loss of blood and at the 
 same time the officers came, disarmed him and 
 took him to prison. 
 
 I was put into a cab and driven home. When 
 my wounds were dressed it was found that the 
 first wound was one and one-half inches above 
 my heart and the second about four inches to the 
 right, both deep and painful and very dangerous. 
 I was confined to my room for eighteen weeks 
 and suffered much, but the pain in my poor 
 tortured heart was worse than all. I thought 
 it impossible that the hand that had held mine 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 17 
 
 so confidently could in so brief a period strike 
 me such a dreadful blow, and I wept many bit 
 ter tears and prayed God to forgive him, for he 
 must surely have been mad with jealousy. I 
 grew convalescent, but very slowly, and will 
 carry the cruel scars to my grave. 
 
 Carl was released on payment of a big sum of 
 money, but I was afraid of him. He begged to 
 come and see me, but my sister stood firm and 
 refused to let him enter the house. 
 
 My sister and her husband concluded to go 
 to New York and began making preparations 
 for the journey, as the firm with which he was 
 connected had a branch there. I begged to go 
 with them and they decided to take me along, 
 as I was still very weak and the doctor said that 
 it would be a great benefit for me to make the 
 change. 
 
 On November 2, 1859, we left Liverpool in 
 the "Harvest Queen" of the Black Ball Line, 
 and on the voyage we were very sick for several 
 days. Then we began to feel better and were 
 able to come on deck. I was surprised to see 
 so many women and children on the lower deck, 
 going to their meals, and when we got on the 
 coast of Ireland they took on a great many 
 more passengers. The weather was very fine t 
 and we had no trouble in getting out of the* 
 channel, but after two days' sail from Holy- 
 head a dreadful storm set in and everything 
 was in confusion. The waves met together 
 under the ship and it felt as though a cannon 
 ball had struck it. The captain ordered all 
 fires out as the storm increased. The steward 
 
18 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 brought us some cold meat and bread and 
 cheese, as it was impossible to set the table, and 
 this we ate from our hands. The steward was 
 a colored man, and as he was handing some 
 bread to a lady passenger the ship gave a plunge 
 so suddenly that we all lost our balance and 
 went sprawling on the floor. The steward tried 
 to catch the table to save himself, but missed 
 his hold and went over the table head foremost, 
 hitting an old lady who was screaming at the 
 top of her voice for God to help and save her. 
 
 I, being young, soon extricated myself from 
 the mass and tried to help the rest, but when I 
 saw the black man rolling among the ladies and 
 heard their cries for help, the scene looked so 
 ridiculous that instead of trying to help them I 
 could do nothing for laughter. Such a sight I 
 never shall forget. The noise of the waves, the 
 wailing of the wind and the shrieks of the 
 women, who were all piled together, was a 
 scene not to be forgotten. 
 
 No one thought of undressing or going to bed 
 that night, for our berths were all wet from the 
 waves which came in through the portholes, so 
 we made ourselves as comfortable as we could. 
 In the morning I went up to the state cabin and 
 put my head out of the scuttle, and what a sight 
 met my eyes! The ship looked as if it were in a 
 deep hole between the large waves of pale green 
 water capped with white foam. The next 
 moment with a bound it was on top of the waves 
 and we shipped a big sea. The water nearly 
 washed me off my feet and I was forced to go 
 "below and change my drenched clothing. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 19 
 
 After the storm had abated and the men be 
 gan to get things in order it was found that a 
 young Irish girl in trying to get on deck had 
 been washed by the waves against one of the 
 hatches, breaking both of her legs. The doctor 
 came into the cabin and said he wanted help, 
 as the ship was rolling so badly that it was al 
 most as much as he could do to steady himself. 
 The ladies all declared that they could not go 
 into steerage and bear the sight of the operation. 
 I asked the doctor if I could be of any service 
 to him and he said that I was rather young, but 
 might as well learn young as any other time, so 
 I went with him. He took a long rope and tied 
 the unfortunate girl tightly so that she could 
 not move nor roll around in her berth. He then 
 went to work to set her limbs, but finding that 
 this could not be done, decided that they must 
 be amputated. He bound them up and left her 
 until it would grow calm, so that the operation 
 might be possible. She was a beautiful girl, 
 eighteen years old, with large dark eyes and 
 splendid white teeth. 
 
 It was a sad sight to see one so young and 
 beautiful with so much affliction brought upon 
 her in so brief a space of time, and I could not 
 bring myself to realize her condition. I left her, 
 telling her I would return in a few hours. It 
 grew calmer and we all went to bed for the first 
 time in two nights. 
 
 When I awoke the next morning, the sea was 
 calm and the weather very fine. After break 
 fast I went to the steward's pantry and got some 
 nice things to take to the sick girl, in company 
 
20 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 with the doctor, who went to see his patient. 
 I gave her the breakfast and she ate heartily, 
 saying that she was very hungry. When she 
 had finished, the doctor commenced operating 
 on her limbs. He took a mallet and a chisel 
 and un jointed her limbs at the knees, and of all 
 the horrible sounds that I have ever heard, 
 that was the worst. The poor creature looked 
 so pitifully at me with her large dark eyes while 
 I held her hand, that I could scarcely keep from 
 breaking down and I turned my back on the 
 doctor, as I could not bear to witness the cruel 
 operation. 
 
 The girl was pale as death and at times her 
 eyes would glaze and she would cry: "Oh! 
 mother, save me, save me!" 
 
 There were her brother and two cousins on 
 board who knew that her limbs were being am 
 putated, but they were on deck, reading their 
 prayers out of their old Catholic prayer book. 
 When the operation was over I did all that I 
 could to sooth her, going every day to take her 
 food from the cabin. 
 
 She told me that her unnatural father had 
 turned her out of his house, and a sister in New 
 York had sent her money enough to bring her 
 self and brother out. It was a very sad meeting for 
 those sisters. The young girl was engaged to a 
 young blacksmith, who was a Protestant, and 
 this was the cause of the trouble with her father, 
 who had told her that if she did not break her 
 engagement he would put her out of his house. 
 This she refused to do and one night he turned 
 her out into the cold, with neither bonnet nor 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 21 
 
 shawl to protect her from the weather. I sang 
 for her the verse of a song which ran as follows : 
 
 "Oh! cruel was that father, who shut his doors on me, 
 And cruel was the mother that such a sight could see, 
 And cruel were the bitter winds, that brought this grief 
 on me." 
 
 When we came in sight of New York it pre 
 sented the most beautiful sight I ever saw. I 
 think it is the most beautiful harbor in the 
 world and the clear blue sky was more beautiful 
 than anything I had ever seen in England, 
 where the sky looks smoky always. I was so 
 delighted with the scenery, the banks of the 
 Hudson, the views of Staten Island and the 
 beautiful surroundings, that I felt I was in 
 paradise. 
 
 We got to New York about 2 o'clock in 
 the afternoon. I was taken to the Astor House 
 on Broadway, and as I began to look around 
 there was a big show on the corner of Fulton 
 street. Across the way was the Astor House 
 and Barnum's museum with its big pictures and 
 a band on the outside. They were just starting 
 another big hotel on Fourteenth and Broadway 
 to be named the Fifth Avenue Hotel. I was 
 there six weeks when I was taken ill with jaun 
 dice and became as yellow as a dandelion. By 
 this time my brother-in-law had finished his 
 business and was ready to return, but my con 
 dition was such that it was impossible for me 
 to leave. They had secured a very good middle- 
 aged woman to take care of me and I had a good 
 old doctor, and as they could be of no further 
 assistance I said, "Both of you go and I will 
 come when I get better/' 
 
22 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE winter was very lonely for me, a stranger 
 in a foreign country and sick, so I got the 
 nurse to look out for a good chance to go back. 
 In March, 1860, we took passage on the "James 
 Foster" of the Black Ball line, as the captain's 
 wife and child were going on the voyage. At 
 that time there were only two lines of steamers, 
 the Cunard and the Inman, and they had only 
 a few ships. It was a very cold morning when 
 the carriage took me to the ship. I could not 
 get up the plank, and the coachman was trying 
 to help me when the first officer came forward, 
 picked me up in his arms as though I was a child, 
 and took me into the cabin and placed me on the 
 lounge. He then called the stewardess to take 
 my wraps and myself to the stateroom. 
 
 The captain's wife came and said: "You are 
 the sick lady that is going with us?" I replied: 
 "I am a canary bird now," for I was yellow 
 with jaundice, "but I hope to get whiter and 
 better by this voyage." 
 
 She went up on deck and told the captain and 
 the mate that she had been to see me and she 
 did not know which was the more yellow, my 
 hair or my skin, and still I was so full of jokes 
 and fun. The first officer then said: 
 
 "You will be surprised when I tell you that be 
 fore this year is out that yellow girl will be my 
 wife. When I saw her beautiful golden locks 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 23 
 
 I was attracted to her and when I picked her up 
 in my arms I knew she belonged to me, and I 
 will have her, let the weather be fair or foul. 1 ' 
 
 The captain went and laid his hands on his 
 shoulders and said: 
 
 "Yes, my boy, we salts can love and feel it 
 deep down in our souls. Few land-lovers know 
 the depth of feeling of Jack Tars, and you surely 
 have met your fate. I hope you will meet with 
 smiles and not frowns, as any girl should be 
 proud of such a fine, handsome-looking chap as 
 you, so sail in for her and my best wishes are for 
 you." 
 
 I was very seasick for three days and did not 
 leave my stateroom, but on the fourth day I got 
 out, went to the saloon in the afternoon and sat 
 at the table for the first time. It seemed like a 
 family gathering, for the captain and his wife, 
 the first officer, the ship's doctor and myself 
 were the only ones present, as I was the only 
 first-class passenger. There were a large num 
 ber of steerage passengers. 
 
 The weather was very fine and we did not make 
 much speed, owing to lack of wind, but I noticed 
 that Mr. Charles E. Jack, the first officer, was all 
 attention to me, and everything that he could 
 do for my pleasure or comfort he did. When I 
 went on deck he had always a nice place picked 
 out for me, with some of his thick, heavy blank 
 ets to wrap about my feet if I needed them. He 
 never went far away from where I was. 
 
 After we had been out about three weeks there 
 was a very heavy gale, the ship rolled and 
 plunged and the noise of the wind in the rigging 
 
24 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 was something terrible. I was nervous, too, 
 being sick so long and frightened at the noises 
 on deck and the powerful voices of the captain 
 and mate shouting to the men. All was con 
 fusion and noise there. The storm lasted for 
 twenty-four hours and we had to hold fast to the 
 railing of the seats to keep from being dashed 
 from one side to another. 
 
 The next night was beautiful and moonlight, 
 but with a heavy sea, as the sailors called it. I 
 went on deck to see the waves and as I stood 
 looking over the stern watching the heaving of 
 the ocean, I was startled by some one putting 
 their arms around my waist and saying: 
 
 "Well, my little one, I have caught you alone 
 at last. The stewardess tells me that you were 
 very much frightened at the gale. I could not 
 be with you, but you could not be hurt while I 
 am near, for I would give my life to save yours if 
 it had to be. I never saw a woman that I 
 would care to call a wife till I saw you. We 
 sailors are not accustomed to the fine ways of 
 the dandies on shore, but what we say we mean, 
 and all I have to give is a true, loving heart and 
 a strong manly body to protect you. Nay, 
 turn not away from me, for by the stars above I 
 will have you, my fairy, my queen; my wife you 
 must be, for I have dreamed of you years ago. 
 Now, I have found you, my love, my all." 
 
 I said: "How long will we be on the water? 
 When we get to shore you will go back in the 
 ship and I will go to Manchester, to my people, 
 and that will be the end." 
 
 "Nay, not so; I have signed a contract to take 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 25 
 
 the ship back to New York, then I will come and 
 claim you." 
 
 I said: "When I tell you that I have loved 
 another, you would not want me." He replied, 
 "I do not care how many you have loved; you 
 will love me for my kindness to you." 
 
 I told him all about Carl. He was very much hurt 
 that a man would be such a brute as to strike a 
 defenseless girl, whom he had called his love. 
 He made no secret of his affection for me after 
 that night. I did not know what to think about 
 it. He was fifteen years older than I, and was 
 the second son of Colonel Jack, who was a West 
 Point cadet in his young days, but had prac 
 ticed law for many years. He was a native of 
 Philadelphia. His first wife, the mother of 
 Charles, was born in Carlisle, Pa., so they were 
 all Americans from away back. The family 
 removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., in the early days 
 and they were highly respected. 
 
 We were five weeks on the voyage and as we 
 began to get near land my Yankee lover grew 
 more impatient for me to say when I would be 
 his. I admired him, for he was so frank and 
 manly, but I had not the same love for him I 
 had for Carl. I told him I wanted to think 
 about it ; that I liked him, but could not say that 
 I loved him, and that if he took me he would 
 have to win love from me, but I would be true 
 and do the best I could to make life pleasant 
 and happy. 
 
 When we got to Liverpool dear old Nursey 
 was there to meet me. Mr. Jack was dressed 
 up to see me safely on the train, so I introduced 
 
26 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 him to Nursey and she took a great liking to 
 him. He saw us off on our way to Manchester. 
 Then I told Nursey all about him, and she prom 
 ised not to say a word to any of the family 
 about it. The ship had been longer getting 
 her cargo on board than was expected, so Mr. 
 Jack came to see me on the Sunday before leav 
 ing and I was more than glad to see him, since 
 Nursey had liked him so well, so I told him he 
 would have to love Nursey, too. We went to 
 Bellevue Gardens and strolled about until train 
 time. Then he said: "I will be here for you 
 about the 5th of September, and after we are 
 married I will take you to my father's home till 
 we see what we will do." 
 
 So he bade me farewell and was soon out of 
 sight, the train starting as his feet were on the 
 steps. 
 
 We were not long in Manchester, but went to 
 the old home in Nottingham, where I had a very 
 merry summer, only for Carl coming and writing 
 his pleading, pitiful letters for me to forgive him 
 and let him come and see me as of old. 
 
 I was still as confiding as I was years before, 
 and would sit on Nursey's lap and put my head 
 on her bosom and tell her all, reading Carl's 
 letters to her. She would not chide me, but 
 sympathized with me. She said: 
 
 "Just compare the truest one, a noble God 
 like man, the other a sneaking coward, and there 
 is no greater happiness on this earth than true 
 love in a cottage, not fretting about notes or 
 losses, but peace and confidence and happiness 
 in each other. No, my child, I feel safe in giving 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 27 
 
 you to this sailor, for truth is written in his face 
 and he fairly worships thee." 
 
 I said: "Yes, and I promised him I would be 
 true to him, and so I will. I am glad I told him 
 all about Carl, for I would have felt guilty of 
 deception if I had not told him all about it." 
 
 It was getting late, so we went to bed. I 
 had not been long in bed when under my win 
 dows there was a beautiful sound of music and 
 soft voices singing. They sang two or three 
 songs, then suddenly all was changed, for 
 Nursey had not retired and had caught sight of 
 Carl and his companions, so she quietly went 
 down the kitchen stairs and let "Nep," the big 
 Newfoundland, loose. Some of them struck 
 at him with their banjos, which made him 
 savage, and he sprang upon them, knocking two 
 of them down and going after the other; such 
 yells and scrambling to get away was a sight to 
 see. The next morning the lawn was strewn 
 with pieces of coat-tails, neckties and pieces 
 of hats, so between Nursey and "Nep," I got no 
 more love-letters and no more serenades. 
 
 I had received letters from my Yankee sweet 
 heart, in which he informed me that he had told 
 his father all about his plans. The father was 
 glad that his favorite son had confided in him, 
 and was heart and soul with him in making ar 
 rangements for my reception. He wrote me to 
 be sure and be ready, as that trip would be his 
 last, expecting there would soon be war, as there 
 was a great deal of dissatisfaction with the 
 South. 
 
 On the 9th of September, 1860, the "Foster" 
 
28 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 arrived at Liverpool. Nursey and I went to 
 Liverpool on the 15th. Mr. Jack met us and 
 took us to Birkenhead, where he had applied 
 for a special marriage license. He did not get 
 his until the 18th, and at 9 o'clock of the 
 morning of the 19th we were made husband and 
 wife, and he seemed to be the proudest and 
 happiest man on earth. Nursey went back that 
 night, as she had been away longer than she had 
 expected. 
 
 My Yankee husband took passage for me on 
 the steamer "City of Cork," as he had to take the 
 "Foster" back to New York, so I bid farewell to 
 my dear old England and all my kind friends 
 and kinsmen and left for my new home and new 
 life in America. 
 
 When I arrived in New York, Col. C. J. Jack 
 met the ship to welcome me and took me in a 
 carriage to his home in Brooklyn, where he 
 had a young wife with two boys and a baby. 
 She was about thirty years old and he was over 
 seventy, which seemed strange to me. His 
 house had a large brown stone front and was 
 beautifully furnished. 
 
 They had arranged for a number of enter 
 tainments, so they set in with parties and re 
 ceptions. I looked on and thought it was a 
 strange lot of mixed people. The most of them 
 wore diamonds and dressed in bad taste, and 
 amongst them was a family who had made a 
 large fortune in real estate. They had a house 
 like a palace and wanted to outdo everyone. 
 They gave a large party and had the most ex 
 pensive things that money could buy. They 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 29 
 
 had baskets of Piper Heidsieck champagne and 
 had the finest cut glass decanters they could get. 
 Madame put the champagne in the decanters, 
 and when it was passed around, of course, it 
 was flat and spoiled. I noticed many things 
 were very much out of place, and I pitied the 
 poor foolish people who exposed their own 
 ignorance in such a manner. 
 
 My husband had now arrived home and C. H. 
 Marshall, the owner of the Black Ball Line, had 
 given him a ship to take charge of, so he was 
 made a captain the first voyage after we were 
 married. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was elected President and 
 there was great excitement and great confusion, 
 and the Colonel was expecting to be sent as 
 minister to Turkey. 
 
 The night before my captain was to sail there 
 was beautiful moonlight. After supper we 
 went out for a walk and when we got out of the 
 thick settlement my captain said: 
 
 1 'My beautiful wife, I feel that I shall not 
 make many voyages in my new ship, and that 
 I shall be needed to help my country, for we 
 surely will have war with the South." 
 
 I replied, "You surely would not leave and 
 go to death without me being near you." 
 
 "If any traitor dares to try to tear down those 
 glorious stars and stripes as long as I have a 
 hand and arm left on my body I will strike back 
 at him," was his answer. 
 
 We had stopped walking and stood under a 
 tree, and as he said this he raised his hand to 
 the sky, and as Nursey had said, he looked the 
 
30 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 Godlike man, for he looked up to the stars and 
 said this to himself: 
 
 "Yes, my next voyage will be to protect my 
 country, so try, my darling, to give me courage 
 to leave you, for that is all I fear. Since I have 
 had you the world seems to have changed. I 
 was a fast dare-devil before I met you, my 
 loved one. Now I think of nothing but of how 
 to make you happier, and when I come home 
 and meet you with your smiles and open arms, 
 God only knows what a heaven my home is. 
 I think if anything was to happen to you and 
 you were taken from me, I would not be long 
 after you, for I could not bear to face the cold 
 world with no one to welcome me or to care 
 whether I came or went, excepting for what 
 they could get out of me. My darling, you 
 must help me, for the only sorrow that I could 
 feel would be of leaving you." 
 
 We had continued our walk and by this time 
 were at our door and said no more. The next 
 morning he was gone with his new ship and I 
 felt very sad and lonely, for something in his 
 voice and manner seemed to leave me with a 
 fear. 
 
 A few days after he had gone I received a 
 letter from Nursey, in which she said my mother 
 was getting ready to go to New Zealand, as her 
 three boys had been sent there in Her Majesty's 
 navy and there was a number of officers' wives 
 and families going. My mother was sixty- two 
 years old, but did not look over forty, and was 
 extremely youthful in her manner. As I stood 
 with the letter in my hand the tears rolled down 
 my cheeks and I said: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 31 
 
 " Farewell, dear mother, we shall never meet 
 again on this earth, and I pray to all the powers 
 in heaven to protect you and make you happy 
 in your old age. You are on one side of this 
 globe and your baby girl is on the other." 
 
 I felt very lonely and sad. Christmas was 
 here and the children made merry, but many of 
 the thoughtful people wore sad faces, as they 
 knew not what the year '61 would bring. It 
 was a very severe winter and many ships were 
 lost. I was very uneasy, as my captain was 
 behind the time due and I could get no tidings 
 of him. I would lie tossing half of the night 
 and calling on him just as though he could hear 
 me. 
 
 One morning a telegram came saying his ship 
 was off Sandy Hook and I felt as though a great 
 weight had been lifted from me. He did not 
 come until the next day, for the fog was so thick 
 that the pilot would not take the ship to dock. 
 
 When he came he was sick and worn out with 
 such a rough voyage. He had lost two men, 
 whc had fallen from the rigging overboard. 
 When he had been home about a week, on com 
 ing home one day he said: "I have resigned and 
 turned my ship over to the owners. I am going 
 to take an examination in a few days for a 
 captain's certificate, so that I can take a cap 
 tain's command in the navy, and hence I 
 have put in my application. Our government 
 has a very poor navy. They can get an army 
 in a hurry, but not a navy, and they are getting 
 ready on the quiet. They are enlisting all the 
 men they can get, but as to the navy it takes 
 
32 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 time to make seamen, and land lubbers would 
 be only in the way." 
 
 I made answer: "Well, my Yankee sweet 
 heart, so you are going to leave me, and what 
 will I do while you are gone? I do not like your 
 father's wife, for she is very meddling and rude, 
 and anything but a lady." 
 
 "She is not a lady," he replied; "she was our 
 servant girl, but she got around my father and 
 induced him to marry her. That is why my 
 sisters do not come to the house." 
 
 He had three sisters, Harriet, Margaret and 
 Lenora. Margaret was the most beautiful, 
 queenly-looking woman I had ever seen, with a 
 heart as cold as ice. Harriet was the wife of 
 Major Snively, a beautiful character, and Le 
 nora was single. She had gone with some 
 friends on a trip to Paris, so I had not seen her. 
 
 "We will find a nice family out of town that 
 I can board with," I said; "then I will be where 
 it is cool for the summer." 
 
 The next day he took his examination and 
 passed, receiving his commission in the navy 
 later on. He had to get his uniform made to 
 order, and all was life and excitement in get 
 ting everything ready, for he did not know 
 where he was going or what vessel he would 
 get. It was not long before the country was in 
 arms, and it was wonderful where the soldiers 
 came from in such a short time. The South 
 had fired on Fort Sumter and war was declared. 
 
 Such excitement! It seemed as though every 
 one was crazy to go to war. Regiment after 
 regiment was raised; the stores were as busy 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 33 
 
 as they could be ; the tailors weer offering larger 
 wages and working night and day, and it was a 
 common saying on the street: " We're spoiling 
 for a fight and will wipe them off the face of the 
 earth in six weeks." They little knew the 
 temper and mettle of the South. 
 
 I was going to see a friend that lived out of 
 town, a little way from the very trees where my 
 captain swore that he would fight as long as he 
 had an arm to fight with, and as I looked at the 
 place I saw a man sitting under the same tree 
 in tears. 
 
 I went up to him and said: "How do you do, 
 friend?" He raised his head and looking up 
 at me answered: "I have shed the most bitter 
 tears this morning that I ever did in my life. 
 Only to think that our flag has been insulted 
 and torn down and my gray beard and head 
 holds me back from joining the troops and re 
 senting the insult." 
 
 "Fret not, for there are plenty of young men 
 who will resent it," I answered. "All I have on 
 earth is going. My husband put on his uniform 
 on Sunday and is ready and awaiting orders." 
 
 The man replied: "Yes, and all I have I have 
 given this morning," and he wept again. "I 
 have two boys ; one was old enough and he en 
 listed, but the other was only 18, and I went and 
 signed for him to go in the navy, as that was his 
 wish. Then I came out to this place to give vent 
 to my sorrow, for I wanted to go, but they say 
 I am too old. God knows I love my boys, but 
 I love my country too, and they may come back 
 all sound. Then I will have served God and 
 
34 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 country, too. But I will be the same as you, 
 my lass ; when my boys are gone I shall be alone, 
 for their mother died four months ago. All my 
 troubles have come at once." 
 
 "Cheer up and we will all pray that it will soon 
 be settled,"! answered. His name, I found, 
 was George Osborne. 
 
 I made but a short visit to my friend and re 
 turned home to find my captain waiting for me, 
 and he said : "Well, I have got my papers to take 
 charge of the 'Maria Carleton' in the bomb 
 mortar flotilla of Admiral Farragut's fleet. 
 Commodore Porter is in command, but we do 
 not know where we are going, as we sail with 
 sealed orders. Now, my darling, I shall soon 
 have to leave you and it unmans me when I 
 think of it. I was proud of my commission and 
 went on board to give orders, but when I went 
 into the cabin such a lonely feeling came over 
 me. I took your portrait from my breast pocket 
 and kissed it and then wept the bitterest tears I 
 have ever wept in my life. Nay, my darling, 
 the enemy's guns have no terror for me, but 
 leaving one so young and fair, and in a foreign 
 country alone and unprotected, breaks my heart 
 and unmans me." 
 
 I threw my arms around his neck and said: 
 "Come, my Yankee sweetheart, this will not do, 
 for it seems to be a day of tears. I went to see 
 a friend and saw a man weeping because he was 
 too old to go to the war, and when I came to my 
 friend's house I found them all in tears over the 
 only son who had enlisted along with my friend's 
 two brothers. Then I come home and find that 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 35 
 
 my brave husband has been in tears. The 
 South has surely sent her arrows straight home 
 to us, for old and young seem to be grieved, but 
 when you are gone from me I will talk to you as 
 I do now and pray that you will come back to me 
 safe and sound. But if you should fall I will try 
 and get your body and lay it where I can come 
 to you when life is ended, and I will call to your 
 spirit to come and comfort me when I am lonely 
 and in sorrow, and grief. So cheer up, for we 
 will not be separated, either in life or death/* 
 
 "Oh, my darling, if I fall and God will let my 
 spirit come to you I will be with you, never fear," 
 was his reply. 
 
 The next morning the First regiment left 
 Brooklyn and it seemed as though everybody, 
 old and young, had turned out to see them start. 
 Every window was crowded and flags floated 
 everywhere. The military bands were playing 
 and thousands were in tears. The soldier boys 
 with their new uniforms were a sight never to 
 be forgotten. 
 
 The captain and I were standing on the street 
 looking on when a soldier came up to him and 
 grasping his hand said: "Well, my boy, we did 
 not think that we would have to wear the uni 
 form so soon." Then he turned and looking at 
 me said: "My God, what does this mean?" 
 
 "This is my wife," replied the captain, "and 
 it hurts me to have to leave her so soon." When 
 I took a second look at the man I knew him to 
 be the doctor on the "Foster," but he did not 
 know that we were married. He was the doctor 
 of the first regiment to leave. He fell into the 
 ranks and was soon lost to sight in the crowd. 
 
36 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TT was not many days later that the bomb 
 flotilla was ordered into commission and 
 all wasrush and bustle. Pro visions, guns and am 
 munition were put aboard and soon the men and of 
 ficers were all ready and waiting for orders . 1 1 took 
 ten days after the fleet was ordered into com 
 mission until it was ready, and everyone worked 
 with a will. Half of the fleet had slipped out 
 under sealed orders, for they did not want the 
 enemy to know of their movements. My cap 
 tain was going out when the tide was favorable, 
 so the colonel and I went to the ship to say 
 good-by. 
 
 As I stood on the deck I noticed a tall youth 
 looking as pale as death and an old man with 
 one arm around his neck and his hand clasping 
 the youth's in farewell. When the old man 
 turned to go I saw it was Mr. Osborne, so I went 
 up to him and said: 
 
 "This is strange your boy should be one of my 
 husband's crew." As I was talking to him the 
 first lieutenant came up and I said to him: "I 
 hope you will do me a favor. Do not let the 
 sailors abuse this boy, and see that no harm 
 comes to him." 
 
 "Ay, ay; I will be glad to do a favor for our 
 captain's lady, and this lad is our cabin boy." 
 
 Both the boy and his father were spellbound 
 with surprise and the captain came to see what 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 37 
 
 I was doing. The old man was choking with 
 tears and could not speak, but went on shore 
 and never once turned to look back. 
 
 I made merry as best I could, but the colonel 
 when he said "Good-by, my boy," broke down 
 and sobbed as though his heart would break, 
 and it was some time before we could quiet him. 
 Then my captain took me in his arms and 
 kissed me. He was very pale, but said nothing 
 for he could not trust himself to speak and I 
 wanted to be brave so as not to worry him. 
 All I could say was: "You will come back soon 
 and I will be waiting for you, my Yankee hus 
 band. Be brave and true till we meet again." 
 
 We turned and were going down the plank 
 when the boatswain came and piped us over 
 as a mark of honor such as is given to disting 
 uished people who visit a man-of-war. The 
 carriage that brought us was waiting on the 
 pier, and as my captain put me in first and 
 helped his father, he choked back the tears that 
 wanted to flow. As the carriage started he 
 stood with his hat raised like a statue, and 
 neither the colonel nor I said a word, for we 
 were too full of grief. 
 
 I had kept up so as not to worry my captain, 
 but as soon as I got all alone in my room I had 
 a fit of weeping so that I thought my heart 
 would break. All I did was to moan and sigh 
 "He is gone; he is gone," and pray that God 
 would bring him back safely. 
 
 A few weeks after the captain was gone I 
 moved to Ravenswood, on the banks of the 
 East River, and every morning as the troops 
 
38 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 went by I would wave my handkerchief at them 
 and they would wave their caps and shout 
 "Hurrah!" as though they were glad of a chance 
 to give vent to their feelings after leaving their 
 loved ones. I was patiently waiting for tidings 
 of the fleet, for it had been gone some weeks 
 when the papers said it was anchored near New 
 Orleans, but no one knew why no attack was 
 made on the forts. A few days after I got a 
 letter saying that the spies had found out that 
 the rebels had put chains with torpedoes on 
 them across the river from fort to fort so that 
 as soon as our vessels struck them they would 
 be blown to pieces. That was the cause of the 
 delay and our fleet did not know what to do. 
 
 Then my captain went to the flagship to see 
 Admiral Porter, who had charge of the fleet, 
 and said: "Give me a written order to go through 
 the fleet and pick the men I want, and I will go 
 under the forts and cut the chains, as it is the 
 dark of the moon and there is no time to lose." 
 
 "This is a pretty risky business," said the 
 commodore, "but all war is risky, and I will only 
 be too glad to give you the order, but be sure 
 and throw up your signal "All's well" if you are 
 successful." 
 
 My captain got the men he wanted and took 
 four long boats and all the tools necessary, and 
 when he was about to start the cabin boy 
 jumped into the captain's boat and said: "If 
 you are going to your death, I will go, too, for 
 I will not leave you." 
 
 So they started, and all his men were desper 
 adoes from the Five Points of New York City, 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 39 
 
 who would as soon kill as eat. They all swore 
 by the captain to fight to the death and to kill 
 the first man who showed cowardice. All 
 night long they worked like lions, and the cap 
 tain gave them whisky to keep them up. Just 
 as the day broke the last chain was dropped 
 in the river and they had to row for dear life 
 to get out of range of the guns from the fort. 
 
 They were seen by the rebels, who watched 
 them through their glasses, and opened fire. 
 My captain ordered the signal " All's well" run 
 up and then our big guns began to bombard the 
 forts. On getting back to his vessel my captain 
 ordered the big mortar gun fired, and before 
 the smoke had cleared away a ball from the 
 fort struck the "Carleton" and passed through 
 her powder magazine without exploding, but 
 it threw my captain up in the air. He fell on 
 his back on the deck and was stunned for a 
 short time. When he came to, the cabin boy 
 was wiping the blood from his mouth and the 
 ship was in the thick of the fight. 
 
 It was certain the "Carleton" was sinking, 
 so my captain gave orders to spike the guns and 
 lower the boats. They got as much out of the 
 ship as they could, and when the last boatload 
 and the men had gone to the flagships my cap 
 tain, the first lieutenant, the cabin boy and two 
 sailors were forced to jump into the water and 
 swim for dear life just as the ship began to 
 sink. When they got out of danger they 
 floated until the boats came and picked them 
 up, taking them to the flagship. 
 
 When they got on board Commodore Porter 
 
40 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 ordered my captain to take the place of the 
 first lieutenant, who was killed, and the doctor 
 and ten men were lying dead with him. Cap 
 tain Jack was hurt internally and was drenched 
 to the skin, but there was no time to change, 
 as they were under a heavy fire all the time. 
 The forts were firing as hard as they could and 
 the fleet was getting nearer all the time, bom 
 barding them with the fearful mortars and other 
 big guns. Ben Butler was bombarding them 
 from the shore and stealing all their silver 
 spoons that he could get hold of, so you can 
 imagine what a plight they were in. When the 
 fleet finally got past the forts and into New 
 Orleans my captain fell on the deck. He could 
 not stand on his feet and the blood was pouring 
 from his mouth. They had to wait until they 
 could get a doctor, as many of the men were 
 wounded and hurt and the doctors were very 
 busy. The cabin boy stayed with him and did 
 all he could to stanch the blood, bringing brandy 
 from the officers' quarters. He bathed his fore 
 head and was as gentle as though he were a girl. 
 
