Chapter I: Introduction

Bushy is real, but she is no longer a little girl. In her memory the scenes and incidents of that strange child-life in the Rockies mingle to form a single pleasant dream. Their hardness is all gone. They have become impersonal, so that it would often be difficult for Bushy herself to determine where the line runs that separates individual experience from environment. But no matter! The whole picture is a truthful one, as those who knew Bushy in the mines could testify.

The resolution of the equation of existence to its simplest form, amid the most rugged surroundings, makes a singular school for the development of womanhood. A child situated as Bushy was, finds little encouragement for that element of innate poetry which ranges from “Jack the Giant Killer” to “The Tempest,” and from “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” to Tennyson’s “Round Table.” The habit of self-dependence, the perpetual exaltation of the practical, the continuous nearness to nature, bring their compensation, nevertheless, in the forced growth of character; character worth having and worth studying.

In the hope that the value of such character may be illustrated here, this story is dedicated to an indulgent public.

THE AUTHOR.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

“OH, LISTEN TO ME, JIP; YOU ARE SO IMPOLITE!” _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

“OH, I’S ALL WEDDY, PAPA!” 5

“OO IS WELL, NOW, PETE” 20

THE FATAL MINER’S LAMP 26

“‘GO ’WAY, SHANKS; YOU TALKED LOUD, TOO’” 36

“YES, YES, I’LL DIG YOU OUT,” SHE CRIED 40

SHE THOUGHT SHE HEARD HER FATHER SAY,
“ALL DEPENDS ON YOU, BUSHY” 42

“OH, LOOK, ROVER, THE LAKE IS
GROWING WIDER AND WIDER” 46

“GREAT HEAVENS! BUSHY, WHAT HAS HAPPENED?”
CRIED SHANKS 48

“NOW, TOM, I AM SURE ENOUGH A LITTLE BOY!” 52

“LIE CLOSE AND CLING TIGHT,” CRIED MR. SUKOLT,
JUST AS HE, TOO, WENT OUT OF SIGHT 54

“HOW DE DO,” CRIED BUSHY, THROWING HER NET
AT ONE OF THE NEAREST ONES 58

SHE CAUGHT THE SNAKE JUST BELOW THE HEAD
AND HELD IT WITH HER SLENDER, WIRY FINGERS 60

BUSHY FIRED AGAIN, AND THIS TIME DOWN HE CAME 68

AT THE SAME MOMENT CAME A REPORT
FROM BUSHY’S REVOLVER 74

“PICKLE AND HERRING! BUT THIS IS A DISH FIT
FOR A KING WITH A CROWN ON” 78

THE DANCE WAS A VERITABLE SERPENTINE ONE
OF MODERN DAYS 94

“OH, NED, NED, NED, JUMP,
JUMP FOR PADRE’S SAKE, JUMP!” 104

SHE GAZED DOWN IN ADMIRATION UPON WHAT
SHE SAW REFLECTED THERE 108

BUSHY SHOT HIM, AND HE FELL ON HIS FACE
ACROSS TOM’S BODY 120

“THOSE ARE THE HORNS FOR ME,” SHE SAID,
AND FIRED WHEN THE SHEEP WAS IN MID-AIR 130

SHE HELD HIS HEAD IN HER LAP
AND KISSED HIS BIG, SORROWFUL EYES 138

BUSHY CAUGHT JIP’S MANE IN ONE HAND
AND WOUND HER FOOT
IN THE ROPE THAT CIRCLED HIS BODY 152

“BUSHY! MY GOD, BOYS, SHE IS NOT HERE!” 162

ROVER WAS CAPERING LIKE MAD ABOUT HIM 172

“SH! KEEP STILL,” WHISPERED BUSHY 184

BUSHY GAZED UPON THIS PICTURE
IN THE DEEPEST ADMIRATION 192

“I’LL HOLD YOU, WILLIE, DEAR,” SHE SAID 204

“THERE, NOW, OLD FELLOW, KEEP COOL;
KEEP COOL; KEEP COOL, SIR!” 212

THE INSTANT BUSHY REALIZED HER DANGER, SHE FIRED 222

BUSHY’S HOME AT GREAT PINE MINE 290

“GOOD-BY!” 318

BUSHY