{"product_id":"2940014500869","title":"The Bell-Ringer of Angel's","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003eWhere the North Fork of the Stanislaus River begins to lose its\u003cbr\u003eyouthful\u003cbr\u003egrace, vigor, and agility, and broadens more maturely into the plain,\u003cbr\u003ethere is a little promontory which at certain high stages of water\u003cbr\u003elies\u003cbr\u003elike a small island in the stream. To the strongly-marked heroics of\u003cbr\u003eSierran landscape it contrasts a singular, pastoral calm. White and\u003cbr\u003egray mosses from the overhanging rocks and feathery alders trail their\u003cbr\u003efilaments in its slow current, and between the woodland openings there\u003cbr\u003eare glimpses of vivid velvet sward, even at times when the wild oats\u003cbr\u003eand\u003cbr\u003ePage 1\u003cbr\u003eThe Bell-Ringer of Angel's\u003cbr\u003e\"wire-grasses\" of the plains are already yellowing. The placid river,\u003cbr\u003eunstained at this point by mining sluices or mill drift, runs clear\u003cbr\u003eunder its contemplative shadows. Originally the camping-ground of a\u003cbr\u003eDigger Chief, it passed from his tenancy with the American rifle\u003cbr\u003ebullet\u003cbr\u003ethat terminated his career. The pioneer who thus succeeded to its\u003cbr\u003eattractive calm gave way in turn to a well-directed shot from the\u003cbr\u003erevolver of a quartz-prospector, equally impressed with the charm of\u003cbr\u003eits restful tranquillity. How long he might have enjoyed its riparian\u003cbr\u003eseclusion is not known. A sudden rise of the river one March night\u003cbr\u003equietly removed him, together with the overhanging post oak beneath\u003cbr\u003ewhich he was profoundly but unconsciously meditating. The demijohn of\u003cbr\u003ewhiskey was picked up further down. But no other suggestion of these\u003cbr\u003esuccessive evictions was ever visible in the reposeful serenity of the\u003cbr\u003espot.\u003cbr\u003eIt was later occupied, and a cabin built upon the spot, by one\u003cbr\u003eAlexander\u003cbr\u003eMcGee, better known as \"the Bell-ringer of Angel's.\" This euphonious\u003cbr\u003etitle, which might have suggested a consistently peaceful occupation,\u003cbr\u003ehowever, referred to his accuracy of aim at a mechanical target, where\u003cbr\u003ethe piercing of the bull's eye was celebrated by the stroke of a bell.\u003cbr\u003eIt is probable that this singular proficiency kept his investment of\u003cbr\u003ethat gentle seclusion unchallenged. At all events it was uninvaded. He\u003cbr\u003eshared it only with the birds. Perhaps some suggestion of nest\u003cbr\u003ebuilding\u003cbr\u003emay have been in his mind, for one pleasant spring morning he brought\u003cbr\u003ehither a wife. It was his OWN; and in this way he may be said to have\u003cbr\u003eintroduced that morality which is supposed to be the accompaniment and\u003cbr\u003ereflection of pastoral life. Mrs. McGee's red petticoat was sometimes\u003cbr\u003eseen through the trees--a cheerful bit of color. Mrs. McGee's red\u003cbr\u003echeeks, plump little figure, beribboned hat and brown, still-girlish\u003cbr\u003ebraids were often seen at sunset on the river bank, in company with\u003cbr\u003eher husband, who seemed to be pleased with the discreet and distant\u003cbr\u003eadmiration that followed them. Strolling under the bland shadows of\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003ecotton-woods, by the fading gold of the river, he doubtless felt that\u003cbr\u003epeace which the mere world cannot give, and which fades not away\u003cbr\u003ebefore\u003cbr\u003ethe clear, accurate eye of the perfect marksman.\u003cbr\u003eTheir nearest neighbors were the two brothers Wayne, who took up\u003cbr\u003ea claim, and built themselves a cabin on the river bank near the\u003cbr\u003epromontory. Quiet, simple men, suspected somewhat of psalm-singing,\u003cbr\u003eand\u003cbr\u003eundue retirement on Sundays, they attracted but little attention. But\u003cbr\u003ewhen, through some original conception or painstaking deliberation,\u003cbr\u003ethey\u003cbr\u003eturned the current of the river so as to restrict the overflow between\u003cbr\u003ethe promontory and the river bank, disclosing an auriferous \"bar\" of\u003cbr\u003einconceivable richness, and establishing their theory that it was\u003cbr\u003ereally\u003cbr\u003ePage 2\u003cbr\u003eThe Bell-Ringer of Angel's\u003cbr\u003ethe former channel of the river, choked and diverted though ages of\u003cbr\u003ealluvial drift, they may be said to have changed, also, the fortunes\u003cbr\u003eof the little settlement. Popular feeling and the new prosperity which\u003cbr\u003edawned upon the miners recognized the two brothers by giving the name\u003cbr\u003eof\u003cbr\u003eWayne's Bar to the infant settlement and its post-office. The peaceful\u003cbr\u003epromontory, although made easier of access, still preserved its calm\u003cbr\u003eseclusion, and pretty Mrs. McGee could contemplate through the leaves\u003cbr\u003eof\u003cbr\u003eher bower the work going on at its base, herself unseen. Nevertheless,\u003cbr\u003ethis Arcadian retreat was being slowly and surely invested; more than\u003cbr\u003ethat, the character of its surroundings was altered, and the\u003cbr\u003ecomplexion\u003cbr\u003eof the river had changed. The Wayne engines on the point above had\u003cbr\u003eturned the drift and debris into the current that now thickened and\u003cbr\u003eran\u003cbr\u003eyellow around the wooded shore. The fringes of this Eden were already\u003cbr\u003etainted with the color of gold.\u003cbr\u003eIt is doubtful, however, if Mrs. McGee was much affected by this\u003cbr\u003esentimental reflection, and her husband, in a manner, lent himself to\u003cbr\u003ethe desecration of his exclusive domain by accepting a claim along\u003cbr\u003ethe shore--tender","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083902468336,"sku":"2940014500869","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014500869_p0.jpg?v=1763609912","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014500869","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}