 When the doctor examined him he declared 
 that his heart was hurt and that he never would 
 be able to go under heavy fire again. He said 
 my captain should not have stayed on deck as 
 long as he did, and that it was a miracle he was 
 not killed or had fallen dead from exhaustion. 
 
 The papers said that the "Carle ton" had been 
 lost with all on board, so I went to Brooklyn 
 and found the poor old colonel nearly crazy with 
 grief. I did not know at that time what had 
 happened, and was as much shocked as the rest 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 41 
 
 of them, but something seemed to say to me 
 that I should see him again. I stayed at the 
 Colonel's house that night, and such a night as 
 I put in. The next morning I looked as though 
 I had seen a ghost, but as soon as we got a 
 paper we found it was full of the battle of New 
 Orleans, and that it was not true that the 
 "Carleton" was lost with all hands. The ship 
 was at the bottom, but not the men, so we had 
 our fit for nothing. 
 
 I did not like boarding, so I took a pretty 
 cottage at New Rochelle and furnished it my 
 self, so that when my captain came home he 
 would have a home of his own. But months 
 wore away and he did not come. I had a very 
 good middle-aged Scotch woman living with me, 
 and as I was expecting to become a mother I 
 wanted my husband with me at such a time. 
 Alas! that six weeks they were wiping out the 
 South was the longest I ever saw. 
 
 I gave birth to a big baby girl and did not 
 seem to recover from the effects for a long time 
 after. I was just beginning to get around 
 again and the weather was very cold when I 
 got a telegram to come to Washington, as he 
 was there. My captain had taken charge of the 
 ironclad "Penobscot" and was ordered to the 
 blockade of Galveston. 
 
 After a few months on the "Galveston," 
 blockading, the Captain was ordered to Wil 
 mington blockade, and was not very long there 
 when he captured the iron clad steamer ' 'Kate," 
 trying to run the blockade, with a very valua 
 ble cargo on board. But that was not all; there 
 
42 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 was something on that steamer of a personal 
 nature that belonged to General Robert E. Lee; 
 it did not have anything to do with the North 
 or the South, but was of the greatest impor 
 tance to Lee, and let that be whatever it was, 
 I never found out, but through that powerful 
 order, Masonry, they buried the hatchet, the 
 Blue and the Gray, and my Captain gave Lee 
 whatever it was, then Lee took a diamond ring 
 off his little finger and with tears in his eyes, 
 said, "This comes next to my blood. If I fall 
 strangers will get it, and only prize it for its 
 value, but I feel sure your wife will have a 
 higher value for it, seeing the date on the ring 
 is 1314, over 590 years old, and has been in 
 many strange adventures." Then he wrote on 
 a bit of paper, "Please accept from a gentleman 
 and an officer who wears the Gray. Robert E. 
 Lee." 
 
 That very act showed the character of the 
 man more than all his war record, for it showed 
 a great, sensitive soul that had been touched 
 by the kind act of a brother Mason; and more, 
 it showed he was too much of a man to let 
 such kindness go without showing his gratitude 
 and appreciation and awarding something that 
 was of a sacrifice for him to part with. I have 
 carefully guarded the ring and will give it to 
 the South later on. 
 
 I got ready and went, and when I got there 
 the captain was present to meet me. The town 
 was full of soldiers, the mud was a foot deep, 
 and the little red ants in the hotel and all over 
 the city were frightful. I went to the Presi- 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 43 
 
 dent's reception, was introduced to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lincoln, and shook hands with both. 
 Then my captain came home and said he had 
 a present for me. There were two dress pat 
 terns of black watered silk for Mrs. Lincoln and 
 she took one and my captain took the other, 
 paying $125 for it. I did not stay long, for my 
 captain had to be away looking after the 
 steamer, so we went back to New Rochelle. I 
 had only been home a few days when a carriage 
 came to my door and a tall man greeted me and 
 said: 
 
 "Well, Mrs. Jack, I am a neighbor. I have 
 just got my orders to go to Hart's Island as 
 sutler, and I want you to take the tug boat 
 which leaves every day at the foot of this 
 street. Two tugs leave, one for Randall's Isl 
 and, where the government has put all the sick 
 and wounded, and the other to Hart's Island, 
 where the recruits are drilled. I shall be the 
 sutler there, and I was the shipping master that 
 shipped your husband when he ran away and 
 went to sea first. My name is Captain Ben 
 Buck, and I would like for you to come to our 
 opening, as the officers and their wives will have 
 a dance and a good time. The military band 
 will be there, so do come next Tuesday." 
 
 So I took the nurse and baby and a grip with 
 my evening dress in and off we went. It was a 
 beautiful day and when our tug got into the 
 middle of the river there was the U. S. steamer 
 with the recruits and bands and over 300 people 
 on board. Mr. Buck was at the pier to meet me, 
 as he had made arrangements for me to stay over 
 
44 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 night, and our tug got in first. As the U. S. 
 steamer arrived at the pier the band struck up 
 "The Girl I Left Behind Me," and a great cheer 
 went up. All the island was down to see the 
 newcomers and the recruiting sergeants with 
 the fine figures, gay uniforms and assumed gay- 
 ety made a fine appearance. They had come 
 with the rest to have a good time. 
 
 I was taken to the officers' quarters and intro 
 duced and was surprised to find such a lot of 
 frivolous women. They thought of nothing 
 but their finery and who would be admired the 
 most. Never a thought of the poor boys who 
 were leaving their loved ones and might never 
 see them again. After I had placed Nursey and 
 the baby in good quarters I went around to see 
 what I could do, and it made my heart ache to see 
 the flower of our country's youth going to be 
 shot down. Some of them I thought might 
 come back with only part of their bodies, the 
 other part shot away. Some looked so sad, 
 others determined and some had a forced gayety. 
 
 When the news came of Andersonville prison, 
 how they were torturing our boys with thumb 
 screws, turning their wounds that were full of 
 maggots to the blazing sun, and how they were 
 dying of thirst and pain, my soul bled for our 
 brave and noble men. I wondered how many 
 of the boys I had talked with that day were in 
 the grasp of the demon Captain Waser a 
 demon in the form of a man. 
 
 Night came and I went to the ball, which was 
 quite a gay affair. Young officers in their new 
 uniforms were as gay as they ever were in their 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 45 
 
 lives, and I got more than my share of attention. 
 Several officers were very attentive, but my 
 thoughts were on the poor boys who were out 
 side, some of them looking on while others 
 seemed to shun the gayety and wish to get as 
 far from the music as possible. I was very glad 
 when I got a chance to go to bed and get away 
 from such a lot of unfeeling and shallow-minded 
 people. 
 
 I passed the time the next day looking around, 
 and when the boat came in I was glad to be 
 on my way home. It was evening when the 
 boat got to the pier, and as we landed I put the 
 baby and nurse in the carriage so that I could 
 walk. I sat for a time on the beach watching 
 the tide rolling in, when I was startled by the 
 moaning and crying of a woman. 
 
 I sprang to my feet and went to where the 
 sound came from and found behind a large rock 
 a poor woman, her eyes red with weeping. I 
 sat down beside her and asid : "Let me help you, 
 sister. What is your trouble.? 
 
 "I came on the boat from Randall's Island/* 
 she replied, "where my husband has had his leg 
 taken off today, and when I left New York this 
 morning I locked my three little children in the 
 room, telling them to be good, for I was going to 
 see their poor papa perhaps for the last time. 
 When I was on the boat I found I had lost my 
 last dollar, and as the fare to New York is 50 
 cents I cannot go tonight, but I will start and 
 walk soon.'* 
 
 "I will give you a dollar," I said, "and if you 
 come quickly we can get a train for New York." 
 
46 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 So we started and had not gone far when a 
 colored man came along with a cart, so I stopped 
 him and got him to drive us as fast as he could 
 to the depot, where we arrived just in time. I 
 put that poor woman on the train and she left 
 with tears and prayers for the beautiful kind lady 
 who had sent her to her three little children, and 
 I wandered back to my beautiful little cottage. 
 I offered up a prayer for the poor distressed 
 family and thanks that I had been the one chosen 
 to give comfort to such great affliction, small as 
 it was. Kind words and sympathy often 
 lighten the burden of a breaking heart, so let us 
 not pass any of them by, for we know not how 
 soon some of our own may be afflicted. It was 
 brought home to me by that poor woman. 
 
 I arose early the next morning and filled a 
 large basket full of all kinds of vegetables and 
 fruit and went to Randall's Island. I found the 
 man Middleton, as that was the name of the 
 woman's husband, and told him that his wife 
 had gotten home all right, then I opened my 
 basket to see what he would like, and he took 
 a head of lettuce and ate it ravenously. So I 
 gave him two more and asked him if there was 
 anything more he wanted, but he said no. I 
 then went to the rest of the wounded in the 
 ward and it did me good to see the poor fellows 
 eating the stuff I had brought them. It did 
 not take me long to find out that they were crazy 
 for green stuff, and after that I would go two or 
 three times a week and take them what I thought 
 they would like until the weather began to get 
 cold. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 4? 
 
 In February the town became infested with 
 burglars, who even went so far as to rob the 
 church one night. One evening after putting 
 Nettie to bed I was at the top of the stairs 
 going down when I suddenly turned back and 
 got my revolver. I do not know why I did this, 
 but had a presentiment that all was not as it 
 should be. I went downstairs and into the 
 dining room. The door entering to the kitchen 
 had a thumb latch on the kitchen side and a 
 bolt on the dining room side and I had a big 
 cat that would climb up and open the thumb 
 latch with its paws when the door was not 
 bolted on the inside. I sat down in the dining 
 room and was reading a book very much inter 
 ested when suddenly the latch was lifted. It 
 startled me for an instant, but I thought it was 
 the cat until I saw Tommy with his ears up like 
 a dog and all attention. I turned my lamp 
 down and got my gun ready, for the same feel 
 ing was within me that I felt at the head of the 
 stairs. 
 
 I soon heard the latch again and knew that 
 some one was trying to gain admittance. I 
 thought of the gang of robbers the first thing 
 and was very much scared. Then the feeling 
 changed to one of determination, so I got up 
 and went into the china closet, leaving the 
 door ajar that I might see all that transpired. 
 I had not long to wait, for they soon got the 
 door open and two men with crape on their 
 faces came into the room. One went towards 
 the sideboard full of silver and glassware, while 
 the other made for the parlor. Both had their 
 
48 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 backs to me and I pushed the door farther 
 open and, taking deliberate aim, fired at the 
 man near the sideboard. He turned and ran 
 for the door and I fired another shot which sent 
 the other man flying after the first. They ran 
 up the street with me after them firing my re 
 volver until help came and they were captured. 
 A shot had struck one of the men, breaking his 
 shoulder. They were locked up and I went 
 home accompanied by two of the neighbors, 
 who were afraid to let me go home alone. 
 
 The next morning it was discovered that one 
 of the men was a prominent and well respected 
 resident of the town, with a wife and family, 
 and when the officers went to search the house 
 they told the wife she would have to go to jail 
 if she did not tell where the things her husband 
 had stolen were. She became frightened at the 
 thought of leaving her children all alone and 
 told the officers the things were under the floor 
 upstairs, but that they would have to move 
 the bureau. When they did this they found 
 jewelry, gold and silver and other valuables, 
 which the officers took to a large dry goods 
 store and left them to be identified by their 
 owners. The prisoners were tried and the man 
 I had shot, the well respected resident, got 
 seven years in Sing Sing, but the other got only 
 eighteen months, as this was the only robbery 
 they could connect him with. 
 
 That spring the people of New York were 
 greatly alarmed over the danger of cholera, and 
 all who could get away left the city and moved 
 to the suburban places, so that they could go 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 49 
 
 in and attend to their business. They were 
 looking for nice places such as New Rochelle, 
 and there was no difficulty in renting a nice 
 country place. 
 
 In the meantime my sister had written me 
 saying one of my aunts had died, leaving us 
 some money and property, and asking me to 
 go back to England and look after it. So I put 
 a notice in the paper that the house and grounds 
 and furniture were to rent for $200 a month, 
 and had not long to wait. A customer, a ship 
 ping merchant, rented the house for one year 
 to take possession the first of May following. 
 I got busy packing and my little girl helped me 
 in her way, wanting to pack her little chickens 
 and two little kittens, so that I had to watch 
 her, and left the lids open until the family 
 moved in and we were ready to start. The 
 family moved in on the third of May and I took 
 passage on the "City of Baltimore" of the In- 
 man line bound for Liverpool. We had a very 
 fine voyage and a very gay set of passengers. 
 They had a banjo, violin and guitar, and would 
 go on deck and play and dance in the moonlight 
 until bedtime. 
 
 Among the passengers was an old gentleman 
 who was very sick and had two daughters. I 
 asked him if I could do anything for him and 
 he said he had never been sick before, but could 
 not get over the sea sickness. His name was 
 Loveret and he was a wealthy merchant from 
 Paterson, N. J., who was taking his two daugh 
 ters for a trip to Europe after they had gradu 
 ated. Two nights after I had seen him on deck 
 
50 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 his daughter came running into my stateroom 
 saying her father was very much worse. I got 
 up and dressed hurriedly, followed her to her 
 father's stateroom, where I found he was dying. 
 I went to the saloon and sent the steward in 
 search of the doctor, then hurried back to the 
 sick man. When the doctor came he saw that 
 Mr. Loveret was dying and I passed the night 
 with him, the end coming at 5 o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 They were going to bury him at sea at sunset 
 that evening, according to the custom, but I 
 went to the captain and asked him to wait till 
 we got to Liverpool, which would be only twc 
 days. The captain went to the steward and 
 told him to get a box ready to put the body in 
 lock the stateroom door and give the keys to 
 me. I went to the room every night and 
 morning to see that all was right, as the two 
 daughters were as helpless as children. When 
 we landed I sent a telegram to his brother in 
 Manchester, who came and took charge of the 
 remains. 
 
 The customs house officers came for my keys 
 to search my trunks and I was standing with 
 a number of others looking on when they opened 
 my large trunk, and the stench that arose from 
 it was awful. When they began to remove 
 the things they found three dead kittens that 
 my little Nettie had packed up unknown to 
 me with the idea of taking them to aunty. 
 The passengers had a great joke at my expense, 
 besides which it was an April fool for the cus 
 toms officers, who had expected to find a hu- 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 51 
 
 man corpse, but were cheated out of a sensa 
 tion. When I got to Manchester my sister and 
 Nursey caught Nettie and said that she was 
 their little Nettie over and over and that she 
 looked just like I did when I was her age. 
 They almost smothered me with kisses and it 
 seemed more like home than ever before. My 
 four brothers had enlisted in the navy and had 
 gone to New Zealand, followed by my mother, 
 who wanted to be near her boys. When she 
 got there the officers gave a ball and mother 
 was dancing up the middle and down the sides 
 like a young girl, and that was the last we had 
 heard from them. 
 
 We soon settled my aunt's estate. I got 
 $10,000 in gold and some very valuable oil 
 paintings and silverware, which I could not 
 conveniently bring with me, and so left with 
 my sister Liddy. She was going to take a trip 
 on the continent, so I thought I would go, too, 
 as Nursey said she would keep house and play 
 mother to Nettie. 
 
 So we started and went to Burton and from 
 there to Boulogne, then to Paris, where we got 
 a very handsome suite of rooms for 10 francs 
 a day at the Hotel de Louvre, having our meals 
 where we wished. The next morning a man in 
 a swallow-tailed coat and white necktie called 
 at my room, bowing and talking in French. I 
 could not understand a word and motioned for 
 him to go, but he would not, and I became 
 angry and threw my slipper at him, which he 
 picked up and hugged to his breast. He bowed 
 himself out and I went to Liddy's room and 
 
52 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 told her, but she laughed heartily, and said 
 it was the garcon or waiter wanting to know 
 if I would have tea or coffee. 
 
 I went out and sat on the balustrade to watch 
 the flower girls and listen to the Italian boys 
 playing their music. I went to the Tuillieries 
 every day and spent an hour or two there in 
 the picture galleries and on Sunday went to 
 Versailles, where there are 100 fountains of 
 different designs throwing water in every form 
 imaginable. The Emperor went there on the 
 first Sunday of every month and twelve bands 
 played in his honor. The statuary was very 
 fine and so was the old Emporor's palace, with 
 its vast picture galleries and old relics of an 
 tique design, including breastplates, battle axes, 
 spears and other weapons of war. We went 
 with some of Liddy's friends to the Marbeal, 
 a place where men and women were dancing 
 like mad, the men on one side and the women 
 on the other. They throw themselves into all 
 manner of shapes and the dance is called the 
 "can-can." We went to the Blondin circus one 
 Sunday and were surprised to see priests there 
 with black robes and square mortar-board caps, 
 as they seemed to be out of place, especially on 
 the Sabbath day. I counted five of them. 
 
 I was walking down the Champ de Elysees 
 and had passed the arch of triumph when we 
 met a funeral procession at which everyone 
 stopped and the men took off their hats and 
 bowed their heads and all the carriages and 
 people halted until the procession passed. 
 There were about twenty priests, four of them 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 53 
 
 carrying the coffin and four ahead, the others 
 following with heads uncovered, which showed 
 that the French have a great respect for their 
 dead. After dinner I took a stroll along the 
 river bank and it seemed to me that all the old 
 women had left their washing for Sunday and 
 that seemed to be their washday. The beach 
 was filled with women washing. 
 
 We left France and went to Switzerland, 
 where we met a party of English ladies who 
 were stopping at the same hotel. They said 
 they were going over the Alps and wished us to 
 accompany them, so we agreed to do so. They 
 were twelve in number and we went on donkeys. 
 Here I saw the most beautiful scenery that I 
 ever beheld. When near the top we heard 
 such strange sounds that seemed as though 
 they came from the middle of the earth, but 
 we were not long in finding out the real cause. 
 When we descended on the other side we came 
 to a large flat piece of ground covered with fig 
 trees with their large leaves outspread and 
 looking like umbrellas. Under one of these 
 trees were three little boys playing different 
 musical instruments, while about twenty other 
 boys and girls formed a circle about them, 
 dancing opposite to each other. It was a 
 beautiful picture and no play in a theater could 
 be half so nice. The girls wore short dresses 
 and either blue or red stockings and very low 
 cut shoes tied with the same colored ribbon as 
 their stockings. They wore black aprons braid 
 ed with the same color. Most of them were 
 very beautiful, with fine olive complexions, soft 
 
54 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 blue eyes and round plump figures, with very 
 small hands and feet. They were the peasants 
 minding their sheep and goats. It was their 
 dinner hour and they had met under the trees 
 to eat their noonday meal. As soon as they 
 saw us they ceased their dancing and began to 
 sing their Swiss songs, which echoed over the 
 .Alps, and it was not long before a perfect swarm 
 of sheep and goats came running down the 
 mountain side in answer to the carol, which 
 was a signal to them to come. We stood spell 
 bound watching the scene until they sounded 
 another kind of note and the goats came and 
 began butting our jacks, and one old lady with 
 a big fan began screaming out for help. I was 
 so full of laughter watching the old lady that I 
 did not notice a big goat come behind my jack 
 and give him such a bunt that I went sprawling 
 over the jack's head. 
 
 The guide told us to give them some sous to 
 call their goats off, so we gave them some and 
 everything was all right. They had trained the 
 goats in this manner in order to get money out 
 of tourists, but they sang and danced for us 
 for paying them and we went our way laughing 
 at the tableau of the goats and the jacks. 
 
 We remained in Switzerland for two weeks, 
 spending most of our time among the peasants 
 and the sick. They used extracts of flowers 
 for sickness, as there was not a doctor for miles 
 around, and they seldom sent for one until the 
 patient was beyond all earthly assistance. I 
 saw them kill large fat dogs to extract the oil 
 of them for consumption, and when the oil was 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 55 
 
 treated it looked like hog's lard, and the patient 
 soon got to like it and eat it on their bread in 
 stead of butter. I talked with a number of 
 patients and they told me that it was a sure 
 cure for consumption. 
 
 We went next to Naples and Mount Vesuvius, 
 and every step we took we were annoyed with 
 beggars. At the foot of the mountain were 
 men to carry tourists up in chairs on two poles, 
 four men to a chair. We arranged with them 
 and they carried us up the mountain, stopping 
 halfway at the Monks' Hut, where we had re 
 freshments and found the reverend gentlemen 
 very interesting. They had large St. Bernard 
 dogs and would send them out to find men that 
 had been lost in the snow of the mountains 
 and they would bring him in dead or alive. 
 Four of them would carry a man. 
 
 At times it is impossible to make the ascent 
 on account of the lava flowing from the crater 
 at the top, and the monks have to vacate in 
 short order. We went out as near to the 
 mouth of the crater as we could and it was dark 
 when we returned. 
 
 We remained there four days, after which we 
 went to Florence, where it was very warm and 
 the people slept most of the day and would go 
 on the housetops in the evening to get a breath 
 of fresh air. The ladies wore lace dresses and 
 black lace over their heads and the servants 
 were all men. I would go out on the suspen 
 sion bridge and watch the two classes of people 
 going to and fro, the poor to their work and the 
 rich to their homes. I went to the factories 
 
56 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 and watched the men and women plaiting straw 
 for hats and bonnets and I visited the churches 
 to hear the singing, which was very splendid. 
 The weather was too warm to go about much, 
 so we stayed there only five days. 
 
 Then we went to Rome and took in the 
 sights of that great city. We visited St. Peter's 
 cathedral, where there were 100 men and 
 boys in white circular robes singing masses 
 and vespers and the floor was marble and mo 
 saic tiling of all colors imaginable. The walls 
 were of marble covered with oil paintings of 
 Scripture scenes, with magnificent statuary in 
 all the nooks of the building. Down the aisle 
 of the church there is a box a foot and a half 
 long, one foot wide and one foot high, of solid 
 gold, and said to contain the ashes of St. Peter. 
 People of all nations come and bring their jew 
 els and riches and lay them on this box and the 
 Pope comes and blesses them. They are hence 
 forth treasured as sacred relics. There is a life 
 like statue of Christ as he was taken from the 
 cross with the wounds in his side, hands and 
 feet and the pallor of death on his face. One 
 would almost think they could see the lips 
 quiver to look at it and imagine that the look 
 of death was real. There is also a statue of the 
 Virgin Mary that is covered with jewels and 
 precious stones which wealthy people have 
 brought and strewn about, some having put 
 gold chains about her neck with their names 
 engraved thereon. 
 
 We stayed six weeks in Rome and then went 
 to Cairo where the hanging gardens of Babylon 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 57 
 
 once were. We took camels and Arabian guides 
 and started across the sandy desert, the guides 
 wearing loose white bloomers with full white 
 gowns girded about the middle with red cord 
 with two red tassels, red turkey hats and light 
 boots laced nearly to the knee. They filled 
 large skin bags with water and hung them on 
 either side of the camels. We also took sacks 
 and baskets of provisions and a skin of wine. 
 We started and of all the journeys I ever made 
 this was the worst, with hot sun and sandy 
 desert. I was glad when we came to a hut 
 where three monks lived and a little spring of 
 water bubbled out of the sand. We stayed there 
 all night and I was glad to have some kind of a 
 change. We started back the next morning 
 thoroughly disgusted with the monotony of the 
 place and I made up my mind that the next time 
 I started out to hunt scenery it would not be 
 on a sandy desert. We left at once on our re 
 turn to Paris, where we remained three weeks 
 and then went back to Manchester, England. 
 
 While in Paris we went to the races about 
 twelve miles out and the emporer and Empress 
 Eugenie were present. We saw the famous race 
 horse Gladiateur run and win the grand prize 
 and a cup and the Empress Eugenie with her 
 maids of honor made a grand sight on the stand. 
 She was a handsome blonde and was dressed in 
 amber colored silk with camel hair cloak, amber 
 color, and her maids of honor were dressed in 
 blue silk suits all one color. 
 
 When I got to Manchester I went to Chester to 
 the races there. Chester is one of the oldest towns 
 
58 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 in England, with high walls all around and one 
 can go up the steps and all around the city on the 
 walls. On these walls they have museums and 
 all kinds of shops for selling things and they are 
 certainly 100 years behind the times in every 
 thing. We went to the races and there I found 
 out the secret of how the betting men made 
 their money on the races. They would start 
 about eight horses, one of which was always a 
 favorite; then they would take the field, laying 
 odds against them all except perhaps the favor 
 ite, when the person betting had to lay odds on 
 it winning. They would only have to pay one 
 winner and win all the bets that were laid on the 
 other seven. 
 
 We next took a trip to Wrexham, North 
 Wales, on the River Dee. The Welsh are a very 
 excitable class of people. The women wear 
 wide-brimmed black beaver hats, shaped like a 
 cove sugar loaf, broad at bottom and tapering 
 narrow at the top, long cloaks with a yoke on the 
 shoulders and full skirt to the bottom of their 
 dresses. There were small thatched roof cot 
 tages plastered on the outside and kept white 
 washed on the inside and outside, with a fine 
 garden of flowers in front, with fruit and vege 
 tables at back. 
 
 From there I went to Liverpool, where I met 
 Nursey and Nettie. I then took steamer for 
 Dublin and stopped at the Shelbies Hotel in St. 
 Stephen's Green, taking my little girl Nettie 
 with me. When I went out next day I was sur 
 prised to see such wide streets and a fine post- 
 office on Sackfeald street, with five large stone 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 59 
 
 pillars in front, and in the middle of the street 
 and opposite the postoffice a large statue of 
 Saint Patrick. The sidewalk was full of fash 
 ionably dressed people. I would rise early in 
 the morning and take a walk in Peel's Park. 
 On my way was a large Catholic church, with 
 massive stone pillars in front, with large stone 
 steps and a large arch forming a vestibule, the 
 doors being quite a distance from the outer arch. 
 This vestibule was full of women half clad and 
 chilled from waiting for the doors to open so they 
 could go in and attend their morning worship. 
 The Irish seem to be more faithful to their reli 
 gion than other people. It was Sunday and I 
 had made some few acquaintances, among them 
 three young ladies who were very rich; so we 
 concluded to give the old folks the slip and go 
 the rounds ourselves. We took' a jaunting car 
 and went to the Beggar's Bush Barracks, where 
 the military band plays every Sunday in the 
 park. We stayed there an hour, hearing the band 
 and watching the parade. We then went to the 
 lighthouse at Queenstown. An old woman 
 called Peggy lives there ; she was a jolly old lady 
 and sat smoking a long clay pipe with sealing 
 wax on the end. One of the girls gave her a 
 shilling, when she brought out a little brown jug 
 and a pot of milk and made some milk punch; 
 when she poured the stuff out it looked like olive 
 oil. I asked her what it was and she said it was 
 pugeen ; that she had made it herself out of bar 
 ley and cheated the English government out of 
 the duty. When I tasted it, it was very mild 
 and tasted oily, but when I drank what was in 
 
60 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the mug I thought I was on fire. The girls 
 made fun of me. Peggy got another long jlay 
 pipe, which she threw on the floor and made a 
 cross of the pieces. She danced the Fisher's 
 hornpipe between the pieces and never touched 
 them, being as nimble as a kitten, the girls keep 
 ing time with their hands and feet. When she 
 got through she sang Irish songs. We stayed there 
 for tea and had pickeletts and poached eggs,ham 
 and pickled salmon, and tea as black as coal. 
 We left there about eight o'clock, taking another 
 mug each of pugeen, gave her a shilling apiece, 
 got into the jaunting car and made for the city, 
 singing all the way, the pugeen making us all 
 feel jolly. It was 12 o'clock when we ar 
 rived at the hotel. The next day we went to 
 Darrs Bally Mahone and the lakes of sweet 
 Killarney, of which all kinds of ghost stories 
 are told. It is a very fine walk and the hills 
 around seem very romantic. If you shout out 
 "Pat" the echo will come back "Faith." 
 
 Women were selling homemade Limerick lace 
 and jewelry made from bog root, something like 
 jet, but more of a dead black, carved in all man 
 ners and shapes. I visited many fine cottages; 
 all had gardens. They burned turf instead of 
 coal and I did not see the misery among them 
 that I expected from what I had heard. They 
 all seemed contented and happy. They asked 
 me if there were any landlords in America. I 
 told them "Yes" ; that they had to pay rent for a 
 small room at the top of a four-story house and 
 if they did not pay rent every month they were 
 put out. They said they thought they could get 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 61 
 
 farms and houses free, but if they had to pay rent 
 they did not think so much of our freedom. 
 
 We left and went to Cork, where I bade good- 
 by to Nursey and sister and took the steamer 
 "City of Cork" for New York. 
 
 We had a very pleasant set of passenegrs. One 
 day I was playing a game of shuffleboard with 
 the captain of the steamer, when the steward 
 came and said they wanted him to come below 
 and decide a bet. We went. It was a bet 
 between two gentlemen that no one on board 
 could tell what the seven wonders of the world 
 were. The captain took off his hat and scratch 
 ed his head and said he did not know, unless it 
 was woman. They all laughed and then I was 
 asked if I knew. I told them "Yes, that I had 
 them in my pocket." That was too much for 
 them ; they roared with laughter ; such a noise I 
 ever heard. When I visited the museum on the 
 walls of the "City of Chester," I opened a very 
 ancient book called Santacupes, in which I found 
 it stated what the seven wonders of the world 
 were, and took a copy of them in a little memor 
 andum book I had, and so I took my book out of 
 my pocket and showed them what the seven 
 wonders were: 
 
 First Pyramids of Egypt. 
 
 Second The Pharos of Alexandria. 
 
 Third The walls and hanging gardens 
 of Babylon. 
 
 Fourth Temple of Diana at Ephesus. 
 
 Fifth The statue of the Olympian 
 Jupiter. 
 
 Sixth-- The Mausoleum of Artemisia. 
 
 Seventh The Colossus at Rhodes, 
 
62 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 This decided the bet, which was won by the 
 younger man. I was getting very tired of travel 
 and longed to get home. I had written to Col. 
 C. J. Jack, my father-in-law that I would sail 
 on the "City of Cork" from Cork. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 63 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WE got to New York on a Sunday and as we 
 lay in the river a rowboat came alongside ; 
 the gangway was lowered when who should come 
 on board but my husband and Colonel Jack, with 
 two brother officers and four sailers from his own 
 ship, which was an agreeable surprise for me, 
 as I thought he was far away. He had been 
 transferred to the ironclad "Penobscot," when 
 the war was over. They were all in their full 
 uniform. 
 
 Captain Tippet of the steamer insisted on them 
 all staying to dinner and went to the custom 
 house with us. 
 
 Nettie did not know her papa. She called him 
 the man with the big whiskers. We soon got 
 through with the customs-house officers and 
 went to Colonel Jack's house. We were there 
 two weeks and then made arrangements to go to 
 my own home, and mighty glad was I to get 
 there again. The captain suffered very much 
 from his hurt, and kept growing worse, so 
 we went to live in Brooklyn, in order that he 
 could get good medical attendance. A year 
 after I had come home my second child was born, 
 a fine bright boy. 
 
 The captain by this time had got worse, en 
 largement of the heart had set in and he could 
 not lift twenty pounds. He had to get the 
 greatest care, and everything was done for him 
 that we could do. 
 
64 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 I went to speculating in real estate and was 
 very successful. I started in with $5,000 and in 
 fourteen months I made $30,000. 
 
 I thought the captain would get better if we 
 went to Chicago and we concluded to go and 
 buy a farm. So I sold the house we lived in and 
 kept our piano and the best of our furniture 
 and had them packed for shipment. 
 
 My baby now took sick and as the people who 
 had bought the house were now moving in the 
 captain took rooms in a hotel. Nettie, who was 
 now five years old, was taken down sick with 
 scarlet fever. We moved out on a Tuesday 
 and my boy died on Friday and was buried on 
 Saturday. 
 
 When I came back from the funeral I sat down 
 on Nettie's bed and was crying, when Nettie told 
 me not to cry, as she was going to her brother. 
 I said: 
 
 "You will not leave mamma all alone, will 
 you?" 
 
 She said that when they took her brother away 
 she tried to say her prayers, but could not, for 
 the angels came and told her they would take 
 her to her brother and showed her such pretty 
 flowers. 
 
 "Don't cry, Mamma, but pray; and when I 
 have got on my new white dress and in the nice 
 coffin like brother, see that the curls on my fore 
 head are fixed nice, as I want to look nice when 
 I join the angels." 
 
 She closed her eyes and the captain came in 
 in about an hour with the doctor. She asked 
 him to kiss her and to lay her head on my bosom. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 65 
 
 I took her on my knees, thinking that she had 
 gone to sleep and was going to put her in bed, 
 when I saw she had gone to sleep forever. 
 
 I laid her down, and pen cannot describe the 
 bitterness of my soul. I did not cry now, 
 neither could I pray. I thought God had not 
 been just to me, as there were so many children 
 with cruel parents, whom death would have 
 been a blessing to, and yet they were spared to 
 their misery, while my children, whom I loved, 
 were taken from me. We buried our Nettie on 
 Sunday from Theodore Cuyler's church, in 
 Greenwood cemetery, Brooklyn. The saddest 
 thing of all was to have to leave them, as we 
 were all ready to start for Chicago. 
 
