THE DYING DIGGER. (From the Spectator.)

Evening Post, Volume XVI, Issue 284, 30 November 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE DYING DIGGER. (From the Spectator. )

Billy is dying, and implores some one to pray ; and here comes one of the most painfully humorous scenes within our knowledge, a scene in which this especial type of American humor is exhibited in its perfection :—: — "The boys looked sorrowful; if golddust could have bought prayers, Billy would have had a first-class assortment in an instant. • There's Deacon Adams over to Pattin's,' suggested a bystander ; ' an' $hey do say he's a reg'lar rip-roarer at prayin' ! But 'twould take four hours to fetch him.' 'Too long,' said the Doctor. ' Down in Mexico, at the cathedral,' said another, ' they pray for a feller after he's dead, when yer pay 'em fur it, an' they say its jist the thing — sure pop. I'll give yer my word, Billy, an' no go back, that I'll see the job done up in style fur yer, ef that's any comfort.' 'I want to hear it myself,' groaned fthe Bufferer ; ' I dont't feel right ; can't nobody pray — nobody in the crowd ?'.... Finally matters were brought to a crisis by Mose — no one knew his other name. Mose uncovered a sandy head, face, and beard, and remarked: « I don't want to put on airs in this crowd, but ef no one else ken say a word to the Lord about Billy Bent, I'm a-goin' to do it myself. It's a bigness I've never been in, but ther's nothin' like tryin.' This meetin' '11 cum to order to wunst.' ' Hats off in church, gentlemen !' commanded Pentecost. Off came every hat, and some of the boys knelt down, as Mose knelt beside the bench, and said, ' O Lord, here's Billy Bent needs 'tendin' to ! He's panned out his last dust, an' he seems to hey a purty clear idee that this is his last chance. He wants you to give him a lift, Lord, an' it's the opinion of this house that he needs it. 'Taint none of our bizness what he's done, an' ef it wuz, you'd know more sbout it than we cud tell yer ; but it's mighty sartin that a cuss that's been in the dggin's far years needs a sight of mendin' up before he kicks the bucket.' 'That's so,' responded two or three, very emphatically. 'Billy's down, Lord, an' no decent man believes that the Lord 'ud hit a man when he's down, so there's one of two thinga got to be done — either he's got to be let alone, or he's got to be helped. Lettin' him alone won't do him or anybody else enny good, so helpin's the holt, an' as enny one uv us tough fellera would help ef we knew how to, it's only fair to suppose that the Lord '11 do it a mighty sight quicker. Now, what Billy needs is to see the thing in thet light, an' you ken make him do it a good deal better than we ken. It's mighty little fur the Lord to do, but it's meat an' drink an' clothes to Billy justj ust now. Wh en we wus boys, sum uv us read some promises of you'rn in that Book that was writ a good spell ago by chaps in the Old Country, an' though Sunday schoolteachers and preachers mixed the matter np in oar minds, an' got us all tangle-footed, we know they're thar, and you'll know what we mean. Now, Lord, Billy's jest the boy — he'B a hard case, so you can't find no better stuff to work on— he's in a

bad fix, thet we can't do nuthin' fur, so ¦; it's jußt yer chance. -He ain't exactly the j chap to make A Number One Angel ef, but he ain't the man to forget a friend, so -. he'll be a handy feller to hey aroun'.' - ' Feel any better, Billy ?' said Mose, stopping the prayer for a moment. ' A little,' said Billy, feebly ; ' but you want to tell the whole yarn. I'm sorry for all the • wrong I've done.' ' He's sorry for all hia deviltry, Lord ' . ' An 1 I ain't got nothin' agin the Judge,' continued the « sufferer. 'An' he don't bear no malice f agin the Judge, which he shouldn't seeing he generally gin as good as " he took. Ar? the long an' snort of it, Lord, is jest this f — he's a dyin', an' he wants a chance to ' die with his mind eas>y, an' nobody else can make it so, so we leave the whole job '» in your hands, only puttin' in, fur Billy* S comfort, thai we recollect hearing how yer < forgiv' a dyin' thief, an' that it ain't likely ? yer a-goin' to be harder pn a chap thet's alwas paid fur what he got. - Thet'a the ; whole story. Amen.' Billy's hand, ; rapidly growing cold, reached for that of ; Mose, and he said, with considerable \ effort, ' Mose, yer came in ez handy as a - nugget in a gone-up -claim. Qod bless yer, I Mose. I feel 'better inside. Ef I get ; through the clouds, an' hey a'livm' chance f to say a word to them as iB the chiefs thar, § thet word '11 bo fur you, Mose. God blesa ' yer, Mose, an' ef my blessin's no account, s it can't cuss yer, ennyhotv. This claim's i washed out, fellers, an' here goes the \ last shovelful, to see if ther's enny gold in '¦ it or not.' And Billy departed this life, | and the boys drank to the repose of hia < soul." ¦ , 4 ; After that, can any other notion be ¦ given of the mingled gruesomeness and :• l ludicrouaneas of these diggsr stories than * that one feels them "in one's bones?" ;