Perhaps there is
nothing to be regretted in this, however, except that any amount of
dirt has been piled up right in the heart of Helena. The millionaire
residents seem to think that the great altitude and dry atmosphere
will prevent any ill effects of decaying debris.
We went to the assay building the other day to see a brick of gold
taken from the furnace. The mold was run out on its little track soon
after we got there, and I never dreamed of what "white heat" really
means, until I saw the oven of that awful furnace. We had to stand far
across the room while the door was open, and even then the hot air
that shot out seemed blasting. The men at the furnace were protected,
of course. The brick mold was in another mold that after a while was
put in cold water, so we had to wait for first the large and then the
small to be opened before we saw the beautiful yellow brick that was
still very hot, but we were assured that it was then too hard to be in
danger of injury. It was of the largest size, and shaped precisely
like an ordinary building brick, and its value was great. It was to be
shipped on the stage the next morning on its way to the treasury in
Washington.
It is wonderful that so few of those gold bricks are stolen from the
stage. The driver is their only protector, and the stage route is
through miles and miles of wild forests, and in between huge boulders
where a "hold-up" could be so easily accomplished.
CAMP ON MARIAS RIVER, MONTANA TERRITORY,
September, 1878.
AN old proverb tells us that "All things come to to him who waits,"
but I never had faith in this, for I have patiently waited many times
for things that never found me. But this time, after I had waited and
waited the tiresome summer through, ever hoping to come to Fort
Benton, and when I was about discouraged, "things come," and here I am
in camp with Faye, and ever so much more comfortable than I would have
been at the little old hotel at Benton.
There are only two companies here now - all the others having gone with
regimental headquarters to Fort Shaw - otherwise I could not be here,
for I could not have come to a large camp. Our tents are at the
extreme end of the line in a grove of small trees, and next to ours is
the doctor's, so we are quite cut off from the rest of the camp. Cagey
is here, and Faye has a very good soldier cook, so the little mess,
including the doctor, is simply fine.