 When we arrived in Chicago and looked at the 
 farm I found it was not what it had been repre 
 sented to be and would not buy it; so returned 
 to the city and went into the wholesale grocery 
 business, but did not do very well, the captain 
 not knowing much about business. He had 
 been to sea all his life and did not know anything 
 about buying goods. W T e soon lost quite a sum 
 of money. 
 
 We were there two years when my third child 
 was born, a girl, and when she was three months 
 old, the captain bought a large stock of goods, 
 part of which was delivered when our stable 
 caught fire, which set fire to our house, we hav 
 ing a narrow escape, myself, baby and the ser 
 vant girl being taken out of the fire by the men. 
 Some of the furniture and the horses and the 
 carriages were saved. Our loss was about 
 $20,000. I afterwards traded the horses and 
 
66 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 carriage for two building lots, and some time 
 after, when I tried to sell the lots, on getting an 
 abstract, found that the party I had bought 
 from had sold them the day before to another 
 party, and when I went to look for him I found 
 that he had left the country. His name was 
 Frank Buckley. I had only two lots, which I 
 had bought cheap away out near the stock yards. 
 We left Chicago thoroughly disgusted and went 
 to B rook vi lie, Kansas, where we bought a tract 
 of 320 acres of land from the National Land 
 Company. We built a large double house, 
 planted fruit trees and bought some cows, hogs, 
 horses and farming utensils. One day on going 
 out to the well, where Jenny, my little girl, was 
 playing, I saw a large snake, an adder. I took 
 a pitchfork and ran it through the head and 
 threw it to the hogs, as I knew they would kill 
 the rattlesnake. To my surprise the hogs all 
 crouched in a corner and were afraid of the snake. 
 I called the hired man, who told me it had a 
 very poisonous sting in its tail, which the hogs 
 knew, and that was why they were afraid. 
 
 I took very sick with chills and fever and could 
 not live there, so we traded the farm and every 
 thing for a house and two acres of ground in 
 the suburbs of Brooklyn, and went there. 
 
 After we got to Brooklyn the captain wrote to 
 Admiral Porter to help him get a position, as 
 Admiral Porter always stood by his men. After 
 the war Congress passed a law that service men 
 should have preference for government positions, 
 so Admiral Porter wrote to Rear- Admiral Smith 
 to give Captain Jack a position in the Brooklya 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 67 
 
 navy yard and make a vacancy for him at once. 
 So the captain of the watch was dismissed and 
 Captain Jack put in his place. 
 
 In the meantime I had gone to housekeeping 
 and made a trade for a house and lot away out 
 on the line of Brooklyn and East New York. As 
 the captain got his pay every month I kept buy 
 ing lots and speculating. I built a house with 
 bay windows and all modern conveniences and 
 had a beautiful homelike place. I began to 
 think again that life was worth living. 
 
 One day the captain came home and was very 
 sad. I wondered what could be the cause, so I 
 asked him and he told me he was ordered to do a 
 thing which he did not like to do and it troubled 
 him very much. 
 
 At that time there was great excitement about 
 the Spaniards sinking one of our vessels, along 
 with a large number on board. Our government 
 had demanded an explanation from the Span 
 iards, and in the meantime two large Spanish 
 man-of-war ships came into the Brooklyn navy 
 yards for repair. One of them had got out and 
 they wanted to hold the other one until there 
 was a settlement for the United States ship 
 (the "Merrimac") that had been sunk. 
 
 If we went to war over the affair the "Ari- 
 apolis" would do great damage to our navy, as 
 she was a fine vessel, well manned and equipped. 
 In retaliation for the loss of our vessel, they 
 wanted the "Ariapolis" blown up, as she was 
 ready to sail, and word came to the navy yard 
 not to let her go out until further orders. She 
 was at one of the docks and ready to start. 
 
68 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 They got powder and everything ready to blow 
 her up. This was on Saturday. The captain 
 said it was a disgraceful act and little less than 
 murder, and that it would bring disgrace on the 
 United States, and that he would either have to 
 blow up the vessel or quit the service. I said 
 nothing. I dressed up in boy's clothes and 
 went to the navy yards and onboard the "Ariap- 
 olis." They had been at mass and were gam 
 bling in the officer's messroom. I thought it 
 would be a dreadful shame to blow up so fine a 
 body of men when they were not to blame. It 
 looked like gaining a man's confidence, asking 
 him to your house and then murdering him, 
 and it would truly have been a disgrace to our 
 nation, for as the "Ariapolis" came into our 
 yards in peace it should be let go in peace, and 
 if they made war they should give her a chance 
 for her life. 
 
 I procured the password from the captain. 
 He did not know I was going out. I was de 
 termined the vessel should not be blown up. 
 The powder was placed under her, the fuse was 
 laid and my captain was to touch it off. I took 
 my pocket knife and cut the fuse in four or 
 five different places, and took a piece of the fuse 
 about a yard long and put it in my pocket, 
 and left everything so they would not know it 
 had been disturbed. I started home, but had 
 to pass two watch guards and give the pass 
 word, which was "Nelly Grant." I climbed 
 over the walls and walked home, as the cars 
 did not run after two o'clock. 
 
 When I got home I did not go to bed, but sat 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 69 
 
 thinking how I could prevent her getting away. 
 The captain came in, in the morning and told 
 me something was wrong, for the fuse had been 
 touched, but did not explode the powder. 
 
 I hit on a plan to prevent her from going out. 
 It was to sink one of our old boats at the mouth 
 of the dock, so that the big man-of-war could 
 not get out until the boat was raised; and they 
 could take their time in raising her. After 
 breakfast the captain went to the navy yards 
 and gave his plans to a superior officer, who 
 agreed with him at once. So a coal barge was 
 took up to the dock and tied. The captain 
 went on deck and took her pumps off and cut a 
 block out of her bottom and left it, so that when 
 night came he took the block out and went to 
 the watchhouse. She sank two hours after. 
 
 So the "Ariapolis" was a prisoner without 
 any disgrace to our nation or any innocent lives 
 lost. 
 
 The next day I told the captain what I had 
 done and showed him the piece of fuse I had 
 taken as a relic. He was very glad I did it. 
 After some parleying the Spaniards paid all 
 damages; the coal barge was raised and the 
 "Ariapolis" went away, its crew in ignorance 
 of how near they were to eternity and that they 
 owed their escape to the actions of a woman. 
 
 All was now sunshine in our little home, and 
 in March a baby girl was born. Our gardener 
 neighbors all sent a pot of flowers and it so hap 
 pened that they were all daisies of different 
 colors, so we named the baby Daisy, and well 
 she deserved the name, as she was the most 
 
70 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 beautiful child I ever saw. All went well with 
 us. I bought and sold real estate and made 
 money very fast. 
 
 One week before Christmas the captain came 
 home and said his father was very sick and had 
 been calling for me all the time. 
 
 So I took Daisy and went to see the Colonel. 
 When I got to him I thought he was asleep, and 
 sat down by his bedside for about an hour, 
 when he said: 
 
 "Why don't she come?" 
 
 I said, "Who do you want to see, pa?" 
 
 "My daughter Nelly," he said. 
 
 I told him I was here. He asked me to put 
 my hand on his forehead, and he closed his 
 hands as in prayer and said: 
 
 "God, have mercy on her, have mercy on 
 her. When her poor, kind fair face is smiling 
 her poor, sad heart will be breaking." 
 
 He prayed God to protect and comfort me in 
 my hours of sorrow and affliction. He said: 
 
 "Nelly, if you could see what I see, my poor 
 girl, you know not what is in store for you, and 
 what sorrow is before you. Come in front of 
 me, so that I can see you." 
 
 I did as he told me, but he went off to sleep 
 again, while I sat beside him and thought over 
 what he had told me, thinking he must have 
 been dreaming, for I had not a trouble in the 
 world; everything was bright and cheerful with 
 me; this world never seemed so beautiful to me 
 before. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the evening he opened his 
 eyes and looked for me. He said: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 71 
 
 "I am going; good-by, and may God comfort 
 you in your hour of need." Those were his 
 last words. He had breathed his last. 
 
 Captain Jack took his father's death very 
 much to heart, and his old heart trouble grew 
 worse. He got so bad he could not lie down, 
 as he would choke if he did. He had the best 
 medical aid I could procure. The doctors held 
 a consultation and said his heart had gotten so 
 enlarged that he could not live; that dropsy of 
 the heart had set in. He suffered dreadfully 
 until the end came. I had not gone to bed a 
 night since his father's death. I had many 
 weary nights with him. Sometimes the Free 
 Masons from his own lodge would sit up with 
 him, but I would not dare undress and go to 
 bed. When he would fall asleep in his big, 
 easy chair, I would lie down on the floor and 
 take a nap. Toward the last of his illness my 
 little Daisy would say: 
 
 "Dod bless poor dear daden." 
 
 She could not speak plainly yet. 
 
 On the fifteenth of June the captain was 
 raving and I had a fearful time with him. After 
 a time he became quiet and I lay on a lounge in 
 the room. I thought I saw his father and my 
 little Nettie standing beside him and waiting 
 for him to get ready for the journey. Our 
 little boy came and threw flowers at his feet, 
 and the American flag was all ready to throw 
 over him. 
 
 I jumped up with a start and when I did the 
 captain said: 
 
 "I wish you would send for all of my men that 
 
72 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 can come to see me, for I am going to die, for I 
 saw our Nettie, and she said : 
 
 "'Come, papa, come and leave this world of 
 sin and sorrow and come to your God.' " 
 
 So I sent a messenger to the navy yards to 
 tell all the men to come that could. He told 
 them he was going to die and leave them, but 
 that heaven would not be heaven to him until 
 his wife came to him; and that he knew Daisy 
 would soon follow him. He spoke to his men 
 very calmly; most of them were in tears. Then 
 the rector of the Trinity church came and ad 
 ministered the sacrament to him for the last 
 time on earth. We were Episcopalians, and 
 all our children were baptized in that church. 
 
 At six o'clock he went on his long journey, 
 never to return in flesh and blood. 
 
 I laid him out on the floor and watched over 
 him, for I wanted to do these last sad rites 
 myself. I could not bear to have another 
 touch him. I sent to the city for the under 
 taker, and Daisy and Captain Black Cat were 
 all alone with him that night; Daisy had fallen 
 asleep. 
 
 At six o'clock the undertaker came. When 
 the casket was being carried down stairs the 
 old black cat set up a terrible squall, and kept 
 it up for some time. The corpse was put in 
 the parlor and the cat came and lay under the 
 casket; it would not eat a mouthful until after 
 the funeral. She followed the corpse to the 
 grave and I never saw her after. 
 
 The Free Masons conducted the funeral; they 
 were in full uniform and acted as his pallbear- 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 73 
 
 ers. It was the most solemn scene of my life. 
 The choir sang, "J esus lover of my soul," and 
 "I would not stay away from Thee." 
 
 The minister spoke about how he came by 
 his death, his bravery in the war, what he had 
 suffered from his injuries and what a kind hus 
 band and father he had been. He said he hoped 
 the men would live as Captain Jack had done. 
 
 We took him to Evergreen cemetery and laid 
 him in the receiving vault, until I had decided 
 on a plot of ground. 
 
 When all was over I felt as though I had lost 
 one of my arms, I was so crippled. I did not 
 know what to do. I would go from room to 
 room and not know what I wanted. Even the 
 animals and the chickens seemed to know there 
 was something wrong. Even my garden seemed 
 to fade and the flowers to droop. I could not 
 take an interest in anything. No pen can de 
 scribe the feelings of loneliness and desertion 
 that came over me at the table. To see the 
 vacant chair at the head, no more rejoicing over 
 papa's bringing home nice things from town. 
 I prayed that if my husband had ever done a 
 wrong in his life, for God to punish me for it 
 and spare him. I would take my children 
 every Sunday morning to the cemetery and sit 
 and watch the vault where he lay, until the 
 fall came, when I began to arouse myself as if 
 from a dream. I had my two little girls to edu 
 cate and provide for, and found I still had a 
 mission in the world. 
 
 I began to look around me to lay some plans 
 for the future. 
 
74 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 T WENT through Prospect Park and on the 
 * boulevard on the junction of Coney Island 
 road, where there was a very fine tract of land. 
 I made inquiry as to the owner and price, and 
 was informed it was $60,000. I soon made a 
 trade for the land and paid a portion of the 
 money down. 1 then proceeded to build a 
 large hotel on it, with marble tiling, and fitted 
 it up very handsomely. It cost me $40,000, 
 with stables and outbuildings, and when I 
 opened it I had a tremendous run, which 
 gained me the envy of the other road houses, 
 for several of them had to close, as I took all 
 their custom. I bought my own material and 
 had it built by day work; that is, I did not let 
 it by contract, and it was a source of great 
 annoyance to me. I bought $2,500 worth of 
 silverware and had gotten into the house when 
 I had to go to town. Coming back, driving 
 through the park, I saw a big fire and thought 
 it was the car stables. I met a park policeman 
 and asked him where the fire was, when he told 
 me it was the Bon Ton. That was the name 
 of my hotel. 
 
 I whipped my horses, and they, being spirited 
 animals, went full speed. When I got there I 
 asked for my children and was told they were 
 in the burning building and that the firemen 
 could not find the room they were in. There 
 
CAPT. JACK'S FORT IN THE WOODS. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 75 
 
 was a second-story balcony. I asked a tall 
 man to help me to get up on the balcony. He 
 gave me a hoist. I got on his shoulder and 
 made a jump, catching the railing, and pulled 
 myself up and got into the hall. The smoke 
 drove me back. I tore off a piece of my dress 
 and tied it over my face, so that the fire would 
 not burn my face, and crept on my hands and 
 knees along the hall, counting the door jams 
 as I would feel them with my hands, until I 
 came to their room, which was locked. I 
 braced my feet against the other side of the 
 hall and with a desperate push with my shoul 
 ders I burst open the door. I then rushed to 
 the window and found that I could not open it. 
 I put my foot through it and broke the sash. 
 Then I went back to the bed and got hold of 
 the nurse girl. She would not move. I took 
 her out of bed, dragged her through the win 
 dow and threw her over the balcony. She was 
 caught below. I went back and got my two 
 children and took them out on the balcony, 
 and by this time the people had got a cloth for 
 me to drop them in. I dropped Jenny first 
 and then Daisy, and they were caught without 
 injury. Instead of dropping, I got on top of 
 the railing and jumped. I got on top of the 
 railing and jumped into the air. I had become 
 excited as the people were hollering for me to 
 jump; that the roof was going. I broke two 
 ribs and my ankle. I did not jump too soon, 
 for as I made the leap the roof went in with a 
 crash, and they barely saved me from the 
 flames. I was taken to a neighbor's house 
 
76 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 and it was a long time before I was able to be 
 around. 
 
 I was unable to put in proof of loss to the 
 insurance company in time, and when I did 
 they would not pay me. I commenced suit, 
 lost it, carried it to a higher court and was de 
 feated there, when I carried it to the Supreme 
 Court. I had lost all my money and business, 
 and it cost me no little amount in carrying the 
 case up. 
 
 I applied for a pension and had about given 
 it up when it came. I had been notified that 
 I had to take the captain out of the vault and 
 it worried me very much. When my pension 
 came I was paid back to the time of the cap 
 tain's death. I went to the cemetery and 
 bought a very nice plot and the next day I 
 went with my two little girls and buried their 
 papa. We were all alone except the men who 
 buried the body. Daisy looked very sad and 
 after they had finished and gone she gathered 
 a lot of wild flowers and laid them on her papa's 
 grave. 
 
 I took a suite of rooms that were not in the 
 most fashionable part of the city. I was wait 
 ing to see what would be the outcome of my 
 lawsuit with the insurance company, and waited 
 three years. I found that my friends gave me 
 a wide berth after I lost everything; a bitter 
 experience not shared by me alone. 
 
 Then I began to see that the only friend on 
 earth was money, and not only a friend, but 
 power; that I must stir and do something^ or 
 go somewhere. I was in a brown study, think- 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 77 
 
 ing what was best for me to do. Christmas 
 was near, and I was determined I would not 
 wait longer; that I would do something in the 
 spring. 
 
 Christmas came and the children hung up 
 their stockings, and in the morning they were 
 full of nice things. When I got up I found 
 Daisy had filled a peach basket full of cake 
 and other things and had gone out with them. 
 The morning was bitter cold. I was angry 
 with her and intended punishing her when she 
 came back. On her returning, I asked her 
 where she had been. She told me she had been 
 to an old woman, who had no breakfast and no 
 fire, and that Santa Claus did not take her 
 anything, so she had taken her part of the 
 things that Santa Claus had brought her. I 
 did not know any such woman. When dinner 
 time came, Daisy took all of her turkey and 
 put it away for the old woman. I told her to 
 eat her dinner and I would take some dinner to 
 the old woman. I put up a large plate of dinner 
 and Daisy led me about a block away to a base 
 ment, where, sure enough, I found an old 
 woman without fire or food, just as Daisy had 
 told me, with a straw bed on the floor, an 
 old chair, and a little rough pine table. But 
 the place was clean. I gave her the dinner I 
 had brought and she told me she had laid down 
 and never expected to get up again, and that 
 she had not tasted food for over two days when 
 my little Daisy was running after a little kitten 
 and her door had blown open. She got up and 
 saw Daisy with a large homemade biscuit. She 
 
78 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 went into the basement with the old woman, 
 who told her she was hungry and cold and that 
 Daisy had given her her biscuit and brought 
 her a basket of nice things. 
 
 Daisy would take her something to eat every 
 day, and one day she gave her ten cents that 
 some one had given her; and all that had kept 
 her alive for ten days past was what the child 
 had brought her, whom she looked upon as an 
 angel sent from God to save her life. She wept 
 most bitterly and said she was weeping Christ 
 mas morning when a gentle rap came to the 
 door and there stood the little fairy with her 
 basket. I was poor, but could spare a little, 
 so I sent her some coal and a dollar. I was 
 singing in the choir of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church and told some of the members, who 
 went and gave her aid. 
 
 Nothing unusual transpired and now it is 
 February and the weather is fine. On Sunday 
 I felt as though I could not sing in the choir 
 that day. It seemed as though a cloud was 
 hovering, though I did not know why. The 
 children went to Sunday school and it was late 
 when they got home. Jenny told me the super 
 intendent said: 
 
 "Who can doubt there is a God when we see 
 such people as there are before us?" 
 
 And he said to Daisy: 
 
 "You are the little pink of the flock. " 
 
 And she said: 
 
 "No, I ain't; I'se a daisy." 
 
 The children had gone to bed that night. I 
 was sitting reading, when I thought I saw a 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 79 
 
 black cloud go out of the room and pass into 
 the bedroom. I started to my feet and went 
 into the bedroom where the children were 
 asleep, but I could see nothing. I sat down 
 again and began reading. I had hardly got 
 started when I saw the same thing again. I 
 wondered what it all meant, when it came again 
 for the third time. I lit the gas in the bedroom 
 and went over to the bed where the children 
 lay. I saw that Daisy was in a great fever. 
 She awoke and asked me for a drink of water. 
 I gave her a drink and she went to sleep. I 
 went to bed with the children, but I had soon 
 to get up again, for Daisy wanted water every 
 few minutes, and when daylight came I sent 
 for the doctor. When he came he said that 
 the old enemy, scarlet fever, had come again. 
 I brought her out and made her a bed on the 
 lounge in the sitting room and at twelve o'clock 
 noon she went into a spasm. I wrung my 
 hands and screamed and was heard for blocks. 
 The neighbors ran in to see what was the matter. 
 I was as white as death and cried: 
 
 "Oh! why has God punished me so? What 
 have -I done to deserve this affliction, and he 
 robbed me of my family? Ah! my Daisy! My 
 Daisy!" 
 
 The doctor came, but could do nothing. She 
 came out of her spasms and called "Mamma/ 1 
 I came and sat by her. She looked into the 
 corner of the room and said "Papa." I said, 
 "Do you see papa?" She smiled and said: 
 
 'Tse coming papa; I'se coming. I am going 
 to papa. Don't cry mamma. Come, let Daisy 
 
80 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 kiss your poor white face." I kissed her and 
 in less than three minutes she was dead. I 
 thought I would go mad. My poor Daisy, who 
 was the pink of the flock at Sabbath school the 
 day before, was now cold in death. I was calm 
 in all my troubles before, but now I felt like 
 raving. After the captain's death I had prayed 
 God to punish me for the captain's sins if he had 
 any, and let his soul rest in peace; but I never 
 dreamed of such punishment as this. I clasped 
 my hands to my heart, for I thought it would 
 jump out. I thought of what Colonel Jack 
 had told me on his deathbed, "That when my 
 poor, fair face was smiling, my poor, sad heart 
 would be breaking." If any one could have ex 
 perienced my grief they would have prayed to 
 God to spare me and keep them from suffering 
 the same. No pen can describe my misery. If 
 I were crucified I could not have suffered more 
 nor half as long. I sent for the undertaker and 
 told him I had no money, as my three months' 
 pension was not due until the 4th of March. He 
 said never mind, he would attend to everything, 
 and so I sat that night all alone with my Daisy 
 I thought of her and of all the good church people 
 and wondered if there were any among them who 
 would take their Christmas gifts and Christmas 
 dimes to a poor old starving woman and go with 
 out themselves, and now my Daisy was gone and 
 I had not a cent to buy flowers for her coffin 
 the least gift that could be given and she used 
 to fill her apron with flowers and take them to 
 poor dear papa's grave. The next day the 
 undertaker came auj. brought her one of the 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 81 
 
 handsomest caskets he could get and a box of the 
 choicest flowers, which he laid upon her breast. 
 It seemed as if he had read my thoughts. It 
 was a very chilly day and we buried Daisy beside 
 her papa. I could not bear any noise after she 
 had gone; if a door was shut quickly it would 
 startle me. 
 
 The same night, after laying her by her papa, 
 I could not go to bed and shut my door and lock 
 her out. It seemed as if she would come. While 
 sitting with sad forebodings I composed the 
 following lines: 
 
 Close the door gently, 
 
 Bridle thy breath, 
 My little earth angel 
 
 Is talking with Death. 
 Gently he wooes her, 
 
 She wishes to stay. 
 His arms are around her, 
 
 He leads her away. 
 
 Summer came, but it brought no sunshine to 
 my home. Jenny would say: 
 
 "Mamma, why don't you sing? You look so 
 sad and your face looks so pale since our Daisy 
 died, and you never go to church any more." 
 
 I could no longer stand the sight of children, 
 for every time I saw them the thought of my 
 Daisy being taken would unnerve me. I fell 
 away to almost a skeleton. I could not rouse 
 myself. I would go to the cemetery three or 
 four times a week after Jenny had gone to bed, 
 when the evening was cool. I had made a nice 
 garden in my burial plot and when the evenings 
 were cool I would sit there and console myself 
 with the thought that this one spot on earth was 
 
82 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 mine, and the spot where all I held dear was laid. 
 I would often sit there until twelve o'clock at 
 night and go home on the last car. I was so 
 much taken up with my own sad thoughts that 
 I did not notice people watching me. I always 
 wore a white wrapper and a little black hat, 
 which I would sometimes carry in my hand and 
 use it for a fan. Toward the last I noticed 
 several people looking toward the cemetery, but 
 paid no attention to them. One bright moon 
 light night, quite late, I was coming out, and 
 when I got to the gate two men stood still, until 
 I opened it, when they started on a run. When 
 1 got to the corner there was quite a crowd of 
 people there, and when I came near they got 
 out of my way as fast as possible. I stood still. 
 wondering what it could mean, when two men 
 came halfway to meet me and said, "In the name 
 of the Almighty what do you want?" I said: 
 
 "I want nothing but my own. My husband 
 and my children lie there in the cemetery and 
 they are mine.'* 
 
 One said: 
 
 "Are you flesh and blood, or are you of the 
 spirit?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I am like yourself; I belong to this earth." 
 
 I thought that if I could not go and see my 
 dead darlings' graves without being taken for a 
 ghost, I had best stay at home, so did not go 
 again for some time. 
 
 Summer went and winter came, but it brought 
 no joy to my lonely home. I would sit for hours at 
 a time half dazed, thinking, my senses far away. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 83 
 
 One day in spring Jenny came in and said she 
 had invited two little girls to tea, as Saturday 
 was her day home from school. She had seen 
 nice lettuce in the market and asked me to get 
 some. It was snowing, so I took my umbrella 
 and was on my way to the market when a child 
 caught in a heavy door that had been blown 
 shut by the wind. I dropped my umbrella and 
 ran to catch the child, but was not quick enough 
 and she was knocked senseless. I took the child 
 in my arms and was carrying it upstairs, the 
 house being a French flat, when a stout old lady 
 came out of flat No. 7 and said the child be 
 longed to flat No. 3. She rang the bell of that 
 number, when the mother came running down 
 stairs for the child and took it out of my arms. 
 As a was turning to go away, the stout lady 
 said to me: 
 
 "I would like to speak to you, if you will just 
 step in for a minute or so." 
 
 I went in and saw four old ladies sitting 
 around a table; one of whom jumped up and 
 said: 
 
 "Thanks to the good spirits; she has come 
 at last." 
 
 I thought I was caught in some trap and that 
 the place was a private mad-house. I said: 
 
 " You have the advantage of me; I don't know 
 any of you." 
 
 One of them said: 
 
 "But we have known you for years, but never 
 saw you before with our natural eyes. We saw 
 you with our spiritual eyes and want to ask 
 you some questions before you leave us." I 
 said: 
 
84 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "I hope you will not keep me long, as I have 
 left my house and three little girls all alone in 
 it." 
 
 They asked me if I was much of my time 
 with the sick, and if I had ever noticed I had 
 much power over them. I told them it seemed 
 to come natural for me to know how to take 
 care of them, and if any of my church people 
 were sick and poor I always went and helped 
 them, and was very fortunate in relieving their 
 ills. The stout lady came over to me and said: 
 
 "I have a daughter nineteen years old, and 
 the doctors have given her up. She prays she 
 will pass away with her senses; she has such 
 pains in her head and thinks that bees are sting 
 ing her. We are spiritualists and the spirits 
 tell us you can help her. You must try, as we 
 will not let you go until you see her." I asked 
 where she was, and was told they would send 
 for a carriage and take me to her. I did not 
 want to go, on account of leaving my house 
 and the little girls alone. They then sent for 
 a carriage to take one of the women to my 
 house, to stay with the girls until I came back. 
 They got another carriage and took me out to 
 Henry street, to a large brown stone front 
 house. 
 
 We went upstairs, and there sat a most beau 
 tiful girl, crying out, "O! my head! my head!" 
 
 I went to her and said: 
 
 "I will help you soon." I told the carriage 
 driver who was in waiting to go to the brewery 
 and get a sack of malt that was left after brew 
 ing, and when he brought it I put it in a wash 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 85 
 
 boiler and put it on the range, with water 
 enough to make it like thin mush, just hot 
 enough to bear my hand in it. I then took it 
 to her room, stripped her, put her feet in it 
 and rubbed it all over her. She had Bright's 
 disease of the kidneys, and was full of water, 
 and dropsy of the heart had set in; the water 
 on the brain caused the pain and the light- 
 headedness. I saw all this as soon as I saw 
 her. As I worked with her the water began 
 to ooze out through the pores of her skin like 
 out of small faucets. I did not dry her, but 
 rolled her in a blanket and gave her some 
 brandy and milk. In fifteen minutes she was 
 fast asleep and the water was all out of her 
 system. 
 
 I knew it was only temporary relief and that 
 she could not live, and would fill again. I went 
 home, and in five days they sent for me with a 
 carriage to come at once. I went, and I never 
 saw such a beautiful scene; one that I shall 
 never forget. She lay in bed, and the bed was 
 covered with flowers of great beauty. It was 
 in April, and flowers were very expensive, but 
 the most costly were there. Women and young 
 girls were kneeling around the bed, singing in a 
 low tone "The Sweet Bye and Bye," and Oh! 
 so sweet and plaintive! 
 
 When I entered, the poor, dying girl held out 
 her hand to me and said: 
 
 "My prayers have been granted; I have my 
 senses. Thanks to you for your help. I hope 
 to meet you on that beautiful shore; join us." 
 
 I knelt down and helped in the chant. She 
 
86 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 tried to sing, but could only say "The sweet 
 bye and bye," and her spirit had gone to that 
 beautiful shore. I stood looking on and think 
 ing how solemn, grand and beautiful was that 
 dying bed. No tears nor mourning, but passing 
 away amidst hymns, flowers and song. 
 
 I found out that my new-made friend, the 
 mother of the girl who had just passed away, 
 was the great Madam Clifford, the greatest 
 spiritual medium of the day. She clung to me 
 as if I belonged to her. One day I was there 
 and she went into a trance and I was very much 
 surprised when she described Captain Jack and 
 the clothes he was buried in, as I knew she had 
 never seen him and knew nothing about him. 
 But when she told me that I was a Rosicrucian- 
 ist, and was born to find hidden treasures, my 
 thoughts went back to my childhood days, when 
 the gypsy queen had said the same thing. This 
 was really something I could not understand. 
 I had many hours' talk with her after that, and 
 tried to investigate how she gained her knowl 
 edge. But the more I thought about it, the 
 deeper the mystery became to me, and I asked 
 myself if it were best for us to know our future; 
 or if it would add anything to our happiness to 
 try to find out the mysteries of the other world, 
 and leave the matter for those to solve who 
 took more interest in it than I could. 
 
 I was satisfied in my own mind that the spirit 
 could come back to this world again at some 
 time or other and that we have spirits around 
 us all the time either good or evil and that 
 they influence us; and in a matter of justice our 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 87 
 
 first impressions are always right; also, in our 
 daily business transactions, many times, when 
 I speculated in real estate and bought on the 
 first impressions, I always made more money. 
 But if I would stop to consider and take advice, 
 and waver from first impressions, I was sure to 
 lose. So I soon learned to use my own brains 
 for my own business and leave others to do the 
 same. 
 
 I went and had a talk with my attorneys, 
 who I must confess were quite an exception to 
 the general run of attorneys, were good and 
 honorable gentlemen Riley & Wineberg, of 
 Brooklyn and told them I thought of going 
 West, and putting my little girl in a good board 
 ing school, so I set about getting ready to start, 
 and in a week had everything ready. I went 
 to my sister-in-law, the wife of Dr. Quacken- 
 bosh, and asked her to look after my Jenny. 
 Then I went to Denver. When I got there 
 early in the morning I went in search of a res 
 taurant. The postoffice was on Fifteenth and 
 Larimer streets, and after wandering about for 
 more than an hour I got into a restaurant on 
 Holiday street, and while I was getting my 
 breakfast colored men began to come in and 
 I saw that I was in a negro dive. I paid the 
 50 cents they charged, then went away to the 
 outskirts of town on Champa street, where I 
 found two nice rooms situated between Fif 
 teenth and Sixteenth streets. The next door 
 was a laundry with a 50 -foot lot and they wanted 
 me to buy it for $250. A few days afterward 
 while walking down Sixteenth street some one 
 shouted * 'Captain Jack!'* 
 
88 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 I turned to see whom it could be when a lady 
 very handsomely dressed came toward me with 
 extended hand. I did not recognize her as 
 anyone I had ever met before, but she said, 
 "You don't remember your nurse-girl, Jennie?" 
 
 I said, "Well, you do not look like the same 
 girl, but I am glad you have married so well, 
 for judging by your dress your husband must 
 be a wealthy man." 
 
 She walked to my rooms with me and I told 
 her of the captain's death and my losses, saying 
 I thought of going to Leadville. She advised 
 me not to go there, but to go to a new valley 
 being opened by the government, an Indian 
 reservation named Gunnison. She said there 
 were so many chances to make money there that 
 I decided to follow her advice, when my week 
 was up at my room, as I had paid the rent in 
 advance. Then Jennie left me, saying that she 
 would return the next day to tell me something. 
 I waited until she came and then she told me a 
 sad story. She had married after leaving me. 
 Her husband, after a few months, began to stay 
 out at night and would beat her when he came 
 home. One time she followed him to see where 
 he spent his nights and discovered that he was 
 frequenting a large sporting house. Jennie got 
 in the back yard and saw her husband with his 
 girl all love and smiles. 
 
 When he came home he greeted his wife with 
 curses and blows and for many days practic 
 ally drove her to starvation. Then she said, 
 "So this is the reward of a true, virtuous wife. 
 Men leave their wives for these painted, lying 
 
 women.' 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 89 
 
 Then she fell on her knees and prayed God 
 to forgive her, and with uplifted hands swore 
 she would enter a sporting house and wreck the 
 life of every man she could to avenge the wrong 
 that had been done her, and it was the big swell 
 house of Madame Clara Dumont on Holiday 
 street she entered. 
 
 ''Now/' she said, "men come to my house all 
 smiles with their money and when their cash 
 is gone they are politely shown to the door." 
 
 She asked me to come and see her before I 
 left. It was nearing dusk when I entered a 
 fine appearing house on Holiday street. The 
 lights were burning brightly, and when I rang 
 the bell a man in white jacket and apron opened 
 the door. He seemed surprised when I told 
 him I wanted to see the madame, for I had for 
 gotten the name she told me. When he asked 
 my name I was in a predicament, for I did not 
 want anyone to know that I had entered the 
 place. So I replied, "Tell the madame I am 
 the lady from New York who is going West." 
 
