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diff --git a/21734.txt b/21734.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f19a7b --- /dev/null +++ b/21734.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11311 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Golden Dream, by R.M. Ballantyne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Golden Dream + Adventures in the Far West + +Author: R.M. Ballantyne + +Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21734] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOLDEN DREAM *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +The Golden Dream, by R.M. Ballantyne + +________________________________________________________________________ + +Robert Michael Ballantyne was born in 1825 and died in 1894. He was +educated at the Edinburgh Academy, and in 1841 he became a clerk with +the Hudson Bay Company, working at the Red River Settlement in Northen +Canada until 1847, arriving back in Edinburgh in 1848. The letters he +had written home were very amusing in their description of backwoods +life, and his family publishing connections suggested that he should +construct a book based on these letters. Three of his most enduring +books were written over the next decade, "The Young Fur Traders", +"Ungava", "The Hudson Bay Company", and were based on his experiences +with the H.B.C. In this period he also wrote "The Coral island" and +"Martin Rattler", both of these taking place in places never visited by +Ballantyne. Having been chided for small mistakes he made in these +books, he resolved always to visit the places he wrote about. With +these books he became known as a great master of literature intended for +teenagers. He researched the Cornish Mines, the London Fire Brigade, +the Postal Service, the Railways, the laying down of submarine telegraph +cables, the construction of light-houses, the light-ship service, the +life-boat service, South Africa, Norway, the North Sea fishing fleet, +ballooning, deep-sea diving, Algiers, and many more, experiencing the +lives of the men and women in these settings by living with them for +weeks and months at a time, and he lived as they lived. + +He was a very true-to-life author, depicting the often squalid scenes he +encountered with great care and attention to detail. His young readers +looked forward eagerly to his next books, and through the 1860s and +1870s there was a flow of books from his pen, sometimes four in a year, +all very good reading. The rate of production diminished in the last +ten or fifteen years of his life, but the quality never failed. + +He published over ninety books under his own name, and a few books for +very young children under the pseudonym "Comus". + +For today's taste his books are perhaps a little too religious, and what +we would nowadays call "pi". In part that was the way people wrote in +those days, but more important was the fact that in his days at the Red +River Settlement, in the wilds of Canada, he had been a little +dissolute, and he did not want his young readers to be unmindful of how +they ought to behave, as he felt he had been. + +Some of his books were quite short, little over 100 pages. These books +formed a series intended for the children of poorer parents, having less +pocket-money. These books are particularly well-written and researched, +because he wanted that readership to get the very best possible for +their money. They were published as six series, three books in each +series. + +Re-created as an e-Text by Nick Hodson, August 2003. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +THE GOLDEN DREAM, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. + +THE CAUSE OF THE WHOLE AFFAIR. + +Ned Sinton gazed at the scene before him with indescribable amazement! +He had often witnessed strange things in the course of his short though +chequered life, but he had never seen anything like this. Many a dream +of the most extravagant nature had surrounded his pillow with creatures +of curious form and scenes of magic beauty, but never before, either by +actual observation or in nightly vision, had Ned Sinton beheld a scene +so wonderful as that which now lay spread out before him. + +Ned stood in the centre of a cavern of vast dimensions--so vast, and so +full of intense light, that instead of looking on it as a huge cave, he +felt disposed to regard it as a small world. The sides of this cavern +were made of pure gold, and the roof--far above his head--was spangled +all over with glittering points, like a starry sky. The ground, too, +and, in short, everything within the cave, was made of the same precious +metal. Thousands of stalactites hung from the roof like golden icicles. +Millions of delicate threads of the same material also depended from +the star-spangled vault, each thread having a golden ball at the end of +it, which, strange to say, was transparent, and permitted a bright +flame within to shine through, and shed a yellow lustre over +surrounding objects. All the edges, and angles, and points of the +irregularly-formed walls were of burnished gold, which reflected the +rays of these pendant lamps with dazzling brilliancy, while the broad +masses of the frosted walls shone with a subdued light. Magnificent +curtains of golden filigree fell in rich voluminous folds on the +pavement, half concealing several archways which led into smaller +caverns, similar to the large one. Altogether it was a scene of +luxurious richness and splendour that is utterly indescribable. + +But the thing that amazed Ned Sinton most was, that the company of +well-dressed ladies and gentlemen who moved about in these splendid +halls, and ate golden ices, or listened to the exquisite strains of +music that floated on the atmosphere, were all as yellow as guineas! +Ned could by no means understand this. In order to convince himself +that there was no deception in the matter, he shook hands with several +of the people nearest to him, and found that they were cold and hard as +iron; although, to all appearance, they were soft and pliable, and could +evidently move about with perfect freedom. + +Ned was very much puzzled indeed. One would have thought he must have +believed himself to be dreaming. Not a bit of it. He knew perfectly +well that he was wide-awake. In fact, a doubt upon that point never +crossed his mind for a moment. At length he resolved to ask the meaning +of it all, and, observing a stout old gentleman, with a bland smile on +his yellow countenance, in the act of taking a pinch of golden snuff +from a gold snuff-box, he advanced and accosted him. + +"Pray, sir," began Ned, modestly, "may I take the liberty of asking you +what is the meaning of all this?" + +"All what, sir?" inquired the old gentleman, in a deep metallic voice. + +"This golden cave, with its wonderful lamps, and especially these golden +people; and--excuse me, sir, for remarking on the circumstance--you seem +to be _made of gold_ yourself. I have often heard the term applied to +extremely rich persons, but I really never expected to see a man who was +literally `worth his weight in gold.'" + +The old gentleman laughed sarcastically at this sally, and took an +enormous pinch of gold-dust. + +As he did not seem inclined to be communicative, however, Ned said +again, "What is the meaning of it all? can you explain what has done +it?" + +Smiling blandly at his interrogator, this gentleman of precious metal +placed his head a little on one side, and tapped the lid of his +snuff-box, but said nothing. Then he suddenly exclaimed, at the full +pitch of his voice, "California, my boy! That's what's done it, Edward! +_California for ever_! Ned, hurrah!" + +As the deep tones of his voice rang through the star-spangled vault, the +company took up the shout, and with "California for ever!" made the +cavern ring again. In the excess of their glee the gentlemen took off +their hats, and the ladies their wreaths and turbans, and threw them in +the air. As many of them failed to catch these portions of costume in +their descent, the clatter caused by their fall on the golden pavement +was very striking indeed. + +"Come here, my lad," said the old gentleman, seizing Ned Sinton by the +arm, and laughing heartily as he dragged him towards an immense mirror +of burnished gold; "look at yourself there." + +Ned looked, and started back with horror on observing that he himself +had been converted into gold. There could be no mistake whatever about +it. There he stood, staring at himself like a yellow statue. His +shooting-jacket was richly chased with alternate stripes of burnished +and frosted work; the buttons on his vest shone like stars; his +pantaloons were striped like the coat; his hair was a mass of +dishevelled filigree; and his hands, when, in the height of his horror, +he clasped them together, rang like a brass-founder's anvil. + +For a few moments he stood before the mirror speechless. Then a feeling +of intense indignation unaccountably took possession of him, and he +turned fiercely on the old gentleman, exclaiming-- + +"_You_ have done this, sir! What do you mean by it? eh!" + +"You're quite mistaken, Ned. I didn't do it. California has done it. +Ha! ha! my boy, you're done for! Smitten with the yellow fever, Neddy? +California for ever! See here--" + +As he spoke, the old gentleman threw out one leg and both arms, and +began to twirl round, after the fashion of a peg-top, on one toe. At +first he revolved slowly, but gradually increased his speed, until no +part of him could be distinctly observed. Ned Sinton stood aghast. +Suddenly the old gentleman shot upwards like a rocket, but he did not +quit the ground; he merely elongated his body until his head stuck +against the roof of the cave. Then he ceased to revolve, and remained +in the form of a golden stalactite--his head surrounded by stars and his +toe resting on the ground! + +While Ned stood rooted to the spot, turning the subject over in his +mind, and trying to find out by what process of chemical or mechanical +action so remarkable a transformation could have been accomplished, he +became aware that his uncle, old Mr Shirley, was standing in the middle +of the cave regarding him with a look of mingled sarcasm and pity. He +observed, too, that his uncle was not made of gold, like the people +around him, but was habited in a yeomanry uniform. Mr Shirley had been +a yeoman twenty years before his nephew was born. Since that time his +proportions had steadily increased, and he was now a man of very +considerable rotundity--so much so, that his old uniform fitted him with +excessive tightness; the coat would by no means button across his +capacious chest, and, being much too short, shewed a very undignified +amount of braces below it. + +"Uncle!" exclaimed Ned Sinton, rushing up to his relative, "what _can_ +be the meaning of all this? Everybody seems to be mad. I think you +must be mad yourself, to come here such a figure as that; and I'm quite +sure _I_ shall go mad if you don't explain it to me. What _does_ it all +mean?" + +"California," replied Mr Shirley, becoming more sarcastic in expression +and less pitiful. + +"Why, that's what everybody cries," exclaimed Ned, who was now driven +almost to desperation. "My dear uncle, do look like yourself and +exercise some of your wonted sagacity. Just glance round at the cave +and the company, all made of gold, and look at me--gold too, if not +pinchbeck, but I'm not a good-enough judge of metals to tell which. +What _has_ done it, uncle? _Do_ look in a better humour, and tell me +how it has happened." + +"California," replied Mr Shirley. + +"Yes, yes; I know that. California seems to be everything here. But +how has it come about? Why are _you_ here, and what has brought me +here?" + +"California," repeated Mr Shirley. + +"Uncle, I'll go deranged if you don't answer me. What do you mean?" + +"California," reiterated Mr Shirley. + +At the same moment a stout golden lady with a filigree turban shouted, +"for ever!" at the top of a very shrill voice, and immediately the +company took up the cry again, filling the cave with deafening sounds. + +Ned Sinton gave one look of despair at his relative--then turned and +fled. + +"Put him out," shouted the company. "Down with the intruder!" + +Ned cast a single glance backward, and beheld the people pushing and +buffeting his uncle in a most unceremonious manner. His helmet was +knocked down over his eyes, and the coat--so much too small for him--was +rendered an easy fit by being ripped up behind to the neck. Ned could +not stand this. He was stout of limb and bold as a lion, although not +naturally addicted to fighting, so he turned suddenly round and flew to +the rescue. Plunging into the midst of the struggling mass of golden +creatures, Ned hit out right and left like a young Hercules, and his +blows rang upon their metal chests and noses like the sound of +sledge-hammers, but without any other effect. + +Suddenly he experienced an acute sensation of pain, and--awoke to find +himself hammering the bed-post with bleeding knuckles, and his uncle +standing beside his bed chuckling immensely. + +"O uncle," cried Ned, sitting up in his bed, and regarding his knuckles +with a perplexed expression of countenance, "I've had _such_ an +extraordinary dream!" + +"Ay, Ned," interrupted his uncle, "and all about California, I'll be +bound." + +"Why, how did you guess that?" + +"It needs not a wizard to guess that, lad. I've observed that you have +read nothing in the newspapers for the last three months but the news +from the gold-diggings of California. Your mind has of late been +constantly running on that subject, and it is well-known that day-dreams +are often reproduced at night. Besides, I heard you shouting the word +in your sleep as I entered your room. Were you fighting with +gold-diggers, eh! or Indians?" + +"Neither, uncle; but I was fighting with very strange beings, I assure +you, and--" + +"Well, well," interrupted Mr Shirley, "never mind the dream just now; +we shall have it at some other time. I have important matters to talk +over with you, my boy. Morton has written to me. Get up and come down +as quickly as you can, and we'll discuss the matter over our breakfast." + +As the door closed after the retreating form of his uncle, Edward Sinton +leaped out of bed and into his trousers. During his toilet he wondered +what matters of importance Mr Shirley could intend to discuss with him, +and felt half inclined to fear, from the grave expression of his uncle's +face when he spoke of it, that something of a disagreeable nature +awaited him. But these thoughts were intermingled with reminiscences of +the past night. His knuckles, too, kept constantly reminding him of his +strange encounter, and, do what he would, he could not banish from his +mind the curious incidents of that remarkable golden dream. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +OUR HERO. + +We have entered thus minutely into the details of our hero's dream, +because it was the climax to a long series of day-dreams, in which he +had indulged ever since the discovery of gold in California. + +Edward Sinton was a youth of eighteen at the time of which we write, and +an orphan. He was tall, strong, broad-shouldered, fair-haired, +blue-eyed, Roman-nosed, and gentle as a lamb. This last statement may +perhaps appear inconsistent with the fact that, during the whole course +of his school-life, he had a pitched battle every week--sometimes two or +three in the week. Ned never began a fight, and, indeed, did not like +fighting. But some big boys _will_ domineer over little ones, and Ned +would not be domineered over; consequently he had to be thrashed. He +was possessed, even in boyhood, of an amount of physical courage that +would have sufficed for any two ordinary men. He did not boast. He did +not quarrel. He never struck the first blow, but, if twenty boys had +attacked him, he would have tried to fight them all. He never +tyrannised over small boys. It was not his nature to do so; but he was +not perfect, any more than you are, dear reader. He sometimes punched +small boys' heads when they worried him, though he never did so without +repenting of it, and doing them a kindness afterwards in order to make +up. He was very thoughtless, too, and very careless; nevertheless he +was fond of books--specially of books of adventure--and studied these +like a hero--as he was. + +Boys of his own size, or even a good deal bigger, never fought with Ned +Sinton. They knew better than that; but they adored him, in some cases +envied him, and in all cases trusted and followed him. It was only +_very_ big boys who fought with him, and all they got by it was a good +deal of hard pummelling before they floored their little adversary, and +a good deal of jeering from their comrades for fighting a small boy. +From one cause or another, Ned's visage was generally scratched, often +cut, frequently swelled, and almost always black and blue. + +But as Ned grew older, the occasions for fighting became less frequent; +his naturally amiable disposition improved, (partly owing, no doubt, to +the care of his uncle, who was, in every sense of the term, a good old +man,) and when he attained the age of fifteen and went to college, and +was called "Sinton," instead of "Ned," his fighting days were over. No +man in his senses would have ventured to attack that strapping youth +with the soft blue eyes, the fair hair, the prominent nose, and the firm +but smiling lips, or, if he had, he would have had to count on an hour's +extremely hard work, whether the fortune of war went for or against him. + +When Ned had been three years at college, his uncle hinted that it was +time to think of a profession, and suggested that as he was a first-rate +mathematician, and had been fond of mechanics from his childhood, he +should turn an engineer. Ned would probably have agreed to this +cheerfully, had not a thirst for adventure been created by the stirring +accounts which had begun to arrive at this time from the +recently-discovered gold-fields of California. His enthusiastic spirit +was stirred, not so much by the prospect of making a large fortune +suddenly by the finding of a huge nugget--although that was a very +pleasant idea--as by the hope of meeting with wild adventures in that +imperfectly-known and distant land. And the effect of such dreams was +to render the idea of sitting down to an engineer's desk, or in a +mercantile counting-room, extremely distasteful. + +Thus it came to pass that Edward Sinton felt indisposed to business, and +disposed to indulge in golden visions. + +When he entered the breakfast-parlour, his mind was still full of his +curious dream. + +"Come along, my lad," cried Mr Shirley, laying down the Bible, and +removing his spectacles from a pair of eyes that usually twinkled with a +sort of grave humour, but in which there was now an expression of +perplexity; "set to work and get the edge off your appetite, and then +I'll read Moxton's letter." + +When Mr Shirley had finished breakfast, Ned was about half done, having +just commenced his third slice of toast. So the old gentleman +complimented his nephew on the strength of his appetite, put on his +spectacles, drew a letter from his pocket, and leaned back in his chair. + +"Now, lad, open your ears and consider what I am about to read." + +"Go on, uncle, I'm all attention," said Ned, attacking slice number +four. + +"This is Moxton's letter. It runs thus-- + +"`Dear Sir,--I beg to acknowledge receipt of yours of the 5th inst. I +shall be happy to take your nephew on trial, and, if I find him steady, +shall enter into an engagement with him, I need not add that unremitting +application to business is the only road to distinction in the +profession he is desirous of adopting. Let him call at my office +to-morrow between ten and twelve.