When Willis Murch passed along the old road in October that fall, the
mysterious "saloon" was still standing there; and lumbermen spoke of
seeing it there during the winter. That next August, a year after we had
first discovered it, Catherine and Theodora again went up to Dresser's
Lonesome to gather herbs; and still the "daguerreotype saloon" was
there.
It was Halstead who carried the girls up on that trip. The weather had
been threatening when they started, and showers soon set in; rain fell
pretty much all the afternoon, so that the girls were badly delayed in
gathering their herbs. When Halstead declared that it was high time to
start for home, Catherine proposed that they stay there overnight and
finish their task the next day. The roof of the old farmhouse was now so
leaky that they could find no shelter there from the rain; but Catherine
suggested that the deserted "daguerreotype saloon" would be a cosy place
to camp in.
Theodora did not like the idea very well, for the region was wild and
lonely, and Halstead thought he ought to return to the farm.
"Why, this old saloon is just as good as a house!" Catherine said. "We
can fasten the door, and then nothing can get in.
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