 He left me standing in the hall and went up 
 stairs. In a moment Jennie came running 
 down to me and took me to her rooms. She 
 had nine ladies, as she called them, summoned 
 to the room and to them she imparted the secret 
 of who I was. She told them that I was her 
 mistress before she was married, and they cer 
 tainly did act like ladies. They did not 
 utter one vulgar word. I asked Jennie if they 
 got tipsy and she replied, "Only when they are 
 blowing in the suckers for fizz at $5 a bottle." 
 
 I did not quite understand her, but re- 
 
90 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 mained silent and left. When I got outside 
 and looked at the brightly lighted house with 
 the piano music, and where all was life and 
 gayety, and as I wandered in the dark to my 
 room I thought, "Here are mistress and maid 
 both alone in the west, one the rich owner of a 
 house of pleasure and gayety and the mistress 
 a homeless wanderer." Gazing at the stars 
 above me I asked, "What shall I do for the best, 
 and what will be my fate in these mighty moun 
 tains? Speak, and tell me, I pray thee." 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 91 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON inquiry I found out that I could not 
 leave until the next day, as the stage had 
 already gone, so I sat watching the strange 
 people, when I saw all of them running to where 
 two men stood with duck coats and leggins on 
 and belts with cartridges and guns in their belts. 
 As I turned to see what it was, the men pulled 
 their guns and both seemed to fire at the same 
 time. Both fell dead, and the ghastly look on 
 their faces was terrible. Curley Frank was the 
 name of the youngest, and he was a finely built 
 and handsome man, with a fine education, and 
 the son of a minister ;the other was a finely built 
 man. I learned by inquiry that he was at least 
 ten years older than the other, and had a vicious 
 look on his face. Though handsome, they were 
 both faro dealers, and as the men fell there was a 
 piercing shriek, and a small woman with red 
 stockings on flung herself on the body of Curley 
 Frank and sobbed bitterly. Some of the men 
 pulled her away so the officers could take charge 
 of the body. The woman was living with the 
 man and was a dance hall girl. The officers 
 hailed an express wagon and one grabbed a man 
 by the collar and the other by the legs and threw 
 them in the wagon as though they were logs of 
 wood, and it was not more than fifteen minutes 
 from the shooting till the music and the yelps of 
 the gamblers were going on as if nothing had 
 
92 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 happened. I went into the place they called a 
 hotel, which was a rough board building, and as 
 there was no one in the waiting room I took the 
 only rocking chair there was and sat by the 
 window and thought this is what I have so 
 many times wondered. What did become of 
 doctors', lawyers' and ministers' children, for as 
 a rule they live up to every cent they get, and 
 have a servant to pin a napkin on them at the 
 table, give them as good an education as they 
 can, then put up their hands and say: 
 
 "Well, I have done well by my children, for I 
 have given them a good education and brought 
 them up to be good men or women," then turn 
 them out on the world without a trade or a pro 
 fession or a cent to start with and expect the 
 girl to get a rich husband and the boys to get 
 rich by their wits. Poor, foolish mothers ! if they 
 had beaten it into their brains that they had to 
 get their own living and took them out of school 
 in their teens and put them to whatever their 
 own minds led to, what a different life they would 
 live! For they read novels and wander out West, 
 thinking they can find gold anywhere, and when 
 they get there they find they can get nothing 
 without money to pay for it, and that smart 
 people have been there before them and have 
 played every trick on the western people, as 
 there is not a game thought of that has not al 
 ready been played; then there is nothing left 
 for them but gambling or playing tin horn or 
 being kept by the red stockinged women, for they 
 will not work and pay $1 for a cot to sleep on 
 when there are three other women in the room. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 93 
 
 Before I went to bed I took a walk up the street. 
 There were tents instead of houses and I had not 
 gotten very far when a man with a light broad- 
 rimmed hat and a large, blood red silk handker 
 chief tied around his neck and a belt with cart 
 ridges and a big gun in it came up to me and 
 said, "Well, when did you come to town?" I 
 said: 
 
 "You are mistaken. You do not know me." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "We'll be westerners. It does not take long 
 to get acquainted and you are just what I want, 
 for you are a fairy, a beauty, by golly, and I 
 can draw the crowd with a beauty like you in 
 my dancehall, and I will do better by you than 
 them other fellows, so come in here and I will 
 set up a bottle of fiz on the strength of it." 
 
 I turned around quickly and began to walk 
 rapidly towards the hotel. He kept up with 
 me and we got in the front of a tent with 
 music and a man yelling out the dance calls. 
 He took hold of my hand and said : 
 
 "This is my place; come in." 
 
 I jerked away and answered: 
 
 "Keep your hands off of me or I will blow them 
 off with this." 
 
 And I whipped out a .44. He stood as though 
 he had been struck with lightning, and I went 
 as fast as I could, without running, to the hotel. 
 I had forgotten about my blonde hair and my 
 fair skin, for it always attracted attention in 
 London and in Paris. I was ashamed. As 
 soon as I got to the hotel I went to my cot and 
 tossed till near morning, for the mattress was 
 
94 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 hard hay, and lumpy, and it seemed I had only 
 just fallen asleep when we were called up for the 
 stage and had to start early. So I got a cup of 
 coffee and two pancakes and was charged 75 
 cents for my breakfast, and as I stood on the 
 porch waiting for the stage, the man with the 
 red handkerchief came along with two other men, 
 and as soon as he saw me he said to the men : 
 
 "That is the dry goods I was telling you about, 
 with the fire of the sun, with the nerve of the 
 merry devil in her, by golly." 
 
 Then the stage came up and I lost no time in 
 getting in. There were three men and I in the 
 four-horse stage when the driver cracked his 
 whip and away we went. We had not gone 
 very far when I found out that one of the men 
 was from Alamosa and Alva Adams, hardware 
 merchant, who was afterward Governor of Col 
 orado and he had started a hardware store in 
 Gunnison. His man had two very heavy satchels, 
 and he said they were full of guns and 
 cartridges. 
 
 The passengers were allowed fifty pounds of 
 baggage and had to pay 10 cents per pound for 
 all over that, and as I had two large trunks I 
 was held up in good shape. We were in deep 
 snow and it was near noon, but there was not a 
 sign of any house where we could get a lunch, 
 when one of the men said we should have brought 
 a lunch with us, for it was after twelve o'clock 
 now. I was nearly starving and it was after one 
 o'clock when we saw a log place which looked 
 like an old stable. The driver cracked his whip 
 and stopped and three dirty little children came 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 95 
 
 out and a dark, dirty looking man said dinner 
 would be ready in ten minutes. When we went 
 in there was fried ham, a dish of potatoes, a can 
 of stewed tomatoes, dried apple pie, and such 
 poor coffee, but we were all hungry and we had 
 to pay 75 cents apiece. Then the driver came 
 with fresh horses and a sleigh, and he told us 
 we were going over the Cotton Wood Pass, and 
 the dirty man said, "Yes, and you had better 
 look after what you have of value, for yester 
 day's sleigh was held up. No one was killed, 
 but they beat two men passengers up pretty 
 badly." 
 
 And we had not got far when the man opened 
 his satchel and took out three guns and loaded 
 them, and said to the other two men : 
 
 "If anyone comes, you two grab one of them." 
 
 Then he turned to me and said : 
 
 "Do not get frightened at the sight of those 
 guns, but we must be prepared." 
 
 I said : 
 
 "I came prepared," and took out a Smith & 
 Wesson Blue Jacket double action .44. I said^ 
 "I will not be held up, and if you get one I will 
 get two of them." 
 
 The men clapped their hands and said : 
 
 "You are a brick, and if they come at us they 
 will catch a snag." 
 
 We were going up a hill all the way and the 
 passes were white with snow, and it was getting 
 late in the afternoon, when the driver said : 
 
 "I am afraid we cannot make it, for the horses 
 are giving out." 
 
 I jumped over the seat to the front and said: 
 
96 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "Give me the lines and all of you get out and 
 break the snow ahead of the horses," as it had 
 been a heavy fall of snow all night and the road 
 was blocked. It seemed as though the horses 
 knew, for I gave them their own time and it took 
 us two and one-half hours to get to the top of the 
 summit, which was less than a mile, but when I 
 saw the deep place we had to go down, I was 
 very glad to let the driver take the lines, and I 
 got back to my seat again, for it was getting dark 
 and we were in heavy timber and snow, and 
 could not see anything else. It was getting very 
 cold. We kept on going for over three hours, 
 and it was pitch dark when we saw a faint light 
 ahead, and when we got to it it was a man swing 
 ing a lantern. He got in the sleigh and said : 
 
 "You are late. I thought those red devils 
 had held you up as they did last night.'* 
 
 We soon got to a log cabin and it was clean, 
 and we had a very nice supper with venison steak 
 and nice hot biscuit. In one corner of the room 
 was a bunk with a curtain all around it, and the 
 woman said I was to sleep there, and as soon as the 
 men went out I went to bed and slept soundly 
 until daylight, and the next morning when the 
 woman called me, I dressed on the bed behind 
 the curtains, for the men had already come in 
 the room to get warm, as it was very cold, and 
 when I went to the door and looked out there 
 was nothing but beautiful green trees and snow 
 as far as I could see for miles in every direction. 
 
 Breakfast over, I asked for my bill, which was 
 $3 for bed, supper and breakfast. We all got in 
 the sleigh and away we went till noon, when the 
 
MRS. CAPTAIN JACK AT HER CAMP. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 97 
 
 driver stopped at a log cabin. It was another 
 driver. We had dinner there too rank to men 
 tion. Seventy-five cents was the price of it. 
 The driver said we would have a tough time 
 getting to Saquache that night, for the snow was 
 so deep, and when we started the scenery was 
 grand. The sun had melted some of the snow 
 on the evergreens and it looked like thousands 
 of diamonds as the sun rainbowed the icicles 
 and they threw rays of every color. No one can 
 imagine the wild beauty of these mountains, 
 and the stillness added to the reverence I had 
 for them. I had paid no attention to the con 
 versation of the men until the driver said, "this 
 is Noscuter Pass, and the snow that fell last night 
 has blocked the road and we shall have to shovel 
 a road : 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Give me the lines." 
 
 When I looked at the horses they were white 
 with foam. There were only two shovels in the 
 sleigh, so the others went ahead stamping the 
 snow. It was getting very cold and the sun was 
 beginning to get behind the mountains, when we 
 heard a terrible screech. I said: 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 The driver said: 
 
 "Wolves. Darn them, they think they are 
 going to have a horse for supper tonight." 
 
 It seemed as though we never could go a mile. 
 The men changed shoveling and it was dark. 
 The wolves kept up their terrible howling and I 
 thought I would freeze. Then the wind started 
 up and blew a hurricane and blew the snow off 
 
 7 
 
98 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the trees and all over us and the sleigh. The 
 horses would go a few steps and then stop. 
 Such a change in such a short time seemed 
 almost impossible. It was pitch dark when we 
 got to the top and the moaning of the wind, the 
 noise of the timbers and the howling of the 
 coyotes and wolves was something terrible. 
 
 The men got in and the driver took the lines, 
 but the horses did not go fast, for the snow was 
 too deep and it seemed we were hours in getting 
 down the mountain. Then we had to go ten 
 miles farther, but when we saw a light at a dis 
 tance the men shouted with joy, and I was never 
 so glad to see a little light in all my life. 
 
 We drove up to the adobe house where a lamp 
 burning on the porch and the dogs began to bark 
 till a little old man, German in his talk, said: 
 
 "Mine Got, it is near three o'clock. I thought 
 you would not start after such a storm. " The 
 men said: 
 
 4 * Have you got any liquor ? We are freezing . ' ' 
 
 He brought us a bottle and glasses and I took 
 a big drink, for I was numb with the cold. There 
 was a big stove in the room and it soon got hot. 
 Then my feet began to burn. I tried to get my 
 boots off, but couldn't, so had to get one of the 
 men to cut them off, for my feet were swelling 
 awfully and the pain was fierce. When the 
 women came they said that my feet were frozen, 
 and to take them away from the fire. They 
 went and got something to put on them and 
 wrapped them up. The pain made the tears 
 roll down my cheeks. They got us a cold lunch 
 and gave me a good bed, but in a cold room. I 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 99 
 
 went to bed, but could not sleep with the pain 
 in my feet. 
 
 When the stage was ready I could not go, for I 
 could not get my boots on, and the store was not 
 open, and my trunks were left behind for the 
 freight wagons to bring. So when it got a little 
 warmer I sent to the store for some shoes and got 
 a pair two sizes larger than my own, but my feet 
 were very sore and burnt. I went up the 
 street and was surprised to see most of the people 
 were Mexicans; all the houses were adobe, all 
 the women wore shawls over their heads, and I 
 noticed that some children and two women fol 
 lowed me. I went to the only store there was in 
 town. They had everything in it, and after I 
 had made a few purchases I said to the man: 
 
 "What are those people watching me for? 
 Are they safe?" He laughed and said: 
 
 ''They are as harmless as doves, but they 
 have never seen such light hair nor anyone so 
 fair, and they do not know what to make of it." 
 
 I went back to the hotel, went to bed and was 
 awakened by shouts; it was near dark. I went 
 to see about getting my supper when the land 
 lady said: "The sleigh is in, for your sleigh 
 broke the road for this outfit, and I miss my 
 guess if there is not a devil of a time when the 
 stage gets in Gunnison tomorrow, for there are 
 two Pinkerton detectives on the sleigh and two 
 came in with you last night." 
 
 I said, "What for?" 
 
 She said: 
 
 "There is a large reward for some of the boys 
 in Gunnison and you bet they get them dead or 
 alive." 
 
100 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 And she turned to me and said: 
 
 "You must have grit to come on such a trip 
 and all alone, for some of those dance-hall men 
 would not stop at anything to get such a fair 
 creature as you/' 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I do not fear man or devil; it is not in my 
 blood, and if they can shoot any straighter or 
 quicker than I, let them try it, for a .44 equalizes 
 frail woman and brute man, and all women 
 ought to be able to protect themselves against 
 such ruffians." 
 
 I got my supper and sat in the little parlor 
 watching the people on the outside. All that 
 I could see, for the town was not light and some 
 of the men had come to get what news there was 
 after the sleigh had come in, were two men 
 smoking cigars and walking up and down the 
 porch, and when the porch was cleared one of the 
 men said: 
 
 "Yes, we must take no chances with the 
 damned cop, for he is a dead shot and we must 
 get the drop on him. But how about that other 
 outfit? they are ahead of us. Well, we had 
 better not know each other, we must be strangers 
 and go around in different directions. Those 
 dance-hall girls will be the best if there are any 
 up there. So you look after them and I will see 
 what comes to my net." 
 
 I went in and told the landlady to be sure to 
 get me up in time to take the stage the next 
 morning, and went to bed, as the sleighs went 
 no farther. We had a new driver and a new 
 stage the next morning when we started. It 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 101 
 
 was a clear, cold morning and there were four 
 men passengers. I took a look at them before I 
 took my seat, and one rough young man, very 
 fine looking, who looked like a cowboy, said: 
 
 ''Here, miss, is a seat in the back, and those 
 chaps in the front will break the wind off of 
 you," as the stage was open and four horses in 
 the front. So we started, but the detectives 
 took different seats and sat with the driver. I 
 was charmed with the scenery, and the young 
 man tried to draw me out by inquiring if I had 
 any friends in Gunnison, or what was my busi 
 ness, and it did not seem long until noon. 
 
 We stopped at a log cabin for dinner. The 
 same old thing ham, potatoes, tomatoes; 75 
 cents. 
 
 We had been on our way two hours or more. 
 I said to the man: 
 
 "We will be in Gunnison tonight." 
 
 He said : 
 
 4 'Oh! no; we will not get further than Coche- 
 pota pass tonight, and it will not be daylight 
 when we get there." 
 
 I found out that he was a cowboy, going to a 
 large cattle ranch in Gunnison. He was very 
 polite in his way, and told me many things of the 
 West. It was now near dark. We met a man 
 walking with a large bundle and a rope around 
 his body. I said : 
 
 "Where has that man come from, and what 
 has he on his back?" 
 
 He said: 
 
 "That is the way the mining men travel when 
 they have their bedding on their backs and their 
 
102 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 hats on. They have all their possessions with 
 them, and their home is wherever the night 
 finds them. He has tramped from Siwatche 
 and is making for the same stopping place we are ; 
 he is what we call a prospector; he goes and 
 hunts mines and as soon as he finds a vein that 
 shows up good, he will sell it for a few hundred, 
 then the men who buy it sometimes make mil 
 lions out of the mine. The men that find the 
 mine very seldom get much out of it." 
 
 We went a few miles farther, then stopped at a 
 log cabin for the night. They had a very nice 
 supper, venison and nice hot biscuit, and as soon 
 as supper was over I went to bed, for my feet 
 burned so badly that I could hardly bear them. 
 I did not go to sleep for a long time, and it 
 seemed I had not been asleep long when I was 
 wakened by a lot of men quarrelling, shouting 
 and cursing; they kept it up till near daylight, 
 and when I asked the woman the next morning 
 what the men were quarrelling about, she looked 
 at me and said : 
 
 "You must be a tenderfoot, or you would not 
 ask such a question, for what would they quarrel 
 over but a game of poker and too much booze ?" 
 
 After breakfast I went outside to wait for the 
 stage, and the first person I saw was the tramp 
 who had been sleeping in the stable, and he was 
 half drunk, for they sold whisky at this place. 
 
 The stage came in and I got in the back part, 
 for they changed stages and drivers at every 
 day's drive, and soon the cowboy came and sat 
 beside me, and as he took his seat two men that 
 came out of the barroom shook their fists at him 
 and said : 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 103 
 
 "Oh! we see why you would not drink liquor." 
 
 Then we started and heard no more, but by 
 the conversation I learned that the cowboy won 
 over $200 and he did not drink a drop of liquor. 
 
 We went sailing along till noon, then came to a 
 two-story outbuilding which looked like a farm 
 house, and as we stopped a lot of men came out 
 and shouted, "Reaby or bust!" 
 
 This was Parlin; we had dinner there, and 
 such fine mountain trout I never tasted. The 
 fish were speckled trout, and harder, solider and 
 sweeter fish never lived in water. All the talk 
 was mines in Reaby, but they could not get at 
 that for the snow, and as we were waiting for 
 the stage a very handsome young man came and 
 lifted his hat and said : 
 
 "I am afraid you will have a hard time to find 
 a place to stop, for every place is so crowded with 
 men waiting to get in Reaby." Then the cow 
 boy said: 
 
 "I will see that she gets a place all O. K." 
 
 Then we started and went up a most beautiful 
 valley overlooking a stream of clear, crystal, 
 bubbling water; this was the Tomiche river, 
 with sloping mountains on both sides of the 
 valley, covered with all kinds of evergreen trees ; 
 the grass was green and full of wild flowers 
 such beauty of nature can never be told. 
 
 We went sailing along this valley till it was 
 getting dark, when we came in sight of what 
 looked like a military camp of tents, then the 
 men shouted: 
 
 "Gunnison at last, by golly!" 
 
 We drove up to the only two-story building, 
 
104 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 of rough green lumber, and not get finished. 
 This was the Gunnison House, the only hotel 
 in town, and as the stage stopped there were 
 crowds of men who came to see who were on the 
 stage, and nearly all had on buckskin suits, hats 
 and belts with cartridges and guns in them, and 
 cowboys' leather bands around their hats; 
 nearly all seemed to have a mouthful of tobacco, 
 and seemed to try who could chew the hardest, 
 but they were a finely built, hardy looking set 
 of men. 
 
 The cowboy turned to me arid said: 
 
 "I will pass you off as a relation, as it will 
 save you a great deal of annoyance. What is 
 your name?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 ''Ellen E. Jack, of New York." 
 
 He said : 
 
 "My name is Hall Greenleaf, but call me Hall, 
 as I am known by that name/' 
 
 He took me into the little waiting room and 
 the landlady came in ; then he said : 
 
 "This is a relation of mine, Mrs. Jack, and she 
 wants to stay a day or two till she can look 
 around." 
 
 The woman said : 
 
 "I have no place for ladies. Bull Pen is 
 crowded both day and night, for the gamblers 
 sleep in the daytime and the prospectors at 
 night." 
 
 "Is there any place that I can get for her to 
 sleep, and she can come here for her meals ?" 
 
 "No, but I will let her sleep on this lounge 
 for a night or two. It will be $1 a night." 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 105 
 
 "All right/' I said, and took off my cloak. 
 
 She said : 
 
 'Tut your satchel under the lounge, and if 
 you have anything of value in it, take it out 
 and hide it on yourself, as this is a very rough 
 place." 
 
 I had diamonds and government bonds sewed 
 up in my bustle and had nothing of value in the 
 satchel. She brought me two old quilts and a 
 dirty pillow with no case on it, and told me I 
 had better not take all my clothes off, as the 
 place was in such a state of excitement, and at 
 nights it was the worst. So I loosened my 
 corset, took off my shoes and garters and lay 
 down, but not to sleep, for of all the noises, all 
 night long, I never heard worse. Stamping up 
 and down the stairs, throwing their heavy boots 
 down on the uncovered floor, music going on 
 on both sides of the house, and the gamblers 
 yelling their games out, they being in tents, 
 was as bad as being outdoors. I had heard of 
 Bedlam, but this beat that place. 
 
 At daylight she opened the inner door and 
 told me to get up, as she had to use that room 
 for offices as well as waiting room, so I was 
 soon ready to let the people in the office, but I 
 had to wait till near nine o'clock before I could 
 get my breakfast. Then I went out to see the 
 town. I went back of the hotel, where there 
 were some small tents, thinking I might rent 
 one till I knew what I was going to do, and as 
 I got near the second one I stood still, uncer 
 tain in which one to go, and turning around to 
 go to the first, a gun shot bore a hole through 
 
106 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 my cloak and two more shots went close by me 
 and into the tent. Then a man came out in 
 his drawers and shirt, with gun in hand, and he 
 was covered with blood. He gave me such a 
 piercing look that I fired. Then there was a vol 
 ley of shots. The man fell and the two detectives 
 ran to him and said: 
 
 "Damn you, we have got you at last." 
 
 The dying man said: 
 
 "You have used a fair decoy to catch me." 
 
 The two men said: 
 
 "No, but we guess she was coming to give 
 you the tip." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "You are both mistaken. The landlady at 
 the hotel told me I might rent one of these 
 tents. That was what brought me here, and 
 now you have got this poor unfortunate man. 
 Do not hurt him any more. For he is a dying 
 
 man." 
 
 I went up to him, for I could see the two men 
 were afraid to go nearer as long as he had life 
 and a gun in his hands. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Give me your gun." 
 
 He nodded his head, and as I stooped to take 
 it he tried to tell me something. By this time 
 there were crowds of men and they shouted, 
 "They have got Wild Bill!" and "Where did he 
 get that fair gal from?" But as soon as I had 
 his gun in my hand the two men came up and 
 said: 
 
 "We hold you as witness that we got him 
 first." 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 107 
 
 The poor man was not quite dead and I was 
 still on my knees, stroking his head and face, 
 when he opened his eyes so pitiful. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Father in heaven, forgive him, for we know 
 not what hardship drove him to commit the 
 misdeeds that have caused his death.'* 
 
 He tried to speak, but gave a shiver, closed 
 his eyes and was dead. 
 
 I got up with the gun in my hand. One of 
 the men said: 
 
 "Give me that gun." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "No. He gave me the gun, for you were 
 too big a coward to get it, and you shall never 
 have it." 
 
 When I turned to go, Hall was close to me 
 and he shouted: 
 
 "The gun was a dying gift to this lady and it 
 is hers. What say you, boys." 
 
 All shouted: 
 
 "The man who tries to take it shall pass in 
 his chips quicker than Bill did." 
 
 These two men had watched him all night 
 and had waited till they were sure he was 
 asleep and when they saw me going and were 
 uncertain about the tent, they thought I was 
 going to warn him of them. Then they began 
 to fire in the tent, for they knew just where he 
 slept, and they shot him in the back, and 
 another bullet struck the side of his head, and 
 that was what covered him with blood. 
 
 Hall took my arm and we got out of the 
 crowd and went off the main street when he 
 said: 
 
108 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "I have been looking out for you and found 
 a large tent and cook stove that were brought 
 here for a dance hall, but the man lost all the 
 money he had a few nights ago bucking the 
 tiger. He wants $225 for both. The tent, 
 which is 24x50, has six small rooms partitioned 
 off for bedrooms for the girls, but it has never 
 been put up, as there is no lumber in town, but 
 he ordered the lumber for the frame last week 
 and it may come in any day. That would be 
 extra. " 
 
 So we went to the corral to see the man and 
 tent. The stove was a large Charter Oak cook 
 ing stove, so I offered him $200 for both and 
 got them. Then we went to see about lots, 
 and I bought a lot close to the main street and 
 had the first log cabin on it that was built in 
 Gunnison. I paid $400 cash down for it to 
 to Mr. Harlowe, who had just put up a tent 
 and his wife was keeping a restaurant and could 
 not accommodate a quarter of the people at 
 50 cents a meal. Mrs. Harlowe took me to a 
 woman who had a small tent, and I got a cot 
 to sleep on at 50 cents a night till the lumber 
 came. I had to wait for ten days and when it 
 did come it was wet, green lumber and at $90 
 a thousand. It had to be hauled by wagons 
 from Lake City, and as the spring was breaking 
 there was mud up to the hubs in places. When 
 the carpenters came to put it up they charged 
 $8 a day, so I got the tent up without a floor, 
 just the frame. Then I had to buy a long, 
 rough lumber table and six three-legged stools, 
 all by the pound. There were a few cots in 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 109 
 
 town. I paid $12 for one single cot; and I had 
 not gotten my trunks yet. I went every day 
 to see about them, for I had some table linen 
 and some silverware in them, but as soon as the 
 tent was up and the stove in place I went to 
 housekeeping with a tin plate and a tin cup, 
 and a soap box for a table and another for a 
 seat, whilst I was waiting for the table and 
 stools. When I had been in Gunnison fifteen 
 days my trunks came and I had to pay $40 
 before they would give them to me, for they 
 had charged 10 cents a pound and had charged 
 it at every new sleigh or stage. Each one had 
 charged the 10 cents, then had sent them 
 through by the freighters ; such stealing I could 
 not imagine. I thought they were taking ad 
 vantage of me and playing me for a tenderfoot, 
 as they called all Eastern people, but as I in 
 quired I found out I ought to have sent my 
 baggage by ^the freight teams, then it would 
 have been 10 cents through, but as I did not 
 know I fell in the stage graft or express graft. 
 They pretended to send it by express, when it 
 came by freight. My table and three-legged 
 stools cost me over $30, so I opened a restau 
 rant and called it "Jack's Cabin." I put the 
 tent by the log cabin, and the teamsters came 
 to it the first place, where they washed them 
 selves. I paid $1.50 a barrel for water. A half- 
 Mexican, called "Daby John," and two other 
 men sold water and I bought half a ton of coal 
 for $10. 
 
 The Jews were coming by every stage and 
 brought big tents of every kind with freight 
 
110 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 loads. They brought all kinds of merchandise 
 to sell and the prospectors were trying to get 
 to the mining camps. A great many of them 
 were killed by snow-slides and when I had them 
 near two months a freighter came and brought 
 me about a dozen red apples and a small cab 
 bage which was $1.50. I left them on the 
 table, as they were a great treat. I heard such 
 a noise that I went down to the front; the tent 
 was full of Indians. They had stolen my apples 
 and were scrambling to see which should get 
 them, and the one that did get one would give 
 a bite to the other who had none, but he held 
 fast to the apple while the other took a bite, 
 and of all the sights they had moccasins and 
 "brichants" and red blankets over their shoul 
 ders, their bodies and arms were covered with 
 hair, their faces were all covered with paint, 
 and their long, coarse, black hair, with bits of 
 every-colored dirty rags, yellow rags tied around 
 little strips of hair, and necklaces of chestnuts. 
 
 I stood looking on when they all came around 
 me, and one big buck, who had large gold ear 
 rings, came to me dancing and trying to touch 
 my hair. I thought they % wanted to scalp me 
 to get my light hair, and as they began to get 
 closer a man called out at the door to me and 
 said : 
 
 "Stand your ground and have no fear, for 
 they have gotten some fire-water and there is 
 no telling what they may do." 
 
 He talked to them in their own language. 
 Then he said to me: 
 
 " Colorou, their medicine man, wants to feel 
 your hair, so let him. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 111 
 
 I took his hand and put it on my head and 
 let my mass of yellow hair down, and they all 
 danced around me and touched my hair; then 
 jumped away as though they had been stung by 
 a bee, but Colorou wanted a little of it, so I 
 backed to the kitchen and got a pair of scissors 
 and cut off a good size lock of it and went up to 
 Collarow and pinned it on his blanket. He 
 was delighted with it. He stroked and patted 
 it as though it had life in it. The man was their 
 interpreter and had charge of them. He got 
 them away and I was glad, for I was a great 
 favorite of the freighters, and I expected a lot 
 of them in that night and had to get ready for 
 their supper. They were paying $10 for a man 
 to carry a five-gallon keg of whisky two miles 
 on snow shoes up to Reuly, and the snow was 
 going fast, but there was great danger of slides. 
 A lot had gone up to Crested Butte and some to 
 Reuly, but everything had to come to Gunni- 
 son first, and rough buildings were going up 
 fast. Then a dance hall came, a large tent, and 
 they called it "The Lady Gay/ 7 It was not 
 very far from me, so I heard all day the noise of 
 their caller roaring out their dances. There 
 were saw-mills coming in the surrounding tim 
 ber near town, so the town was building fast. 
 I got a floor, a front door and windows, some 
 chairs and more tables, and a man cook, for 
 there were not many women in town that would 
 work. Some men brought their wives with 
 them to take up ranches as soon as the Ute 
 Indians were taken off their reservation. I was 
 doing a good business when the fall came and 
 
112 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 what they called ' 'mountain fever" set in. 
 There was a Dr. Woods who built a drug store 
 and had a room in the back of it, and a bank; 
 the cashier, Sam Gill, and his wife lived in the 
 back of the bank. It had a good safe in it and 
 seemed to do good business there. There was a 
 Dr. Mitchell who came from Denver and bought 
 the corner of my property and made a contract 
 for a large two-story stone building; stores 
 downstairs and rooms upstairs. He was a tall, 
 fine-looking handsome man. He came to me 
 and said: 
 
 "I feel badly. I am afraid I am going to 
 be sick." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Go and lie down on the cook's bed and when 
 the rush is over I will make you a cup of 
 strong tea." 
 
 He went and laid down about half an hour 
 and then came and got his tea, but could not 
 eat anything. He started to go across the 
 street and fell. I ran to him and raised his 
 head. 
 
 He said: 
 
 "Oh! my wife, my wife!" 
 
 I yelled for help and some one brought a cart 
 and put him in it and took him to Dr. Woods, 
 but when they took him in the back room he 
 died. It was mountain fever; he had it for sev 
 eral days, but neglected it. 
 
 One day some men came and asked me if I 
 had an old boiled shirt, as a man had died and 
 they wanted to put a white shirt on him to be 
 buried in and there were no prayer books in 
 town. I said: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 113 
 
 "I have no shirt, but I have a prayer book, 
 both Catholic and Protestant, and a hymn book. ' ' 
 
 They said: 
 
 "That's the stuff. We can send him off de 
 cently, but who knows about reading that 
 funeral business ? ' ' 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Why, Old Man Braun, who has a landlady 
 in the tent back of the Gunnison House," so 
 off they went with my book and got Braun to 
 read the funeral or something over the man. 
 
 Two days later two women came to borrow 
 my hymn books, as Maud Kelly, a little girl had 
 died of the mountain fever, was left $30,000 by 
 Colonel Hall. They asked me to go and help 
 sing a hymn over her. I went. It was in the 
 front of my place. They had turned an old 
 blacksmith shop into a church and had got Old 
 Man Braun to read the services over her, and 
 we sang two hymns; all the women there were 
 on the ranches came in to the funeral. Mr. 
 Kelly, her father, was one of the first county 
 commissioners and a ranchman. He came rid 
 ing in to town and would stop in front of Sal 
 low's and call for drinks for everyone that was 
 near, and after he had drank he would throw 
 his glasses to the ground and break them, then 
 throw a five or ten-dollar bill to the man and 
 tell him to take the damage out of it, and when 
 he came in town he would whoop and yell like 
 an Indian and keep it up, going from one saloon 
 to another and throwing money away, but 
 when his term of office was out the taxpayers 
 found out they had to pay for all of that. 
 
114 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 lY/TY business was increasing so that I had to 
 **** buy more lots and buildings. I had just 
 finished building No. 2 when the handsome man 
 I first saw at Parlin, and whose name was Jeff 
 Mickey, arrived. He was the only son of a 
 wealthy banker from Shelby, and was a very 
 highly educated man. He spoke four lan 
 guages and was an all-around sport. He came 
 to me one day and wanted to rent my building 
 No. 2 for a saloon. I did not like that, but it 
 seemed to me that the best people in town were 
 saloon people or faro dealers, so I rented him 
 building No. 2, but on the condition that there 
 should be no gambling allowed in the place. 
 