--Yours very truly, Daniel Moxton.'" + +"Is that all?" inquired Ned, drawing his chair towards the fire, into +which he gazed contemplatively. + +Mr Shirley looked at his nephew over the top of his spectacles, and +said-- + +"That's all." + +"It's very short," remarked Ned. + +"But to the point," rejoined his uncle. "Now, boy, I see that you don't +relish the idea, and I must say that I would rather that you became an +engineer than a lawyer; but then, lad, situations are difficult to get +now-a-days, and, after all, you might do worse than become a lawyer. To +be sure, I have no great love for the cloth, Ned; but the ladder reaches +very high. The foot is crowded with a struggling mass of aspirants, +many of whom are of very questionable character, but the top reaches to +one of the highest positions in the empire. You might become the Lord +High Chancellor at last, who knows! But seriously, I think you should +accept this offer. Moxton is a grave, stern man, but a sterling fellow +for all that, and in good practice. Now, what do you think!" + +"Well, uncle," replied Ned, "I've never concealed my thoughts from you +since the day you took me by the hand, eleven years ago, and brought me +to live under your roof; and I'll not begin to dissemble now. The plain +truth is, that I don't like it at all." + +"Stop, now," cried Mr Shirley, with a grieved expression of +countenance; "don't be hasty in forming your opinion. Besides, my boy, +you ought to be more ready to take my advice, even although it be not +altogether palatable." + +"My dear uncle, you quite misunderstand me. I only tell you what I +_think_ about the proposal. As to taking your advice, I fully intend to +do that whether I like it or not; but I think, if you will listen to me +for a few minutes, you will change your mind in regard to this matter. +You know that I am very fond of travelling, and that I dislike the idea +of taking up my abode on the top of a three-legged stool, either as a +lawyer's or a merchant's clerk. Well, unless a man likes his +profession, and goes at it with a will, he cannot hope to succeed, so +that I have no prospect of getting on, I fear, in the line you wish me +to adopt. Besides, there are plenty of poor fellows out of work, who +love sitting still from nine a.m. to ten p.m., and whose bread I would +be taking out of their mouths by devoting myself to the legal +profession, and--" + +At this point Ned hesitated for a moment, and his uncle broke in with-- + +"Tell me, now, if every one thought about business as you do, how would +the world get on, think you?" + +"Badly, I fear," replied the youth, with a smile; "but everybody doesn't +think of it as I do; and, tell me, uncle, if everybody thought of +business as you would wish me to do, what would come of the soldiers and +sailors who defend our empire, and extend our foreign trade, and achieve +the grand geographical discoveries that have of late added so much +lustre to the British name?" + +Ned flushed and became quite eloquent at this point. "Now, look at +California," he continued; "there's a magnificent region, full of gold; +not a mere myth, or an exaggeration, but a veritable fact, attested by +the arrival of letters and gold-dust every month. Surely that land was +made to be peopled; and the poor savages who dwell there need to be +converted to Christianity, and delivered from their degraded condition; +and the country must be worked, and its resources be developed; and +who's to do it, if enterprising clergymen, and schoolmasters, and miners +do not go to live there, and push their fortunes?" + +"And which of the three callings do you propose adopting?" inquired Mr +Shirley, with a peculiar smile. + +"Well uncle, I--a--the fact is, I have not thought much about that as +yet. Of course, I never thought of the first. I do not forget your own +remark, that the calling of a minister of the gospel of Christ is not, +like other professions, to be adopted merely as a means of livelihood. +Then, as to the second, I might perhaps manage that; but I don't think +it would suit me." + +"Do you think, then, that you would make a good digger?" + +"Well, perhaps I would," replied Ned, modestly. + +Mr Shirley gravely regarded the powerful frame that reclined in the +easy-chair before him, and was compelled to admit that the supposition +was by no means outrageous. + +"Besides," continued the youth, "I might turn my hand to many things in +a new country. You know I have studied surveying, and I can sketch a +little, and know something of architecture. I suppose that Latin and +Greek would not be of much use, but the little I have picked up of +medicine and surgery among the medical students would be useful. Then I +could take notes, and sketch the scenery, and bring back a mass of +material that might interest the public, and do good to the country." + +"Oh," said the old gentleman, shortly; "come back and turn author, in +fact, and write a book that nobody would publish, or which, in the event +of its being published, nobody would read!" + +"Come, now, my dear uncle, don't laugh at me. I assure you it seems +very reasonable to me to think that what others have done, and are doing +every day, I am able to do." + +"Well, I won't laugh at you; but, to be serious, you are wise enough to +know that an old man's experience is worth more than a youth's fancies. +Much of what you have said is true, I admit, but I assure you that the +bright prospects you have cut out for yourself are very delusive. They +will never be realised, at least in the shape in which you have depicted +them on your imagination. They will dissolve, my boy, on a nearer +approach, and, as Shakespeare has it, `like the baseless fabric of a +vision, leave not a wrack behind,' or, at least, not much more than a +wrack." + +Ned reverted to the golden dream, and felt uneasy under his uncle's kind +but earnest gaze. + +"Most men," continued Mr Shirley, "enjoy themselves at first, when they +go to wild countries in search of adventure, but they generally regret +the loss of their best years afterwards. In my opinion men should never +emigrate unless they purpose making the foreign land they go to their +_home_. But I won't oppose you, if you are determined to go; I will do +all I can to help you, and give you my blessing; but before you make up +your mind, I would recommend you to call on Mr Moxton, and hear what +prospects he holds out to you. Then take a week to think seriously over +it; and if at the end of that time, you are as anxious to go as ever, +I'll not stand in your way." + +"You are kind to me, uncle; more so than I deserve," said Ned earnestly. +"I'll do as you desire, and you may depend upon it that the generous +way in which you have left me to make my own choice will influence me +against going abroad more than anything else." + +Ned sighed as he rose to quit the room, for he felt that his hopes at +that moment were sinking. + +"And before you take a step in the matter, my boy," said old Mr +Shirley, "go to your room and ask counsel of Him who alone has the power +to direct your steps in this life." + +Ned replied briefly, "I will, uncle," and hastily left the room. Mr +Shirley poked the fire, put on his spectacles, smoothed out the wrinkles +on his bald forehead with his hand, took up the _Times_, and settled +himself down in his easy-chair to read; but his nephew's prospects could +not be banished from his mind. He went over the whole argument again, +mentally, with copious additions, ere he became aware of the fact, that +for three-quarters of an hour he had been, (apparently), reading the +newspaper upside down. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +HOPES AND FEARS--MR. SHIRLEY RECEIVES A VISIT AND A WILD PROPOSAL. + +When Edward Sinton left his chamber, an hour after the conversation +related in the last chapter, his brow was unruffled and his step light. +He had made up his mind that, come what might, he would not resist the +wishes of his only near relative and his best friend. + +There was a day in the period of early boyhood that remained as fresh on +the memory of young Sinton as if it had been yesterday--the day on which +his mother died. The desolation of his early home on that day was like +the rising of a dark thunder-cloud on a bright sky. His young heart was +crushed, his mind stunned, and the first ray of light that broke upon +him--the first gush of relief--was when his uncle arrived and took him +on his knee, and, seated beside the bed where that cold, still form lay, +wept upon the child's neck as if his heart would break. Mr Shirley +buried the sister whom he had been too late to see alive. Then he and +his little nephew left the quiet country village and went to dwell in +the great city of London. From that time forward Mr Shirley was a +father to Ned, who loved him more than any one else on earth, and +through his influence he was early led to love and reverence his +heavenly Father and his blessed Redeemer. + +The subject of going abroad was the first in regard to which Ned and his +uncle had seriously disagreed, and the effect on the feelings of both +was very strong. + +Ned's mind wandered as he put on his hat, and buttoned his great-coat up +to the chin, and drew on his gloves slowly. He was not vain of his +personal appearance; neither was he reckless of it. He always struck +you as being a particularly well-dressed man, and he had naturally a +dashing look about him. Poor fellow! he felt anything but dashing or +reckless as he hurried through the crowded streets in the direction of +the city that day. + +Moxton's door was a green one, with a brass knocker and a brass plate, +both of which ornaments, owing to verdigris, were anything but +ornamental. The plate was almost useless, being nearly illegible, but +the knocker was still fit for duty. The street was narrow--as Ned +observed with a feeling of deep depression--and the house to which the +green door belonged, besides being dirty, retreated a little, as if it +were ashamed of itself. + +On the knocker being applied, the green door was opened by a +disagreeable-looking old woman, who answered to the question, "Is Mr +Moxton in?" with a short "Yes," and, without farther remark, ushered our +hero into a very dingy and particularly small office, which, owing to +the insufficient quantity of daylight that struggled through the dirty +little windows, required to be lighted with gas. Ned felt, so to speak, +like a thermometer which was falling rapidly. + +"Can I see Mr Moxton?" he inquired of a small dishevelled clerk, who +sat on a tall stool behind a high desk, engaged in writing his name in +every imaginable form on a sheet of note paper. + +The dishevelled clerk pointed to a door which opened into an inner +apartment, and resumed his occupation. + +Ned tapped at the door indicated. + +"Come in," cried a stern voice. + +Ned, (as a thermometer), fell considerably lower. On entering, he +beheld a tall, gaunt man, with a sour cast of countenance, standing with +his back to the fire. + +Ned advanced with a cheerful expression of face. Thermometrically +speaking, he fell to the freezing-point. + +"You are young Sinton, I suppose. You've come later than I expected." + +Ned apologised, and explained that he had had some difficulty in finding +the house. + +"Umph! Your uncle tells me that you're a sharp fellow, and write a good +hand. Have you ever been in an office before?" + +"No, sir. Up till now I have been at college. My uncle is rather +partial, I fear, and may have spoken too highly of me. I think, +however, that my hand is not a bad one. At least it is legible." + +"At least!" said Mr Moxton, with a sarcastic expression that was meant +for smile, perhaps for a grin. "Why, that's the _most_ you could say of +it. No hand is good, sir, if it is not legible, and no hand can +possibly be bad that _is_ legible. Have you studied law?" + +"No, sir, I have not." + +"Umph! you're too old to begin. Have you been used to sit at the desk?" + +"Yes; I have been accustomed to study the greater part of the day." + +"Well, you may come here on Monday, and I'll speak to you again, and see +what you can do. I'm too busy just now. Good-morning." + +Ned turned to go, but paused on the threshold, and stood holding the +door-handle. + +"Excuse me, sir," he said, hesitatingly, "may I ask what room I shall +occupy, if--if--I come to work here?" + +Mr Moxton looked a little surprised at the question, but pointed to the +outer office where the dishevelled clerk sat, and said, "There." Ned +fell to twenty below the freezing-point. + +"And pray, sir," he continued, "may I ask what are office-hours?" + +"From nine a.m. till nine p.m., with an interval for meals," said Mr +Moxton, sharply; "but we usually continue at work till eleven at night, +sometimes later. Good-morning." + +Ned fell to zero, and found himself in the street, with an indistinct +impression of having heard the dishevelled clerk chuckling vociferously +as he passed through the office. + +It was a hard struggle, a very hard struggle, but he recalled to mind +all that his uncle had ever done for him, and the love he bore him, and +manfully resolved to cast California behind his back for ever, and +become a lawyer. + +Meanwhile Mr Shirley received a visit from a very peculiar personage. +He was still seated in his arm-chair pondering his nephew's prospects +when this personage entered the room, hat in hand--the hat was a round +straw one--and cried heartily, "Good day, kinsman." + +"Ha! Captain Bunting, how are ye? Glad to see you, old fellow," +exclaimed Mr Shirley, rising and seizing the sailor by the hand. "Sit +down, sit down, and let's hear your news. Why, I believe it's six +months since I saw you." + +"Longer, Shirley, longer than that," replied the captain, seating +himself in the chair which Ned Sinton had vacated a short time before. +"I hope your memory is not giving way. I have been half round the +world, and it's a year and six months to-day since I sat here last." + +"Is it?" cried Mr Shirley, in surprise. "Now, that is very remarkable. +But do you know, captain, I have often thought upon that subject, and +wondered why it is that, as we get older, time seems to fly faster, and +events which happened a month ago seem as if they only occurred +yesterday. But let me hear all about it. Where have you been, and +where are you going next?" + +"I've been," replied the captain, who was a big, broad man with a rough +over-all coat, rough pilot-cloth trousers, rough red whiskers, a shaggy +head of hair, and a rough-skinned face; the only part of him, in fact, +which wasn't rough was his heart; that was soft and warm-- + +"I've been, as I remarked before, half round the world, and I'm goin' +next to America. That's a short but comprehensive answer to your +question. If you have time and patience, kinsman, I'll open the +log-book of my memory and give you some details of my doings since we +last met. But first tell me, how is my young friend, Ned?" + +"Oh, he's well--excellently well--besides being tall and strong. You +would hardly know him, captain. He's full six feet high, I believe, and +the scamp has something like a white wreath of smoke over his upper lip +already! I wish him to become an engineer or a lawyer, but the boy is +in love with California just now, and dreams about nothing but wild +adventures and gold-dust." + +The captain gave a grunt, and a peculiar smile crossed his rugged visage +as he gazed earnestly and contemplatively into the fire. + +Captain Bunting was a philosopher, and was deeply impressed with the +belief that the smallest possible hint upon any subject whatever was +sufficient to enable him to dive into the marrow of it, and +prognosticate the probable issue of it, with much greater certainty than +any one else. On the present occasion, however, the grunt above +referred to was all he said. + +It is not necessary to trouble the reader with the lengthened discourse +that the captain delivered to his kinsman. When he concluded, Mr +Shirley pushed his spectacles up on his bald head, gazed at the fire, +and said, "Odd, very odd; and interesting too--very interesting." After +a short pause, he pulled his spectacles down on his nose, and looking +over them at the captain, said, "And what part of America are you bound +for now?" + +"California," answered the captain, slowly. + +Mr Shirley started, as if some prophetic vision had been called up by +the word and the tone, in which it was uttered. + +"And that," continued the captain, "brings me to the point. I came here +chiefly for the purpose of asking you to let your nephew go with me, as +I am in want of a youth to assist me, as a sort of supercargo and +Jack-of-all-trades. In fact, I like your nephew much, and have long had +my eye on him. I think him the very man for my purpose. I want a +companion, too, in my business--one who is good at the pen and can turn +his hand to anything. In short, it would be difficult to explain all +the outs and ins of why I want him. But he's a tight, clever fellow, as +I know, and I _do_ want him, and if you'll let him go, I promise to +bring him safe back again in the course of two years--if we are all +spared. From what you've told me, I've no doubt the lad will be +delighted to go. And, believe me, his golden dreams will be all washed +out by the time he comes back. Now, what say you!" + +For the space of five minutes Mr Shirley gazed at the captain over his +spectacles in amazement, and said nothing. Then he threw himself back +on his chair, pushed his spectacles up on his forehead, and gazed at him +from underneath these assistants to vision. The alteration did not seem +to improve matters, for he still continued to gaze in silent surprise. +At last his lips moved, and he said, slowly but emphatically-- + +"Now, that is the most remarkable coincidence I ever heard of." + +"How so?" inquired the captain. + +"Why, that my nephew should be raving about going to California, and +that you should be raving about getting him to go, and that these things +should suddenly come to a climax on the same forenoon. It's absolutely +incredible. If I had read it in a tale, now, or a romance, I would not +have been surprised, for authors are such blockheads, generally, that +they always make things of this kind fit in with the exactness of a +dove-tail; but that it should _really_ come to pass in my own +experience, is quite incomprehensible. And so suddenly, too!" + +"As to that," remarked the captain, with a serious, philosophical +expression of countenance, "most things come to a climax suddenly, and +coincidences invariably happen together; but, after all, it doesn't seem +so strange to me, for vessels are setting sail for California every +other day, and--" + +"Well," interrupted Mr Shirley, starting up with energy, as if he had +suddenly formed a great resolve, "I _will_ let the boy go. Perhaps it +will do him good. Besides, I have my own reasons for not caring much +about his losing a year or two in regard to business. Come with me to +the city, captain, and we'll talk over it as we go along." So saying, +Mr Shirley took his kinsman by the arm, and they left the house +together. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE END OF THE BEGINNING--FAREWELL TO OLD ENGLAND. + +As Captain Bunting sagaciously remarked, "most things come to a climax +suddenly." + +On the evening of the day in which our tale begins, Edward Sinton--still +standing at zero--walked into his uncle's parlour. The old gentleman +was looking earnestly, though unintentionally, at the cat, which sat on +the rug; and the cat was looking attentively at the kettle, which sat on +the fire, hissing furiously, as if it were disgusted at being kept so +long from tea. + +Ned's face was very long and sad as he entered the room. + +"Dear uncle," said he, taking Mr Shirley by the hand, "I'm not going to +take a week to think over it. I have made up my mind to remain at home, +and become a lawyer." + +"Ned," replied Mr Shirley, returning his nephew's grasp, "I'm not going +to take a week to think over it either. I have made up my mind that you +are to go to California, and become a--a--whatever you like, my dear +boy; so sit down to tea, and I'll tell you all about it." + +Ned was incredulous at first, but as his uncle went on to explain how +matters stood, and gradually diverged from that subject to the details +of his outfit, he recovered from his surprise, and sprang suddenly up to +100 degrees of Fahrenheit, even in the shade of the prospect of parting +for a time from old Mr Shirley. + +Need we be surprised, reader, that our hero on that night dreamed the +golden dream over again, with many wonderful additions, and sundry +remarkable variations. + +Thus it came to pass that, two weeks afterwards, Ned and his uncle found +themselves steaming down the Thames to Gravesend, where the good ship +_Roving Bess_ lay riding at anchor, with a short cable, and top-sails +loose, ready for sea. + +"Ned," said Mr Shirley, as they watched the receding banks of the noble +river, "you may never see _home_ again, my boy. Will you be sure not to +forget me! will you write often, Ned!" + +"Forget you, uncle!" exclaimed Ned, in a reproachful voice, while a tear +sprang to his eye. "How can you suggest such a--" + +"Well, well, my boy, I know it--I know it; but I like to hear the +assurance repeated by your own lips. I'm an old man now, and if I +should not live to see you again, I would like to have some earnest, +loving words to think upon while you are away." The old man paused a +few moments, and then resumed-- + +"Ned, remember when far from home, that there is another home--eternal +in the heavens--to which, if you be the Lord's child, you are hastening. +You will think of that home, Ned, won't you! If I do not meet you +again here at any rate I shall hope to meet you _there_." + +Ned would have spoken, but his heart was too full. He merely pressed +old Mr Shirley's arm. + +"Perhaps," continued his uncle, "it is not necessary to make you promise +to read God's blessed Word. You'll be surrounded by temptations of no +ordinary kind in the gold-regions; and depend upon it that the Bible, +read with prayer, will be the best chart and compass to guide you safely +through them all." + +"My dear uncle," replied Ned, with emotion, "perhaps the best promise I +can make is to assure you that I will endeavour to do, in all things and +at all times, as you have taught me, ever since I was a little boy. If +I succeed, I feel assured that I shall do well." + +A long and earnest conversation ensued between the uncle and nephew, +which was interrupted at last, by the arrival of the boat at Gravesend. +Jumping into a wherry, they pushed off, and were soon alongside of the +_Roving Bess_, a barque of about eight hundred tons burden, and, +according to Captain Bunting, "an excellent sea-boat." + +"Catch hold o' the man-ropes," cried the last-named worthy, looking over +the side; "that's it; now then, jump! all right! How are ye, kinsman? +Glad to see you, Ned. I was afraid you were goin' to give me the slip." + +"I have not kept you waiting, have I?" inquired Ned. + +"Yes, you have, youngster," replied the captain, with a facetious wink, +as he ushered his friends into the cabin, and set a tray of broken +biscuit and a decanter of wine before them. "The wind has been blowin' +off shore the whole morning, and the good ship has been straining at a +short cable like a hound chained up. But we'll be off now in another +half-hour." + +"So soon?" said Mr Shirley, with an anxious expression on his kind old +face. + +"All ready to heave up the anchor, sir," shouted the first mate down the +companion. + +The captain sprang on deck, and soon after the metallic clatter of the +windlass rang a cheerful accompaniment to the chorus of the sailors. +One by one the white sails spread out to the breeze, and the noble ship +began to glide through the water. + +In a few minutes more the last words were spoken, the last farewell +uttered, and Mr Shirley stood alone in the stern-sheet of the little +boat, watching the departing vessel as she gathered way before the +freshening breeze. As long as the boat was visible Ned Sinton stood on +the ship's bulwarks, holding on to the mizzen shrouds, and waving his +handkerchief from time to time. The old man stood with his head +uncovered, and his thin locks waving in the wind. + +Soon the boat was lost to view. Our hero brushed away a tear, and +leaped upon the deck, where the little world, of which for many days to +come he was to form a part, busied itself in making preparation for a +long, long voyage. The British Channel was passed; the Atlantic Ocean +was entered; England sank beneath the horizon; and, for the first time +in his life, Ned Sinton found himself--at sea. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE SEA--DANGERS OF THE DEEP, AND UNCERTAINTY OF HUMAN AFFAIRS--A +DISASTROUS NIGHT AND A BRIGHT MORNING--CALIFORNIA AT LAST. + +Only those who have dwelt upon the ocean for many months together can +comprehend the feelings of delight, with which the long-imprisoned +voyager draws near to his desired haven. For six long months did the +_Roving Bess_ do battle with the surging billows of the great deep. +During that time she steered towards the Gulf of Mexico--carefully +avoiding that huge reservoir of sea-weed, termed the Saragossa sea, in +which the unscientific but enterprising mariners of old used to get +becalmed oftentimes for days and weeks together--she coasted down the +eastern shores of South America; fired at, and "shewed her heels" to, a +pirate; doubled Cape Horn; fought with the tempests that take special +delight in revelling there; and, finally, spreading her sails to the +genial breezes of the Pacific Ocean, drew near to her voyage-end. + +All this the good ship _Roving Bess_ did with credit to herself and +comfort to her crew; but a few weeks after she entered the Pacific, she +was met, contrary to all expectation, by the bitterest gale that had +ever compelled her to scud under bare poles. + +It was a beautiful afternoon when the first symptoms of the coming storm +were observed. Captain Bunting had just gone down below, and our hero +was standing at the weather gangway, observing the sudden dart of a +shoal of flying-fish, which sprang out of the sea, whizzed through the +air a few hundred feet, and fell with a splash into the water, in their +frantic efforts to escape from their bitter enemy, the dolphin. + +While Ned gazed contemplatively at the spot where the winged fish had +disappeared, the captain sprang on deck. + +"We're goin' to catch it," he said, hurriedly, as he passed forward; +"tumble up, there; tumble up; all hands to shorten sails. Hand down the +royals, and furl the t'gallant sails, Mr Williams, (to the first mate,) +and look alive." + +"Ay, ay, sir," was answered in that prompt tone of voice which indicates +thorough discipline and unquestioning obedience, while the men scrambled +up the fore-hatch, and sprang up the ratlines hand over hand. A moment +before, the vessel had lain quietly on the bosom of the unruffled deep, +as if she were asleep, now she was all uproar and apparent confusion; +sails slewed round, ropes rattled, and blocks creaked, while the +sonorous voice of the first mate sounded commands like a trumpet from +the quarter-deck. + +"I see no indication of a storm," remarked young Sinton, as the captain +walked aft. + +"Possibly not, lad; but _I_ do. The barometer has fallen lower, all of +a sadden, than I ever saw it fall before. You may depend upon it, we +shall have to look out for squalls before long. Just cast your eyes on +the horizon over the weather bows there; it's not much of a cloud, and, +to say truth, I would not have thought much of it had the glass remained +steady, but that faithful servant never--" + +"Better close-reef the top-sails, sir," said the mate, touching his cap, +and pointing to the cloud just referred to. + +"Do so, Mr Williams, and let the watch below remain on deck, and stand +by to man the halyards." + +In less than an hour the _Roving Bess_ was running at the rate of twelve +knots, under close-reefed top-sails, before a steady gale, which in +half-an-hour later increased to a hurricane, compelling them to take in +all sail and "lay to." The sun set in a blaze of mingled black and +lurid clouds, as if the heavens were on fire; the billows rose to their +utmost height as the shrieking winds heaved them upwards, and then, +cutting off their crests, hurled the spray along like driving clouds of +snow, and dashed it against the labouring ship, as if impatient to +engulf her in that ravening maw which has already swallowed up so many +human victims. + +But the little vessel faced the tempest nobly, and rose like a sea-mew +on the white crest of each wave, while the steersmen--for there were two +lashed to the wheel--kept her to the wind. Suddenly the sheet of the +fore trysail parted, the ship came up to the wind, and a billow at that +moment broke over her, pouring tons of water on her deck, and carrying +away the foremast, main-top-masts, and the jib-boom. + +"Clear the wreck--down the helm, and let her scud," shouted the captain, +who stood by the mizzen-mast, holding on to a belaying-pin. But the +captain's voice was drowned by the whistling winds, and, seeing that the +men were uncertain what to do, he seized one of the axes which were +lashed to the foot of the mast, and began to cut away the ropes which +dragged the wreck of the foremast under the lee of the ship. Williams, +the mate, and the second mate, followed his example, while Ned sprang to +the wheel to see the orders to the steersmen obeyed. In half-an-hour +all was clear, and the ship was scudding before the gale under bare +poles. + +"We've not seen the worst of it," remarked the captain, as he resumed +his post on the quarter-deck, and brushed the brine from his whiskers; +"I fear, too, that she has received some bad thumps from the wreck of +the foremast. You'd better go below, Sinton, and put on a topcoat; its +no use gettin' wetter than you can help." + +"I'm as wet as I can be, captain; besides, I can work better as I am, if +there's anything for me to do." + +"Well, there ain't much: you'll have enough to do to keep yourself from +being washed overboard. How's her head, Larry?" + +"Nor' east an' by east," replied one of the men at the wheel, Larry +O'Neil by name--a genuine son of Erin, whose jovial smile of rollicking +good humour was modified, but by no means quenched, by the serious +circumstances in which he found himself placed. His comrade, William +Jones, who stood on the larboard side of the wheel, was a short, +thick-set, stern seaman, whose facial muscles were scarcely capable of +breaking into a smile, and certainly failed to betray any of the owner's +thoughts or feelings, excepting astonishment. Such passions as anger, +pity, disgust, fear, and the like, whatever place they might have in +Jones's breast, had no visible index on his visage. Both men were +sailor-like and powerful, but they were striking contrasts to each +other, as they stood--the one sternly, the other smilingly--steering the +_Roving Bess_ before that howling storm. + +"Is not `nor' east and by east' our direct course for the harbour of San +Francisco?" inquired Ned Sinton. + +"It is," replied the captain, "as near as I can guess; but we've been +blown about so much that I can't tell exactly. Moreover, it's my +opinion we can't be far off the coast now; and if this gale holds on +I'll have to bring to, at the risk of bein' capsized. Them plaguey +coral-reefs, too, are always springin' up in these seas where you least +expect 'em. If we go bump against one as we are goin' now, its all up +with us." + +"Not a pleasant idea," remarked Ned, somewhat gravely. "Do these storms +usually last long?" + +Before the captain could reply, the first mate came up and whispered in +his ear. + +"Eh! how much d'ye say?" he asked quickly. + +"Five feet, sir; she surged heavily once or twice on the foremast, and I +think must have started a plank." + +"Call all hands to work the pumps; and don't let the men know how much +water there is in the hold. Come below, Ned. I want you. Keep her +head steady as she goes." + +"Ay, ay, sir," sang out O'Neil, as the captain descended the +companion-hatch to the cabin, followed by his young friend. + +The dim light in the swinging lamp flickered fitfully when the ship +plunged into the troughs of the seas, and rose again with a violent +surge, as each wave passed under her, while every plank and spar on +board seemed to groan under the strain. Darkness now added to the +terrors of the wild storm. + +Sitting down on a locker, Captain Bunting placed his elbows on the +table, and covering his face with his hands, remained silent for several +minutes, while Ned sat down beside him, but forbore to interrupt his +thoughts. + +"Boy," he said, at length, looking up anxiously, "we've sprung a leak, +and a few minutes will shew what our fate is to be. Five feet of water +in the hold in so short a time implies a bad one." + +"Five feet two, sir," said the mate, looking in at the cabin door; "and +the carpenter can't get at the leak." + +"I feared as much," muttered the captain. "Keep the men hard at the +pumps, Mr Williams, and let me hear how it stands again in ten +minutes." + +"Captain," said Ned, "it does not become a landsman to suggest, perhaps, +but I can't help reminding you, that leaks of this kind have been +stopped by putting a sail below the ship's bottom." + +"I know it, boy, I know it; but we could never get a sail down in such a +night." + +"Can nothing be done, then?" + +"Yes, lad; it's hard to do it, but it must be done; life is more +precious than gold--we must heave the cargo overboard. I have invested +every farthing I have in the world in this venture," continued Captain +Bunting, sadly, "but there's no help for it. Now, you were at the +shifting of the cargo when we opened the hatches during the calms off +the Brazilian coast, and as you know the position of the bales and +boxes, I want you to direct the men so as to get it hove out quickly. +Luckily, bein' a general cargo, most o' the bales are small and easily +handled. Here comes the mate again--well, Mr Williams?" + +"Up another inch, sir." + +"Go, Ned, over with it. I'll superintend above; so good-bye to our +golden dreams." + +There was a slight tone of bitterness in the captain's voice as he +spoke, but it passed away quickly, and the next instant he was on deck +encouraging his men to throw the valuable cargo over the side. Bale +after bale and box after box were tossed ruthlessly out upon the raging +sea until little was left in the ship, save the bulky and less valuable +portion of the cargo. Then a cry arose that the leak was discovered! +The carpenter had succeeded in partially stopping it with part of a +sail, and soon the pumps began to reduce the quantity of water in the +hold. At last the leak was gained and effectually stopped, and before +daybreak the storm began to subside. While part of the crew, being +relieved from the harassing work at the pumps, busied themselves in +repairing damages, Ned went to his cabin to put on dry clothes and take +a little rest, of which he stood much in need. + +Next day the bright sun rose in a cloudless sky, and a gentle breeze now +wafted the _Roving Bess_ over the Pacific, whose bosom still heaved +deeply from the effects of the recent storm. A sense of fervent +thankfulness to God for deliverance filled the heart of our hero as he +awoke and beheld the warm sunbeams streaming in at the little window of +his cabin. Suddenly he was roused from a deep reverie by the shout of +"Land, ho!" on deck. + +Words cannot convey an adequate idea of the effect of such a shout upon +all on board. "Land, ho!" was repeated by every one, as he sprang in +dishabille up the hatchway. + +"Where away?" inquired Captain Bunting. + +"Right ahead, sir," answered the look-out. + +"Ay, there it is," said the captain, as Ned, without coat or vest, +rushed to his side, and gazed eagerly over the bow, "there it is, Ned,-- +California, at last! Yonder rise the golden mountains that have so +suddenly become the world's magnet; and yonder, too, is the `Golden +Gate' of the harbour of San Francisco. Humph! much good it'll do us." + +Again there was a slight tone of bitterness in the captain's voice. + +"Don't let down your spirits, captain," said Ned, in a cheering tone; +"there is still enough of the cargo left to enable us to make a start +for the gold-fields. Perhaps we may make more money there than we would +have made had we sold the cargo at a large profit by trafficking on the +coast." + +Captain Bunting hooked his thumbs into the armholes of his waistcoat, +and shook his head. It was evident that he had no faith in +gold-digging. Meanwhile the crew had assembled on the forecastle, and +were looking out ahead with wistful and excited glances; for the fame of +the golden land to which they were approaching had spread far and wide, +and they longed to see the gold-dust and nuggets with their own eyes. + +"It's a beautiful land, intirely," exclaimed Larry O'Neil, with an +irrepressible shout of enthusiasm, which called forth a general cheer +from the men. + +"Arrah, now," remarked another Patlander, "don't ye wish ye wos up to +the knees and elbows in the goolden sands already? Faix I'd give a +month's pay to have wan day at the diggin's." + +"I don't believe a word about it--I don't," remarked Jones, with the +dogged air of a man who shouldn't, wouldn't, and didn't believe, and yet +felt, somehow, that he couldn't help it. + +"Nother do I," said another, "It's all a sham; come, now, ain't it, +Bill?" he added, turning to a bronzed veteran who had visited California +two years before. + +"A sham!" exclaimed Bill. "I tell 'e wot it is, messmate, when you +comes for to see the miners in San Francisco drinkin' _sham_pain like +water, an' payin' a dollar for a glass o' six-water grog, you'll--" + +"How much is a dollar?" inquired a soft-looking youth, interrupting him. + +Bill said it was "'bout four shillin's," and turned away with a look of +contempt at such a display of ignorance. + +"_Four shillin's_!" exclaimed the soft youth, in amazement. + +"Clear the anchor, and clew up the main-topsail," shouted the mate. + +In another moment the crew were scattered, some aloft to "lay out" on +the topsail yard, some to the clew-lines, and some to clear the anchor, +which latter had not been disturbed since the _Roving Bess_ left the +shores of Old England. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +SAN FRANCISCO--AN UNEXPECTED DESERTION--CAPTAIN BUNTING TAKES A GLOOMY +VIEW OF THINGS IN GENERAL--NEW FRIENDS AND NEW PLANS--SINGULAR FACTS AND +CURIOUS FANCIES. + +The "Golden Gates," as they are called, of San Francisco, are two rocky +headlands, about a mile apart, which form the entrance to one of the +finest harbours, or rather land-locked seas, in the world. This harbour +is upwards of forty miles long, by about twelve miles broad at its +widest point, and receives at its northern end the waters of the noble +Sacramento river, into which all the other rivers in California flow. + +Nearly opposite to the mouth of the Sacramento, on the southern shores +of the bay, stands the famous city of San Francisco, close to which the +_Roving Bess_ let go her anchor and clasped the golden strand. + +The old adage that, "truth is strange, stranger than fiction," was never +more forcibly verified than in the growth and career of this wonderful +city. No dreams of Arabian romance ever surpassed the inconceivable +wonders that were matters of every-day occurrence there during the first +years of the gold-fever; and many of the results attributed to Aladdin's +wonderful lamp were almost literally accomplished--in some cases +actually surpassed--in and around the cities of California. + +Before the discovery of gold, San Francisco was a mere hamlet. It +consisted of a few rude cottages, built of sun-dried bricks, which were +tenanted by native Californians; there were also a few merchants who +trafficked in hides and horns. Cruisers and whalers occasionally put +into the harbour to obtain fresh supplies of water, but beyond these and +the vessels engaged in the hide-trade few ships ever visited the port, +and the name of San Francisco was almost unknown. + +But the instant the rumour got abroad that gold had been discovered +there, the eyes of the world were turned towards it. In a few months +men and ships began to pour into the capacious harbour; a city of tents +overspread the sand-hills on which the hamlet stood; thousands upon +thousands of gold-hunters rushed to the mines; the golden treasures of +the land were laid bare, and immense fortunes were made, literally in +the course of a few weeks. In many cases these were squandered or +gambled away almost as soon as made; but hundreds of men retired from +the gold-fields after a few months' labour, and returned home possessed +of ample fortunes. Thousands, too, failed--some from physical inability +to stand the fatiguing labour of the mines, and some from what they +termed "want of luck," though want of perseverance was, in nine cases +out of ten, the real cause; while many hundreds perished from exposure +and from the diseases that were prevalent in the country. + +Well would it have been for these last had they remembered God's word, +"Make not haste to be rich;" but the thirst for gold, and the prospect +of the sudden acquisition of enormous wealth, had blinded them to the +fact that their frames were not equal to the rough life at the mines. + +The excitement was at its height when the _Roving Bess_ anchored off the +shores of this land of gold. + +The sun was just setting as the anchor dropped, and the crippled ship +swung round towards the shore, for the tide had just begun to rise. + +"Faix, it's a quare town," said Larry O'Neil to Ned, who was gazing in +wrapt, astonishment and admiration ever the stern. + +It was indeed "quare." The entire city was made up of the most flimsy +and make-shift materials that can be conceived. Many of the shops were +mere tents with an open framework of wood in front; some were made of +sheet-iron nailed to wooden posts; some were made of zinc; others, +(imported from the States), of wood, painted white, and edged with +green; a few were built of sun-dried bricks, still fewer of corrugated +iron, and many of all these materials pieced together in a sort of fancy +patchwork. Even boats were used as dwellings, turned keel up, with a +hole cut in their sides for the egress of a tin smoke-pipe, and two +others of larger size to serve as door and window. + +Finding space scarce, owing to the abrupt rise of the hills from the +shore, many enterprising individuals had encroached upon the sea, and +built houses on piles driven into the sand nearly half-a-mile below the +original high water mark. + +Almost every nation under the sun had representatives there, and the +consequent confusion of tongues was equal to that of Babel. + +The hills overhanging the lower part of the town were also well covered +with tents, temporary houses, and cottages that had some appearance of +comfort about them. + +Such was the city on which the sun went down that night, and many were +the quaint, sagacious, and comic remarks made by the men as they sat +round their various mess-tables in the forecastle of the _Roving Bess_, +speculating noisily and half-seriously on the possibility of getting a +run into the interior for a day or two. + +But there was a party of men in the ship whose conversation that night +was neither so light-hearted nor so loud. They sat in a dark corner of +the forecastle talking earnestly in subdued tones after the watch for +the night was set. Their chief spokesman was a rough, ill-looking +fellow, named Elliot. + +"Ye see, lads," said this man to the half-dozen comrades around him, "we +must do it to-night, if we're to do it at all. There's the captain's +small boat layin' out astarn, which comes quite handy, an', as we lose +all our pay by the dodge, I don't see why we shouldn't take it." + +The man struck his fist into his left palm, and looked round the circle +for opinions. + +"I don't half like it," said one; "it seems to me a sneaking way of +doin' it." + +"Bah!" ejaculated another, "wot gammon you do talk. If _he_ lose the +boat, don't _we_ lose the tin? Besides, are we agoin' to let sich a +trifle stand in the way o' us an' our fortins?" + +"Have ye spoken to the other men, Elliot?" inquired one of the group. + +"Ay, in coorse I have; an' they're all agreeable. Young Spense stood +out pretty stiff at first; but I talked him over. Only I said nothing +to Larry O'Neil or Bill Jones. I know it's of no use. They'll never +agree; and if we wos to speak of it to either on 'em, he'd go right away +aft an' tell the captain. Their watch below 'll come on in an hour, an' +then the watch on deck'll be on our side. So, lads, go and git ready-- +an' sharp's the word." + +The party broke up, and went quietly below to prepare for flight, +leaving no one on deck except O'Neil and Jones, and two of their +comrades, who formed part of the watch. As Elliot had said, the watch +was changed in about an hour. The mate and captain came on deck, looked +round to see that all was right, and then returned to the cabin, to +consult about the preliminary arrangements for disposing of the remnant +of the cargo. Ned Sinton had turned in to have a good sleep before the +expected toil and bustle of the following day; O'Neil and Jones, being +relieved from duty, were glad to jump into their hammocks; and the deck +was left in charge of the conspirators. + +It was a clear, lovely night. Not a zephyr stirred the surface of the +sea, in whose depths the starry host and the images of a hundred ships +of all shapes and tonnage were faithfully mirrored. Bright lights +illumined the city, those in the tents giving to them the appearance of +cones and cubes of solid fire. The subdued din of thousands of human +voices floated over the water, and mingled with the occasional shout or +song that rose from the fleet and the splash of oars, as boats passed to +and from the shore. Over all, the young moon shed a pale, soft light, +threw into deep shadow the hills towards the north, which rose abruptly +to a height of 3000 feet, and tipped with a silver edge the peak of +Monte Diavolo, whose lofty summit overlooks all the golden land between +the great range of the Sierra Nevada and the ocean. It was a scene of +peaceful beauty, well fitted to call forth the adoration of man to the +great and good Creator. Doubtless there were some whose hearts rose +that night above the sordid thoughts of gain and gold; but few such were +recognisable by their fellow-men, compared with the numerous votaries of +sin and so-called pleasure. + +Towards midnight, Captain Bunting turned in, ordering the steward to +call him at daybreak; and shortly afterwards the mate retired, having +previously looked round the deck and spoken the watch. A few minutes +after, Elliot and his comrades appeared on deck, with their boots and +small bundles in their hands. + +"Is all right?" whispered Elliot. + +"All right!" replied one of the watch. + +Nothing more was said; the boat was hauled softly alongside, and held +firmly there while two men descended and muffled the oars; then one by +one the men slid down the side, and a bag of biscuit and a junk of beef +were lowered into it by the second mate, who was one of the +conspirators. + +At that moment the first mate came on deck, and went forward to inquire +what was wrong. + +"It's something in the boat, sir," replied the second mate. + +The mate looked over the side, and the sailors felt that they must be +discovered, and that their plans were about to be frustrated. But the +second mate was a man of decision. He suddenly seized Williams round +the neck, and, covering his mouth with his hand, held him as if in a +vice until he was secured and gagged. + +"Shall we leave him!" whisperingly inquired one of the men. + +"No, he'd manage to kick up a row; take him with us." + +The helpless mate was immediately passed over the side, the rope was +cast off; and the boat floated softly away. At first, the oars were +dipped so lightly that no sound was heard, even by those on board, +except the drops of brine that trickled from the blades as they rose +from the water; then, as the distance increased, the strokes were given +more vigorously, and, at last, the men bent to it "with a will;" and +they were soon shooting over the vast bay in the direction of the +Sacramento river, up which they meant to proceed to the "diggings." + +With the exception of O'Neil and Jones, who had already reached the +diggings in their dreams, the whole crew, sixteen in all, levanted, +leaving Captain Bunting to navigate the ship back to Old England as he +best might. + +It is easier to conceive than to describe the feelings of the captain, +when, on the following morning, he discovered that his crew had fled. +He stamped, and danced, and tugged his hair, and pursed up his lips so +tight that nothing but an occasional splutter escaped them! Then he sat +down on the cabin skylight, looked steadily at Ned, who came hurriedly +on deck in his shirt and drawers to see what was wrong, and burst into a +prolonged fit of laughter. + +"Hallo, captain! what's up!" + +"Nothin', lad, ha! ha! Oh yes, human flesh is up, Ned; sailors is riz, +an' we've been sold;--we have--uncommon!" + +Hereupon the captain roared again; but there was a slight peculiarity in +the tone, that indicated a strong infusion of rage with the seeming +merriment. + +"They're all gone--every man, Jack," said Jones, with a face of deep +solemnity, as he stood looking at the captain. + +"So they are, the blackguards; an' that without biddin' us good mornin', +bad luck to them," added O'Neil. + +At first, Ned Sinton felt little disposed to take a comic view of the +affair, and urged the captain strongly to take the lightest boat and set +off in pursuit; but the latter objected to this. + +"It's of no use," he said, "the ship can't be repaired here without +heavy expense; so, as I don't mean to go to sea again for some time, the +desertion of the men matters little after all." + +"Not go to sea again!" exclaimed Ned, in surprise. "What, then, do you +mean to do?" + +"That's more than I can tell. I must see first how the cargo is to be +disposed of; after that, it will be time enough to concoct plans for the +future. It is quite clear that the tide of luck is out about as far as +it can go just now; perhaps it may turn soon." + +"No doubt of it, captain," cried his young _protege_ with a degree of +energy that shewed he had made up his mind as to what _his_ course +should be, in the event of things coming to the worst. "I'll go down +and put on a few more articles of clothing, and then we'll have a talk +over matters." + +The "talk," which was held over the breakfast-table in the cabin, +resulted in the captain resolving to go ashore, and call on a Scotch +merchant, named Thompson, to whom he had a letter of introduction. +Half-an-hour later this resolve was carried out. Jones rowed them +ashore in the smallest boat they had, and sculled back to the ship, +leaving O'Neil with them to assist in carrying up two boxes which were +consigned to Mr Thompson. + +The quay on which they stood was crowded with men of all nations, whose +excited looks, and tones, and "go-ahead" movements, testified to the +high-pressure speed with which business in San Francisco was transacted. + +"It's more nor I can do to carry them two boxes at wance," said Larry +O'Neil, regarding them with a puzzled look, "an' sorra a porter do I see +nowhere." + +As he spoke, a tall, gentlemanly-looking young man, in a red-flannel +shirt, round-crowned wide-awake, long boots, and corduroys, stepped +forward, and said, "I'll help you, if you like." + +"D'ye think ye can lift it!" inquired Larry, with a dubious look. + +The youth replied by seizing one of the boxes, and lifting it with ease +on his shoulder, shewing that, though destitute of fat, he had more than +the average allowance of bone and sinew. + +"I doubt if you could do it better than that yourself, Larry," said Ned, +laughing. "Come along, now, close at our heels, lest we get separated +in the crowd." + +The young porter knew the residence of Mr Thompson well, and guided +them swiftly through the crowded thoroughfares towards it. Passing +completely through the town, he led them over the brow of one of the +sand-hills beyond it, and descended into a little valley, where several +neat villas were scattered along the sides of a pleasant green slope, +that descended towards another part of the bay. Turning into the little +garden in front of one of these villas, he placed the box on the wooden +platform before the door, and said, "This is Mr Thompson's house." + +There was something striking in the appearance of this young porter; he +seemed much above his station in life; and Ned Sinton regarded his +bronzed and handsome, but somewhat haggard and dissipated countenance, +with interest, as he drew out his purse, and asked what was to pay. + +"Two dollars," answered the man. + +Ned looked up in surprise. The idea of paying eight shillings for so +slight a service had never entered his imagination. At that moment the +door opened, and Mr Thompson appeared, and invited them to enter. He +was a shrewd, business-like man, with stern, but kind expression of +countenance. + +"Come in, come in, and welcome to California," he said, on perusing the +captain's letter of introduction. "Glad to see you, gentlemen. You've +not had breakfast, of course; we are just about to sit down. This +way," he added, throwing open the door of a comfortable and +elegantly-furnished parlour. "Bring the boxes into the passage--that +will do. Here, Lizette, pay the men, dear; two dollars a-piece, I +fancy--" + +"Excuse me," interrupted Captain Bunting, "only one bas to be paid, the +other is one of my sailors." + +"Ah! very good; which is he?" + +Larry O'Neil stepped forward, hat in hand. + +"Go in there, my man, and cook will attend to you." + +Larry passed through the doorway pointed out with a pleasant, fluttering +sensation at the heart, which was quickly changed to a feeling of +considerable disappointment on discovering that "cook" was a negro. + +Meanwhile Lizette took two dollars from her purse, and bowing modestly +to the strangers as she passed out of the room, advanced with them +towards the young porter. + +Now, Lizette was _not_ beautiful--few women are, in the highest sense of +the term, and the few who are, are seldom interesting; but she was +pretty, and sweet, and innocent, and just turned sixteen. Fortunately +for the male part of the world, there are many such. She had +light-brown hair, which hung in dishevelled curls all round, a soft fair +complexion, blue eyes, and a turned-up nose--a pert little nose that +said plainly, "I _will_ have my own way; now see if I don't." But the +heart that animated the body to which that nose belonged, was a good, +kind, earnest one; therefore, the nose having its own way was rather a +blessing than otherwise to those happy individuals who dwelt habitually +in the sunshine of Lizette's presence. + +At this particular time, ladies were scarce in California. The immense +rush of men from all parts of the earth to the diggings had not been +accompanied as yet by a corresponding rush of women, consequently the +sight of a female face was, as it always ought to be, a source of +comfort to mankind. We say "comfort" advisedly, because life at the +gold-mines was a hard, riotous, mammon-seeking, rugged, and, we regret +to say it, ungodly life; and men, in whom the soft memories of "other +days" were not entirely quenched, had need, sometimes, of the comforting +reflection that there still existed beings on the earth who didn't rant, +and roar, and drink, and swear, and wear beards, and boots, and +bowie-knives. + +There was double cause, then, for the gaze of respectful admiration with +which the young porter regarded Lizette, as she said, "Here is your +fare, porter," and put the money into his hand, which he did not even +thank her for, but continued to hold extended as if he wished her to +take it back again. + +Lizette did not observe the gaze, for she turned away immediately after +giving him the money, and re-entered the parlour, whereupon the youth +thrust both hands into his breeches-pockets, left the house, and +returned slowly to the city, with the expression on his countenance of +one who had seen a ghost. + +Meanwhile Captain Bunting and Ned Sinton sat down with their host and +hostess to a second breakfast, over which the former related the +circumstances of the double loss of his crew and cargo. + +"You are unfortunate," said Mr Thompson, when the captain paused; "but +there are hundreds in nearly the same predicament. Many of the +fine-looking vessels you see in the harbour have lain helplessly there +for months, the crews having taken French leave, and gone off to the +diggings." + +"It's awkward," said the captain, with a troubled expression, as he +slowly raised a square lump of pork to his mouth; "what would you advise +me to do?" + +"Sell off the remnant of the cargo, and set up a floating +boarding-house." + +The square lump of pork disappeared, as the captain thrust it into his +cheek in order to say, "What?" with a look of intense amazement. + +Lizette laughed inadvertently, and, feeling that this was somewhat rude, +she, in her effort to escape, plunged deeper into misfortune by turning +to Sinton, with a blushing countenance, and asking him to take another +cup of tea--a proposal that was obviously absurd, seeing that she had a +moment before filled up his second cup. + +Thus suddenly appealed to, Ned stammered, "Thank you--if you--ah!--no, +thank you, not any more." + +"Set up a floating boarding establishment," reiterated the merchant, in +a tone of decision that caused them all to laugh heartily. + +"It may sound strange," he continued, "but I assure you it's not a bad +speculation. The captain of an American schooner, whose crew deserted +the very day she arrived, turned his vessel into a floating +boarding-house, about two months ago, and I believe he's making a +fortune." + +"Indeed," ejaculated the captain, helping himself to another mass of +pork, and accepting Lizette's proffer of a third cup of tea. + +"You have no idea," continued the merchant, as he handed the bread to +Ned, and pressed him to eat--"you have no idea of the strange state of +things here just now, and the odd ways in which men make money. Owing +to the rush of immigrants everything is enormously dear, and house-room +is not to be had for love or money, so that if you were to fit up your +ship for the purpose you could fill it at once. At the various hotels +in the city an ordinary meal at the _table d'hote_ costs from two to +three dollars--eight and twelve shillings of our money--and there are +some articles that bear fabulous prices. It's a fact that eggs at this +moment sell at a shilling each, and onions and potatoes at the same +price; but then wages are enormously high. How long this state of +things will last no one can tell; in the meantime, hundreds of men are +making fortunes. Only the other day a ship arrived from New York, and +one of the passengers, a `'cute' fellow, had brought out fifteen hundred +copies of several newspapers, which he sold for a dollar each in less +than two hours! Then, rents are tremendous. You will scarcely believe +me when I tell you that the rent paid by the landlord of one of the +hotels here is 110,000 dollars--about 22,000 pounds--a year, and it is +but a poor building too. My own warehouse, which is a building of only +one storey, with a front of twenty feet, is rented to me at 40,000 +dollars--8000 pounds a year--and rents are rising." + +Ned and the captain leaned back in their chairs aghast at such +statements, and began to entertain some doubts as to the sanity of their +host; but the worthy merchant was a grave, quiet man, without a particle +of romance in his composition, and he went on coolly telling them facts +which Ned afterwards said made his hair almost stand on end, when he +thought of how little money he possessed, and how much he would have to +pay for the bare necessaries of life. + +After some further converse on men and things in general, and on +prospects at the mines, Mr Thompson said, "And now, Captain Bunting, +I'll tell you what I'll do. I will go down to your ship, overhaul the +cargo, and make you an offer for the whole in the lump, taking the +saleable with the unsaleable. This will, at any rate, put you in funds +at once, and enable you to follow what course seems best. Will that +suit you?" + +"It will," said the captain, "and thank 'ee. As for turning a +boardin'-house keeper, I don't think I'm cut out for it. Neither is my +friend Sinton, eh?" + +"Certainly not," answered Ned, laughing: "we might as well become +washerwomen." + +"You'd make a pretty good thing of it if you did," retorted Mr +Thompson; "would they not, Lizette? you know more about these things +than I do." + +"Indeed, I cannot tell, papa, as I do not know the capabilities of our +friends in that way; but I think the few washerwomen in the city must be +making fortunes, for they charge two shillings a-piece for everything, +large and small." + +"Now, then, gentlemen," said the merchant, rising, "if you have quite +finished, we will walk down to the harbour and inspect the goods." + +An arch smile played round Lizette's lips as she shook hands with Ned at +parting, and she seemed on the point of speaking, but checked herself. + +"I beg pardon," said Ned, pausing, "did you--" + +"Oh, it was nothing!" said Lizette; "I was only going to remark that-- +that if you set up in the washing line, I shall be happy to give you all +the work I can." + +"Ahem!" coughed Ned gravely, "and if we should set up in the _other_ +line, will you kindly come and board with us?" + +"Hallo, Ned, what's keeping you?" roared the captain. + +"Coming," shouted Ned, as he ran after him. "Where has Larry O'Neil +gone?" + +"He's away down before us to have a look at the town. We shall find +him, I doubt not, cruising about the quay." + +In a few minutes the three friends were wending their way through the +crowded streets back to the shore. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +THE FATE OF THE ROVING BESS--GAMBLING SCENES--MR. SINTON MAKES A NEW +FRIEND--LARRY O'NEIL MAKES MONEY IN STRANGE WAYS--A MURDER, AND A +BEGGAR'S DEATH--NED BECOMES A POOR MAN'S HEIR. + +The remnant of the cargo of the _Roving Bess_ proved to be worth +comparatively little--less even than had been anticipated. After a +careful inspection, Mr Thompson offered to purchase it "in the slump" +for 1000 dollars--about 200 pounds sterling. This was a heavy blow to +poor Captain Bunting, who had invested his all--the savings of many +years--in the present unfortunate venture. However, his was not a +nature to brood over misfortunes that could not be avoided, so he +accepted the sum with the best grace he might, and busied himself during +the next few days in assisting the merchant to remove the bales. + +During this period he did not converse much with any one, but meditated +seriously on the steps he ought to take. From all that he heard, it +seemed impossible to procure hands to man the ship at that time, so he +began to entertain serious thoughts of "taking his chance" at the +diggings after all. He was by nature averse to this, however; and had +nearly made up his mind to try to beat up recruits for the ship, when an +event occurred that settled the matter for him rather unexpectedly. +This event was the bursting out of a hurricane, or brief but violent +squall, which, before assistance could be procured, dragged the _Roving +Bess_ from her moorings, and stranded her upon the beach, just below the +town. Here was an end to sea-faring prospects. The whole of his +limited capital would not have paid for a tenth part of the labour +necessary to refloat the ship, so he resolved to leave her on the beach, +and go to the diggings. + +Mr Thompson advised him to sell the hull, as it would fetch a good +price for the sake of the timber, which at that time was much wanted in +the town, but the captain had still a lurking hope that he might get his +old ship afloat at some future period, and would not hear of it. + +"What," said he, "sell the _Roving Bess_, which stands _A1_ at Lloyd's, +to be broken up to build gold-diggers houses? I trow not. No, no; let +her lie where she is in peace." + +On the day after the squall, as Ned and the captain were standing on the +shore regarding their late floating, and now grounded, home in sad +silence, a long-legged, lantern-jawed man, in dirty canvas trousers, +long boots, a rough coat, and broad straw hat, with an enormous cigar in +his mouth, and both hands in his trousers-pockets, walked up and +accosted them. It did not require a second glance to know that he was a +Yankee. + +"Guess that 'ere's pretty wall fixed up, stranger," he said, addressing +the captain, and pointing with his nose to the stranded vessel. + +"It is," answered the captain, shortly. + +"Fit for nothin' but firewood, I calculate." + +To this the captain made no reply. + +"I say, stranger," continued the Yankee, "I wouldn't mind to give 'e +1000 dollars for her slick off." + +"I don't wish to sell her," replied the captain. + +"Say 1500," replied the man. + +"I tell you, I _won't_ sell her." + +"No! Now that _is_ kurous. Will 'e loan her, then!" + +Here Ned whispered a few words to the captain, who nodded his head, and, +turning to the Yankee, said-- + +"How much will you give?" + +"Wall, I reckon, she's too far out to drive a screamin' trade, but I +don't mind sayin' 100 dollars a month." + +After some consultation with Ned, and a little more talk with the +Yankee, Captain Bunting agreed to this proposal, only stipulating that +the bargain should hold good for a year, that the hull should not be cut +or damaged in any way, and that the rent should be paid in advance into +the hands of Mr Thompson, as he himself was about to proceed to the +gold-fields. Having sealed and settled this piece of business at a +neighbouring tavern, where the Yankee--Major Whitlaw--ordered a +"brandy-smash" for himself and two "gin-slings" for his companions, +(which they civilly declined, to his intense amazement,) the contracting +parties separated. + +"That's rather a sudden transfer of our good ship," said Ned, laughing, +as they walked towards the Plaza, or principal square of the town, where +some of the chief hotels and gambling-houses were situated. + +"I feel half sorry for havin' done it," replied the captain; "however, +it can't be helped now, so I'll away to our friend Thompson's office, +and tell him about it." + +"Then I shall wander about here until you return. It will be dinner +time at the hotels two hours hence. Suppose we meet at the Parker +House, and talk over our future plans while we discuss a chop?" + +To this the captain agreed, and then hurried off to his friend's office, +while Ned entered the hotel. A large portion of this building was +rented by gamblers, who paid the enormous sum of 60,000 dollars a year +for it, and carried on their villainous and degrading occupation in it +night and day. The chief games played were monte and faro, but no +interest attached to the games _as such_, the winning or losing of money +was that which lent fascination to the play. + +Ned had intended to stroll through the hotel and observe the various +visitors who thronged the bar, but the crash of a brass band in the +gambling-saloons awakened his curiosity, and induced him to enter. The +scene that met his eyes was, perhaps, the strangest and the saddest he +had ever looked upon. The large saloon was crowded with representatives +of almost every civilised nation under the sun. English, Scotch, Irish, +Yankees, French, Russians, Turks, Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, Malays, +Jews, and negroes--all were there in their national costumes, and all +were, more or less, under the fascinating influence of the reigning vice +of California, and especially of San Francisco. The jargon of excited +voices can neither be conceived nor described. Crowds surrounded the +monte tables, on which glittering piles of gold and silver coin were +passing from hand to hand according to varying fortune. The +characteristics--and we may add the worst passions--of the various +nations were ever and anon brought strongly out. The German and +Spaniard laid down their money, and lost or won without a symptom of +emotion; the Turk stroked his beard as if with the view of keeping +himself cool; the Russian looked stolid and indifferent; the Frenchman +started, frowned, swore, and occasionally clutched his concealed pistol +or bowie-knife; while the Yankee stamped and swore. But, indeed, the +men of all nations cursed and swore in that terrible place. + +Those who dwelt in the city staked gold and silver coin, while the men +just returned from the mines staked gold-dust and nuggets. These last +were conspicuous from their rough clothing, rugged, bronzed, and +weather-worn countenances. Many of them played most recklessly. +Several successful diggers staked immense sums, and either doubled or +lost, in two or three throws, the hard earnings of many months of toil, +and left the rooms penniless. + +At one end of the saloon there was a counter, with a plentiful supply of +stimulants to feed the excitement of the wretched gamblers; and the +waiter here was kept in constant employment. Ned had never been within +the unhallowed precincts of a gambling-house before, and it was with a +feeling of almost superstitious dread that he approached the table, and +looked on. A tall, burly, bearded miner stepped forward at the moment +and placed a huge purse of gold-dust on the table-- + +"Now, then," he cried, with a reckless air, "here goes--neck or +nothin'." + +"Nothin'!" he muttered with a fearful oath, as the president raked the +purse into his coffers. + +The man rose and strode sullenly from the room, his fingers twitching +nervously about the hilt of his bowie-knife; an action which the +president observed, but heeded not, being prepared with a concealed +revolver for whatever might occur. Immediately another victim stepped +forward, staked five hundred dollars--and won. He staked again a +thousand dollars--and won; then he rose, apparently resolved to tempt +fickle fortune no more, and left the saloon. As he retired his place +was filled by a young man who laid down the small sum of two dollars. +Fortune favoured this man for a long time, and his pile of dollars +gradually increased until he became over-confident and staked fully half +of his gains--and lost. + +Ned's attention was drawn particularly to this player, whom he thought +he had seen before. On looking more fixedly at him, he recognised the +young porter who had carried up the box to the merchant's house. His +next stake was again made recklessly. He laid down all he possessed-- +and lost. Then he rose suddenly, and drawing a pistol from his breast, +rushed towards the door. None of the players who crowded the saloon +paid him more than momentary attention. It mattered not to them whether +he meditated suicide or murder. They made way for him to pass, and +then, closing in, were deep again in the all-absorbing game. + +But our hero was not thus callous. A strong feeling of sympathy filled +his breast, prompting him to spring through the doorway, and catch the +youth by the shoulder just as he gained the street. He turned round +instantly, and presented the revolver at Ned's breast, but the latter +caught his right arm in his powerful grasp and held it in the air. + +"Be calm, my poor fellow," he said, "I mean you no harm; I only wish to +have a word of conversation with you. You are an Englishman, I +perceive." + +The young man's head fell on his breast, and he groaned aloud. + +"Come, come," said Ned, releasing his arm, "don't give way like that." + +"I'm lost," said the youth, bitterly. "I have struggled against this +passion for gaming, but it has overcome me again and again. It is vain +to fight against it any longer." + +"Not a bit of it, man," said Ned, in a cheering tone, as he drew the arm +of the young man within his own, and led him slowly along the street. +"You are excited just now by your disappointments. Let us walk together +a while, for I have something to say to you. I am quite a stranger +here, and it's a comfort to have a countryman to talk with." + +The kind words, and earnest, hearty manner of our hero, had the effect +of soothing the agitated feelings of his new friend, and of winning his +confidence. In the course of half-an-hour, he drew from him a brief +account of his past history. + +His name, he said, was Collins; he was the son of a clergyman, and had +received a good education. Five years before the period of which we now +write, he had left his home in England, and gone to sea, being at that +time sixteen years of age. For three years he served before the mast in +a South-Sea whale-ship, and then returned home to find his father and +mother dead. Having no near relations alive, and not a sixpence in the +world, he turned once more towards the sea, with a heavy heart and an +empty pocket, obtained a situation as second mate in a trading vessel +which was about to proceed to the Sandwich Islands. Encountering a +heavy gale on the western coast of South America, his vessel was so much +disabled as to be compelled to put into the harbour of San Francisco for +repairs. Here the first violent attack of the gold-fever had set in. +The rush of immigrants was so great, that goods of all kinds were +selling at fabulous prices, and the few bales that happened to be on +board the ship were disposed off for twenty times their value. The +captain was in ecstasies, and purposed sailing immediately to the +nearest civilised port for a cargo of miscellaneous goods; but the same +fate befell him which afterwards befell Captain Bunting, and many +hundreds of others--the crew deserted to the mines. Thereupon the +captain and young Collins also betook themselves to the gold-fields, +leaving the ship to swing idly at her anchor. Like most of the first +arrivals at the mines, Collins was very successful, and would soon--in +diggers' parlance--have "made his pile,"--i.e. his fortune, had not +scurvy attacked and almost killed him; compelling him to return to San +Francisco in search of fresh vegetables and medicine, neither of which, +at that time, could be obtained at the mines for love or money. He +recovered slowly; but living in San Francisco was so expensive that, ere +his health was sufficiently recruited to enable him to return to the +gold-fields, his funds were well-nigh exhausted. In order to recruit +them he went, in an evil hour, to the gaming-saloons, and soon became an +inveterate gambler. + +In the providence of God he had been led, some years before, to become +an abstainer from all intoxicating drinks, and, remaining firm to his +pledge throughout the course of his downward career, was thus saved from +the rapid destruction which too frequently overtook those who to the +exciting influences of gambling added the maddening stimulus of alcohol. +But the constant mental fever under which he laboured was beginning to +undermine a naturally-robust constitution, and to unstring the nerves of +a well-made, powerful frame. Sometimes, when fortune favoured him, he +became suddenly possessor of a large sum of money, which he squandered +in reckless gaiety, often, however, following the dictates of an +amiable, sympathetic disposition, he gave the most of it away to +companions and acquaintances in distress. At other times he had not +wherewith to pay for his dinner, in which case he took the first job +that offered in order to procure a few dollars. Being strong and +active, he frequently went down to the quays and offered his services as +a porter to any of the gold-hunters who were arriving in shoals from all +parts of the world. It was thus, as we have seen, that he first met +with Ned Sinton and his friends. + +All this, and a great deal more, did Ned worm out of his companion in +the course of half-an-hour's stroll in the Plaza. + +"Now," said he, when Collins had finished, "I'm going to make a proposal +to you. I feel very much interested in all that you have told me; to be +candid with you, I like your looks, and I like your voice--in fact, I +like _yourself_, and--but what's your Christian name?" + +"Tom," replied the other. + +"Very well; then I'll call you Tom in future, and you'll call me Ned. +Now, Tom, you must come with me and Captain Bunting to the gold-fields, +and try your fortune over again--nay, don't shake your head, I know what +you would say, you have no money to equip yourself, and you won't be +indebted to strangers, and all that sort of stuff; but that won't do, my +boy. I'm not a stranger; don't I know all your history from first to +last?" + +Tom Collins sighed. + +"Well, perhaps I don't know it all, but I know the most of it, and +besides, I feel as if I had known you all my life--" + +"Ned," interrupted the other, in an earnest tone of voice, "I feel your +kindness very much--no one has spoken to me as you have done since I +came to the diggings--but I cannot agree to your proposal to-day. Meet +me at the Parker House to-morrow, at this time, and I shall give you a +final answer." + +"But why not give it now?" + +"Because--because, I want to--to get paid for a job I expect to get--" + +"Tom," said Ned, stopping and laying his hand on the shoulder of his +companion, while he looked earnestly into his face, "let us begin our +friendship with mutual candour. Do you not intend to make a few +dollars, and then try to increase them by another throw at the +gaming-table!" + +The youth's brow flushed slightly as he answered, "You are right, I had +half an intention of trying my fortune for the last time--" + +"Then," said Ned firmly and emphatically, "you shall do nothing of the +sort. Gambling for money is a mean, pitiful, contemptible thing--don't +frown, my dear fellow, I do not apply these terms to _you_, I apply them +to the principle of gambling--a principle which you do not hold, as I +know from your admission, made to me not many minutes ago, that you have +often striven against the temptation. Many men don't realise the full +extent of the sinfulness of many of their practices, but although that +renders them less culpable, it does not render them innocent, much less +does it justify the evil practices. Gambling is all that I have styled +it, and a great deal worse; and you _must_ give it up--I insist on it. +Moreover, Tom, I insist on your coming to dine with me at the Parker +House. I shall introduce you to my friend Captain Bunting, whom you +already know by sight--so come along." + +"Well, I will," said Tom, smiling at his friend's energy, but still +hanging back; "but you must permit me to go to my lodgings first. I +shall be back immediately." + +"Very good. Remember, we dine in the course of an hour, so be +punctual." + +While Tom Collins hurried away to his lodgings, Ned Sinton proceeded +towards the shores of the bay in a remarkably happy frame of mind, +intending to pass his leisure hour in watching the thousands of +interesting and amusing incidents that were perpetually taking place on +the crowded quays, where the passengers from a newly-arrived brig were +looking in bewildered anxiety after their luggage, and calling for +porters; where traffic, by means of boats, between the fleet and the +land created constant confusion and hubbub; where men of all nations +bargained for the goods of all climes in every known tongue. + +While he gazed in silence at the exciting and almost bewildering scene, +his attention was attracted to a group of men, among whose vociferating +tones he thought he distinguished familiar voices. + +"That's it; here's your man, sir," cried one, bursting from the crowd +with a huge portmanteau on his shoulder. "Now, then, where'll I steer +to?" + +"Right ahead to the best hotel," answered a slim Yankee, whose black +coat, patent-leather boots, and white kids, in such a place, told +plainly enough that a superfine dandy had mistaken his calling. + +"Ay, ay, sir!" shouted Bill Jones, as he brushed past Ned, in his new +capacity of porter. + +"Faix, ye've cotched a live Yankee!" exclaimed a voice there was no +mistaking, as the owner slapped Bill on the shoulder. "He'll make yer +fortin', av ye only stick by him. He's just cut out for the diggin's, +av his mother wos here to take care of him." + +Larry O'Neil gave a chuckle, slapped his pockets, and cut an elephantine +caper, as he turned from contemplating the retreating figure of his +shipmate's employer, and advanced towards the end of the quay. + +"Now, thin, who's nixt?" cried he, holding out both arms, and looking +excited, as if he were ready to carry off any individual bodily in his +arms to any place, for mere love, without reference to money. "Don't +all spake at wance. Tshoo dollars a mile for anythin' onder a ton, an' +yerself on the top of it for four! Horoo, Mister Sinton, darlint, is it +yerself? Och, but this is the place intirely--goold and silver for the +axin' a'most! Ah, ye needn't grin. Look here!" + +Larry plunged both hands into the pockets of his trousers, and pulled +them forth full of half and quarter dollars, with a few shining little +nuggets of gold interspersed among them. + +Ned opened his eyes in amazement, and, taking his excited comrade apart +from the crowd, asked how he had come by so much money. + +"Come by it!" he exclaimed; "ye could come by twice the sum, av ye +liked. Sure, didn't I find that they wos chargin' tshoo dollars--aiqual +to eight shillin's, I'm towld--for carryin' a box or portmanter the +length o' me fut; so I turns porter all at wance, an' faix I made six +dollars in less nor an hour. But as I was comin' back, I says to +myself, says I, `Larry, ye'll be the better of a small glass o' +somethin'--eh!' So in I goes to a grog-shop, and faix I had to pay +half-a-dollar for a thimbleful o' brandy, bad luck to them, as would +turn the stomik o' a pig. I almost had a round wi' the landlord; but +they towld me it wos the same iverywhere. So I wint and had another in +the nixt shop I sees, jist to try; and it was thrue. Then a Yankee +spies my knife,--the great