Adventure, June 1911 — page 97: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Adventuring in Tiburon understood why they died. We have now a fine young man very sick. A month ago he took our gold and went over on the other coast to trade. When he came back he be- came.very ill. First a bad cold-spirit makes him very cold, then a hot-spirit makes him burn. We would like that you cure him, if your medicine is as strong as that of the other two good white men.” “*T will consult with my partner,” said I. The Indians now respectfully withdrew. “Charlie,” said I, ‘‘this sick Indian has evi- dently contracted malaria on the other coast. We’have plenty of quinine and calomel, so I am going over to cure him.” “Very well,” said Charlie, “go and cure him.” : I now made up a bed-roll, took the needed medicine and called over one of the young men. “Come,” said I, “you are strong. Bring my bed along.” . Dec. 2—The sick man is cured of his chills and fever. He is still very weak, but thecoldand hot devils have fled before the “strong medicine” of the white mam. “Nothing can exceed the silent esteem and gratitude of these poor savages. This morning Ahti, the sick man, took my right foot and put it upon his head. The assembled onlookers all cried “Tu-roo, tu- rool’ (good, good). Tomas*came in from a turtle hunt at noon. He said, “You men are now our brothers. You white men love gold; we have the ma- chine hidden in a cave, and it is still good. We will give it to you, so that you may get much gold.” Dec. 3—The machine is a thirty-ton dry- washer. As this climate is so dry that nothing rots, all that the machine needs is overhauling and grease. We will set it up in the same place it was worked before. Dec. 4—Ahtt, Charlie and myself have now run the dry-washer for two days. We have taken out four and a half ounces of gold. At $16 per ounce, this makes $12 a day per man. It is needless to state that we are well pleased. I have sent four of the young men across to Encinal to buy flour, charging them strictly to say nothing of our presence to any one whatsoever. - Je Ahtti has offered me as a free gift his most precious possession, to wit, his wife. 1 have thanked him kindly, stating that we white men, when good men, love only one woman, and that, as I already love.the One 282 Woman, I can not honestly love two. This phase of male virtue seems beyond his primitive philosophy, yet he has silently acquiesced, as he does in all things that are my will. I believe he loves me in his dumb and simple fashion—and I am not displeased. Charlie is ‘making googoo eyes” at a coy widow. This lady’s name is Ma-hat-mi, and she is the relict of two successive gentle- men who have both passed out by the bubble sickness route. The lady herself has the “‘face-of-a-thousand-pits,”’ for she had the disease herself. She is fairly young, how- ever, kindly and industrious. I have noticed that Charlie is easily pleased, and that his ideas on some subjects resemble strongly those of the upper-class Stone Age. Dec. 7—Ma-hat-mi to-day became Mrs. Charles Kanaka. The ceremony was short, sweet and unaffected. The bride wore neither veil nor orange-blossoms, being adorned with only her native virtue, a new red handkerchief, a bag skirt of calico and a man’s shirt, the latter presented by my- self. She was very proud of this gift, wear- ing it outside of everything, @ Ja Chinaman. At 2 P. M. a drum was beaten by the bride’s brother, while a cousin blew plaintive notes on a reed flute. This wedding-march was continuous during the nuptial feast, said feast consisting of coffee, beans, boiled corn, dried pumpkin, fish and turtle-eggs. We had also some edible roots, baked to a turn. The soul and core of the ceremony itself consisted in the bride and groom eating a small turtle together, the turtle being a sacred emblem. | After the feast we smoked, told stories and gambled for gold-dust. Fortune favored Ahti, whose skill or luck was phenomenal. Dec. 8—Last night Ahtt surreptitiously added his winnings to my sack of gold-dust. This Indian is a gentleman, one of God’s fools—such as he who found Richard Coeur- de-Leon in his Austrian prison. Of course, I won’t keep the dust, but I am touched beyond words. Tomas has the belly-ache —too much turtle-egg. I am giving him a dose of salts. One of the turtle-eggs must have been sour. Dec. 9o—Yesterday Charlie resolved to move his honeymoon up to the dry-washer. Ma-hat-mi is now chief cook and bottle- washer for the three of us—ably assisted by Mrs. Ahti. She watches Charlie like a faithful pup, who, loving and trusting his master, ever. yearns to lick his hand. Some COnmmiclbooks (©