 I was taking a great interest in mining and 
 got the prospectors to bring me specimens of 
 mineral and explain all about the veins and 
 formations, and in the meantime Jeff Mickey 
 had gotten his place fitted up and had started. 
 He drew crowds, for he was well liked and had 
 a bunk house put up like the sleeping cars, one 
 bunk above the other, so that I could accom 
 modate one hundred men at 50 cents a night. 
 I was buying all the lots adjoining my place 
 that I could get, for "Jack's Cabin' 1 was head 
 quarters for the freighters and it was very 
 crowded at nights, when there was a great deal 
 of excitement in town and the sheriff and posse 
 all took horses and went tearing past my place, 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 115 
 
 for we learned that the Indians were getting 
 ready to waylay the freighters and rob them. 
 There was a freighter with his nephew, named 
 Jackson, who was camping for the night, and 
 an Indian went to get something to eat; the 
 man told him to get out, when he pulled a 
 sheath knife to kill the man. The boy, seeing 
 his game, pulled his gun and killed the Indian, 
 and as soon as the Indians learned of it they 
 wanted to kill all the whites. The sheriff went 
 to get young Jackson, and they brought him in 
 and put him in a calaboose, the only place 
 there was then, but as the crime was committed 
 on a reservation the civil attorneys had no ju 
 risdiction over it, so Cline, the Indian agent, 
 came for him. The officers at the fort wanted 
 to send a military guard with him, but he said 
 he knew a trail that could bring him safe and 
 not arouse the Indians, so the sheriff turned 
 him over to Cline. Two days after the word 
 came that Cline had formed a conspiracy with 
 the chief and Collarow, and he had them meet 
 him and take the boy. Cline made a lot of 
 money off of the Indians. He sold them to 
 bacco and all sorts of things and was getting 
 rich off of them. He did not want to be an 
 enemy to them. They gave the boy to the 
 squaws to torture him to death and they tore 
 his tongue out with fish hooks and put his eyes 
 out with red hot wire, and every time he 
 shrieked they danced around him and laughed 
 with glee. The crime was committed twenty- 
 four miles out of Gunnison, and that was on 
 the reservation, but Gunnison City was not on 
 
116 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the reservation, but was a county seat and 
 incorporated, and that made Cline responsible 
 to the Gunnison authorities, so they went and 
 got him and put him in a calaboose, but the 
 freighters got wind of it and took their wagons 
 and left their horses and rode to town to hang 
 Cline. They had made it up for Bud Miller 
 to throw a rock through a gamblers' window 
 and get arrested, and if Cline was there, he 
 should light a match and hold it to the window. 
 Then they would tear the door down and bring 
 a rope and hang him, but the sheriff got wind 
 of what they were up to and took him out and 
 hid him in an old cabin with two guards over 
 him. The freighters were in the greatest ex 
 citement for over an hour and no light could be 
 seen. They went and paid Bud's fine and took 
 him out. There were over one hundred freight 
 ers at "Jack's Cabin." and such a night I put 
 in! I never went to bed. The next day was 
 nearly as bad, for they thought the Utes would 
 come and take the town. But the third day 
 the freighters went back after their wagons 
 and we thought it was all over, when the Utes 
 came at night and started to take the town, 
 with some outlawed whites. The Frenchmen 
 would go in a place first and see how the land 
 lay, then start a fight and the small band of 
 Indians would rush in and do their work. They 
 cleaned the Gunnison houses out, then came to 
 "Jack's Cabin," as it was the freighters' quar 
 ters, and started the fight there, but Jeff was a 
 powerful man and quick. He fought like a 
 demon, but there were too many for him. They 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 11? 
 
 got out doors and all the men went outside. 
 It was so quick. Some of the lamps had been 
 knocked down and the oil had caught fire on 
 the board floor and was setting fire to the build 
 ings. I tore my apron off and dipped it in 
 water and began to beat the fire out when I 
 was struck on the forehead with a tomahawk. 
 I jumped back and grabbed my two guns and 
 went to the door and began to fire. I fell on 
 my knees from loss of blood, but I emptied my 
 guns while I was kneeling. The shooting 
 brought nearly all the town to the cabin. The 
 Indians, seeing such a crowd, sneaked off in the 
 dark, but a lot of them lay dead all around 
 the place; two of the Frenchmen were known 
 and the officers got them into express wagons 
 and threw the dead men in, and I never knew 
 what they did with them. They were afraid 
 all of the Utes would swarm Gunnison, and if 
 they did they would kill every one before the 
 troops could save them. They carried five 
 wounded men in and said that Jeff was dead. 
 
 The doctors came and found my skull was 
 broken in, and I was in a very dangerous con 
 dition. Jeff was not dead, but badly cut and 
 wounded. They sewed up my wound, but I 
 went out of my head. The next day the inter 
 preter came and seeing the condition I was in 
 said: 
 
 "Colorou is the only one that can save the 
 woman, for the thing she was struck with was 
 poison." 
 
 Late in the afternoon Colorou went into a 
 restaurant, took hold of a white tablecloth, 
 
118 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 threw all the dishes on the floor and got on his 
 pony, waving the white flag of truce. The 
 people all yelled. 
 
 "The Indians are coming on the war path!" 
 
 Every man jumped to his gun or anything he 
 could find, but seeing no one but the chief, they 
 waited and watched. He came to "Jack's Cab 
 in" and showed my hair on his blanket, and 
 yelled : 
 
 "Pale face! me wants to save her." 
 
 So they brought him to me. He did not 
 know how to get the bandage off of my head, 
 so they sent for my doctor. He took it off and 
 Colorou said: 
 
 "Bloody poison killy the white squaw, and 
 we lovey the pale face." 
 
 He stroked my hair on his blanket and said : 
 
 "Me will killy the brave that struck the pale 
 face." 
 
 He took something from a pouch and laid it 
 on my head and gave me a pill as big as a bullet. 
 He left some more for me to take every hour, 
 and said he would come next day. 
 
 He took the tablecloth and when he got to 
 the restaurant he threw it on the door and went 
 off to his wigwam. I wandered away and 
 thought I was on top of a very high mountain 
 which was covered with snow, and I would cry 
 out: 
 
 "Jenny, where are you? My little Jenny is 
 not in the place I left her." 
 
 When I went to go farther a man came to me 
 and said: 
 
 "What are you seeking?" 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 119 
 
 I said : 
 
 "My little child. They took all I had but one, 
 and now I have lost her." 
 
 "Not so. 
 
 "You are going west and she is in the east; 
 come, thou brave, wanderer of earth, and I will 
 guide thee." 
 
 And as I took his hand to go I looked at him 
 and cried out: 
 
 " Tis my beloved husband. Why do you not 
 take me to your home? I am so tired of this 
 desolate place, with not one of kin or one whom 
 I can confide in. Oh! take me, take me, I pray 
 you." 
 
 He said: "Nay, I cannot take you, for 
 you were born to go through what you 
 are going through now, and your sorrows and 
 trials will live after you are with me. When 
 your work is done on this earth plane, 
 come; we will go to our child," and it 
 seemed we went sailing through air to New 
 York and to the Queninbosh mansion in Eigh 
 teenth street and up on the top floor. I stood 
 at the foot of a bed and there lay my Jenny, 
 and as I looked at her she was crying and said : 
 
 "Oh! why did my mother leave me here all 
 alone?" and the tears rolled down her cheeks. 
 
 I went to her and kissed her tear-stained face 
 and petted her. Then my husband said: 
 
 "Come, we must go." 
 
 And we sailed away to the West again and 
 went to the room where my body lay as though 
 in death. It seemed as though all was dark, and 
 then I came to my senses again and there sat on 
 
120 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the foot of my bed the Cave boy all in tears, for 
 they thought I was dying and had sent for the 
 doctor. He came and ordered stimulants and 
 beef tea for me and said that I was too faint to 
 drink, so they gave me wine. When the gam 
 blers found it out they went around to the back 
 doors of the restaurant and gave big tips to the 
 cooks, so as to get them to make nice things and 
 beef tea for me, for it was very hard to get any 
 thing nice in such a rush, and my place was 
 closed, for the cooks ran away, afraid of Indians, 
 and two others of the help were wounded and in 
 bed. I was helpless. When the poor unfor 
 tunate girls brought nice things to me I was 
 thankful. Several days after Collarow had 
 put his leaves on my head, two sticks broke loose 
 and a lot of black blood and water came 
 from the wound, and when Collarow came he 
 said: 
 
 "Paleface will get better; bad blood come," 
 and the weather was getting bitter cold. The 
 men got up and went out to their meals. 
 
 I was as helpless as a child. 
 
 A family had come to town with two girls and 
 I got one of them to come two hours in the 
 morning and two in the afternoon, for $10 a 
 week. It was Christmas now; Jeff had been 
 well some weeks, but I had just begun to sit up, 
 and Collarow wanted to come and smoke his 
 pipe and sit in the kitchen. I was the worst 
 looking thing. I was fainter when I saw myself 
 in the glass. The green flood had settled all 
 down my face, and the scar was a sight. I had 
 to keep my head bandanged all winter, for if 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 121 
 
 the frost had gotten to it there is no telling what 
 would have become of poor me. 
 
 The people kept coming and I had to open. 
 One week the surveyors came to survey for the 
 D. & R. G. railroad and my place was crowded. 
 I bought more lots and put up more buildings, 
 and in the spring the government moved the 
 Indians. The United States district attorney 
 came and made the Gunnison attorneys give 
 Cline up to the fort, so the soldiers came and 
 took him to the fort a prisoner and I promised 
 when I was better I would go and see Collarow 
 in his new home. He was very sad at leaving 
 and became "silverished." He gave me a 
 pretty pouch of pills and a lot of herbs and told 
 me what they were to cure. Then he took my 
 hands and stroked them and said: 
 
 "Bye, bye." 
 
 Then he made a run for the door as if he did 
 not want me to see the tears in his eyes, and 
 that was the last time I ever saw him. 
 
 The surveyors made "Jack's Cabin" their 
 home and they were a gay set of men ; one, a tall 
 middle-aged man, named Hank, borrowed a 
 woman's mother hubbard wrapper and put it on. 
 It came to his knees and he tied a large apron 
 around his waist and had a woman's hat and 
 parasol ; he went up Main street in that rig and 
 all the gamblers and men would come out and 
 whoop and yell, but he never laughed, not a 
 smile, and when they were getting ready to 
 move, one of their men got hurt and there was 
 not a place in town to take a sick man to, so I 
 let him have one of the little rooms and got a 
 
122 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 doctor, and at night I put two bottles of hot 
 water wrapped up in some flannel, in bed with 
 him. It was very cold. A blizzard was blowing 
 and I put a large lump of coal down before I 
 went to bed, but in the night I was awakened 
 by the yelling. I am boosted up and I am 
 boosted up. I got a light and my red blankets 
 were white with frost all around where my 
 breath had gone on them, and my ear was 
 frozen stiff in the front. I got some clothes 
 on and went to Ike and he said : 
 
 "I am freezing. Those damned bottles are 
 busted/' 
 
 I took the covers off his feet and sure enough 
 the hot water bottles were "busted" and ice all 
 over the bed clothes. 
 
 I took them out and wrapped them up in my 
 petticoat and went to look at the fire. It had 
 gone out. I made a fire and put on a lot of coal 
 and got to bed again, but my head pained me so 
 I could not sleep. I covered my head up under 
 the bed clothes. Early in the morning the cook 
 brought me something he called a cocktail; he 
 said Mr. Jeff had sent it and that everything was 
 frozen; the barometer had stopped at 42 degrees 
 below zero and he had given the sick man a 
 drink the same as mine. The men began to come 
 in and the whole town was frozen up. I had a 
 well sunk fifty-two feet deep and it was frozen 
 on the top. The boys had to put large rocks in 
 the buckets and break the ice before they could 
 get any water. There were people of all classes 
 coming to town, and among them was a young 
 attorney, Frank A. Gaudey and Ike Stevens, a 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 123 
 
 tall, slim young man. A lot of dead-beats came 
 to "Jack's Cabin" to give me a stand off. Ike 
 was up and had a little shawl over his head; the 
 doctor had painted his face with iodine, as he 
 had erysipelas in his head and face. I said to 
 them, as they came in: 
 
 "If you are afraid of the smallpox, do not 
 come in here/' 
 
 Ike turned and looked at them with his painted 
 face and the shawl over his head. He looked a 
 fright. They stood for a minute or two and 
 then went as if they had seen a ghost. So I 
 got rid of the dead-beats and Ike soon got well 
 and went to the surveyors' gang again. 
 
 A few weeks after this I was very busy when 
 one of the help came to me and said: 
 
 "There will be trouble in the bunkhouse, for 
 Jim is full and has a gun, and is abusing one of 
 the carpenters." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Well, go and throw him out." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "Not me, by gosh; I don't want to be killed 
 by that drunken whelp." 
 
 I went in my room, and took my gun and 
 went to the bunkhouse and said: 
 
 "What are you growling about? Get out of 
 this." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "Not till I have settled with this son of a b " 
 
 and pulled his gun to fire at the man. I pulled 
 mine and shot the gun out of his hands and part 
 of his hand off with it. 
 
 I said: 
 
124 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "Now go, or I will wing off the other hand." 
 
 He began to yell, but got afraid I would give 
 him another shot, so he went, and as soon as he 
 had gone the carpenter said: 
 
 "Words are empty, for you have saved my 
 life and I have a wife and two children depend 
 ing on me for a living. " 
 
 I said: 
 
 "What was the trouble?" 
 
 He said: 
 
 "Jim wanted to borrow $5 of me and I told 
 him I did not have it. Then he began his 
 abuse, and I am afraid he will do something 
 yet, for the very old Satan is in that lad." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "No, he is a coward, for he knew that he had 
 the drop on you; that you were unarmed, but 
 he did not think of me being so quick and taking 
 such a straight shot. He will never try to 
 come at me." 
 
 That night the officers told me I was under 
 arrest, so I went and got Frank Gowdy and gave 
 a bond for $1,000, and I would not let the justice 
 try the case, but took it to the county court, 
 before Judge Smith. When the trial came off 
 we all went to court and the jury was all sworn 
 in. The man had Ike Stevens, and both the 
 young attorneys began their case and all at 
 once Stevens called Gowdy a liar, and as soon 
 as lie had Gowdy struck him a paster on the 
 nose and blood was streaming down his face; 
 when they both began to fight all the jurors 
 jumped from their seats and got to scrapping, 
 and old Judge Smith jumped upon his desk and 
 yelled out: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 125 
 
 "I fine you both for contempt of court." 
 Then some one struck him with a chair and 
 knocked him off of the desk. The sheriff tried 
 to grab some one when old Jack Seamon struck 
 him and sent him head foremost over some 
 chairs; they were fastened together, and when 
 I saw him go over, his coat-tails opened behind 
 and his ears sticking up as he went on all-fours 
 over the back of the chairs, I thought I would 
 die laughing. But as soon as the men got out 
 of the fight they made for the door and out. I 
 never heard anyone say court adjourned or any 
 more about fining for contempt, nor was anyone 
 arrested, but all got out as fast as they could, 
 and when I got on the main street three old dead- 
 beats that I had fired out of my place stood on 
 the corner. I was laughing at the sight, it was 
 so comical, but those men saw the bloody hand 
 kerchief and black eyes of two of the men, then 
 saw me laughing. One of them said: 
 
 "There, I told you she had done it." 
 
 Just then Frank McMaster, who had just got 
 a little newspaper, came up to the men and said: 
 
 "What's up?" 
 
 The man, who did not know anything only 
 what he had surmised, said: 
 
 "Why, that yellow-haired girl has cleaned the 
 court room up with a gun and licked both judge 
 and jurors, and then turned loose on both law 
 yers and sheriff. They all have bloody faces and 
 one a black eye, and the poor old judge is getting 
 his wrist set, as she must have broken it with 
 the butt end of her gun." 
 
 The newsman went back to his office with all 
 
126 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 this, and as it was press time he put it all in 
 the paper, with big headings of "Mrs. Captain 
 Jack, the Dare Devil of the West," had cleaned 
 the county court room out, and a lot more that 
 the man told him, when the truth was that I 
 was the only one that was not in the fight. The 
 only part I took was to laugh at George Hues, 
 the sheriff, going over the chair backs. 
 
 Well, that paper went to Denver, then all the 
 papers in the United States of America had me 
 as one of the worst and most daring women that 
 had ever lived. It seemed that every paper 
 added a little more to it. They even sent agents 
 from New York to get a picture of me to put in 
 the Police Gazette, and all this was through the 
 vicious tongue of old man Kirkbe. 
 
 My trial did not come up for several weeks 
 after, and when it did I was fined $15 and costs 
 for saving a man's life and at least $1,000 ex 
 pense to the county for prosecuting the murder 
 er, but the game was to get what they could out 
 of me, and they knew if they made the fine too 
 large I would carry the case up. I was very 
 angry at being fined, but paid it, and a few 
 weeks after Judge Smith came to me to see 
 about some land I had gotten, and after he got 
 through with the land business he said: 
 
 "You see if you had not shot that man I 
 would not have gotten my wrist sprained, and 
 it gives me a great deal of pain and trouble/' 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Is that why you fined me for saving a good 
 man's life and disarming a ruffian?" 
 
 He said; 
 

 CAPTAIN JACK MINING QUEEN 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "Well, no, not that." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Judge, you ought to have been in your grave 
 ten years ago. You are not fit to judge between 
 right and wrong. You remind me of a piece of 
 old parchment that has done its work, and when 
 election day comes I will do mine. I cannot vote 
 but I can get the boys to vote for me." 
 
 And when election came there were stickers 
 with names on, and we cut off the name we 
 wanted and stuck it over the name we did not 
 want. I was very busy fixing up my tickets 
 and getting the boys to vote them, and the 
 Judge got beat. He started to sell out every 
 thing he had, and got his wife to help him, and 
 when he had gotten all he could he took the only 
 child of a widow, seventeen years old, and dis 
 appeared and left his poor old wife and daughter 
 without home or money. That is a sample 
 of the officers we had in those days. 
 
 The town was still booming and there was a 
 man who had been an officer for many years in 
 causes, whose name was Jimmy McClease. Jeff 
 knew him for many years, so I got him on the 
 police force. The town was very rough; four 
 dance halls and a variety of theaters and a lot 
 of other bad places. It was nothing to find 
 men dead in alleys and robbed, and the authori 
 ties did not try to find out who committed the 
 crimes, for there was not money enough in the 
 treasury to prosecute half of them. 
 
 Then the graders of the D. & R. G. railroad 
 came and another set of surveyors for the South 
 Park railway. The coal mines that had been 
 
128 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 opened up were making still more excitement. 
 I took up two coal mines and put four men to 
 open them up, but sold them for $1,000, as I 
 could not look after them. Jeff Mickey was 
 drinking and running with sporty women, and I 
 did not like that. It kept me on nettles all the 
 time, with fear that something would happen; 
 and Buffalo Bill Cody, the show man that is 
 now, was known as Bill Specte then. He used 
 to bring me mountain species of sheep which 
 were fine, and he brought me a lot of fox skins, 
 enough to make a carriage robe. He was known 
 as a scout and an Indian interpreter, and was an 
 all-round good fellow. There was a man named 
 Cal Mace who had fitted up the handsomest 
 gambling saloon in town, and Jamey McClease 
 told me that he was the most dangerous man 
 that ever came to town, for a reward of over 
 $5,000 was hanging over him for killing two men 
 in Texas. It was not many nights after, I was 
 told, that there was a crowd running to the 
 Yard's dance hall, which was just opposite my 
 place, and there was Jimmie sleeping in his room. 
 I went to his door and said: 
 
 "Get up, Jim; there is a row over the way.' 
 
 He was soon up out of his room and when he 
 was half way across the street he turned back 
 and said: 
 
 "Lend me your gun. I have left mine in my 
 overcoat pocket." 
 
 I loaned him the very gun that I had shot the 
 hand off with. He went into the dance hall and 
 found out that Cal Mace's bartender was on a 
 <lrunk and had beaten one of the girls over the 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 head with a bottle; he had cut her shamefully 
 and the men were trying to put him out. As 
 Yard was not in and he had pulled a gun on 
 them, Jem got him out and took him to his room 
 and told him to go to bed or he would get into 
 trouble. 
 
 I had a little hunchbacked woman who worked 
 for me and slept with me because rooms brought 
 too much money to give her an extra room. 
 About nine o'clock she went to bed and as all 
 was quiet I went to bed about ten, but before 
 I went I loaded my other gun and put it under 
 my pillow. We had been in bed some time and 
 was sound asleep when some one burst in my 
 door, and as I reached for my gun the man said: 
 
 "Hold, it is I, Jim." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "How dare you break into my room?" 
 
 He said: 
 
 "Get a light, quick, for I am shot, but I had 
 to kill him." 
 
 I said to Anna: 
 
 "Get up and go to Jeff's room and tell him to 
 get up." 
 
 She said: 
 
 "He is not in his room." 
 
 Jim had a large army gun and his hands were 
 streaming with blood: 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I thought the man had gone to bed." 
 
 Jim said : 
 
 "He got up and began his fighting again and 
 I took him to Cal's saloon, when Cal said, 'I 
 know what you are after/ meaning the reward, 
 
 9 
 
130 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 and he pulled his big gun and shot through 
 Jim's finger, but before he could fire again Jim 
 fired three shots just as quick. My gun was 
 self-cocker, double action, and killed him." 
 
 After he fell Jim took the gun away from him 
 and brought it to his room. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "You had better get a doctor to see how much 
 you are hurt." 
 
 He said : 
 
 "Stop the flow of blood, for I am feeling faint." 
 
 I bandaged his finger and hand the best I 
 could, then he went to get Dr. Rockerfellow 
 and give himself up to the sheriff, but there was 
 no more sleep for us that night. The next 
 morning as soon as the saloon men and gam 
 blers heard of Cal's being killed by Jim McClease, 
 an officer, they were furious and made threats 
 of lynching him, for they heard nothing of the 
 reward or his crimes, and there was a sporting 
 woman, who kept the largest sporting house in 
 town, whose name was Molly Keese, and she 
 had this man for a lover. She got on a drunk 
 and at night she gathered a band of tin horns 
 and all-round bad men that were broke and 
 offered them $500 to take Jim out and hang 
 him. There were mobs gathering to go to the 
 jail for Jim. Then the sheriff found out what 
 was doing. He sent to me to have all the 
 trusty men I could get, and as soon as I could, 
 for he had not force enough, and I had a hun 
 dred men boarding at "Jack's Cabin." When 
 I had thirty -six men ready they said: 
 
 "By gosh, the sheriff might shoot at us and 
 think we belonged to the other side." 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 131 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I will go first." 
 
 So I went a few yards ahead of them and 
 went up the steps to the jail and called out: 
 
 * 'Captain Jack is here; open the door." 
 
 They had a chain on the door and opened it 
 just enough to peek through, I said: 
 
 "I have a band of good trusty men; let them 
 in. I was afraid you might mistake them for 
 the other side if I had not come in with them." 
 
 He said: 
 
 * 'Get them in, quick." I hopped up and they 
 all came running up the steps and the sheriff 
 swore them all in as deputies. 
 
 Not a minute too quick, for the mobs were 
 coming in from three different directions. I 
 said: 
 
 "Let me out before they get here." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "They will see you and get you sure." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Let me out of the back door and put out all 
 the lights. I will go on all fours till I get far 
 enough away." 
 
 So I went as fast as I could to my own back 
 door, for I knew my place had been watched, 
 and I sent over to the dance hall to tell Mr. 
 Yard to come to me at once. He came and I 
 told him about the reward, and that was why 
 Cal wished a very different light on it, and I 
 asked him to keep a sharp lookout for my place, 
 as they might try to blow it up with dynamite. 
 Yard said he would go to the saloon, which was 
 next door to his place on the corner and kept 
 
132 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 by George Welsh and Tom Creeal, both Texans. 
 As soon as they found out that this was the 
 man that was wanted for the two murders in 
 Texas they went to all the saloons and told 
 why Jim had to kill him or be killed himself, 
 and as soon as the truth was known they let 
 up on their cry to hang him and would have 
 nothing to do with it, but the women had got 
 ten a lot of tin-horns drunk enough to do any 
 thing and they went to the jail and yelled out 
 that they wanted Jim McClease, and were met 
 with a volley of shots. The sheriff told the 
 men to fire over the men's heads as a warning, 
 and then the mob yelled and cursed and made 
 threats. The sheriff opened a window and told 
 the mob to go away or he would fire to kill and 
 that he had force enough to take care of his 
 prisoners. They expected the saloon men to 
 come and help them and were waiting for a 
 leader to make the break, when three men came 
 to the mob and said : 
 
 "We fear the jig is all up, for every one of the 
 faro dealers and the saloon men have gone back 
 on us, as they have found out something about 
 Cal Hays, and say he only got what he ought to 
 get; that he was going to be married to this 
 Molly Keese when he had a wife and two chil 
 dren who came to Gunnison when they heard 
 of the death, and as soon as the woman heard 
 for sure that he was a married man she said if 
 Jim had not killed him she would, for it was all 
 her money that had fitted up the gambling 
 saloon. Over $3,000 had gone, but she took 
 all the things and the gamblers made up a purse 
 for the widow to go back to Texas. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 13 
 
 jfeff and another man came to me to get me 
 to go on Jim's bond, which was $50,000. I 
 would not go on it, for I was getting sick of such 
 work and all the outfit. It made Jim very angry, 
 for he had banked on me, so he had to stay in 
 jail, and when he had been in between three and 
 four weeks he all at once disappeared, and there 
 was a great outcry about it. I knew nothing 
 about it, but I knew that Jefl avoided me, and 
 that he and a man called Sailor Jack, that 
 worked around the kitchen, were up to some 
 thing that was not straight, and I mistrusted 
 them. Jim had been missing about ten days 
 and every place had been searched that a likely 
 place for him to be in, when one Sunday the 
 sheriff deputized fifty men to come to my place. 
 I saw them coming down the street and said to 
 Annie: 
 
 "I wonder what the trouble is," and Sailor 
 Jack jumped up and went in the barroom to 
 Jeff. They stopped in front first and then sur 
 rounded the place. The sheriff came in and said: 
 
 "We want Jim McClease." 
 
 I was indignant and said: 
 
 "You are welcome to him if you can find him." 
 
 There were five buildings adjoining each other 
 and it was not a very easy thing to find anyone 
 if we did not want them found, and as I stood in 
 the dining room Mr. Burten, the hardware mer 
 chant, came to me and said: 
 
 "It will save trouble to give him up, for it is 
 known for sure that he is in this place." 
 
 Then all at once I thought of Jack, I beck 
 oned to the sheriff and said: 
 
134 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "Are you sure he is here?" 
 
 He said: 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I want to go in my room and get my gun, 
 then I will find out the truth of it and where he 
 is and will get him for you." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "I do not want you to get a gun." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Then I will not help." 
 
 Burten said: 
 
 "Are you sure you do not want to use the gun 
 on the deputies?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "On my word as a woman I will not turn the 
 gun on the deputies." 
 
 They both went with me to get the gun. I 
 went to the kitchen and said to Sailor Jack: 
 
 "Where is Jim's hiding place." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "I don't know." 
 
 I struck him over the face with the gun and 
 said: 
 
 "Show me quick or I will fix you." 
 
 He went to his room and fainted on the floor. 
 Then I knew but had forgotten a small cellar 
 that we dug to keep potatoes from freezing, 
 before the large cellar in building No. 2 was 
 built. I pulled up a board and said: 
 
 "Jim, the jig is all up. You have to come up 
 and give yourself up, for the place is surrounded 
 with deputies." 
 
 He said: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 135 
 
 "I will surrender to you, but not to them/' 
 
 I went to the sheriff and said: 
 
 " Bring all your men in the front, for he will 
 surrender to me, but not to you. I will get his 
 gun away from him, then turn him over to you." 
 
 So I went back and said: 
 
 "Come out of that; I am waiting for you." 
 
 He came out and when he was in the room I 
 said: 
 
 "Give me the gun. You do not want it." 
 
 He did not want to give it up, but I said: 
 
 "You must keep your peace with me and sur 
 render that gun and yourself to me." 
 
 He handed the gun to me. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Come, there is nothing left here but to go 
 back with them. It would be death to attempt 
 to escape." 
 
 So he walked with me to the No. 2 dining 
 room where the sheriff was. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Here is your prisoner, sir, and you take care 
 of him. It is your business to take care of him, 
 not mine." 
 
 So they all surrounded him and marched to 
 the jail that night. 
 
 A Jewish merchant named Bail came to me and 
 said: 
 
 "See, now, those cursed churches are coming 
 in town, there will be no more luck or peace, for 
 they stick their noses into everybody's business 
 to get money and play that they are doing some 
 good. One of them came to Burten and me, 
 and said: 
 
136 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "I will swear out a warrant for you for har 
 boring a murderer." 
 
 "We told him he had better mind his own 
 business; that we got along very well before his 
 outfit came and we were here first and you gave 
 them $50 to build that church. You will see 
 what they will give you for it." 
 
 That is one thing you must admit. The Jews 
 never interfere with anyone's church or busi 
 ness, and when I turned back to look at the Jews 
 I had met in London and Paris, I never remem 
 bered about a remark about our churches, and 
 never heard of one of them trying to get a 
 convert. 
 
 But the other churches are doing all they can 
 to get converts and are preaching that they are 
 following the workings and teachings of the 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 I say: 
 
 It is false. They do not follow after his 
 teachings, for he cast out evil spirits and cured 
 the sick and said: "As I do ye shall do also," 
 and greater things also, and until these minis 
 ters come down off their pulpits and cast out 
 devils or evil spirits out of the congregation 
 and cure the sick, they are not what they claim 
 to be. Go into the church and look at the 
 congregation, all well dressed people and gray- 
 haired old women and bald-headed old men. 
 They pray to Almighty God to send them pros 
 perity. He has already sent them poor brothers 
 who have to have money at 2 per cent per 
 month, or as much more as they can hold them 
 up for, and practice usury from Monday morn- 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 137 
 
 ing to Saturday night; then Sunday morning 
 their piety starts and ends Sunday night, and 
 they have done their duty. They have thanked 
 God for sending the poor creatures at 2 per cent 
 a month, and asked him to send them some 
 more through the week till Sunday comes 
 again. I know a preacher who had a son at 
 college, and it was his last term, and when the 
 boy came home his father took him by himself 
 and said: 
 
 "My son, you must choose a profession for 
 yourself, now that you are out of college/' 
 
 The boy said: 
 
 "Well, you wear good clothes and have every 
 thing that is good and a lot of women paying 
 you compliments and making a pet of you all 
 the time. What if I should follow suit and be 
 a minister and have an easy time of it too?" 
 
 And yet there is something in the churches 
 and Sabbath schools that is beautiful. I can 
 look back to childhood days when I went to 
 Sunday school, and very often in my rambles 
 through the mountains I offered up a prayer 
 for my teachers, whom have long ago passed from 
 this beautiful shore. The path the ministers 
 are taking is by far too narrow; they must 
 widen with the age of progression. 
 
 Monday at noon I was arrested. The police 
 man swore out a warrant for me, but Mickey 
 McClease had not been convicted of murder, 
 so I could not harbor one till the law said he 
 was one. 
 
 I went up the street and asked the mer 
 chants to go on my bond. There were five of 
 
138 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 them there in five minutes after we got to court. 
 Two of them signed, but the judge would not 
 let the others sign the bond, for two was enough, 
 so the other three were quite slighted, but they 
 all held a meeting at four o'clock in the after 
 noon and the news spread like wild fire, and 
 that night a crowd of men went to the police 
 man's house and woke him up. They took him 
 to the end of the town and gave him a good 
 sound thrashing and told him to get away from 
 town as fast as he could, for if he ever came 
 back he would never get a chance to go again, 
 for they would hang him till he was dead. 
 
 They had a paper already signed saying: 
 
 "Go on with your church, and the one that 
 interferes with the other's business will go as 
 quick as the one that has just gone." They 
 tacked this paper on his door, and that stopped 
 their interference for a while. 
 
 They begged money from the gamblers and 
 from me to build the church and before it was 
 finished they began to plan to run the sports 
 out of town and close the saloons. I never 
 knew any gambler to refuse to give man or 
 woman help if they were in need; not like 
 Carnagie, when the poor asked for bread he 
 gave them a public library and answered this 
 question: 
 
 "Dear readers: What class of people are 
 benefited by these libraries?" 
 
 I had made arrangements to go into the 
 mountains to look at some mining property and 
 the railroad went up as far as Crister Butte, 
 but all this trouble coming on I knew nothing 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 139 
 
 about it. It seemed to change me, for I was 
 determined to be rid of it all, so I had a talk 
 with Mickey and told him he must vacate the 
 place as soon as he could get one, for I would 
 close his saloon up. 
 
 He said: 
 
 "If you will marry me I will never drink an 
 other drop of any intoxicating liquor, but will 
 be a good man." 
 
 His mother prayed on her dying bed that he 
 should be good and go back East and sell his 
 property and go into his old business, a dry 
 goods merchant. 
 
 I was to sell out as soon as I could. 
 