pig-sticker that Bob Short swopped wi' me for +my junk o' plum-duff off the Cape. It seems they've run out o' sich +articles just at this time, and would give handfuls o' goold for wan. +So says I, `Wot'll ye give?' + +"`Three dollars, I guess,' says wan. + +"`Four,' says another; `he's chaitin' ye.' + +"`Four's bid,' says I, mountin' on a keg o' baccy, and howldin up the +knife; `who says more? It's the rale steel, straight from Manchester or +Connaught, I misremimber which. Warranted to cut both ways, av ye only +turn the idge round, and shove with a will.' + +"I begood in joke; but faix they took me up in arnest, an' run up the +price to twinty dollars--four pounds, as sure as me name's Larry--before +I know'd where I wos. I belave I could ha' got forty for it, but I +hadn't the heart to ax more, for it wasn't worth a brass button." + +"You've made a most successful beginning, Larry. Have you any more +knives like that one?" + +"Sorrow a wan--more's the pity. But that's only a small bit o' me +speckilations. I found six owld newspapers in the bottom o' me chist, +and, would ye belave it, I sowld 'em, ivery wan, for half-a-dollar the +pace; and I don't rightly know how much clear goold I've got by standin' +all mornin' at the post-office." + +"Standing at the post-office! What do you mean?" + +"Nother more or less nor what I say. I suppose ye know the mail's comed +in yisterday morning; so says I to myself this mornin', `Ye've got no +livin' sowl in the owld country that's likely to write to ye, but ye +better go, for all that, an' ax if there's letters. Maybe there is; who +knows?' So away I wint, and sure enough I found a row o' men waitin' +for their letters; so I crushes for'ard--och! but I thought they'd ha' +hung me on the spot,--and I found it was a rule that `first come first +sarved--fair play and no favour.' They wos all standin' wan behind +another in a line half-a-mile long av it wos a fut, as patient as could +be; some readin' the noosepapers, and some drinkin' coffee and tay and +grog, that wos sowld by men as went up an' down the line the whole +mornin'. So away I goes to the end o' the line, an' took my place, +detarmined to stand it out; and, in three minutes, I had a tail of a +dozen men behind me. `Faix, Larry,' says I, `it's the first time ye +iver comminced at the end of a thing in order to git to the beginnin'.' + +"Well, when I wos gittin' pretty near the post-office windy, I hears the +chap behind me a-sayin' to the fellow behind him that he expected no +letters, but only took up his place in the line to sell it to them what +did. An' sure enough I found that lots o' them were there on the same +errand. Just then up comes a miner, in big boots and a wide-awake. + +"`Och,' says he, `who'll sell me a place?' and with that he offered a +lot o' pure goold lumps. + +"`Guess it's too little,' says the man next me. + +"`Ah, ye thievin' blackguard!' says I. `Here, yer honer, I'll sell ye +my place for half the lot. I can wait for me letter, more be token I'm +not sure there is wan.' For, ye see, I wos riled at the Yankee's greed. +So out I steps, and in steps the miner, and hands me the whole he'd +offered at first. + +"`Take them, my man,' says he; `you're an honest fellow, and it's a +trate to meet wan here.'" + +"Capital," cried Ned, laughing heartily; "and you didn't try for a +letter after all?" + +"Porter there?" shouted a voice from the quay. + +"That's me, yer honer. Here ye are," replied the Irishman, bounding +away with a yell, and shouldering a huge leathern trunk, with which he +vanished from the scene, leaving Ned to pursue the train of thought +evoked by his account of his remarkable experiences. + +We deem it necessary here to assure the reader that the account given by +Larry O'Neil of his doings was by no means exaggerated. The state of +society, and the eccentricities of traffic displayed in San Francisco +and other Californian cities during the first years of the gold-fever, +beggars all description. Writers on that place and period find +difficulty in selecting words and inventing similes in order to convey +anything like an adequate idea of their meaning. Even eye-witnesses +found it almost impossible, to believe the truth of what they heard and +saw; and some have described the whole circle of life and manners there +to have been more like to the wild, incongruous whirl of a pantomime +than to the facts of real life. + +Even in the close and abrupt juxtaposition of the ludicrous and the +horrible this held good. Ned Sinton had scarcely parted from his +hilarious shipmate, when he was attracted by shouts, as if of men +quarrelling, in a gaming-house; and, a few moments later, the report of +a pistol was heard, followed by a sharp cry of agony. Rushing into the +house, and forcing his way through the crowd, he reached the table in +time to see the bloody corpse of a man carried out. This unfortunate +had repeatedly lost large sums of money, and, growing desperate, staked +his all on a final chance. He lost; and, drawing his bowie-knife, in +the heat of despair, rushed at the president of the table. A dozen arms +arrested him, and rendered his intended assault abortive; nevertheless, +the president coolly drew a revolver from under the cloth, and shot him +dead. For a few minutes there was some attempt at disturbance, and some +condemned, while others justified the act. But the body was removed, +and soon the game went on again as if nothing had occurred. + +Sickened with the sight, Ned hurried from the house, and walked rapidly +towards the shores of the bay, beyond the limits of the canvas town, +where he could breathe the free ocean air, and wander on the sands in +comparative solitude. + +The last straggling tent in that quarter was soon behind bun, and he +stopped by the side of an old upturned boat, against which he leaned, +and gazed out upon the crowded bay with saddened feelings. As he stood +in contemplation, he became aware of a sound, as if of heaving, +plethoric breathing under the boat. Starting up, he listened intently, +and heard a faint groan. He now observed, what had escaped his notice +before, that the boat against which he leaned was a human habitation. A +small hole near the keel admitted light, and possibly, at times, emitted +smoke. Hastening round to the other side, he discovered a small +aperture, which served as a doorway. It was covered with a rag of +coarse canvas, which he lifted, and looked in. + +"Who's there?" inquired a voice, as sharply as extreme weakness would +allow. "Have a care! There's a revolver pointing at your head. If you +come in without leave, I'll blow out your brains." + +"I am a friend," said Ned, looking towards the further end of the boat, +where, on a couch of straw, lay the emaciated form of a middle-aged man. +"Put down your pistol, friend; my presence here is simply owing to the +fact that I heard you groan, and I would relieve your distress, if it is +in my power." + +"You are the first that has said so since I lay down here," sighed the +man, falling back heavily. + +Ned entered, and, advancing as well as he could in a stooping posture, +sat down beside the sick man's pallet, and felt his pulse. Then he +looked anxiously in his face, on which the hand of death was visibly +placed. + +"My poor fellow!" said Ned, in a soothing tone, "you are very ill, I +fear. Have you no one to look after you?" + +"Ill!" replied the sick man, almost fiercely, "I am dying. I have seen +death too often, and know it too well, to be mistaken." His voice sank +to a whisper as he added, "It is not far off now." + +For a few seconds Ned could not make up his mind what to say. He felt +unwilling to disturb the last moments of the man. At last he leaned +forward, and repeated from memory several of the most consoling passages +of Scripture. Twice over he said, "Though thy sins be as scarlet, they +shall be white as wool," and, "Him that cometh unto Me, (Christ), I will +in no wise cast out." + +The man appeared to listen, but made no reply. Suddenly he started up, +and, leaning on his elbow, looked with an awfully earnest stare into +Ned's face. + +"Young man, gold is good--gold is good--remember that, _if you don't +make it your god_." + +After a pause, he continued, "_I_ made it my god. I toiled for it night +and day, in heat and cold, wet and dry. I gave up everything for it; I +spent all my time in search of it--and I got it--and what good can it do +me _now_? I have spent night and day here for weeks, threatening to +shoot any one who should come near my gold--Ha!" he added, sharply, +observing that his visitor glanced round the apartment, "you'll not find +it _here_. No, look, look round, peer into every corner, tear up every +plank of my boat, and you'll find nothing but rotten wood, and dust, and +rusty nails." + +"Be calm, my friend," said Ned, who now believed that the poor man's +mind was wandering, "I don't want your gold; I wish to comfort you, if I +can. Would you like me to do anything for you after--" + +"After I'm dead," said the man, abruptly. "No, nothing. I have no +relations--no friends--no enemies, even, _now_. Yes," he added, +quickly, "I have one friend. _You_ are my friend. You have spoken +kindly to me--a beggar. You deserve the name of friend. Listen, I want +you to be my heir. See here, I have had my will drawn up long ago, with +the place for the name left blank I had intended--but no matter--what is +your name?" + +"Edward Sinton." + +"Here, hand me that ink-horn, and the pen. There," continued the man, +pushing the paper towards him, "I have made over to you the old boat, +and the ground it lies on. Both are mine. The piece of ground is +marked off by four posts. Take care of the--" + +The man's voice sank to a mere whisper; then it ceased suddenly. When +Ned looked at him again, he started, for the cold hand of death had +sealed his lips for ever. + +A feeling of deep, intense pity filled the youth's heart, as he gazed on +the emaciated form of this friendless man--yet he experienced a +sensation approaching almost to gladness, when he remembered that the +last words he had spoken to him were those of our blessed Saviour to the +chief of sinners. + +Spreading the ragged piece of canvas that formed a quilt over the dead +man's face, he rose, and left the strange dwelling, the entrance to +which he secured, and then hastened to give information of the death to +the proper authorities. + +Ned was an hour too late for dinner when he arrived at the hotel, where +he found Captain Bunting and his new friend awaiting him in some +anxiety. Hastily informing them of the cause of his detention, he +introduced them to each other, and forgot for a time the scene of death +he had just witnessed, in talking over plans for the future, and in +making arrangements for a trip to the diggings. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +OUR HERO AND HIS FRIENDS START FOR THE DIGGINGS--THE CAPTAIN'S +PORTRAIT--COSTUMES, AND SCENERY, AND SURPRISES--THE RANCHE BY THE +ROAD-SIDE--STRANGE TRAVELLERS--THEY MEET WITH A NEW FRIEND, AND ADOPT +HIM--THE HUNTER'S STORY--LARRY OFFERS TO FIGHT A YANKEE--HIGH PRICES AND +EMPTY PURSES. + +Ovid never accomplished a metamorphosis more striking or complete than +that effected by Captain Bunting upon his own proper person. We have +said, elsewhere, that the worthy captain was a big, broad man, with a +shaggy head of hair, and red whiskers. Moreover, when he landed in San +Francisco, he wore a blue coat, with clear brass buttons, blue vest, +blue trousers, and a glazed straw hat; but in the course of a week he +effected such a change in his outward man, that his most intimate friend +would have failed to recognise him. + +No brigand of the Pyrenees ever looked more savage--no robber of the +stage ever appeared more outrageously fierce. We do not mean to say +that Captain Bunting "got himself up" for the purpose of making himself +conspicuous. He merely donned the usual habiliments of a miner; but +these habiliments were curious, and the captain's figure in them was +unusually remarkable. + +In order that the reader may have a satisfactory view of the captain, we +will change the scene, and proceed at once to that part of the road to +the gold-fields which has now been reached by our adventurers. + +It is a wide plain, or prairie, on which the grass waves like the waters +of the sea. On one side it meets the horizon, on another it is bounded +by the faint and far-distant range of the Sierra Nevada. Thousands of +millions of beautiful wild-flowers spangle and beautify the soft green +carpet, over which spreads a cloudless sky, not a whit less blue and +soft than the vaunted sky of Italy. Herds of deer are grazing over the +vast plain, like tame cattle. Wild geese and other water-fowl wing +their way through the soft atmosphere, and little birds twitter joyously +among the flowers. Everything is bright, and green, and beautiful; for +it is spring, and the sun has not yet scorched the grass to a +russet-brown, and parched and cracked the thirsty ground, and banished +animal and vegetable life away, as it will yet do, ere the hot summer of +those regions is past and gone. + +There is but one tree in all that vast plain. It is a sturdy oak, and +near it bubbles a cool, refreshing spring, over which, one could fancy, +it had been appointed guardian. The spot is hundreds of miles from San +Francisco, on the road to the gold-mines of California. Beneath that +solitary oak a party of weary travellers have halted, to rest and +refresh themselves and their animals; or, as the diggers have it, to +take their "nooning." In the midst of that party sits our captain, on +the back of a long-legged mule. + +On his head is, or, rather, was--for he has just removed it, in order to +wipe the perspiration from his forehead--a brown felt wide-awake, very +much battered in appearance, suggesting the idea that the captain had +used it constantly as a night-cap, which, indeed, is the fact. Nothing +but a flannel shirt, of the brightest possible scarlet, clothes the +upper portion of his burly frame, while brown corduroys adorn the lower. +Boots of the most ponderous dimensions engulf, not only his feet, but +his entire legs, leaving only a small part of the corduroys visible. On +his heels, or, rather, just above his heels, are strapped a pair of +enormous Mexican spurs, with the frightful prongs of which he so +lacerated the sides of his unfortunate mule, during the first part of +the journey, as to drive that animal frantic, and cause it to throw him +off at least six times a day. Dire necessity has now, however, taught +the captain that most difficult and rarely-accomplished feat of +horsemanship, to ride with the toes well in, and the heels well out. + +Round Captain Bunting's waist is a belt, which is of itself quite a +study. It is made of tough cow-hide, full two and a half inches broad, +and is fastened by a brass buckle that would cause the mouth of a +robber-chief to water. Attached to it in various ways and places are +the following articles:--A bowie-knife of the largest size--not far +short of a small cutlass; a pair of revolving pistols, also large, and +having six barrels each; a stout leathern purse; and a leathern bag of +larger dimensions for miscellaneous articles. As the captain has given +up shaving for many weeks past, little of his face is visible, except +the nose, eyes, and forehead. All besides is a rugged mass of red hair, +which rough travel has rendered an indescribable and irreclaimable +waste. But the captain cares not: as long as he can clear a passage +through the brushwood to his mouth, he says, his mind is easy. + +Such is Captain Bunting, and such, with but trifling modifications, is +every member of his party. On Ned Sinton and his almost equally +stalwart and handsome friend, Tom Collins, the picturesque costume of +the miner sits well; and it gives a truly wild, dashing look to the +whole party, as they stand beneath the shade of that lovely oak, +preparing to refresh themselves with biscuit and jerked beef, and pipes +of esteemed tobacco. + +Besides those we have mentioned, Larry O'Neil is there,--busy carrying +water in a bucket to the horses, and as proud of his Mexican spurs as if +they were the golden spurs of the days of chivalry. Bill Jones is +there, with a blue instead of a red-flannel shirt, and coarse canvas +ducks in place of corduroys. Bill affects the sailor in other respects, +for he scorns heavy boots, and wears shoes and a straw hat; but he is +compelled to wear the spurs, for reasons best known to his intensely +obstinate mule. There is also among them a native Californian,--a +_vaquero_, or herd,--who has been hired to accompany the party to the +diggings, to look after the pack-mules, of which there are two, and to +assist them generally with advice and otherwise. He is a fine athletic +fellow--Spanish-like, both in appearance and costume; and, in addition +to bad Spanish, gives utterance to a few sounds, which _he_ calls +"Encleesh." The upper part of his person is covered by the _serape_, or +Mexican cloak, which is simply a blanket, with a hole in its centre, +through which the head of the wearer is thrust, the rest being left to +fall over the shoulders. + +Our travellers had reached the spot on which we now find them by means +of a boat voyage of more than a hundred miles, partly over the great bay +of San Francisco, and partly up the Sacramento River, until they reached +the city of Sacramento. Here they purchased mules and provisions for +the overland journey to the mines--a further distance of about a hundred +and fifty miles,--and also the picks, shovels, axes, pewter plates, +spoons, pans, and pannikins, and other implements and utensils that were +necessary for a campaign among the golden mountains of the Sierra +Nevada. For these the prices demanded were so enormous, that when all +was ready for a start they had only a few dollars left amongst them. +But being on their way to dig for gold, they felt little concern on this +head. + +As the Indians of the interior had committed several murders a short +time before, and had come at various times into collision with the +gold-diggers, it was deemed prudent to expend a considerable sum on arms +and ammunition. Each man, therefore, was armed with a rifle or carbine, +a pistol of some sort, and a large knife or short sword. Captain +Bunting selected a huge old bell-mouthed blunderbuss, having, as he +said, a strong partiality for the weapons of his forefathers. Among +other things, Ned, by advice of Tom Collins, purchased a few simple +medicines; he also laid in a stock of drawing-paper, pencils, and +water-colours, for his own special use, for which he paid so large a sum +that he was ashamed to tell it to his comrades; but he was resolved not +to lose the opportunity of representing life and scenery at the +diggings, for the sake of old Mr Shirley, as well as for his own +satisfaction. Thus equipped they set forth. + +Before leaving San Francisco, the captain, and Ned, and Tom Collins had +paid a final visit to their friend the merchant, Mr Thompson, and +committed their property to his care--i.e. the hull of the good ship +_Roving Bess_--the rent of which he promised to collect monthly--and +Ned's curious property, the old boat and the little patch of barren +sand, on which it stood. The boat itself he made over, temporarily, to +a poor Irishman who had brought out his wife with him, and was unable to +proceed to the diggings in consequence of the said wife having fallen +into a delicate state of health. He gave the man a written paper +empowering him to keep possession until his return, and refused to +accept of any rent whereat the poor woman thanked him earnestly, with +the tears running down her pale cheeks. + +It was the hottest part of an exceedingly hot day when the travellers +found themselves, as we have described, under the grateful shade of what +Larry termed the "lone oak." + +"Now our course of proceeding is as follows," said Ned, at the +conclusion of their meal--"We shall travel all this afternoon, and as +far into the night as the mules can be made to go. By that time we +shall be pretty well off the level ground, and be almost within hail of +the diggings--" + +"I don't belave it," said Larry O'Neil, knocking the ashes out of his +pipe in an emphatic manner; "sure av there _was_ goold in the country we +might have seed it by this time." + +Larry's feelings were a verification of the words, "hope deferred maketh +the heart sick." He had started enthusiastically many days before on +this journey to the gold regions, under the full conviction that on the +first or second day he would be, as he expressed it, "riding through +fields of goold dust;" instead of which, day after day passed, and night +after night, during which he endured all the agonies inseparable from a +_first_ journey on horseback, and still not a symptom of gold was to be +seen, "no more nor in owld Ireland itself." But Larry bore his +disappointments like an Irishman, and defied "fortin' to put him out of +timper by any manes wotiver." + +"Patience," said Bill Jones, removing his pipe to make room for the +remark, "is a wirtue--that's wot I says. If ye can't make things +better, wot then? why, let 'em alone. W'en there's no wind, crowd all +canvas and ketch wot there is. W'en there _is_ wind, why then, steer +yer course; or, if ye can't, steer as near it as ye can. Anyhow, never +back yer fore-topsail without a cause--them's my sentiments." + +"And very good sentiments they are, Bill," said Tom Collins, jumping up +and examining the girth of his horse; "I strongly advise you to adopt +them, Larry." + +"Wot a bottle o' wisdom it is," said O'Neil, with a look of affected +contempt at his messmate. "Wos it yer grandmother, now, or yer great +wan, that edicated ye?