 He had always treated me with the greatest 
 respect. If a man would say a vulgar word in 
 my presence he would knock him down, for he 
 was a fearless man and knew no fear. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "That leaf is not in my book. If you had 
 millions I would not marry you, so never 
 breathe a word about that subject again/* 
 
 He said : 
 
 "You go to the mountains tomorrow morning 
 and your wish is that I would be gone when you 
 come back." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Yes, that would suit me." 
 
 He said : 
 
 "No one regrets more than I the trouble I have 
 foolishly brought upon you, but I did not think 
 of getting you into trouble or I would never have 
 brought him here, and although I am an outcast 
 out here I was brought up to be a gentleman and 
 
140 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 have the education of one, and I have watched 
 you closely at times when you never dreamed of 
 such a thing, and for the first time in my life, I 
 find a woman with two distinct characters, as 
 though they belonged to two separate bodies. 
 At times you are gentle and sympathetic and 
 your look is far away as though not on earth, 
 and at such times you are more like an angel 
 than a woman of earth. Then you are changed, 
 you know! you know no fear. I watched you 
 when you shot the gun from Jim's hand and it 
 did not excite you in the least, no more than if 
 you had shot at a post calm, cool and straighter 
 home I never saw but with it all it was to save 
 the other man's life, and when you came back 
 you will find all my bills on the file; everything 
 is paid for, and I will give you all there is before 
 I go. I will not want anything." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I hope you will never want barroom fixtures 
 again. " 
 
 He said : 
 
 "I have one favor to ask of you before we part, 
 and that is, when I am gone you will pardon all 
 the mistakes I have made and think kindly of 
 me sometimes, and send a prayer to your God 
 for pardon to one whose life has been all a mis 
 take, and when I breathe my last breath on 
 earth it will be, love for you, my fairy queen,' 
 good-bye!" 
 
 He took my hand and kissed it, then he turned 
 away and wept bitterly. 
 
 "I did not think you were a man of such 
 strong feelings, and as for tears, I did not think 
 you knew what they were." 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 141 
 
 I was surprised. I went to my room and to 
 bed, but yet I was troubled, for there was some 
 thing in his manner that I did not understand. 
 
 The next morning I got a light breakfast and 
 started. It was very cloudy and the girl, Anna, 
 said it was going to snow. "If I were you I 
 would not go." 
 
 I started and before I got to the depot it 
 began to snow, but I got my ticket and got on 
 the car and as we started the wind blew a fearful 
 storm. It came down in torrents. I tried to 
 get a hack when I got there, but none were out, 
 for the weather was too bad, so I went as best I 
 could to the only hotel there was, "The Forest 
 Queen," and there was a blazing fire in the fire 
 place and pitch was burning. That was a 
 welcome sight to me. That night Sas, one of 
 the owners of the coal mines, came, as they were 
 boarding at the hotel, and said: 
 
 "Such a storm was never known." 
 
 The trains were all stopped. A train with 
 twenty car loads of coal was blocked and as we 
 were talking about the mines a telegram came 
 for me to come home as fast as I could, as Jeff 
 had taken poison. I could not get back, for it 
 was impossible. As I was going to bed another 
 telegram came saying that Mickey was dying. 
 I went to bed, but not to sleep, for the wind blew 
 fiercely and moaned and whistled. It was awful. 
 Towards morning I fell asleep, but had not 
 slept more than one hour when I was awakened 
 by the landlady with a telegram saying that 
 Jeff was dead. 
 
 This is what he meant that where he was going 
 
142 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 he would not want any of his things. Poor boy! 
 I felt sorry for him, but as soon as the storm 
 stopped they put on the snow plows, and when 
 the night passenger train left I was on it. When 
 I got to Gunnison there was a crowd of men to 
 meet me, and the mayor of the city had a car 
 riage for me. We drove up to "Jack's Cabin." 
 It was all dark but the No. 2 dining room, and I 
 went in there. When I got in it was full of men. 
 Jeff was a favorite among the boys, and be be 
 longed to the G. A. R. and to the Odd Fellows. 
 He went as a drummer boy in the rebellion. 
 
 They told me how they walked him up and 
 down and slapped him with wet towels and 
 boards, and how he begged for them to get me 
 so he could see me when he closed his eyes for 
 ever, and he told all the boys he did not want 
 to live without me, and for them to let him die. 
 He wanted to go away forever. He had written 
 two letters, one for his only sister and the other 
 for me, and had told a friend where he had left 
 them, but when I went to look for them there was 
 only one and that was addressed to his sister. 
 The one I should have gotten was missing. He 
 told Anna that he had told me where I could 
 find money in the letter, and he must have told 
 John the same, for the man had money after 
 Jeff was buried. 
 
 He had a very large funeral. He was buried 
 in a fine black shroud and a $125 casket. I paid 
 for everything, and after the funeral the saloon 
 men got together and gave a bond and got Jim 
 out of jail. He was all broken about Jeff. It 
 was not long after that my trial came up and I 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 143 
 
 was acquitted. Jim's trial came up and he was 
 acquitted on the grounds of self defense. He 
 left town and went to Montrose and got on the 
 police force. He had not been on six months 
 when he got into some trouble with cattle men 
 and they formed an alliance and got v him out of 
 jail and his body was never found, and that 
 was the end of him. 
 
 Both Jeff and I had a great many friends in 
 Montrose and they blamed Jim for the death 
 of Mickey and getting me into such trouble. 
 That made them more severe on him, for one of 
 the cattle men came to me and told me Jim had 
 killed five different men, and they would see 
 that he killed no more. 
 
 A short time after this trouble the two rail 
 roads were finished and hundreds of people had 
 left Gunnison to go to the Ute reservations as 
 soon as they were opened. Montrose, Grand 
 Junction and Delta were all in Gunnison county, 
 but they had divided and went by themselves 
 and left all the debts to Gunnison to pay. They 
 had not been gone long when Gunnison was 
 deserted. They had built churches and the 
 first to close was one in which the policeman got 
 whipped and driven away. The Methodist was 
 the only one for a long time. The lower town 
 was a wreck. 
 
 I went into the mountains in Wild Cat Gulch 
 where the Indians camped, and such a place for 
 game! There was a small lake full of fish, and 
 antelopes by the hundreds. Deer and all kinds 
 of wild animals; pr? irie hens went in droves and 
 elks would throw their large horns on their 
 
144 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 backs and turn their faces up to the sky and 
 run through the timbers with the peculiar 
 whistle that they had. And it would not be 
 safe to get in their way while they are running. 
 I had four men with me, hunting for some 
 rich gold ore, but we could not find where it 
 came from, but we found a large vein of $20 
 to the ton, but it would not pay at that time to 
 work it, so I let it stand. A prospector had 
 brought me some silver ore that he got forty 
 miles from Gunnison, but the claim was owned 
 by three parties. I went to look at it and they 
 had been digging in some black zinc. I went 
 prowling around until I found some black 
 stones, and in a crevice near those boulders I 
 found some pure silver. I marked the place 
 and said nothing, but found out the owners; 
 one that owned a half interest had left and 
 abandoned his interest. I wrote him and made 
 him an offer. He sent the deed to the bank by 
 return mail and so I became half owner of the 
 Black Queen mine. There was no road to it 
 then but the county commissioners had let the 
 Rock Creek road to three of the South Park 
 contractors, Dunbar, Shafer and Walsh, for 
 $60,000. Walsh had been boarding with his 
 nephew at my place for a long time, off and on, 
 so he came and wanted to board the men when 
 they were in town. He was a tall, fine-looking 
 old gentleman, and was a warden of the Catholic 
 church, and a widower. He had been very 
 courteous to me at all times, but now he came 
 right out and asked me to marry him. He had 
 property in Cleveland ,. ,:d had plenty to take care 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 145 
 
 of me. So I thought, well, I am nothing but a 
 prey for everyone to plunder, that I have deal 
 ings with. Being alone, it seemed as though 
 I was public property for everyone to rob, for 
 the men I sent to the mine ate up the grub and 
 drew their pay and did no work for it when I 
 was not there. As this man was twenty years 
 older than I, I would have a father as well as a 
 husband, and so I said I would think of it, and 
 two weeks later this Walsh came in from camp 
 and said he had to go to Denver on business, 
 and I had better go with him and we would get 
 married, and without thinking I took my small 
 satchel and not even a change of clothing, and 
 took the train and went with him. 
 
 We went to the St. James Hotel and he got 
 the license and made arrangements for Bishop 
 Macerby to marry us the next morning. 
 
 That night I was awakened three different 
 times by children crying, and yet it sounded as 
 though they were a distance off. The next 
 morning it worried me and I felt more like going 
 to a funeral than a wedding and if I had had 
 one friend that had said, "Don't marry that 
 man," I would have backed out, for I felt that 
 there was something wrong. I could not tell 
 just what it was. After I was dressed I sat 
 down in my room and waited for him to come. 
 He did not come till near nine o'clock; then we 
 went to breakfast, then to the Catholic Cathe 
 dral. He said he had to get permission from 
 the Bishop to marry me, as I was not a Catholic, 
 and that was what made him late. 
 
 He noticed the gloom that came over me and 
 said: 10 
 
146 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "Cheer up." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I don't know, but I feel I am doing wrong in 
 getting married, and I would rather go to the 
 depot and go back as we came. 1 * 
 
 He said: 
 
 1 'I did not think you were such a coward." 
 
 That touched me. I said: 
 
 "I am no coward, but I would not live with a 
 man for whom I had no respect, even if I were 
 married by every priest in the country." 
 
 When we got to the church there was a man 
 and a woman, some friends of his, to stand for us, 
 and I did not like them. A priest and a bishop 
 came in and started the ceremony, and when the 
 bishop said: 
 
 "Will you have this man for your lawful hus 
 band?" " 
 
 The children set up such a crying and a man's 
 voice said "No," so close to me that I jumped 
 back and the ring fell to the floor and rolled to 
 the priest. He stood by the bishop and stooped 
 and picked it up and handed it to Walsh. He 
 grabbed my hand and put the ring on my finger 
 without any more ceremony. I thought all of 
 them had heard the voice, it was so plain. It 
 was as though a black pall had been thrown over 
 me, for I knew nothing till I was in the vestry 
 room and told to sign my name in a book. When 
 we got outside he said to the man and woman: 
 
 "We will get a carriage and see the sights." 
 
 We went all around till about one o'clock, then 
 went back to the hotel for dinner, and after din 
 ner we bade good-bye to the couple. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 147 
 
 Walsh said he had to go and see about some 
 business and he left me. I sat in the room till 
 about five o'clock; then he did not come, so I took 
 my satchel, went to the depot and bought a 
 ticket and left on the 6.20 train. I left word by 
 the clerk to tell Walsh, if he came before the 
 train left, to come to the train, for I was going 
 to leave by it. 
 
 I got in Gunnison the next morning and I was 
 glad to be home again and the gloom wore off. 
 Then I thought what a bride I was. It was 
 nearly two weeks before Walsh came home again 
 and he was very affable. He stayed home only 
 two days, then went to his camp, so I did not see 
 much of him. 
 
 When the first of the month came it was pay 
 day for the men. They all came to town to get 
 their pay. They stayed in town two days, then 
 went back to camp. Everything went on all 
 right for a few months, when the road was fin 
 ished, then Walsh came home and said they did 
 not have enough money to pay the men, and 
 that they could not get the warrants until the 
 commissioners met and accepted the road, 
 and they did not sit till the first of the month, 
 and as it was only the fourteenth the men could 
 not wait till the commissioners sat. I said 
 nothing, but the next day Walsh came and said 
 he had a talk with his partners and that they all 
 agreed to give me $200 when they got the war 
 rants if I would go on a note with them all for 
 $2,600 to pay the men. It was only for such a 
 short time that I would be nothing out. He 
 said I had better make the $200. I said: 
 
148 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "I do not like to sign notes, and you had bet 
 ter get somebody else." 
 
 But he said to keep on, and said when there 
 was a chance to make money I kicked it over. 
 He said he would be there when the warrants 
 were issued, and that he would take care of 
 them. But still I had that same feeling as when 
 I married him, and nothing had come of it, so I 
 went to the bank, but when I got there the 
 others were not there. 
 
 Walsh took a note from his pocket with his 
 name on it and gave it to me to sign. I said: 
 
 "Why, this is your note; where do the others 
 come in?" 
 
 He said he would take the note to the others 
 to sign as soon as I signed it. I signed the note, 
 but as soon as I had signed it the same voice 
 said: 
 
 "Be silent and watch." 
 
 That night the men came in. They had all 
 been to the office to get their pay and when 
 they got back they were very angry and made 
 threats, as they only got half of it and had to 
 wait two weeks to get the balance, and as there 
 was no work for them they had to leave. Most 
 of them boarded with me and they went away 
 and never paid their board. Some of them gave 
 me orders to get the balance of the money. The 
 next day nearly all of them had left town and I 
 did not see much of Walsh, as they were busy 
 settling up, and were under bonds to complete 
 the road. 
 
 The 1st came and the commissioners sat, but 
 no warrants came and Dunbar and Shafer had 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 149 
 
 gone to Denver to look for another contract; 
 that is what Walsh said. 
 
 I asked him why the note was not paid. 
 He said he would look after that. The note was 
 long past due and the cashier sent for me. He 
 took me in his private office and said: 
 
 " You are a Mason's widow, and I am a brother 
 and am sorry to have to tell you that several of 
 us have been watching your affairs a little, and 
 we find out that you have been duped by the 
 man Walsh. He is not what he represents him 
 self to be, and you will have to pay every cent 
 of that note. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "What about the warrants?" 
 
 He said: 
 
 'They have signed for $60,000 but they only 
 got $30,000. The other $30,000 went to the com 
 missioners, $10,000 apiece for giving them the 
 contract. They have lost at least $5,000, as 
 there was more rock work than they thought. 
 There is not one dollar coming to them, and the 
 other two have skipped out, no one knows 
 where, and Walsh would have gone too, but he 
 is going to try to get your " Black Queen" mine, 
 so be on the lookout, for we all think that he 
 must have hypnotized you or you never would 
 have married him after refusing such a hand 
 some man as Mickey and one that worshipped 
 the ground you walked on. Walsh tried to get 
 your money from the bank, but we did not let 
 him have any." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "How is it he had to pay all the money?" 
 
150 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 The cashier said that he had overdrawn the 
 warrants $1,600, and if he had not paid it they 
 would have put him in jail for embezzlement, 
 for the partners knew nothing of it until they 
 came to a settlement. The other $1,000 he had 
 sent away, so he had not gotten a cent of it, 
 "You have $1,800 in the bank to your credit." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Make out a check for it and put it on the 
 note and I will pay the rest as soon as I can." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "We have sold out to the other bank, as 
 there is not business enough for two banks in 
 this town now, but it will be all right in the 
 other bank, for you are good for it, but let me 
 caution you; be on your lookout for that man, 
 he would not hesitate to take your life to get 
 that mine." 
 
 I had been saving up my money to get the 
 winter supply for the mine, as the snow would 
 be too deep to go in or out till May or June, so 
 all that was wanted had to be put in before the 
 snow fell. As I went out of that bank I could 
 not describe my feelings, for I knew now that 
 I had been robbed, and in the toils of a robber 
 and a murderer, and I felt my lonely, almost 
 God-forsaken condition. If the earth had open 
 ed and let me in, it would have been a blessing. 
 When I got home there was a gang of men and 
 it took my attention for a while. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 151 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 '"THREE days after this, I went in No. 1 
 building. It was deserted; only Walsh's 
 nephew had the back room, near the backdoor, 
 and as I got in the hall I heard angry words. 
 When I got opposite the room No. 7, where 
 Jimmy McClease used to sleep, a mysterious 
 voice said: 
 
 "Come in and be silent." 
 
 I opened the door as quietly as I could and 
 went in and did not quite close the door, but 
 held it ajar so I could hear what was going on. 
 
 Johnny said: 
 
 "You promised me the money, and I want to 
 get out of this place, for she asked me for my 
 board money, and when I told her you would 
 settle it she said that you had not paid your 
 own board, and that she would not keep any 
 man, and you mark my words that you will 
 have to run against a sang, and if she gets onto 
 your having a wife living she will put you 
 through for what you have done." 
 
 Walsh said: 
 
 "I will take care that she does not get me 
 for I will put her where she will not do any 
 harm." 
 
 Jim said: 
 
 "Well, I want the money you promised me, 
 and if you do not get it for me I will send to 
 Leadville for my sister to come here and tell 
 
152 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the Captain that she is your lawful wife for I 
 am determined that you shall not dupe me with 
 your damned lies, and I tell you to get the 
 money, and quick, too, and we will see who will 
 come out on top/' 
 
 They went out of the back door and I flew 
 out of the side door and up town before they 
 got out of the front, and when I came back I 
 had my hands full of bundles and went in the 
 front door. Walsh was waiting at the door for 
 me. He said a man had been to see him about 
 getting a contract and there would be big 
 money in it if he could go at once and see about 
 it. I said: 
 
 "Well, why do you not go and look after it?" 
 
 He said: 
 
 "I have no money just now or I would go out 
 on tonight's train. If you will let me have $50 
 I will pay you back when I get the county 
 warrants." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I have been to the bank and they have to 
 have the note paid. I told them to attach the 
 warrants, but they found out that there are no 
 warrants; they have all been drawn. Now, I 
 want to know who will pay the note?" 
 
 He looked as though a mask had been thrown 
 off of his face, for instead of the smiling, religious, 
 old gentleman, he looked like an incarnated 
 demon, and such a hellish, fiendish look I never 
 saw on a human face before. He turned away 
 for a few minutes to calm his anger, then came 
 to me and said : 
 
 "If you give me the fifty I will get the contract 
 and pay every cent." 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 153 
 
 I said : 
 
 "I never will give you $50 or take your word 
 for anything, and you will oblige me by getting 
 out of my house, for you have misrepresented 
 everything, and I refuse to live with you any 
 longer." 
 
 He said : 
 
 "Half of this property is mine and half of all 
 your mines are mine. I married half of every 
 thing you owned when I married your doll face 
 and yellow head, and, by God, you shall not 
 rob me out of my interest." 
 
 Then he began with a volley of curses, and the 
 vilest language that tongue could utter, he 
 used. I left that night. I slept with the girl. 
 The next day was election day. The girl had 
 gone up town and the house seemed empty, only 
 there were two young men reading in the office- 
 room. I sat reading a paper when Walsh came 
 in with a paper and ordered me to sign it without 
 reading it. I refused. Then he said: 
 
 "You will sign it." 
 
 And when I read it it was an agreement that 
 I gave him half of all my property and half of 
 all my mining property and all the mining prop 
 erty I would own for the next five years and when 
 I had read it I opened the range door and threw 
 it in the fire. He grabbed me and tried to stick 
 my head in the fire. I clung to him and 
 screamed until the two men came and took him 
 by the collar, and then he let go of me. I ran 
 to my room and got a gun and began to fire it 
 outdoors, and then the officers came. 
 
 I said: 
 
154 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "I give this man in charge; take him out of 
 my house." 
 
 They took him. He began to fight, but there 
 were too many for him. My hair was nearly all 
 burned and my face and neck were in blisters. 
 I had to get the doctor to dress the burns. I 
 sent all of his things out of my house to a friend 
 of his and sent Johnny's things with them. 
 
 Then I sent word to them both that if they 
 came to my house again I would shoot them 
 down as burglars. 
 
 The next morning I went up with my attorney 
 and showed my burned face. The court fined 
 him $50 and costs. Then I swore out another 
 warrant for him to keep him under bond to keep 
 the peace, and they bound him over to keep the 
 peace for three months and a $5,000 bond. He 
 had a very valuable gold watch and chain and a 
 gold -headed cane, so he gave them to his friend 
 Macky for his fine, but had to stay in jail until 
 he could get bond. 
 
 That night there was a tall, handsome, well- 
 dressed young man came to see me. I did not 
 recognize him at first till he said : 
 
 "You soon forget your old friends/' 
 
 Then I said: 
 
 "Why, Hall, the cowboy! how you have 
 changed, and it seems you always find me in 
 trouble." 
 
 Then I told him all, and if I could only find 
 out about where Walsh married his wife, so that 
 I could get proof. I gave Hall the description 
 of Johnny, so that he might try to see him and 
 get what he could out of him. He went away 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 155 
 
 and said that he would see me again. The next 
 day Walsh got bond on condition that he would 
 leave town.- I said to the girl Anna : 
 
 "We must watch that Walsh, for he will do 
 something before he leaves/' 
 
 So when night came and he did not take the 
 6 :00 train I got my gun and watched all I could, 
 for I did not want to frighten the girl. She 
 went to bed at 10 :00 and at 11:00 I put out the 
 lights as though I was going to bed, but sat and 
 watched at the side windows, where I could see 
 everyone who came down the street. 
 
 I was just going to my room when I heard a 
 faint noise, and looking out through a crack in 
 the door saw two men doing something under the 
 window where my bed was. I ran as fast as I 
 could to the side door and opened it quietly and 
 took aim at the tall man, as I knew that he was 
 Walsh, and the ball struck him in the leg. Then 
 he let out a curse that he would kill me. I sent 
 another bullet whizzing through his arm. The 
 other man pulled him away and they boarded 
 the freight train. They went through at 3:00 
 at daylight. The next morning I went to see 
 what they were doing and found twelve sticks of 
 giant powder with a coil of fuse and four caps, 
 so they were going to blow up me and the build 
 ings, too, had it not been for that other side of 
 me, as Mickey called it, for I was determined I 
 would have no more of his bulldozing or be in the 
 same vibrations with such demons in the form of 
 men. I had not been to bed and no one was up 
 yet. I opened the barroom door and went in and 
 stood on the very spot that I left Mickey weeping 
 
156 THE FATE OF A - FAIRY 
 
 the last time, and such a feeling of loneliness and 
 woe came over me that I stood as though rooted 
 to the ground. 
 
 Only a few months ago I was as merry and 
 cheerful as a meadow lark in spring, with a good 
 bank account, and did not owe a cent. Now 
 I was in debt and they kept sending in bills chat 
 Walsh had gotten, and began to sue me for the 
 money that he had contracted in my name. 
 Then self -remorse seemed to take possession of 
 me and I groaned aloud : 
 
 "Oh! why did I marry him, and what is this 
 power force?'' 
 
 I was conscious that I was doing wrong and 
 even the ring was dashed to the floor by unseen 
 hands. It could not be spirit power, but a 
 power far stronger than that which forces us to 
 our destiny, and we ought to be on our guard 
 all the time for strangers that we know not, for 
 some people carry a straight light around them 
 that is destruction to one that carries the op 
 posite light. For when a murder wave or a 
 suicide wave comes to a city you will know there 
 will be many before it travels on, and those who 
 fall by them are people that they surround, or 
 are in harmony with the dark death wave, not 
 those who are in the light. 
 
 There is a triangle of three powers that govern 
 both heaven and earth electricity, vibration, 
 and this force power, I know not what to call 
 it, but it conies in waves and in different colors 
 and does its work according to its color. It is 
 plain to see that Walsh attracted the dark, 
 destructive way and came to a house of light 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 157 
 
 and brought nothing but loss and misery, and 
 would have murdered me if the same power only 
 in the light was the strongest around me, so 
 failed the dark. That is what saved me. This 
 power is the strongest, as it pushed the electricity 
 and pushed the vibration, and the almighty 
 waves in the ocean are all curtailed by it. 
 Nations rise and fall by it, and when the saints 
 turn their attention to it we will have airships, 
 and farmers will use it instead of horses, and all 
 trains and cars will be pushed by it. Vibration 
 is only known by wireless telegraphy. One little 
 spark of it only, and there is no place on earth 
 that will show this force as lively as in the mighty 
 mountains. With the electric light sparks, with 
 the vibration or echo of the roar of the wild 
 animals in the dead of the night teaches a mind 
 many lessons. I stood thinking of my troubles 
 until I thought I should go mad, and I heard 
 children singing hymns I used to sing when a 
 child. When they stopped singing a child said : 
 "Fret not, mamma, but go away from this 
 place, for we all love you so much, poor, dear 
 mamma, good-by till we come again." 
 I stretched out my hands and cried out : 
 "Come back and take me with you." 
 Then I fell to the floor in a fit of weeping till I 
 thought my heart would break. I must have 
 been in this place for over two hours for Anna 
 came to me and said: 
 
 "I was frightened to death, for when I went 
 to call you to your breakfast I found out that 
 you had not been in bed. I looked everywhere 
 for you and you are in the very place where Mr. 
 
158 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 Mickey nearly broke his heart over you. Come 
 away." 
 
 She threw her arms around me and brought 
 me to the dining room, but I was sick and had 
 to go to bed. I was taken with a violent pain in 
 my side and went into spasms. The doctor said 
 I had a violent attack of gall stones, and I would 
 cry out with the pain in my side. 
 
 Aunt Susan, a colored woman, who had been 
 working for me ever since I was in town, came 
 to take care of me, and the place was closed 
 between my spells. I sent for S. Gill, the 
 banker, and gave him all my jewelry and silver 
 and papers of value, with the keys of my trunk, 
 and told him what to do in case of death, as the 
 spells were getting harder. I thought I would 
 go crazy, as the pain was more than I could 
 stand. They gave me morphine and chloro 
 form, but I still had the pain, and the next day 
 the doctors said that the stone was too large to 
 pass and the only thing that would save me 
 would be to call in a surgeon at once and have 
 an operation. .They were going to have a 
 special train to bring Dr. Cochem from Salida, 
 when Aunt Susan was crying as I lay across the 
 bed. 
 
 A spasm came over me and I threw out my 
 feet quickly and knocked Aunt Susan against 
 the wall with such force that it nearly stunned 
 her, and the violence of the sudden jerk un- 
 lodged the stone. 
 
 That night I had a congested chill that nearly 
 took me. They had hot irons to my feet and 
 worked with me for two hours ; then I fell asleep 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 159 
 
 and did not wake till next morning, but I did 
 not get over it for several weeks. 
 
 When I began to sit up, Anna told me Hall 
 had been to see me every day. He had to go 
 away, but would come back, as he had some 
 thing to tell me, and in ten days after I was up 
 Hall came and told me he had gotten Johnny 
 drunk and found out that Walsh was married 
 to his sister by a justice of the peace and had 
 two children, and that he was a Molly McGuire 
 and a murderer in Pennsylvania, and that he had 
 horsewhipped a priest on the altar for denounc 
 ing the Molly McGuires. Johnny was not with 
 him when he tried to blow me up, but another 
 man, a morphine fiend. 
 
 Walsh had promised him $5,000 from the 
 " Black Queen" mine if he would help him get 
 way with me, and he had not done with me yet, 
 for he would sneak back and fix me, for he 
 swore he would not be cheated out of my prop 
 erty. 
 
 Hall had gone to the mining camp called 
 Aspen, and there was a big boom on, so I got him 
 to get me a place to move some of my things to 
 and start up in business there, so he went and 
 in a few days I received a letter telling me of a 
 good chance, but it had to be secured at once. 
 He had paid $10 for one month 's rent. I could 
 not go, for I was too weak and sick. I got a 
 man and Aunt Susan to pack everything we 
 wanted to take, and the week after we started 
 with three heavy loads, two with four and one 
 with two horses. I went with the teams and it 
 took us four days. We camped out three nights, 
 
160 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 and when we got to the place I found it was one 
 of the best corners in the town. It was an old 
 log cabin and I got carpenters and tore off the 
 front and put in a store window and a new front ; 
 then it looked like a business place. 
 
 As soon as the boys knew I had come to town 
 they all crowded the house and I had more than 
 I could take care of. The old lady who owned 
 the place got sick and sent for me and I paid her 
 some money down and gave her a trust deed 
 and bought the property. As I made money I 
 built a rough board building, and I soon had 
 $400 a month as rent coming in and was making 
 money fast again, when that evil genius Walsh 
 came. He was not under bond to keep the peace 
 in that county and the third day that he was in 
 town he began to sue me for half of all my prop 
 erty. I got a good lawyer and told him every 
 thing. He advised me to send for my pension, 
 as Walsh was not my husband, but I had to set 
 the marriage aside as absolutely void, so I 
 brought suit against him for divorce. When 
 the trial came he had five different men that I 
 had never seen, to swear against me, one the 
 morphine fiend. He was with him when he tried 
 to blow me up, and two were penitentiary men, 
 who had just got out and were broke, and he 
 was going to make them rich if they would help 
 him get the property from me, but it was no 
 good ; the jury said if I was what he tried to make 
 me out he would not want to keep me, but would 
 be trying to get rid of me. I won. The suit he 
 brought had to be tried in Gunnison, as he had 
 made another contract out and forged my signa- 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 161 
 
 ture and he tried to blacken my character. He 
 told terrible things of me, and all false. He 
 stole a very fine span of mules and wagon and 
 harness out of my barn at night and got one of the 
 witnesses to drive them away. I had to pay 
 $500 for the outfit. I went to the sheriff, but 
 he did not try to get them back, for Walsh had 
 told him he had paid for them, and a lot of 
 slander, so I had to go to Gunnison and get 
 another lawyer to defend the suit. When it 
 came to trial he had the fiend and the same 
 witness that he had on the divorce case to swear 
 they saw me sign the contract. My attorney 
 had gotten the date of one of the prisoners, and 
 he was in the pen at the time, and as soon as he 
 found this out, he skipped out. The judge 
 could see through the game and I won the suit. 
 
 Some of the men in town sent him a notice to 
 leave town or they would attend to him, for they 
 were sick of his game. They knew he was try 
 ing to rob me and would not stand for it, so he 
 left. I sent in my pension papers as the attor 
 ney had advised me to, and waited for over a 
 month, but they did not come. I received a 
 latter from Gunnison that I would be arrested 
 by the United States district attorney for trying 
 to draw a pension when I had married. Walsh 
 sent a copy of the marriage to the pension de 
 partment in Washington, but did not tell that 
 he was a married man at the time, so I had to get 
 a Pinkerton detective to find out who married 
 him to wife No. 1 and the witness to the mar 
 riage. 
 
 I had to neglect my business and it took all 
 11 
 
162 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the money I could get to defend all these suits, 
 and the attorneys held me up, for they knew 
 I had a good mine and they wanted to get a 
 slice out of it. The attorney charged me $500 
 for the divorce suit, and the Denver attorneys, 
 two of them, $1,000 apiece to defend the case 
 in the United States Court before Judge Hallet. 
 
 Walsh was afraid of his wife, so he sent her to 
 Canada, where they could not get her as a wit 
 ness. I gave bond in Denver for $5,000 and 
 did not leave until after the trial, and when the 
 trial came Walsh was there as prosecuting wit 
 ness, but when he saw the judge and the three 
 witnesses to his marriage, he got out as fast as 
 he could and went to Canada. 
 
 The judge told the jury that they could not 
 find me guilty of perjury by signing my name 
 Ellen E. Jack, for that was my name, and I had 
 no right to any other. The jury was out about 
 ten minutes and brought in a verdict of not 
 guilty, and I was honorably discharged from the 
 court. When I was discharged all the jury 
 came and shook hands with me. The district 
 attorney made out papers to have Walsh ar 
 rested for bigamy and perjury, but the bird had 
 flown, and I learned that his wife and two 
 children had all died of diphtheria in six weeks 
 after they got into Canada. Walsh had gotten 
 a contract on the Canadian Pacific and had 
 made over $50,000 on it, and after that had 
 gotten a contract on the Oregon Short Line and 
 had made a large sum of money and was con 
 sidered a wealthy man. 
 
 The morphine fiend was taken to a hospital 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 163 
 
 in Denver, where he told all that Walsh had 
 promised, and as he was dying he cursed Walsh 
 for his villiany. 
 
 I stayed in Denver two days after the trial, 
 then went to Gunnison, then to the "Black 
 Queen" mine, as I had leased it, but they were 
 not to take any mineral out of the ground till 
 the payment was made, and when I got there 
 I was surprised to see all the sacks full of ore 
 and ready for shipment, about three car loads. 
 When I saw the foreman he told me he expected 
 the jacks to take the mineral to the depot and 
 ship it to the Denver smelter, and he said he 
 guessed they did not reckon on my coming back 
 so soon. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Well, they will not take this mineral till 
 they have complied with their contract." 
 
 At this time Mr. Aller came up to me and said: 
 
 "Why, we did not expect you here." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "By the looks of things I don't think you did, 
 and I have had notice from the bank that there 
 has been no payment on the bond, and until 
 there is you cannot move that mineral." 
 
 He said in a sneering way: 
 
 "And who will stop me?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I will." 
 
 He laughed in my face. I went down the 
 trail to the "Fargo cabin" and said to the three 
 men that owned the "Fargo cabin:" 
 
 "Lend me your rifles and your shot gun; load 
 them and give me some rounds of shot." 
 
164 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 They did, and also helped me carry them to a 
 bush on the " Queen" grounds. 
 
 I paid them to watch that night and stayed in 
 their cabin, and another miner came from Crys 
 tal, the Httle town at the foot of the trail. He 
 said that there were three jack punchers and a 
 big herd of jacks, and they were coming to the 
 " Queen" early in the morning to take the 
 mineral. I went to the "Queen." When I 
 heard the dogs barking and the bells ringing on 
 the jack's necks, as they always have trained 
 dogs and have bells with a herd of pack donkeys, 
 I got one of the men to help me carry the rifles 
 down to the dump, where all the sacks were 
 filled up, and put the rifles by them. I had my 
 two .44 's with me and I stood by the sacks. As 
 the bark of the dogs came nearer, Mr. Aller 
 came to the dump and when he saw me he 
 turned as white as death and said: 
 
 "What in hell are you doing here?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I am on my own ground and you are a thief > 
 and I have the right to protect my property. 
 Your bond and lease are forfeited. You get off 
 this property." 
 
 By this time the jacks were coming on the 
 jump. I stopped them. Then the owner came 
 to see what was the matter. 
 
 I said: 
 
 ' ' Mr . Benton , turn your jacks off this property, 
 for not one sack of mineral leaves this place." 
 
 Aller had jumped upon the shaft house and 
 got his check book out and was swinging it 
 around and yelling: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 165 
 
 "A thousand dollars if you take that mineral." 
 
 Then Benton blew his whistle as a signal for 
 his two men to crowd the jacks, and as the 
 leaders pushed upon the dump I shot them 
 down. Benton tried to get his big gun out of 
 his belt, then I sent a shot and took his ear off 
 as clean as though it had been cut off, and was 
 going to send another, when he threw up his 
 hands and yelled out: 
 
 "I am shot." 
 
 I sent a shot and shot the check book and two 
 of the tips of Aller 's fingers off; then he began 
 to yell. I changed the gun from the left hand 
 to the right, then Aller jumped off of the shaft 
 house and got behind some logs. I said to 
 Benton: 
 
 "Turn your jacks and go down the trail." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "You will shoot me when I pass you." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I do not want your miserable life and if you 
 do as I tell you I will not hurt you." 
 
 Then he came and he was bleeding awfully. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Wet your handkerchief and put it to your 
 head and stop the flow of blood." 
 
 He blew his whistle and had the jacks turn 
 and went to his pony and got to town as fast 
 as he could to get his wounds dressed. Aller 
 had sneaked out and down the trail to get the 
 morning train to Gunnison to get me arrested. 
 When I looked around there was not a man, 
 for they had all gone to the mine to escape the 
 shots. I was all alone and I could not describe 
 
166 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the contempt, that I had for these cowards. 
 There I was with three bad men armed with 
 big Colt .44's and Aller with his check and 32 
 men left me all alone to defend myself and 
 property. When all was over they came up 
 like whipped curs, but I turned and went down 
 the trail. 
 
 All was excitement in the camp. I went to 
 the Fargo cabin and sent one of the men for the 
 rifles. I knew they would not be wanted again, 
 so I waited for the sheriff to come. One of the 
 men had gone to Crystal to find out what he 
 could, and he heard the jack man say that I had 
 killed seven jacks. They rolled down the hill 
 two thousand feet into Broth creek, so if I had 
 not killed them the fall would have. The jack 
 men were making big threats. Benton had 
 gone to the mountains to get a doctor. 
 
 The next day the sheriff came with a warrant 
 for me. He had bought the finest span of horses 
 and rig that he could find in Crystal. That was 
 as far as they could go, and when we got through 
 to Crested butte we had to stay till the train 
 went to Gunnison the next morning. 
 
 The sheriff had engaged the best room in the 
 best hotel in town for me. There was a show in 
 town that night and I said : 
 
 ''Doc." (that was the name the sheriff went 
 by), "what are you going to do with me? I want 
 to go to the show." 
 
 He said : 
 
 "Go where you like, only be on time for the 
 train in the morning." 
 
 I said: 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 167 
 
 'Tell them to get me up, for I have had no sleep 
 for two nights and will be sleepy in the morning. " 
 
 So I went to the Fealen House and told Mrs. 
 Fealen to come with me to the show. We were 
 a little late, so when we were going down the 
 street there was an excitement and the miners 
 shouted : 
 
 "Hurrah for our mountain queen!'* 
 
 I stood and faced the crowd ; then they clapped 
 their hands and shouted: 
 
 " Brave woman! our mountain queen!" 
 
 Then I bowed to them and sat down. As 
 soon as it was known what I had done there was 
 quite an excitement. It seemed that every one 
 but myself was excited, for they expected to 
 see me a prisoner, and there I was with a 
 woman at the show. 
 
 After the show the miners waited for me to 
 come out ; then they shook my hands nearly off 
 and I was afraid they would pick me up and 
 carry me on their shoulders to the hotel. I had 
 to beg them not to, for they shouted : 
 
 "Let's carry her." 
 
 Crested butte is a coal-mining town and the 
 end of the railway, and there are quite a number 
 of English whom they call "Cousin Jacks," and 
 they are very fond of anything that is gritty, 
 or as they call it, plucky, and the report was 
 that I had killed some men. I knew nothing of 
 that till afterwards. There were all sorts of 
 stories going about. I was glad to get away 
 and go to the hotel, and the next morning before 
 daylight they were pounding on my door for 
 me to get up. 
 
168 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 I went and got a cup of coffee and went to the 
 depot to wait for the train, and nearly every one 
 that came to the depot came up to me and shook 
 hands. As soon as I got on the train I went to 
 sleep, and when we got to Gunnison there was 
 quite a crowd to meet us. A carriage was wait 
 ing and Aunt Susan pushed her way thorugh 
 to me and threw her arms around me and said : 
 
 "The Lord bless you, I have cried a wash tub 
 full of tears. How many did you kill?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I do not know, but they say I killed seven." 
 
 She said : 
 
 "Oh, the good Lord, they will hang you seven 
 times." 
 
 And she began crying again. I thought the 
 people had all gone crazy. There was so much 
 excitement. The sheriff came to me and said : 
 
 "Get in the carriage and go home and I shall 
 send for you when I want you." 
 
 Then he said to Aunt Susan : 
 
 "Have you got the captain's breakfast ready ?" 
 
 She said: 
 
 "No, they said you were going to lock her up." 
 
 He said : 
 
 "Get in with her." 
 
 Then he told the driver to go to "Jack's 
 Cabin" and leave me there, and as the carriage 
 started the crowd set up a shout and we dashed 
 out and were soon at my home. 
 
 Aunt Susan jumped out and opened the door. 
 She had a good fire, for it was very cold, and she 
 got me a light breakfast. Then I told her I 
 was going to lie down and for her not to let 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 169 
 
 anyone bother me. I picked up my guitar and 
 played and sang "Home Again from a Barren 
 Shore." 
 
 'To 'de good Lord, you would play and sing 
 if you saw the rope on de gallows waiting to hang 
 you after you had killed seven men; you sing 
 as though nothing had happened." 
 
 I said : 
 
 "Who said I killed seven men?" 
 
 She said : 
 
 "Why, you told me yourself that you killed 
 seven." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "I did not say seven men, I thought you 
 meant the jacks I killed." 
 
 She said : 
 
 "They say you killed a lot of men, and that is 
 why there is so much excitement." 
 
 So I began to see why the men seemed to be 
 crazy. I went to bed and to sleep, for I was 
 worn out. I little bit before 10 o'clock the 
 deputy came and told me to be at Judge Piper's 
 court at 10 o'clock, so I dressed and went up to 
 the court. My attorney was there with a copy 
 of the bond and lease, and the courtroom would 
 not hold half of the people who had gathered 
 there to hear the trial. It was proven that if 
 he had taken the mineral they would have put 
 the money in their pockets and the mine would 
 have to pay the men and all the debts that had 
 been contracted against the mine, and if I had 
 killed them I would have been justified, for if 
 they had any right to the mineral they should 
 have taken it by leave, not by force. 
 
170 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 They had to pay all the costs, over $200, and 
 as Aller was not a resident of that county they 
 locked him up till he paid, for they thought he 
 would skip out and not pay, as he would have 
 done with me if he could have gotten the 
 mineral. 
 
 Then the jack man wanted pay for his jacks, 
 but I had ordered him to take them off of my 
 property, and it was proven that he pulled his 
 gun to shoot before I shot at him, so they all 
 got the worst of it. I had my attorney notify 
 Aller not to go on the "Queen" property any 
 more, as his bond was forfeited. I was going 
 back to work the mine myself. Then the 
 sneery look on his face turned to one of hatred, 
 for he knew he could not go back with me there, 
 for the next time I took aim at him he would 
 never come to have me arrested again. I went 
 to Crested butte the next day and from there to 
 the Queen with a small train of burros with 
 provisions, for I had found out that there was 
 not much of anything at the mine. The powder 
 was all gone and nothing had been paid, for 
 that had gone up to the mine. I began to get 
 things straightened out before the snow came, 
 as it was getting near winter, so I sent the 
 jacks back packed with mineral and came and 
 took it all. They sent it to Denver, and in 
 four days returned with a check for it. Then I 
 went and got it cashed and paid all the men 
 and let two-thirds of them go, for I could not 
 get powder and grub enough to keep them all 
 winter. 
 
 Aller had a large force of men to get all of 
 
CAPTAIN JACK STARTING FOR HER MINES. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the ore out and skip out with it, so I kept a few 
 of the best. I had to go to the mountains 
 again and it took me three days to do the busi 
 ness I had to do; the fourth day I went back. 
 It was late when I got to Crystal, and Crystal 
 is a little over a mile below the " Black Queen" 
 mine, at the foot of the trail. We began to 
 climb at Crystal up to the mine. It was moon 
 light and I had ten pounds of beefsteak in a 
 sack to keep the men going until the jacks came 
 up two days later on, and when I had gotten 
 to a place about half way up the mountain, 
 where three trails come together, I stood rooted 
 to the ground, for "crack!" went the bushes 
 and two eyes like two balls of fire were close to 
 me, for I did not see it till I was right on it. 
 
 I stood still, I dropped the beef and stood still 
 for a few minutes, frightened nearly to death, 
 for I had no gun and I did not know what it 
 was. It was a large animal. It looked at me 
 and I at it; then I got over my fright and put 
 out my hand and said: 
 
 "You go your way and I will go mine. I do 
 not want to hurt you nor you me, so go." 
 
 And as if it understood me it started down 
 the lower trail. I waited to give it time, then 
 I picked up my sack and started on the middle 
 trail, and when I had gone about fifty yards the 
 thing stopped and turned around to see if I 
 were after it. I shouted: 
 
 "Go on; I want no truck with you. I like 
 you best at a distance." 
 
 It smelled meat and did not know if I was the 
 meat or not. I was getting very tired when 
 
172 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the Fargo cabin came in sight. Then I began 
 to whoop and two of the men came and carried 
 my bag. I told them what I had seen and 
 when I told them I trembled with fear. They 
 laughed until the mountains echoed with the 
 loud laugh at the very idea of my being afraid 
 of a devil, let alone a mountain lion, for that 
 was what it was. 
 
 We had another carload of mineral ready to 
 ship and the jacks were bringing provisions up 
 and taking loads of mineral back to the depot. 
 It began to snow and we wanted to get all the 
 provisions in before it got to be too deep with 
 snow. At twelve o'clock at night it blew up a 
 fearful storm and I went up and dressed, for 
 the log cabin was in danger of a slide, and I 
 was afraid that if the two trees above the 
 cabin blew down they would take the cabin to 
 the bottom of the river, which was over two 
 thousand feet to the bottom of the mountain, 
 and so steep that we could hardly stand when 
 off the trail. 
 
 I heard big rocks rolling down the mountains 
 and the winds whistled. The barking of the 
 coyotes and the roaring of the bears were a 
 fright. I would have gone to the mine and 
 down in it, but I was afraid of rocks striking me. 
 The mine was about seven hundred feet from 
 the cabin and we had to pass a draw before we 
 got to the shaft house, and all the slides came 
 down that way. It was blowing and snowing 
 fearfully. It started just as the graveyard shift 
 shots went off and kept up for two days and 
 nights, and we were in a fix, for we were not 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 173 
 
 prepared for such a storm as this, and it was 
 impossible for the jacks to come now, so we 
 had to go on short allowance. I gave the men 
 bacon for breakfast, steak for dinner and ham 
 for supper. 
 
 The fourth day I said to the foreman : 
 
 "There is a pair of snow shoes; if they were 
 fixed up I would try and get out on them." 
 
 So the men got them. They were eight feet 
 long and they fixed them up, and got the pole 
 fixed with a new spike at the end, and at five in 
 the morning I started with the little dog Fan 
 on my back, in a flour sack. I had to have 
 shoes for the mountains were so steep and the 
 brakes on the trail were covered with snow. I 
 got down to Crystal and went in the only store 
 there, and rested a short time. The man said 
 I could not get to Gothic, for the snow was very 
 deep in the Scafield Park. 
 
 All the miners had to leave several days before 
 to keep from being snowed in, and the snow 
 slides were coming down the mountain. He 
 begged me not to try to go, but I could not go 
 back to the "Queen" and I could not stop there, 
 as it might snow, so I started. When I got to 
 the park I looked for the log cabins, but could 
 not see them. I saw one little black spout on 
 the side of this mountain, so I sailed up to it 
 and it was the top of a stovepipe. The cabins 
 were all snowed under. 
 
 The sun was getting very high, when my face 
 began to burn and I could hear the slides coming 
 down the mountains like peals of thunder. 
 When I got to the top of one mountain I had to 
 
174 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 pass what they called the " Windy Point." I 
 prayed for a guide to take me past it safe, for 
 it was the worst place on the road, and slide after 
 slide came down and carried everything with 
 them. 
 
 As I started to go quickly, Fan, the dog, 
 began to whine. She must have scented danger, 
 for she had never moved all the way until I got 
 to this place. I stayed for a minute or two to 
 get my breath before I shot around the point. 
 As I stood a peal of thunder came, and down 
 came a slide. As soon as it had gotten a safe 
 distance I went like the wind so as to get over 
 before another slide came, and I was not any 
 too soon, as I could hear them coming in all 
 directions. The hot sun loosened them and down 
 they came. I would slide up to a tree once in a 
 while and stand up against it and rest. Being 
 on those long snow shoes so long gave me a back 
 ache. It was late in the afternoon and I had to 
 go at least ten miles farther. It was quite dark 
 when I got to Garyese's Hotel in Gothic, and 
 when I took my shoes off some of the miners 
 came to help me and when I went in the sitting 
 room the boys said : 
 
 "Oh! you have got an awfully blistered face." 
 
 I said : 
 
 "I can hardly see; I believe I am going snow- 
 blind, for I forgot to put black over my eyes." 
 
 One of the men took out his knife and stuck 
 it in the big blister on my face and let the water 
 run out and another got a raw potato and 
 scraped it to put on my eyes to keep me from 
 going blind, and the hot, burning feeling and my 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 175 
 
 burning eyes and face and the dizzy feeling I 
 had! I was in a pitiful plight. I could hardly 
 go upstairs to bed and had to get the landlady 
 to help me get in bed, and when I did I could 
 not sleep till nearly morning. I did not get up 
 until late the next morning, and then it was 
 nearly noon, and I went and made arrangements 
 to get a horse and go over the mountain pass to 
 Aspen. They were at work cutting a road over 
 the pass. The snow was not deep on the pass 
 and the men were shoveling it where it had 
 slid down. 
 
 So, early in the morning, there were five of 
 us going on horseback over the pass, and it had 
 snowed a little in the night. The next morning 
 we all started. Two of the men were Hebrews, 
 commercial travelers; the other two were mer 
 chants. We had not been on our way more 
 than one hour before it began to blow and snow 
 so thick that we could not see a yard before us. 
 They all halted and said it was not safe to go on. 
 They wanted me to turn back with them, for 
 they would not go any farther, but I only 
 laughed at them and waved my handkerchief 
 adieu to them and went on alone. I had gone 
 some distance and the snow was getting deep, 
 when the horse had great difficulty in going 
 through, and as I got to a point near the summit 
 some of the men were bucking snow, trying to 
 keep the road open, so that they could get pro 
 visions, as the men who were making the road 
 were camped on the top of the Monroe Pass. 
 There were 210 men and 60 mules, and the big 
 draft horses with scrape plows and all kinds of 
 
176 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 tools to work with, and had it not been for the 
 men on the road I never could have gotten up the 
 mountains. I got around the point, and as it 
 had slacked up a little I could see the tents and 
 cabins. They looked like a little town, and as I 
 got nearer some of the men came out to see who 
 was coming over such a day, and when they saw 
 a woman alone they ran in the tents and got all 
 the men to come out and see the "mountain 
 queen" brave the storm; and such a cheer! it 
 echoed through the mountains. They took me 
 out of my saddle and put the horse in the stable 
 to feed him, and I went to the dining room, 
 such as they had. I got some hot coffee and a 
 lunch. I told them I would go, as they were 
 making preparations for me to stay all night. 
 They told me there was a wash-out on the trail, 
 and a man tried to get over it and both he and 
 his horse were killed. They both lay dead at 
 the foot of the mountains, as the storm was too 
 dangerous and severe for them to try to get 
 them up; but as they were telling me, that 
 mysterious voice kept saying, "Go on, go on." 
 
 So I said: 
 
 "I will go on and if I find that I cannot make 
 it I will come back, as it is only two miles from 
 here, and the horse is now rested and I want 
 to make Aspen before dark, and it is getting 
 late." 
 
 I got up and told the men to get the horse. 
 They all looked at one another in a woe-begone 
 way, for they thought I was doomed to death. I 
 got in my saddle, then about six or eight men 
 said they would go as far as the washout with 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 177 
 
 me and see the end of me. I walked my horse, 
 which took more time, and when the horse got 
 to the place he stopped. I had to back him 
 away from it, for the trail was narrow and so 
 steep and the break was about three feet, but 
 there seemed no footing on the other side. The 
 voice was so stern, "Go on, go on." I went 
 back some distance, then braced myself for the 
 leap, and then I came on a run and a jump and 
 over we went, but the horse trembled so after 
 we were on the other side that I had to pat him 
 and talk to him. 
 
 The shouts of the men were something terri 
 ble. I never turned my head to look at them, 
 but the first time I got up to the place I saw 
 the man and the horse dead at the foot of the 
 mountain. I did not look again, but I could 
 hear the shouts of the men for their "mountain 
 queen," and as they went down the pass I 
 could hear faintly their cheers. It was getting 
 dark and I was on a very steep place, for the 
 dog began to whine. I had not gone far before 
 I met a big herd of jacks who blocked the trail, 
 for I could not get past them. I dare not 
 attempt to take the horse off the trail, and I 
 tried to crowd them until I had lost all hope of 
 getting them turned. I had already lost over 
 one hour and it was getting very dark and cold, 
 when all at once there was a roar of bears and 
 the jacks got scent of them, and they all turned 
 around as if by magic and I ran as fast as I dare, 
 for the trail was slippery after the snow, and 
 it was quite dark and late when I got to the 
 foot of the mountain and came to where there 
 
 12 
 
178 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 were sleigh tracks. To the right there was a 
 fence and to the left the tracks went to some 
 timber. I had never been over this road be 
 fore, so did not know which was the way, and 
 it was too dark to see a yard before me. I 
 thought the fence was a ranch, so took the left 
 road and kept on going till I came to an old log 
 cabin with no doors or windows and the chink 
 ing all out, but the horse could go no farther, 
 and the whining of Fanny was pitiful, so I 
 jumped off the horse and went in and took the 
 horse in too, and there was a soap box that had 
 been a feed box, so I broke it on the end of the 
 logs and built a fire in the middle of the cabin ; 
 then I took the saddle off the horse, but had no 
 supper for him. By the blaze of the fire I could 
 see that something was wrong with Fanny, and 
 when I examined her I found that her legs and 
 feet were frozen as stiff as a bar of iron. I 
 took my gun out to shoot her, and she knew 
 what I was going to do, for she began to whine 
 and the tears came down her cheeks as though 
 she was human. Then I thought of what the 
 boys had said to put snow on a frozen limb and 
 it would draw out the frost. I put my gun 
 back and took my knife and cut some of my 
 underclothes into strings and bandages, then 
 got some snow and bound it around her legs and 
 feet. I had put some red pepper in my shoes 
 before starting, so as to keep my feet warm, 
 and that saved my feet from freezing. The 
 horse lay down; he seemed to know there was 
 something wrong, and there was no supper for 
 him. I jumped around to keep awake, for 1 
 
MRS. CAPTAIN JACK QUEEN OF THE ROCKIES. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 179 
 
 would have frozen to death if I went to sleep. 
 I began to try to get some wood to keep the fire 
 going. I looked at my watch and it was near 
 three o'clock in the morning, when such shrieks, 
 as though the Indians were tearing women to 
 pieces, and cry after cry was something terri 
 ble; in the timbers and lost, not knowing how 
 far I was away from any human being. The 
 dog whined in fear and the horse pricked up his 
 ears to listen and look at me. I spoke to him 
 and kept the fire going, but such a night! Then 
 the wind began to blow and the noise of the 
 pines and the whistling of the wind and the 
 terrible crying of something, I know not what; 
 no pen can describe the feeling of loneliness and 
 desolation, and animal and man seemed to come 
 nearer to each other, for both horse and dog 
 seemed to share my feelings, for they both 
 looked as though they had pity to see me 
 afraid. They gained courage from my looks, 
 though not a word was said, and that is more 
 convincing of the power of vibration from me. 
 It was evident that I kept the gun in my hand, 
 for I knew not what might come, but I made 
 up my mind I would keep one bullet for myself, 
 for I would not be tortured to death, for I 
 would put the last bullet through my own 
 brains before I would be abused. It seemed 
 as though every minute was an hour, for I 
 thought daylight would never come, and the 
 later it got the colder it seemed to get. 
 
 I thought of the voice telling me to go on. 
 It had deceived me for the first time, I thought, 
 for if I had stayed with the boys I would have 
 
180 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 had daylight the rest of my journey and not 
 put in such a dreadful night as I was having, 
 and no one can imagine the thoughts that flew 
 through my mind in the dead of night and in 
 the hour of loneliness, in a forest with snow 
 deep in the timbers and the screeching of some 
 thing, I know not what. The sighing of the 
 winds seemed to be chanting the requiem of 
 some lost spirits, for nothing either on this earth 
 or below the earth could be more dismal; as I 
 stood, the fire died out, as I did not know where 
 to get more wood to keep it going, and it seemed 
 as though it was getting daylight, and as soon 
 as it got a little lighter I put the saddle on the 
 horse and put the bridle over my arm and took 
 Fan in the other arm in my shawl and started 
 to follow the sleigh tracks; they must take me 
 somewhere and I walked for over two hours. 
 
 Then I saw an old sawmill, and when I got 
 nearer I began to yell an Indian whoop, and 
 four or five men came to the bunk house in their 
 night drawers and called out: 
 
 "Is that Captain Jack? for no other woman 
 would be out in this place on such a night but 
 she." 
 
 I called out : 
 
 "You are right. It is I and I am nearly frozen 
 and do not know where I am now. I started on 
 my way to Aspen, but was delayed and could 
 not see through the way, and of all the hellish 
 screams and yells I heard I cannot tell." 
 
 The men said : 
 
 "Yes, that is the proper name for them. 
 There are some dead cattle about two miles 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 181 
 
 from here and the bears and panthers and coy 
 otes and mountain lions are all having a scrap 
 over them, and we have not got enough ammu 
 nition to go after them, but it is awful. Their 
 snarls and cries in the dead of the night is 
 enough to wake the dead." 
 
 I was in the cook house and a fire was getting 
 both me and the room warm and the horse was 
 getting fed, but poor Fannie 's feet were as 
 large as eggs. They were terribly swollen. 
 
 As soon as I got warmed up I started for 
 Aspen. The road by the fence was the road I 
 should have taken. I started out for another 
 cold ride, but I had been going up hill all night 
 and I would go down hill back, and as I went I 
 could see plainly how I had gotten lost, and 
 when I got to town I rode up to my place that 
 a German had rented and told him to take the 
 horse to the stable and I would go to another 
 house and go to bed. I went and told my 
 friends all about the night I had, and when I 
 tried to get my boots off I could not move 
 them, and Mrs. B. had to come and cut them 
 off and help me to undress, for I seemed to get 
 numbed and my head whirled around, and it 
 seemed I had not been in bed but a short time 
 when Mrs. B. came and said: 
 
 "Captain, are you awake ?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Oh! don't bother me. Let me sleep." 
 
 She said: 
 
 "The house is crowded with people and they 
 are frantic with grief. What time did you 
 leave the summit on Moraine Pass?" 
 
182 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 I said: 
 
 "About four o'clock." 
 
 She said : 
 
 "And were all the men well and happy then?" 
 
 I said : 
 
 "They all seemed to be." 
 
 She said : 
 
 "You must come downstairs and see these 
 people, for you were the last that saw them." 
 
 "Well, and what have I to do with them?" 
 
 She said : 
 
 "Why, do you know what happened last 
 night?" 
 
 I said : 
 
 "Yes, I heard the most horrible groans and 
 shrieks and cries. I hope I never will hear them 
 again." 
 
 "Oh! Oh! then you must have heard them. 
 Do not tell the poor people what you have 
 heard, for it would set them crazy." 
 
 I said : 
 
 "Well, I did not go crazy, and I do not see 
 why they should." 
 
 She looked at me so queer and said: 
 
 "Why, you did not lose your loved ones and 
 they did." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 She said: 
 
 "Everyone of those men got killed last night, 
 and all the horses and mules, and there is not 
 one to tell the story. You were the last human 
 being that spoke to them and saw them alive, 
 and how you got here alive is a mystery." 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 183 
 
 Then I knew why the voice said, "Go on, go 
 
 on.' 
 
 A snow slide came down and took cabins, 
 men and everything in its way; trees that had 
 stood over one hundred years were swept away 
 as though they had been straws, and as I 
 thought, yes, the wind and the sighs of the 
 pines were surely chanting the requiem of the 
 dead. 
 
 She said: 
 
 "You must see these poor people. I cannot 
 get dinner or do anything for the crowds that 
 come to see you. Everything is excitement 
 and gloom is on every face. The snowslide did 
 not leave a man to tell the tale." 
 
 I went into the room. It was crowded 
 mostly with women with swollen eyes from 
 weeping, and as soon as they saw me they cried 
 out: 
 
 "What did my Pat say? Did he send me a 
 message?" and all kinds of such questions. 
 
 Well, I knew all the men by sight, but could 
 not tell Pat from Bill, and there were over three 
 hundred, with the teamsters, and sixty head of 
 mules and large horses, and a snow-slide had 
 come down and taken cabin, tents and trees 
 that had stood for over one hundred years, and 
 had left the side of the mountain as barren as 
 though it had been cleaned with a scraper, and 
 such distress! They seemed to cling to me for 
 a message from their loved ones, and when I 
 told them all were well and happy when I left 
 them, some of them asked me why I did not 
 stay. Then I thought of the voice and how un- 
 
184 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 grateful I had been, for I had made light of it 
 in the night and said that it had misled me. 
 Now I could understand why it was so deter 
 mined for me to leave and kept on saying: "Go 
 on, go on." I surely would have stayed and 
 perished with the rest only for the voice, but I 
 said nothing to the people, only that I had to 
 get to Aspen as quickly as I could. So I started 
 on. One poor woman said: 
 
 " There must have been some good spirit that 
 took you away from that accursed place, and 
 I wish the Lord had been as kind to my poor 
 boys as he was to you, for I have lost all the 
 support I had, my husband and two boys. I 
 am afflicted and cannot work. Oh! what shall 
 become of me ? Oh ! that I had perished with 
 my blessed boys!" 
 
 She broke down and wept bitterly and every 
 way I looked I saw nothing but tears and deep- 
 felt misery. I could hardly stand it so I 
 had to leave them and get to my bed again, 
 thankful to the Creator, for this was worse 
 than I thought, and I was sick in body and soul. 
 I lay tossing for a time, then nature gave away 
 and I slept sound till the next morning, and 
 about noon the news came that a rescuing 
 party of twenty had gone to see what they could 
 do, and everyone of them had been lost. The 
 mayor of the town gave orders for no one to go 
 near the place. 
 
 The winter was a very severe one and it was 
 a sight to see the little donkeys with 300 pounds 
 of ore on their backs; three sacks, with 100 
 pounds in each sack, one on each side and one 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 185 
 
 on the top of the pack saddles. They climbed 
 on such a narrow path and the mountains cov 
 ered with snow. The jacks had bells on their 
 necks, and the tinkling of the bells and the 
 barking of dogs and cursing of the jack punch 
 ers behind a trail of jacks keeps a camp pretty 
 lively. Then the yells of the gamblers and 
 music in the saloon and dance halls and in the 
 mining camps where there are every class of 
 people, and all on the alert to grab what they 
 can. 
 
 I had got one of my houses back and had 
 gone "batching." One day I went out and left 
 my door open and when I came back there was 
 a large mountain lion lying on my bed as con 
 tented as if it were at home. Now I did not 
 like such a bedfellow, so I went to the corner 
 and asked some of the men to get him. They 
 said the marshal and a lot of men were looking 
 for him. He had broken his chain and gotten 
 away from a man who lived up town, but none 
 of the men would go near him till the owner 
 came. He went up to him and took him up off 
 the bed, but the lion did not want to go. The 
 man, Bob, said: 
 
 "Cap, did you ever have a scrap with one of 
 these fellows?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "No." 
 
 He said: 
 
 "Come here, I will show you something," and 
 he got the lion's tail, and at the very end of it 
 there was a sharp claw bowed like a fish-hook 
 and covered with hair, all but a very little of 
 
186 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the sharp point. When in a fight they swing 
 their tails and tear whatever they happen to 
 strike, and this makes them one of the most dread 
 ed beasts in the mountains. 
 
 He put a new chain on him and took him 
 away, but three days after he was shot by the 
 order of the law. Some two weeks after this I 
 was sitting by my open window when a pack of 
 jacks came by, going to corral for the night, 
 and as they passed the stench was fearful, and I 
 noticed some of them could hardly walk. The 
 jack punchers were yelling to the dogs to hurry 
 them up. I do not know what struck me, for 
 I sprang out of my door and after the jacks. I 
 stood outside of the board fence watching them 
 take their pack saddles off of the poor animals, 
 and such a stench and such a sight I cannot 
 describe, for there was not one whose back was 
 not as raw as beefsteak. Two of the punchers got 
 a piece of flat stick and scraped the maggots 
 out of their wounds, and if the jacks moved they 
 kicked them and beat them unmercifully. There 
 were people who knew about this, but were 
 afraid of the punchers, as they were a very bad 
 set of men. 
 
 I went in search of a humane officer and got 
 two who were just made officers, and the next 
 morning I swore out a warrant for them and the 
 officers got them, as they had all the saddles on 
 over their poor wounded backs ready for another 
 load to grind in a little deeper, and when they 
 were arrested they swore thc.t they would have 
 revenge upon the one who dared to interfere with 
 their business. None of the officers had been 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 187 
 
 idle, for they had gotten a lot of witnesses, and 
 I was late when I went in the court room, but 
 when I was called I said: 
 
 "I swore out the warrant and what I had seen 
 was enough to convict/' 
 
 Then the judge fined them $50 and costs and 
 ordered them to turn the jacks out to pasture 
 and tend to them, and said if they worked any 
 one of the wounded jacks he would send them 
 to jail. The next day a man came to me and 
 said: 
 
 " Captain, look out for yourself, as the punch 
 ers are going to do you up, and there are a lot of 
 them on the corner. I jumped up and took my 
 gun and went up to where there was a gang of 
 punchers and tin-horn gamblers cursing, and I 
 went in front of the man who had been fined 
 and I said: 
 
 "You wanted to see me. I am here. Pull 
 your gun, you cur," and at the same time I shot 
 his hat off of his head. Such a scattering! 
 Some men ran one way and some the other, 
 and the man ran to the hospital, for he thought 
 he was shot, but I only shot his hat off his head. 
 That was all that they wanted of me, for I 
 heard no more threats and knew that they 
 would not dare to try to harm me, for they 
 were a set of cowards to be such brutes to the 
 poor animals that were making a living for 
 them. 
 
 The spring had come on and I got word to go 
 to Gunnison, as some one wanted to buy the 
 "Queen/' and as there was no railway I had to 
 get a wagon and a man to drive, as we had to be 
 
188 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 on the road three nights and I had to wait till I 
 could get a team and a man that I could trust. 
 I found one after waiting ten days, so we started 
 at dayreak to go by the way of Ashcraft and 
 Tailor Park, and such scenery was beyond 
 description. I could get one hand full of the 
 most beautiful flowers and the other full of snow. 
 Every color of flowers, the May finks blooming 
 under the snow and the clear streams of water; 
 and the Taiolr river with its speckled trout. 
 The man could take a dishpan full in one hour, 
 and the game was plenty. Deer and antelope 
 in droves. It was a beautiful sight and on 
 Saturday morning we got in Gunnison and on 
 Monday I began to dicker for the sale of the 
 "Queen," and that week closed a deal for $25,000, 
 $5,000 down and the balance in one year. I 
 paid up all that I owed and went out prospecting 
 again, but found nothing but hardships and loss 
 of money, and while I was waiting for the bal 
 ance of the money the lawyers were busy how 
 to get hold of it. They trumped up all kinds 
 of things and charged me the most outrageous 
 prices. The attorney who got my divorce 
 charged $500 and another trumped up a case was 
 $1,500. Amongst them they had $5,000 at 
 torney fees. Such robbery I never thought 
 would be tolerated, for there was not $100 due 
 them; $50 was the price of a divorce, and $50 
 more would have paid them well for all that had 
 been done, with what I had already paid, so 
 they tied up $5,000 of my money and I had to 
 pay it before I could give a clear title to the 
 company. I was so disgusted that I left the 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 189 
 
 place and went to Ouray, a prosperous mining 
 town built on the side of the mountain, a very 
 picturesque place, with hot water running 
 through its streets in the winter. I found a 
 good showing of silver up Bear Creek Falls, so 
 went to work and built cabins and blacksmith 
 shops and went shipping. It paid expenses 
 whilst silver was up. I tried to sell and got a 
 company that was to pay me $60,000 for the 
 mine in ten days, as their president was coming 
 from New York with the money and they were 
 going to stock it for $3,000,000, and float the 
 stock, and in five days after the contract had been 
 made and the deed in the bank, silver went down 
 and kept going down, and w^hen the partner 
 came with the money they decided to wait till 
 silver went up, and are still waiting, for silver 
 was denominated, and that settled it, so I lost 
 a lot of money in that, and I was not the only 
 one, for numbers of mines were closed down 
 and men thrown out of work, and at this time 
 a gold camp had started at Cripple Creek, and 
 everyone that could get away, got; everyone 
 wanted to sell and no one to buy. Houses were 
 nailed up and the town seemed deserted. It 
 was a sorry sight from the busy place it had 
 been. 
 
 Some of my neighbors who went to Cripple 
 Creek wanted me to go with them. I still had a 
 lot of property in Gunnison, so I went back to 
 look after it, as Gunnison was picking up a little. 
 The ranches were all doing well and they were 
 sending their children to school in the town, 
 so I fixed up my houses and rented them, but 
 
190 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 there was nothing for me to do but watch my 
 property, and that was too tame for me, so I 
 decided to go West. My foreman and a ranch 
 man that I had a note against and a neighbor 
 widow woman with three boys got two big 
 covered wagons and six fine horses and a big 
 camping outfit, and Luey rented his ranch and 
 we started for the wild West. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 191 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TX7E went through Utah, away around St. 
 George, and on Christmas eve. we got in 
 a Mormon town and camped at a farmhouse. 
 The owner was an Indian with two wives, as 
 pretty white women as could be found in New 
 York. He had a large house and an organ, but 
 no one could play on it. He invited us in. He 
 gave us cake and wine and I got some of my 
 music and played and sang for them, and they 
 were delighted and wanted us to stay and go to 
 church the next morning and sing at church, 
 but we had too much expense. Feeding the 
 horses cost a lot of money, camping every night 
 in corrals, for we had to do that to get water and 
 feed for the horses. The next morning when 
 the men were going to get ready to start the 
 Indian offered them $500 in gold to leave me, 
 for he said he wanted me for his third wife and 
 he must have me. 
 
 The men were afraid we would be stopped, as 
 we were in the midst of Mormons, no one for 
 miles but Mormons. They told him that he 
 could not get me, for I was the property of the 
 U. S. government, and that the government 
 would send soldiers to get me. I knew nothing 
 of this and all that was going on with the men. 
 
 I went to the house to get some butter, when 
 the tall, handsome woman said to me: 
 
 "So you are coming over to us. He is going to 
 marry you." 
 
192 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 I said: 
 
 "You must be crazy, for I would not marry 
 any man, let alone a man with two wives. 
 Have no fear of me." 
 
 Then they both came to me and kissed me 
 and said: 
 
 "Are you going away today?" 
 
 I said: 
 
 "As soon as the horses are hitched to the 
 wagons." 
 
 So they gave me a crock of butter and a lot of 
 nuts and cookies and I went to put them in the 
 wagon. The Indian came to me and said: 
 
 "Stay with me. I will give you half of what 
 I have, for I love you. I thought I loved my 
 wives, but never felt for them as I do for you. 
 I would be your slave willingly and you would 
 be my queen. Have pity on me, Oh ! fair woman, 
 and stay and sing with that sweet voice of yours, 
 for if you go I will pine away and my last thought 
 will be of you. Oh! my love, my love." 
 
 He burst out weeping and sat on the tongue 
 of a wagon. My men were hurrying as fast as 
 they could and were almost ready to go away. 
 
 It was a beautiful, balmy Christmas morning 
 and everything seemed in harmony but the poor 
 man in tears. All were ready and I went up to 
 him and laid my hand on his shoulder and said: 
 
 "Good-by; you will soon forget me. Be good 
 to your wives, by-by." 
 
 Then I turned and got in the wagon and crack 
 went the whip and off went the horses, and 
 everyone of us were glad to turn our backs on 
 that romantic and sleepy-looking little town. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 193 
 
 We went two days on a sandy sea, and as we 
 had narrow tires on and no barrels for water, it 
 was awful. The third day we came to the 
 Verden river. The horses drank so much that 
 we lost two of the best ones, as the water was 
 alkali and contained quicksand. We had to 
 get over the river as quickly as we could or 
 everything would go under the bottom of the 
 river. Some left one wagon, then went and got 
 it, and we made only five miles in some days. 
 All the wagons out in that country are wide and 
 have good wide tires and two big barrels of 
 water, one on each side. We were not prepared 
 for such a country and such a trip. The horses 
 suffered for water. We bought water at ten 
 cents a bucket from section houses on the rail 
 roads which run through the deserts. When we 
 got near one they had tanks of water that the 
 train brought and filled. It was warm and nasty 
 but we were glad to get it when we could. We 
 went on till we came to another Mormon settle 
 ment and stopped to get meat and supplies. 
 There was a very pretty dark-eyed woman with 
 three little children. She was chopping wood 
 for the fire for dinner. I asked her if she had 
 some beef for sale. She said that her husband 
 would be in soon and he sold the meat. She 
 asked me in to wait for dinner. When I went 
 in there was another very pretty girl, seventeen 
 years old, nursing a young baby. When the 
 dark woman went out I asked her: 
 
 "How old is your baby?" 
 
 She said: 
 
 "It is not my baby. It is the other wife's 
 
 13 
 
194 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 baby. I have only been married one week and 
 the baby is five weeks old." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Did you marry that woman's husband?" 
 
 She said: 
 
 "Yes, he is my husband, too. The other did 
 not like it, but she could not help herself." 
 
 There was a large fire place in the room and 
 a bright fire burning. I looked at the fire and 
 thought of these poor slaves. 
 
 The woman with four children, one only five 
 weeks old, and she could not have been over 
 thirty years old, and had to chop wood, and 
 then the washing and cooking to do for so many, 
 for the yard was full of clothes that she had 
 washed, and when the man came he had two 
 other men with him, his hired men. I bought 
 a yearling beef of him and some other things. 
 He was a fair-haired Swede, about thirty-five 
 years old. 
 
 He asked me to dinner and I went in and 
 there he sat at the end of the table, a dark wife 
 on his right-hand side and the fair girl at his 
 left. A large piece of roast beef in front of 
 him, fit for a king, with every kind of vege 
 table, and he had all the airs of a millionaire. 
 I could not help thinking of the poor woman 
 who had to cut the wood to cook all that nice 
 dinner, besides doing the big washings, and a 
 baby only five weeks old. Then for him to 
 bring another wife to sit all dressed up with 
 blue beads around her neck and bracelets on, 
 doing nothing but holding the baby, so this is 
 God's will and religion and Bible teaching! 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 195 
 
 After dinner I went to my wagon and told 
 the men we would go on till we could find a 
 place to camp, and at five o'clock we came to 
 a good place to camp, and when the second 
 wagon came up all were in a commotion. The 
 three boys were swollen up like three poisoned 
 pups and roaring with misery. Talk of Peck's 
 Bad Boy, he was not in it. I knew they had 
 been in some mischief, and when I came to find 
 out what it was, they had stolen the dried 
 grapes that I had bought and filled themselves 
 up with them, so they were paying for their 
 tricks, and I let them yell. The mother asked 
 me to help them. 
 
 I said: 
 
 " If I do it will be with a horsewhip." 
 
 I was sick of them. In two days after this 
 we came to Nevada, a town called Bunkesville, 
 but they were all Mormons and Indians, painted 
 up, and nearly baked. 
 
 We were sitting by a camp-fire one evening 
 at dusk and several of the men had come to our 
 camp to see us, when a tall, lanky old man 
 came, and when he sat on a log by the fire one of 
 the young men said: 
 
 "Well, Uncle Jonathan, you have gotten back. 
 How many did you find on this trip?" 
 
 He was whittling a stick and had a plug of 
 tobacco in his mouth, and a more repulsive 
 looking thing in the shape of a man could not 
 be found, and he drawled out: 
 
 "Well, I found sixty-two on this round up." 
 
 "And which did you like the best?" 
 
 "Well, I liked Martha the best. She had a 
 
196 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 nice starched shirt all ready for me and nicer 
 things to eat than any of the other wives." 
 
 Well, that did stagger me, for I thought that 
 they had been rounding up cattle, but he had 
 been going the rounds of his wives and had 
 gotten sixty-two children, and, just like a beast, 
 the one who fed him the best was his favorite. 
 The squaws came around our wagon and stole 
 everything they could get hold of. At night 
 Luey, the ranchman, slept in one of the wag 
 ons, and in the night he heard someone in the 
 wagon trying to steal some of our provisions. 
 He got out in a hurry and grabbed his rifle, 
 when something fell on his head and he thought 
 it was a squaw's ear he got hold of, for he cried 
 out: 
 
 "I have got her." 
 
 We were all up by this time. I went to Luey 
 and said: 
 
 "What is the matter?" 
 
 He was holding a bedquilt and thought he 
 was holding a squaw by the hair of the head, 
 and when we began to look for the trouble we 
 found two starving cats had gotten the meat 
 and were chewing it as fast as they could, and 
 they had made the noise and the quilt had fell 
 on Luey's head, and in his excitement he 
 thought he had hold of a squaw. He killed 
 both the cats in a hurry before he knew what 
 he was doing. Then I burst out laughing, for 
 a more ridiculous sight could not be seen. A 
 rifle in one hand and a corner of a bedquilt in 
 the other, and his hair standing up with fright. 
 He was yelling: 
 
CAPTAIN JACK AFTER A DAY'S WORK. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 19? 
 
 "I have got her. I have got her.' 1 
 
 We started the next day towards the Mo- 
 hava Desert and filled everything with water 
 that we could. We had a hard time, and when 
 we had been on the desert two days and nights 
 the water gave out and the horses suffered 
 dreadfully, and the third day a wagon came 
 along with two large barrels of water but they 
 would not sell us any. I saw that we would 
 lose our horses if they did not get water, so I 
 took a five-dollar gold piece and said: 
 
 "Give the horses a drink and fill these jars 
 and I will give you this. You will not want all 
 that water, for you have broad tires and can get 
 over in less time than it takes us." 
 
 This was more than they could let go, so they 
 gave us half a barrel of water for the $5, and I 
 was glad to pay it. The boys nearly killed them 
 selves drinking, and at night of the third day 
 we got to a farmyard near our camping grounds 
 for the night. 
 
 We were in God's country again, with feed and 
 water. We stayed that night and then got started 
 the ensuing day and kept going for two days. 
 Then we came to the Colorado river, which 
 divides Nevada and Arizona. We could not 
 cross this river except by ferry-boats. One of 
 our wagon wheels had given out and we could 
 not get any farther till new tires were sent. 
 That was not all; the money was nearly all gone. 
 We found out that over the Wallapys Desert 
 there was a very good mining camp called the 
 White Mills, and the deserts were fifty miles 
 across, so I said to the women with boys: 
 
198 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "You had better go with the 'men and one 
 wagon to the White Hills and then you will have 
 to take care of yourself, for you have done 
 nothing but eat and make work for me. I had 
 to make all the bread. I had to go on my knees 
 at night and make a wash boiler of bread and 
 bake it before we started and you were not the 
 women to offer to do anything, even wash the 
 dishes, till you were called to help with them. 
 Now, you go your way. I want no more of you. * J 
 
 So the next day one wagon with the men and 
 the woman and three boys were towed over the 
 Colorado river and went to the White Hills. I, 
 with one wagon, was left alone. We had 
 pitched our tent in a lane near the farmhouse. 
 The people were Mormons, the women English 
 and the men Swedes. They only had one wife, 
 as they owned the ferry - boats and were well- 
 to-do. 
 
 I waited three days, thinking that I would 
 hear from the hills, but not a word came for me 
 from the rest of the people, and on the fourth 
 day the women came to me and said: 
 
 "We are going to an Indian funeral. You had 
 better come with us. The wagon will be ready 
 in half an hour. " 
 
 I said: 
 
 "All right." 
 
 I was glad to get away somewhere, for I was 
 getting worried about the other wagon and the 
 people, so when they drove up to my camp I 
 was ready and we started. We got there about 
 11:30 A. M., and there were swarms of Indians 
 from far and near, and we got out of the wagons 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 199 
 
 and walked to where the big crowd was, and 
 there was a big, hot fire like a furnace and a pile 
 of the hard redwood that grows there. We had 
 not been there long when the most dismal howl 
 and noise came such a noise and such a crowd ! 
 It was deafening and awful, and to my horror 
 they brought the man in the red blankets and 
 put him on top of the hot fire and threw the logs 
 on the top of him; then the others began to form 
 a circle all around him on the top of the fire and 
 howl and keep going around in a circle, and first 
 one squaw and then another would jump to the 
 fire and throw on some piece of her dress or apron 
 that she had on. Then she brought the pony, 
 but they had taken his hams and loins off him 
 to have a feast of it at sundown, but the hide 
 was there and they put it on the fire to burn 
 with the man. I noticed one squaw was tearing 
 all her clothes off and burning them, and I found 
 out she was the wife of the buck, and she kept on 
 burning until she found she had not a rag left 
 on her, and the dismal noise and the smell and 
 their throwing up of legs and arms in their dance 
 around the fire was beyond description. No 
 madhouse could compare with it, and at about 
 twelve o'clpck at night and at twelve at noon 
 they all got under a bush and cried all through 
 the moon. I They called it crying, but it was 
 howling, and it does not matter what they are 
 doing, they stop and run under different bushes; 
 a group under one bush and another under an 
 other bush, and one howls against the other, 
 and beat their tom-toms, till it is deafening. 
 I waited ten days and no word came from the 
 
200 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 rest of the party. Then I got a horse and as I 
 had my side saddle with me I started for the 
 White Hills over the desert. The people who 
 owned the ferry were very much frightened at 
 my going alone, but I laughed at them. They 
 had good security for the horse, for I had left the 
 wagon loaded with valuables. They towed me 
 over the Colorado river and then landed me and 
 left me to my fate. 
 
 I followed the road, but there was nothing 
 but all kinds of cactuses and sand. I kept on 
 until it was late, not a soul or sign of anything 
 living could I see, and the horse was so tired 
 he could hardly move. I got off and led him. 
 It was getting very dark, but I kept on till it 
 was late at night, when I saw a light a long way 
 to the left of the road. I went till I could see 
 there were lights on the hills. Then I knew the 
 lights were from the mines, so kept on till I saw 
 a town of tents and one with a lamp outside. I 
 went up to it and when I got there found that 
 it was a saloon. I went in and asked the man 
 where I could put my horse. A man who was 
 in camp came and took him. I told him to see 
 that he was fed and had water. Then I went 
 with the man to a place they called a hotel. I 
 told them who I was and who I was looking for, 
 and the next day I found the men. Frank had 
 gone to work in the mines and Luey was working 
 the horses, hauling asphalt for the corrals. 
 
 We got another tent and the cook stove was 
 in the first wagon, so we went housekeeping, 
 and the second night I was in camp there was 
 a serenade, and they played the banjo and violin 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 201 
 
 and sang beautifully. I did not know it was for 
 
 me until the men said: 
 
 "Captain, get up; for they are serenading you." 
 I got up and dressed in a hurry. Then a crowd 
 
 of men shouted: 
 
 "Welcome, Captain Jack, Queen of the Rock 
 
 ies." 
 
 Then the darkies began to play and sing: 
 "You are welcome to our shores." 
 The next morning I found out there were quite 
 a number of Colorado boys and miners and 
 prospectors working in the mines, and they 
 knew I had come in camp. Some colored min 
 strels from California came to play in the gam 
 bling house, and they got them to come and 
 serenade me. I thought I was where no one 
 knew me and was surprised the next day. Some 
 of the boys came and asked me if I had a hymn 
 book or a prayer book, as two of the men were 
 going to be buried, and if I would go and sing a 
 hymn over them, so they that could be buried 
 like men. They had built a hospital, two rooms 
 for the sick, and they had a doctor. The men 
 were dying every day, as the doctor said it was 
 pneumonia. 
 
 I went to the funeral and sang two hymns, and 
 all the men joined in, and as we were going home 
 one of the head men of the company came to 
 me and said: 
 
 "I wish you would go and see the sick men in 
 the hospital and tell me what you think of them, 
 for two of my foremen are there." 
 
 I went and looked at the men, four in all, and 
 I knew they had not got pneumonia. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 It was arsenic poison. The pupils of their 
 eyes were closed and the color of their faces were 
 yellow. They were all doomed for death. I 
 told Mr. T. and he said: 
 
 "We will lose half of our men." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Send and get a lot of sponges and elastic 
 and dip the sponges in water and keep it over 
 their mouths and nostrils. That will stop death, 
 and the only thing that will kill the poison is 
 greasy bacon and boiled milk, and as we are on a 
 desert there is no milk." 
 
 The four men died that night and Mr. T.got 
 the sponges and it stopped the poisoning. Two 
 weeks after this I went with Luey and two of 
 the horses on the desert to look at a place, where 
 we picked up some fine looking rock. We started 
 early, but it was farther than we thought. It 
 was dark and we were a long way from home. 
 
 We came to a place where some one had been 
 camping and had cut some wood, so we stopped 
 to rest our horses and build a fire. We only 
 had lunch with us, so had nothing for supper, 
 but I took the newspaper that our lunch had 
 been in and spread it on the ground to sleep on, 
 saying to Luey: 
 
 "I have often joshed the boys that I could 
 sleep under a bush if I had only a newspaper to 
 sleep on, so here goes it. You watch the horses 
 and the fire, for I am worn out." 
 
 I had not been to sleep when something was 
 rattling the paper. It was getting up under my 
 arm; it woke me up and I raised my head to see 
 if it was Luey playing a trick on me, but there 
 
MRS. CAPTAIN JACK LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 203 
 
 ne sat at the other side of the fire as he was 
 when I lay down. Then something was right 
 under the pit of my arm. I turned to see and 
 to my horror there was a large rattlesnake. 
 
 I let a scream and rolled down the hill and the 
 snake went up amongst the bushes. Luey 
 yelled out: 
 
 "The darn thing is ten feet long." 
 
 The thing had gotten his head under my arm 
 to get warm, and why it did not bite me was a 
 wonder. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Get the horses and we will work, for I want 
 no more bedfellows like that." It was nearly 
 morning when we got home, and I did not stop 
 to undress, only loosen my clothes and it was 
 late when I woke the next morning. The 
 Indian chief was at the tent. He was a great, 
 big man, over two hundred pounds, and he had a 
 little girl's hat stuck on the top of his head. The 
 hat was broad at the bottom and narrow at the 
 top and had a dirty red ribbon around it. He 
 looked like what we used to call a tomfool or a 
 clown, when I first went in camp. 
 
 I made friends with him and gave him some 
 paint and tobacco. It was a strange sight to 
 see the tribe every Sunday sit in a circle on the 
 ground, with stacks of silver dollars and three 
 or four decks of cards and gamble, and the squaw 
 would be standing up by their braves watching 
 them like hawks, and if one of them lost all 
 his squaw would give him the last cent she had. 
 
 I had three jewsharps with me for which I 
 had paid 25 cents apiece, The Indians offered 
 
204 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 me $5 for one, so I sold it to them. They came 
 for the other two at the same price. They would 
 lend it for a few minutes and then the other 
 squaws would try to play it, but they had no 
 tune but the dreadful howling. 
 
 A few days after this one of our boys bought 
 two monsters in a cage with iron bars on. He 
 bought them for male and female. They would 
 close their eyes, swell their necks, then throw 
 their poison out like a pale green stream, and 
 it was sure death to get it on man or beast. The 
 third day they got in a fight and they set up on 
 their hind legs and fought till one got the other 
 by the throat and killed it. They were both 
 males. There is nothing on earth that is worse 
 than they are. The man paid $9 for a case of 
 eggs to feed them. I took my gun and shot 
 the other, for I would not have the monster 
 near the tent. 
 
 I found out that the rich mine, the ''Grand 
 Army,'* was bought from one of the Indians 
 for a plug of tobacco and a half pint of whisky. 
 The mine paid millions. "Them/' the chief, 
 came to see me every day. He told me that 
 there was an old Mormon fort at the mouth of 
 Death Valley and under the floor there was a 
 heap of gold hidden. He said that he would 
 take me to it, but the boys said it was not safe 
 for me to go if he would not let them go too. 
 We all would go. We paid $1.50 per barrel 
 for water. It had to be hauled nine miles from 
 what they called a water hole. It was warm 
 and nasty. How I longed for one good drink 
 of that Colorado clear water, and as I sat all 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 205 
 
 alone on that clear moonlight night, thinking 
 of the cause of this dry desert, I could but think 
 there is another triangle, and its law is repul 
 sion, retention, suppression and attraction, for 
 what holds large quantities of water and snow 
 which falls to earth. There is nothing neutral, 
 and it attracts from earth and is retained in the 
 clouds until the right attraction draws it down 
 That same law is attached to everyone of us; 
 some repulse and others attract; some keep 
 friends and others' friends are of short duration, 
 and it is plain to understand that these forces 
 all work by triangle power. 
 
 A few weeks after this there was a stir in 
 camp. Groups of Indians were getting to 
 gether with looks of anger on their faces, and 
 crowds of white men were talking together, 
 when to my surprise they came toward my 
 tents. I went to the door to meet them, when 
 the proprietor of the big gambling house came 
 and said: 
 
 "Captain, we want you to help us out of a 
 messy scrap. The man who owned the largest 
 corral in town got full last night and dragged 
 a squaw in his office and abused her. The 
 Indians will do mischief if something is not 
 done. We are going to arrest Jake and then 
 turn my gambling room into a courtroom and 
 try him, and we want you to be the judge, for 
 Tom, the chief, will stand by you where he does 
 not trust one of us." 
 
 I said: 
 
 4 'Well, you are getting me in a strange busi 
 ness; first, you make a minister of me to read 
 
206 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 the funeral services and sing, and now you want 
 me to be a judge, which I do not want to be. Let 
 the men take care of the case." 
 
 "That is what we are going to do, but the 
 chief is so angry that we fear bloodshed, and 
 if we can avoid it by being cautious it is the 
 best thing to save life and property, for the 
 chief is one of the worst brutes and fighters of 
 all the tribes. He saw you shoot the monster 
 the other day and said: 
 
 " 'The Paleface heap brave and shoot good/ 
 and he slapped his breast in admiration of you. 
 
 "Now we know it is not a nice thing to ask 
 you to do, but you have the sand and sense 
 and are gritty. You know you fear nothing, 
 and if you are the judge the chief will not let 
 the braves turn loose on us, for we want you to 
 come and help us out, for we must do what we 
 are going to do quick, before they get started 
 to burn the town and butcher our people, for it 
 is known that there are no troops nearer than 
 Frisco." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Go ahead and get your man." 
 
 So they got a roll of rope and bound his arms 
 with it and took him up to the courtroom. It 
 was soon packed with miners and Indians. 
 
 Then they sent for the squaw and her hus 
 band and the chief. Then I went in and played 
 judge. 
 
 I asked her to tell what he did. She opened 
 her shawl and showed me the bruises on her 
 arms and wounds on her breast where he had 
 bitten her like a brute. 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 207 
 
 I asked her to show me the man. She 
 showed me the prisoner. I asked the man why 
 he did it. He said that he was drunk and did 
 not know what he was doing. Then the chief 
 said: 
 
 1 'If my braves did that to the Paleface, you 
 would hang him and make war with the rest of 
 them." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Well, I will fine you $50 and costs and you 
 will pay the $50 to the squaw before you leave 
 this room." 
 
 Then I beckoned to the squaw to come to me. 
 The man said he did not have that much money, 
 and that he only had $30. He put the $30 on 
 the table. I got the men to give me silver for 
 it, then told him he must borrow the rest. I 
 knew that the chief was watching every move 
 that I made. Then some of the men said: 
 
 "Let us all chip in." 
 
 So they took up a collection. I counted $20 
 more of silver dollars and gave it to the squaw, 
 saying: 
 
 "This will make it all right. I made him pay 
 for his drunkenness and cruelty." 
 
 The hard, cruel look passed from the chief's 
 face and changed to a smile. He whipped out a 
 large sharp dagger and held it up and said: 
 
 "I come here to put it in his breast. But the 
 Paleface has done better, and the next Paleface 
 that is bad to my squaws I will kill him." 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Yes, but you will not let your braves do 
 anything of harm, now I have settled this?" 
 
 He said: 
 
208 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 "Give me your hand. I will see not anyone 
 is hurt. You have done well." 
 
 Then I counted the balance of the money and 
 had $42 left. 
 
 I said: 
 
 "Let this money start a burial fund, for so 
 many of the boys that die have no money and 
 are so far away from home and friends, and 
 every pay day throw in a mite. It will grow 
 and he that ate poison will be pleased to know 
 you will not be buried a pauper." 
 
 They all shouted and got excited. I thought 
 they were crazy, and I was afraid and thought 
 they would get into a fight, for they had been 
 so still through it all, but none did, and now all 
 was settled. 
 
 They gave vent to their feelings and yelled 
 like madmen, and when I got up to go they 
 picked me up and put me on their shoulders and 
 carried me to my tent. 
 
 It was not many days after this that it was 
 a warm night. I felt something in my bed. I 
 could not sleep, and as soon as daylight came I 
 got up to see what it was in the bed, and to my 
 horror there was a swarm of lizards; the Indians 
 called them "swifts." They ran up and down 
 the walls of the tent in swarms. That settled 
 it. I would not stay in such a place, so I began 
 to get ready to leave for Colorado. When 
 night came I went to the only building called 
 a hotel to sleep, for I was afraid of these lizards. 
 
 It was a clear moonlight night the anniver 
 sary of the 27th year I had been in the West, 
 and the stage was to leave the next morning at 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 209 
 
 five o'clock for Kingman and take me with it. 
 I had been talking to the Indians about their 
 form of worship, and when I stood at my tent 
 door I could not help wandering away for quite 
 a distance on the desert. The large cactuses 
 seemed to take different forms. They called 
 them " Joshuas" there. In the moonlight 
 they looked like men and animals. I had gone 
 out of sight of the town of tents, when I sat on 
 a fallen "Joshua" and sat musing with my 
 thoughts, and my mind flew backwards to that 
 old thatched-roof house where we had a Bible 
 over five hundred years old, and in one place it 
 said: 
 
 "If your wife offend thee, scourge her with a 
 whip." 
 
 But woman's intelligence soon came to their 
 aid and they would not let their children go to 
 church or school to be taught such things, and 
 when the priests tried to frighten them to send 
 their children and go themselves they stood 
 firm and said: 
 
 "No, we will call on God to save us from the 
 sting of the lash when our husband is inflicting 
 it on us and our conscience tells us that God 
 never made man so big and strong to use that 
 strength on the weaker women with a whip, 
 and we shall not have our children taught to 
 do such things or our girls to submit to being 
 whipped by their husbands." 
 
 So they had to cut out of the Bible that part 
 and stop preaching it or have the churches all 
 to themselves. So women, with the God-given 
 weaker body, had the power to defy the cunning 
 
 14 
 
210 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 priestcraft and civilize the brute man. Let us 
 go further. They get up a hell fire and brim 
 stone and tell the people if they do not go to 
 church and believe what is told them, or do 
 anything contrary to its teaching, this Al 
 mighty God will burn them forever, so stay in 
 your flight through life and take a few minutes 
 to analyze this and see what blasphemy this is. 
 This was frightful. The people blaspheme the 
 all-wise God, but build up your churches is the 
 cry of all creeds. There is a creed in India 
 where the women throw their infants in the 
 river and watch the alligators eat them up as 
 a sacrifice to this hungry God. Intelligence 
 comes in and stops this, but our churches of 
 today are far worse than the alligator creed, 
 for the women did not make the alligator eat 
 their young, but all creeds admit that God 
 made man; then, according to the creed of 
 today, he made man to be murdered; for when he 
 made man he knew what man would do and 
 how long it would take to bring him to the 
 light of reason and intelligence. Yet they set 
 up another God born from animal woman whom 
 they call Christ and claim him to be the only 
 son of God, and worship him, but they forget 
 that if God had a son he must have had a mother 
 the same as his father in spirit; but creed says 
 that God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
 leaving out the mother as nothing and putting 
 the Holy Ghost in her place; then they get to 
 gether and murder him in the most cruel form, 
 then tell the people he died to save them all 
 from what? Was it from the anger of this 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 211 
 
 fatherly loving God who made man the two- 
 legged alligator to murder his only son as a 
 sacrifice to be murdered by man that he created 
 himself? They ought to know that God is a 
 spirit, and if he has a son, that son would come 
 in his astral body, in the brightest sunlight or 
 in the darkest night, and he would see and hear 
 in every language, but no man would lay hands 
 on Him, for they that tried would fall dead from 
 the electricity from his body before they could 
 get near enough to touch Him. 
 
 The Buddhists claim to have the only one, the 
 Chaldeans claim to have the only one, and the 
 Mohammedans claim to have the only one, and 
 so it has been for ages back. 
 
 The Indian, who knows no teacher, goes out 
 at sunrise in the morning and worships the big 
 spirit which his higher self teaches him is right, 
 for what is man and what is soul? The body 
 of man is the casing of the spiritual body and 
 the spiritual body is the casing of the soul and 
 indestructible. When a child is born there is no 
 life till the breath enters that body with the 
 spiritual body, and when it dies the breath, 
 with the spiritual body, the germ of the God 
 which is the soul, all leaves that human body as 
 the workings of a clock taken from its case, 
 and yet creed will try to save their souls. There 
 is no such thing as a soul. There is no such 
 thing as a soul being lost. You cannot lose 
 your soul or destroy it. Better pray for light 
 and wisdom. As I have said before, there are 
 three powers that control all things electric- 
 itv, vibration, and what I called the Push is an 
 
212 THE FATE OF A FAIRY 
 
 aura light that is around every living thing and 
 controls every creature, and works with plane 
 tary vibrations, according to the position of 
 the planets. The God head essence is in this 
 light; if we could only understand their harmony 
 and working together we would all be a better 
 race of people. 
 
 And after twenty-seven years of wandering 
 through the Rocky Mountains in the far West 
 I drop amongst the people as though I came 
 from the clouds, and what do I find: That our 
 public schools are teaching both boys and girls 
 to be sports. The girls feel degraded to go out 
 and do housework, and they know nothing of 
 sewing and housekeeping, and want a piano the 
 first thing. The boys will not work and are 
 looking for a soft snap, to be a doctor or lawyer 
 or a politician anything to get a graft out of 
 the public and the brainy men that are fitted 
 for these positions are at their wit's end to know 
 how to compete with this army of grafters; and 
 as I wander on I find a lot of people banded to 
 gether as temperance unions, or different names, 
 who have been reformed drunkards and had to 
 take a big oath and have a mob at their backs 
 to keep them from getting drunk. These are 
 all degenerates, for if man or woman cannot 
 drink beer, wine or liquor without getting 
 beastly intoxicated, he has no will power and 
 is a degenerate. These people are a curse to 
 the country, for they say, "We do not drink 
 now and you shall not drink." So they want to 
 take the rights of the level-headed people away, 
 who do not say we drink and you must let these 
 
THE FATE OF A FAIRY 213 
 
 people go back to olden times. When we had 
 good mothers they taught their children to 
 drink without being drunkards, as they taught 
 them to eat without being gluttons. Mothers, 
 stay at home and teach your children to eat, 
 drink and work and be good men and women, 
 instead of drunkards, degenerates and drones; 
 even the bees know enough to destroy their 
 drones. 
 
 I look farther 1 and I find they have built rail 
 roads under rivers in New York and built build 
 ings twenty and thirty stories high. In every 
 city where there are large sheets of water there 
 is a liability of a volcanic eruption which they 
 call earthquake. When they come, I would 
 rather be in the mountains than near those high 
 buildings. 
 
 And as I look farther I find in all large cities 
 they are persecuting the Jews. They will not 
 admit them in the hotels and will not rent them 
 houses in certain parts of the cities. Hark, all 
 ye Hebrews; hear the prophecy of the Fairy 
 who wears a crown of silvery gray; hear, now, 
 the time is fast coming when this persecution 
 shall cease, for you are the coming people of 
 this nation; you are the commercial people 
 of this country; now you are in the light of pro 
 gression whilst two-thirds of our people are de 
 generates, and in time to come this mighty 
 nation shall be the Promised Land of the Jews. 
 
 So, cheer up, for the aura light is breaking 
 through the dark circle of apprehension. 
 
 And this is the prophecy of the Fated Fairy and 
 a wanderer for twenty-seven years in the far West.