--Arrah, there ye go! Oh, morther, ye'll break me +heart!" + +The latter part of this remark was addressed to his mule, which at that +moment broke its laryat, and gambolled gaily away over the flowering +plain. Its owner followed, yelling like a madman. He might as well +have chased the wind; and it is probable that he would never have +mounted his steed again had not the vaquero come to his aid. This man, +leaping on his own horse, which was a very fine one, dashed after the +runaway, with which he came up in a few minutes; then grasping the long +coil of line that hung at his saddle-bow, he swung it round once or +twice, and threw the lasso, or noose, adroitly over the mule's head, and +brought it up. + +"Yer a cliver fellow," said Larry, as he came up, panting; "sure ye did +it be chance?" + +The man smiled, and without deigning a reply, rode back to the camp, +where the party were already in the saddle. In a few minutes they were +trotting rapidly over the prairie. + +Before evening closed, the travellers arrived at one of the road-side +inns, or, as they were named, ranches, which were beginning at this time +to spring up in various parts of the country, for the accommodation of +gold-hunters on their way to the mines. This ranche belonged to a man +of the name of Dawson, who had made a few hundred dollars by digging, +and then set up a grog-shop and house of entertainment, being wise +enough to perceive that he could gain twice as much gold by supplying +the diggers with the necessaries of life than he could hope to procure +by digging. His ranche was a mere hovel, built of sun-dried bricks, and +he dealt more in drinks than in edibles. The accommodation and +provisions were of the poorest description, but, as there was no other +house of entertainment near, mine host charged the highest possible +prices. There was but one apartment in this establishment, and little +or no furniture. Several kegs and barrels supported two long pine +planks which constituted at different periods of the day the counter, +the gaming-table, and the _table d'hote_. A large cooking stove stood +in the centre of the house, but there were no chairs; guests were +expected to sit on boxes and empty casks, or stand. Beds there were +none. When the hour for rest arrived, each guest chose the portion of +the earthen floor that suited him best, and, spreading out his blankets, +with his saddle for a pillow, lay down to dream of golden nuggets, or, +perchance, of home, while innumerable rats--the bane of California-- +gambolled round and over him. + +The ranchero, as the owner of such an establishment is named, was said +to be an escaped felon. Certainly he might have been, as far as his +looks went. He was surly and morose, but men minded this little, so +long as he supplied their wants. There were five or six travellers in +the ranche when our party arrived, all of whom were awaiting the +preparation of supper. + +"Here we are," cried the captain, as they trotted into the yard, "ready +for supper, I trow; and, if my nose don't deceive me, supper's about +ready for us." + +"I hope they've got enough for us all," said Ned, glancing at the party +inside, as he leaped from the saddle, and threw the bridle to his +vaquero. "Halloo, Boniface! have ye room for a large party in there?" + +"Come in an' see," growled Dawson, whose duties at the cooking stove +rendered him indifferent as to other matters. + +"Ah, thin, ye've got a swate voice," said Larry O'Neil, sarcastically, +as he led his mule towards a post, to which Bill Jones was already +fastening his steed. "I say, Bill," he added, pointing to a little tin +bowl which stood on an inverted cask outside the door of the ranche, +"wot can that be for?" + +"Dunno," answered Bill; "s'pose it's to wash in." + +At that moment a long, cadaverous miner came out of the hut, and +rendered further speculation unnecessary, by turning up his shirt +sleeves to the elbow, and commencing his ablutions in the little tin +bowl, which was just large enough to admit both his hands at once. + +"Faix, yer mouth and nose ought to be grateful," said Larry, in an +undertone, as he and Jones stood with their arms crossed, admiring the +proceedings of the man. + +This remark had reference to the fact that the washer applied the water +to the favoured regions around his nose and mouth, but carefully avoided +trespassing on any part of the territory lying beyond. + +"Oh! morther, wot nixt?" exclaimed Larry. + +Well might he inquire, for this man, having combed his hair with a +public comb, which was attached to the door-post by a string, and +examined himself carefully in a bit of glass, about two inches in +diameter, proceeded to cleanse his teeth with a _public tooth-brush_ +which hung beside the comb. All these articles had been similarly used +by a miner ten minutes previously; and while this one was engaged with +his toilet, another man stood beside him awaiting his turn! + +"W'en yer in difficulties," remarked Bill Jones, slowly, as he entered +the ranche, and proceeded to fill his pipe, "git out of 'em, if ye can. +If ye can't, why wot then? circumstances is adwerse, an' it's o' no use +a-tryin' to mend 'em. Only my sentiments is, that I'll delay washin' +till I comes to a river." + +"You've come from San Francisco, stranger?" said a rough-looking man, in +heavy boots, and a Guernsey shirt, addressing Captain Bunting. + +"Maybe I have," replied the captain, regarding his interrogator through +the smoke of his pipe, which he was in the act of lighting. + +"Goin' to the diggin's, I s'pose?" + +"Yes." + +"Bin there before?" + +"No." + +"Nor none o' your party, I expect?" + +"None, except one." + +"You'll be goin' up to the bar at the American Forks now, I calc'late?" + +"Don't know that I am." + +"Perhaps you'll try the northern diggin's?" + +"Perhaps." + +How long this pertinacious questioner might have continued his attack on +the captain is uncertain, had he not been suddenly interrupted by the +announcement that supper was ready, so he swaggered off to the corner of +the hut where an imposing row of bottles stood, demanded a +"brandy-smash," which he drank, and then, seating himself at the table +along with the rest of the party, proceeded to help himself largely to +all that was within his reach. + +The fare was substantial, but not attractive. It consisted of a large +junk of boiled salt beef, a mass of rancid pork, and a tray of broken +ship-biscuit. But hungry men are not particular, so the viands were +demolished in a remarkably short space of time. + +"I'm a'most out o' supplies," said the host, in a sort of apologetic +tone, "an' the cart I sent down to Sacramento some weeks ago for more's +not come back." + +"Better than nothin'," remarked a bronzed, weatherbeaten hunter, as he +helped himself to another junk of pork. "If ye would send out yer boy +into the hills with a rifle now an' again, ye'd git lots o' grizzly +bars." + +"Are grizzly-bears eaten here?" inquired Ned Sinton, pausing in the act +of mastication, to ask the question. + +"Eaten!" exclaimed the hunter, in surprise, "in coorse they is. They're +uncommon good eatin' too, I guess. Many a one I've killed an' eaten +myself; an' I like 'em better than beef--I do. I shot one up in the +hills there two days agone, an' supped off him; but bein' in a hurry, I +left the carcase to the coyotes." (Coyotes are small wolves.) + +The men assembled round the rude _table d'hote_ were fifteen in number, +including our adventurers, and represented at least six different +nations--English, Scotch, Irish, German, Yankee, and Chinese. Most of +them, however, were Yankees, and all were gold-diggers; even the hunter +just referred to, although he had not altogether forsaken his former +calling, devoted much of his time to searching for gold. Some, like our +friends, were on their way to the diggings for the first time; others +were returning with provisions, which they had travelled to Sacramento +city to purchase; and one or two were successful diggers who had made +their "piles,"--in other words, their fortunes--and were returning home +with heavy purses of gold-dust and nuggets. + +Good humour was the prevailing characteristic of the party, for each man +was either successful or sanguinely hopeful, and all seemed to be +affected by a sort of undercurrent of excitement, as they listened to, +or related, their adventures at the mines. There was only one serious +drawback to the scene, and that was, the perpetual and terrible swearing +that mingled with the conversation. The Americans excelled in this +wicked practice. They seemed to labour to invent oaths, not for the +purpose of venting angry feelings, but apparently with the view of +giving emphasis to their statements and assertions. The others swore +from _habit_. They had evidently ceased to be aware that they were +using oaths--so terribly had familiarity with sinful practices blunted +the consciences of men who, in early life, would probably have trembled +in this way to break the law of God. + +Yes, by the way, there was one other drawback to the otherwise +picturesque and interesting group, and this was the spitting propensity +of the Yankees. All over the floor--that floor, too, on which other men +besides themselves were to repose--they discharged tobacco-juice and +spittle. The _nation_ cannot be too severely blamed and pitied for this +disgusting practice, yet we feel a tendency, not to excuse, but to deal +gently with _individuals_, most of whom, having been trained to spitting +from their infancy, cannot be expected even to understand the abhorrence +with which the practice is regarded by men of other nations. + +Nevertheless, brother Jonathan, it is not too much to expect that you +ought to respect the universal condemnation of your spitting +propensities--by travellers from all lands--and endeavour to _believe_ +that ejecting saliva promiscuously is a dirty practice, even although +you cannot _feel_ it. We think that if you had the moral courage to +pass a law in Congress to render spitting on floors and carpets a +capital offence, you would fill the world with admiration and your own +bosoms with self-respect, not to mention the benefit that would accrue +to your digestive powers in consequence thereof! + +All of the supper party were clad and armed in the rough-and-ready style +already referred to, and most of them were men of the lower ranks, but +there were one or two who, like Ned Sinton, had left a more polished +class of mortals to mingle in the promiscuous crowd. These, in some +cases, carried their manners with them, and exerted a modifying +influence on all around. One young American, in particular, named +Maxton, soon attracted general attention by the immense fund of +information he possessed, and the urbane, gentlemanly manner in which he +conveyed it to those around him. He possessed in an eminent degree +those qualities which attract men at once, and irresistibly good nature, +frankness, manliness, considerable knowledge of almost every subject +that can be broached in general conversation, united with genuine +modesty. When he sat down to table he did not grasp everything within +his reach; he began by offering to carve and help others, and when at +length he did begin to eat, he did not gobble. He "guessed" a little, +it is true, and "calculated" occasionally, but when he did so, it was in +a tone that fell almost as pleasantly on the ear as the brogue of old +Ireland. + +Ned happened to be seated beside Maxton, and held a good deal of +conversation with him. + +"Forgive me, if I appear inquisitive," said the former, helping himself +to a handful of broken biscuit, "but I cannot help expressing a hope +that our routes may lie in the same direction--are you travelling +towards Sacramento city or the mines?" + +"Towards the mines; and, as I observed that your party came from the +southward, I suppose you are going in the same direction. If so, I +shall be delighted to join you." + +"That's capital," replied Ned, "we shall be the better of having our +party strengthened, and I am quite certain we could not have a more +agreeable addition to it." + +"Thank you for the compliment. As to the advantage of a strong party, I +feel it a safeguard as well as a privilege to join yours, for, to say +truth, the roads are not safe just now. Several lawless scoundrels have +been roving about in this part of the country committing robberies and +even murder. The Indians, too, are not so friendly as one could wish. +They have been treated badly by some of the unprincipled miners; and +their custom is to kill two whites for every red-man that falls. They +are not particular as to whom they kill, consequently the innocent are +frequently punished for the guilty." + +"This is sad," replied Ned. "Are, then, all the Indian tribes at enmity +with the white men?" + +"By no means. Many tribes are friendly, but some have been so severely +handled, that they have vowed revenge, and take it whenever they can +with safety. Their only weapons, however, are bows and arrows, so that +a few resolute white men, with rifles, can stand against a hundred of +them, and they know this well. I spent the whole of last winter on the +Yuba River; and, although large bands were in my neighbourhood, they +never ventured to attack us openly, but they succeeded in murdering one +or two miners who strayed into the woods alone." + +"And are these murders passed over without any attempt to bring the +murderers to justice?" + +"I guess they are not," replied Maxton, smiling; "but justice is +strangely administered in these parts. Judge Lynch usually presides, +and he is a stern fellow to deal with. If you listen to what the +hunter, there, is saying just now, you will hear a case in point, if I +mistake not." + +As Maxton spoke, a loud laugh burst from the men at the other end of the +table. + +"How did it happen?" cried several. + +"Out wi' the yarn, old boy." + +"Ay, an' don't spin it too tight, or, faix, ye'll burst the strands," +cried Larry O'Neil, who, during the last half-hour, had been listening, +open-mouthed, to the marvellous anecdotes of grizzlies and red-skins, +with which the hunter entertained his audience. + +"Wall, boys, it happened this ways," began the man, tossing off a +gin-sling, and setting down the glass with a violence that nearly +smashed it. "Ye see I wos up in the mountains, near the head waters o' +the Sacramento, lookin' out for deer, and gittin' a bit o' gold now an' +again, when, one day, as I was a-comin' down a gully in the hills, I +comes all of a suddint on two men. One wos an Injun, as ugly a sinner +as iver I seed; t'other wos a Yankee lad, in a hole diggin' gold. +Before my two eyes were well on them, the red villain lets fly an arrow, +and the man fell down with a loud yell into the hole. Up goes my rifle +like wink, and the red-skin would ha' gone onder in another second, but +my piece snapped--cause why? the primin' had got damp; an' afore I could +prime agin, he was gone. + +"I went up to the poor critter, and sure enough it wos all up with him. +The arrow went in at the back o' his neck. He niver spoke again. So I +laid him in the grave he had dug for himself, and sot off to tell the +camp. An' a most tremendous row the news made. They got fifty +volunteers in no time, and went off, hot-fut, to scalp the whole nation. +As I had other business to look after, and there seemed more than +enough o' fightin' men, I left them, and went my way. Two days after, I +had occasion to go back to the same place, an' when I comed in sight o' +the camp, I guess there was a mighty stir. + +"`Wot's to do?' says I to a miner in a hole, who wos diggin' away for +gold, and carin' nothin' about it. + +"`Only scraggin' an Injun,' he said, lookin' up. + +"`Oh,' says I, `I'll go and see.' + +"So off I sot, and there wos a crowd o' about two hundred miners round a +tree; and, jest as I come up, they wos puttin' the rope round the neck +of a poor wretch of an old grey-haired red-skin, whose limbs trembled so +that they wos scarce able to hold him up. + +"`Heave away now, Bill,' cried the man as tied the noose. + +"But somethin' was wrong with the hitch o' the rope round the branch o' +the tree, an' it wouldn't draw, and some time wos spent in puttin' it +right. I felt sorter sorry for the old man, for his grave face was bold +enough, and age more than fear had to do with the tremblin' o' his legs. +Before they got it right again, my eye fell on a small band o' +red-skins, who were lookin' quietly on; and foremost among them the very +blackguard as shot the man in the galley. I knew him at once by his +ugly face. Without sayin' a word, I steps for'ard to the old Injun, and +takes the noose off his neck. + +"`Halloo!' cried a dozen men, jumpin' at me. `Wot's that for?' `Scrag +the hunter,' cries one. `Howld yer long tongues, an' hear what he's got +to say,' shouts an Irishman. + +"`Keep your minds easy,' says I, mountin' a stump, `an' seize that +Injun, or I'll have to put a ball into him before he gits off'--for, ye +see, I obsarved the black villain took fright, and was sneakin' away +through the crowd. They had no doubt who I meant, for I pinted straight +at him; and, before ye could wink, he was gripped, and led under the +tree, with a face paler than ever I saw the face o' a red-skin before. + +"`Now,' says I, `wot for are ye scraggin' this old man?' So they told +me how the party that went off to git the murderer met a band o' injuns +comin' to deliver him up to be killed, they said, for murderin' the +white man. An' they gave up this old Injun, sayin' he wos the murderer. +The diggers believed it, and returned with the old boy and two or three +others that came to see him fixed off. + +"`Very good,' says I, `ye don't seem to remimber that I'm the man what +saw the murder, and told ye of it. By good luck, I've come in time to +point him out--an' _this is him_.' An' with that I put the noose round +the villain's neck and drawed it tight. At that he made a great start +to shake it off, and clear away; but before you could wink, he was +swingin' at the branch o' the tree, twinty feet in the air. + +"Sarved him right," cried several of the men, emphatically, as the +hunter concluded his anecdote. + +"Ay," he continued, "an' they strung up his six friends beside him." + +"Sarved 'em right too," remarked the tall man, whose partiality for the +tin wash-hand basin and the tooth-brush we have already noticed. "If I +had my way, I'd shoot 'em all off the face o' the 'arth, I would, right +away." + +"I'm sorry to hear they did that," remarked Larry O'Neil looking +pointedly at the last speaker, "for it only shewed they was greater +mortherers nor the Injuns--the red-skins morthered wan man, but the +diggers morthered six. + +"An' who are _you_ that finds fault wi' the diggers?" inquired the tall +man, turning full round upon the Irishman, with a tremendous oath. + +"Be the mortial," cried the Irishman, starting up like a +Jack-in-the-box, and throwing off his coat, "I'm Larry O'Neil, at yer +sarvice. Hooroo! come on, av' ye want to be purtily worked off." + +Instantly the man's hand was on the hilt of his revolver; but, before he +could draw it, the rest of the company started up and overpowered the +belligerents. + +"Come, gentlemen," said the host of the ranche, stepping forward, "it's +not worth while quarrelling about a miserable red-skin." + +"Put on your coat, Larry, and come, let's get ready for a start," said +Ned; "you can't afford to fight till you've made your fortune at the +diggings. How far is it to the next ranche, landlord?" + +This cool attempt to turn the conversation was happily successful. The +next ranche, he was told, was about ten miles distant, and the road +comparatively easy; so, as it was a fine moonlight night, and he was +desirous of reaching the first diggings on the following day as early as +possible, the horses and mules were saddled, and the bill called for. + +When the said bill was presented, or rather, announced to them, our +travellers opened their eyes pretty wide; they had to open their purses +pretty wide too, and empty them to such an extent that there was not +more than a dollar left among them all! + +The supper, which we have described, cost them two and a half dollars-- +about ten shillings and sixpence a head, including a glass of bad +brandy; but not including a bottle of stout which Larry, in the +ignorance and innocence of his heart, had asked for, and which cost him +_three dollars_ extra! An egg, also, which Ned had obtained, cost him a +shilling. + +"Oh, morther!" exclaimed Larry, "why didn't ye tell us the price before +we tuck them?" + +"Why didn't ye ax?" retorted the landlord. + +"It's all right," remarked Maxton. "Prices vary at the diggings, as you +shall find ere long. When provisions run short, the prices become +exorbitant; when plentiful, they are more moderate, but they are never +_low_. However, men don't mind much, for most diggers have plenty of +gold." + +Captain Bunting and Bill Jones were unable to do more than sigh out +their amazement and shake their heads, as they left the ranche and +mounted their steeds; in doing which the captain accidentally, as usual, +drove both spurs into the sides of his mule, which caused it to execute +a series of manoeuvres and pirouettes that entertained the company for a +quarter of an hour, after which they rode away over the plain. + +It was a beautiful country through which they now ambled pleasantly. +Undulating and partially wooded, with fine stretches of meadow land +between, from which the scent of myriads of wild-flowers rose on the +cool night air. The moon sailed low in a perfectly cloudless sky, +casting the shadows of the horsemen far before them as they rode, and +clothing hill and dale, bush and tree, with a soft light, as if a cloud +of silver gauze had settled down upon the scene. The incident in the +ranche was quickly banished, and each traveller committed himself +silently to the full enjoyment of the beauties around him--beauties +which appeared less like reality than a vision of the night. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +A NIGHT RIDE IN THE WOODS--THE ENCAMPMENT--LARRY'S FIRST ATTEMPT TO DIG +FOR GOLD--AN ALARM--A SUSPICIOUS STRANGER--QUEER CREATURES. + +In less than two hours the travellers reached the second ranche, which +was little better, in appearance or accommodation, than the one they had +left. Having no funds, they merely halted to water their cattle, and +then pushed forward. + +The country became more and more undulating and broken as they advanced, +and beyond the second ranche assumed the appearance of a hill country. +The valleys were free from trees, though here and there occurred dense +thickets of underwood, in which Maxton told them that grizzly-bears +loved to dwell--a piece of information that induced most of the party to +carry their rifles in a handy position, and glance suspiciously at every +shadow. Large oaks and bay-trees covered the lower slopes of the hills, +while higher up the white oak and fir predominated. + +About an hour after midnight the moon began to descend towards the +horizon, and Ned Sinton, who had been unanimously elected commander of +the little band, called a halt in the neighbourhood of a rivulet, which +flowed round the base of an abrupt cliff whose sides were partially +clothed with scrubby bushes. + +"We shall encamp here for the night, comrades," said he, dismounting; +"here is water and food for our nags, a fine piece of greensward to +spread our blankets on, and a thick-leaved oak to keep the dew off us. +Now, Maxton, you are an old campaigner, let us see how soon you'll have +a fire blazing." + +"I'll have it ready before you get the camp kettles and pans out," +answered Maxton, fastening his horse to a tree, seizing an axe, and +springing into the woods on the margin of the stream. + +"And, Captain Bunting," continued Ned, "do you water the horses and +mules: our vaquero will help you. Jones will unpack the provender. Tom +Collins and I will see to getting supper ready." + +"An', may I ax, commodore," said Larry O'Neil, touching his hat, "wot +_I'm_ to do?" + +"Keep out of everybody's way, and do what you pleases, Larry." + +"Which manes, I'm to make myself ginerally useful; so here goes." And +Larry, springing through the bushes, proceeded to fulfil his duties, by +seizing a massive log, which Maxton had just cut, and, heaving it on his +powerful shoulder, carried it to the camp. + +Each was immediately busied with his respective duties. Bustling +activity prevailed for the space of a quarter of an hour, the result of +which was that, before the moon left them in total darkness, the ruddy +glare of a magnificent fire lighted up the scene brilliantly, glanced +across the sun-burnt faces and vivid red shirts of our adventurers, as +they clustered round it, and threw clouds of sparks in among the leaves +of the stout old oak that overspread the camp. + +"Now, this is what I call uncommon jolly," said Captain Bunting, sitting +down on his saddle before the cheerful blaze, rubbing his hands, and +gazing round, with a smile of the utmost benignity on his broad, hairy +countenance. + +"It is," replied Maxton, with an approving nod. "Do you know, I have +often thought, captain, that an Indian life must be a very pleasant +one--" + +"Av coorse it must," interrupted Larry, who at that moment was +luxuriating in the first rich, voluminous puffs of a newly-filled +pipe--"av coorse it must, _if_ it's always like this." + +"Ay," continued Maxton, "but that's what I was just going to remark +upon--it's _not_ always like this. As a general rule, I have observed, +men who are new to backwoods life, live _at first_ in a species of +terrestrial paradise. The novelty and the excitement cause them to +revel in all that is enjoyable, and to endure with indifference all that +is disagreeable; sometimes, even, to take pleasure in shewing how +stoically they can put up with discomfort. But after a time the novelty +and excitement wear away, and then it is usual to hear the praises of +Indian life spoken of immediately before and immediately after supper. +Towards midnight--particularly if it should rain, or mosquitoes be +numerous--men change their minds, and begin to dream of home, if they +can sleep, or to wish they were there, if they can't." + +"Get out! you horrid philosopher," cried Tom Collin as he gazed +wistfully into the iron pot, whose savoury contents, (i.e. pork, flour, +and beans), he was engaged in stirring. "Don't try to dash the cup of +romance from our lips ere we have tasted it. Believe me, comrades, our +friend Maxton is a humbug. I am an old stager myself; have lived the +life of an Indian for months and months together, and I declare to you, +I'm as jolly and enthusiastic _now_ as ever I was." + +"That may be quite true," observed Maxton, "seeing that it is possible +you may have never been jolly or enthusiastic at all; but even taking +your words as you mean them to be understood, they only tend to enforce +what I have said, for, you know, the exception proves the rule." + +"Bah! you sophisticator," ejaculated Tom, again inspecting the contents +of the pot. + +"Och, let him spake, an' be aisy," remarked Larry, with a look of +extreme satisfaction on his countenance; "we're in the navelty an' +excitement stage o' life just now, an faix we'll kape it up as long as +we can. Hand me a cinder, Bill Jones, an' don't look as if ye wos +meditatin' wot to say, for ye know that ye can't say nothin'." + +Bill took no further notice of this remark than to lift a glowing piece +of charcoal from the fire with his fingers, as deliberately as if they +were made of iron, and hand it to O'Neil, who received it in the same +cool manner, and relighted his pipe therewith. + +"It strikes me we shall require all our jollity and enthusiasm to keep +up our spirits, if we don't reach the diggings to-morrow," said Ned +Sinton, as he busied himself in polishing the blade of a superb +hunting-knife, which had been presented to him by a few college friends +at parting; "you all know that our funds are exhausted, and it's awkward +to arrive at a ranche without a dollar to pay for a meal--still more +awkward to be compelled to encamp beside a ranche and unpack our own +provisions, especially if it should chance to be a wet night. Do you +think we shall manage to reach the diggings to-morrow, Maxton?" + +"I am certain of it. Twelve miles will bring us to Little Creek, as it +is called, where we can begin to take initiative lessons in +gold-washing. In fact, the ground we stand on, I have not a doubt, has +much gold in it. But we have not the means of washing it yet." + +Larry O'Neil caught his breath on hearing this statement. "D'ye mane to +tell me," he said, slowly and with emphasis, "that I'm maybe sittin' at +this minute on the top o' rale goold?" + +"You may be," answered Maxton, laughing. + +"W'en ye don't know," remarked Bill Jones, sententiously, removing the +pipe from his lips, and looking fixedly at his messmate, "W'en ye don't +know _wot's_ under ye, nor the coorse o' nature, w'ich is always more or +less a-doin' things oncommon an' out o' the way, ye shouldn't ought to +speckilate on wot ye know nothin' about, until ye find out how's her +head, an' w'ich way the land lies. Them's my sentiments." + +"Halloo! Larry," cried the captain and Tom Collins simultaneously, +"look out for the kettle. It'll boil over." + +Larry's feelings had been deeply stirred at that moment, so that the +union of the sudden shout, with the profundity of Bill's remark, had the +effect of causing him to clutch at the tea-kettle with such haste that +he upset it into the fire. + +"Oh! bad luck to ye!" + +"Clumsy fellow!" ejaculated Ned. "Off with you to the creek, and refill +it." + +Larry obeyed promptly, but the mischance, after all, was trifling, for +the fire was fierce enough to have boiled a twenty-gallon caldron in a +quarter of an hour. Besides, the contents of the iron pot had to be +discussed before the tea was wanted. In a few minutes supper was ready, +and all were about to begin, when it was discovered that O'Neil was +missing. + +"Ho! Larry, come to supper!" shouted one. + +"Hi! where are you?" cried another. + +But there was no reply, until the captain put both hands to his mouth, +and gave utterance to the nautical halloo with which, in days gone by, +he was wont to hail the look-out at the main-top. + +"Ay, ay, comin' sir-r," floated back on the night wind; and, shortly +afterwards, the Irishman stumbled into camp with his hands, his face, +and his clothes plentifully bedaubed with mud. + +"Why, what have you been about?" inquired Ned. + +"Diggin' for goold, sure. I've made a hole in the banks o' the creek +with me two hands that ye might bury a young buffalo in, an' sorrow a +bit o' goold have I got for me pains." + +A general laugh greeted the enthusiastic digger, as he wiped his hands +and sat down to supper. + +"Musha! av I didn't git goold, I've dug up a mortial big appetite, +anyhow. Hand me the wooden spoon, Mister Collins; it's more the gauge +o' me pratie-trap than the pewter wans. D'ye know, comrades, I'm a'most +sure I seed an Injun in the bush. Av it wasn't, it was a ghost." + +"What like was he?" + +"Look there, and judge for yourselves," cried O'Neil, jumping suddenly +to his feet, and pointing towards the wood, where a solitary figure was +seen dimly against the dark background. + +Every man leaped up and seized his weapons. + +"Who goes there?" shouted Ned, advancing towards the edge of the circle +of light. + +"A friend," was the reply, in English. + +Relieved to find that he was not the advance-guard of a band of savages, +Ned invited the stranger to approach, and immediately he stepped within +the sacred circle of the camp-fire's light. This unexpected addition to +the party was by no means a pleasant one. His complexion was +exceedingly dark, and he wore a jet-black beard. In manners he was +coarse and repulsive--one of those forbidding men who seem to be born +for the purpose of doing evil, in whatever position of life or part of +the world they happen to be placed. The rude garments of the miner +harmonised with the rugged expression of his bearded and bronzed face, +and the harsh voice in which he addressed the party corresponded +therewith. + +"I s'pose ye'll not object to let me rest by yer fire, strangers?" he +said, advancing and seating himself without waiting for a reply. + +"You're welcome," answered Ned, curtly, for he neither liked the manners +nor the aspect of the man. + +"Ye might ha' wished us the top o' the mornin', I think," suggested +Larry. "Here, try an' soften yer sperrits with a sup," he added, +pushing a pewter plate of soup and a spoon towards him. + +The man made no reply, but ate ravenously, as if he had been starving. +When he had finished, he lighted his pipe, and drew his knees up to his +chin as he warmed his hands before the blaze. Little information of any +kind could be drawn out of this taciturn wanderer. To Ned's questions, +he replied that he had been at the diggings on the Yuba River, which he +described as being rich; that he had made enough gold to satisfy all his +wants, and was on his way to San Francisco, where he intended to ship +for England. His name, he said, was Smith. + +He carried a short rifle, with a peculiarly large bore, and a heavy +hunting-knife, the point of which was broken off. This last Bill Jones +observed, as the man laid it down, after cutting up some tobacco, +preparatory to refilling his pipe. + +"A good knife! How did ye break it?" inquired Bill, taking up the +weapon and examining it. + +"Never you mind," answered the man, snatching it rudely from him, and +sheathing it. + +At this O'Neil regarded him with an angry expression. + +"Faix, av ye wasn't livin', so to spake, in me own house, I'd make ye +change yer tone." + +"I don't mean no offence," said Smith, endeavouring to speak a little +less gruffly. "The fact is, gents, I'm out o' sorts, 'cos I lost a +grizzly bar in the hills an hour or two agone. I shot him dead, as I +thought, and went up and drove my knife into his side, but it struck a +rib and broke the pint, as ye see; and a'most afore I could get up a +tree, he wos close up behind me. He went away after a while, and so I +got clear off." + +To the immense satisfaction of every one, this disagreeable guest arose +after finishing his pipe, knocked the ashes out, shouldered his rifle, +and, bidding his entertainers good-night, re-entered the forest, and +disappeared. + +"You're well away," remarked Tom Collins, looking after him; "I couldn't +have slept comfortably with such a fellow in camp. Now, then, I'm going +to turn in." + +"So am I," said Maxton, rolling himself in a blanket, and pillowing his +head on a saddle, without more ado. + +In a few minutes the camp was as silent as it had previously been noisy. +Captain Bunting's plethoric breathing alone told that human beings +rested on that wild spot; and this, somewhat incongruously united with +the tinkling of the rivulet hard by, and the howling of coyotes, +constituted their lullaby. During the night the most of the travellers +were awakened once or twice by a strange and very peculiar sensation, +which led them to fancy the earth on which they reposed was possessed of +life. The lazy members of the party lay still, and dreamily wondered +until they fell asleep; those who were more active leaped up, and, +lifting their blankets, gazed intently at the sward, which darkness +prevented them from seeing, and felt it over with their hands, but no +cause for the unwonted motion could be discovered, until the light of +dawn revealed the fact that they had made their beds directly above the +holes of a colony, of ground-squirrels, which little creatures, poking +upwards with their noses in vain attempts to gain the upper world, had +produced the curious sensations referred to. + +Rough travelling, however, defies almost all disadvantages in the way of +rest. Tired and healthy men will sleep in nearly any position, and at +any hour, despite all interruptions, so that when our friends rose at +daybreak to resume their journey, they were well refreshed and eager to +push on. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +GAME AND COOKERY--ARRIVAL AT THE DIGGINGS--LITTLE CREEK--LAW AND ORDER +IN THE MINES--NOONING AT LITTLE CREEK--HARD-UP--OUR ADVENTURERS GET +CREDIT AND BEGIN WORK--A YANKEE OUTWITTED. + +Deer, hares, crows, blackbirds, magpies, and quails, were the creatures +that bounded, scampered, hopped, and flew before the eyes of the +travellers at every step, as they wended their way pleasantly, beneath a +bright morning sun, over the hills and through the lesser valleys of the +great vale of the Sacramento. And all of these creatures, excepting the +crows and magpies, fell before the unerring and unexpectedly useful +blunderbuss of Captain Bunting, passed a temporary existence in the maw +of the big iron pot, and eventually vanished into the carnivorous jaws +of Ned Sinton and his friends. + +Crows were excluded from their bill of fare, because the whole party had +an unconquerable antipathy to them; and Larry said he had "aiten many +pies in his lifetime, but he had niver aiten magpies, and he'd be shot +av he wos goin' to begin now." + +The duties of chief hunter devolved upon the captain,--first, because he +was intensely fond of shooting; and, secondly, because game was so +plentiful and tame, that it was difficult to avoid hitting _something_, +if one only fired straight before one. For the same reasons the +blunderbuss proved to be more effectual than the rifle. The captain +used to load it with an enormous charge of powder and a handful of +shot--swan-shot, two sizes of duck-shot, and sparrow-hail, mixed, with +an occasional rifle-ball dropped in to the bargain. The recoil of the +piece was tremendous, but the captain was a stout buffer--if we may be +permitted the expression--and stood the shock manfully. + +Stewed squirrels formed one of their favourite dishes, it was frequently +prepared by Tom Collins, whose powers in the culinary department proved +to be so great that he was unanimously voted to the office of _chef de +cuisine_--Bill Jones volunteering, (and being accepted), to assist in +doing the dirty work; for it must be borne in mind that the old +relations of master and man no longer subsisted amongst any of the +travellers now--excepting always the native vaquero. All were equal at +starting for the diggings, and the various appointments were made by, +and with the consent of the whole party. + +Little Creek diggings were situated in a narrow gorge of the mountains, +through which flowed a small though turbulent stream. The sides of the +hills were in some places thickly clothed with trees, in others they +were destitute not only of vegetation but of earth, the rock on the +steeper declivities of the hills having been washed bare by the +periodical heavy rains peculiar to those regions. Although wild and +somewhat narrow, this little valley was, nevertheless, a cheerful spot, +in consequence of its facing almost in a southerly direction: while, +towards the east, there were several wide and picturesque gaps in the +hills which seemed to have been made for the express purpose of letting +the sun shine the greater part of the day upon the diggers while they +were at work--an advantage, no doubt, when the weather was cool, but +rather the reverse when it was hot. + +The entrance to Little Creek was about two miles wide, undulating, and +beautifully diversified, resembling pleasure grounds rather than a +portion of the great wilderness of the far west; but the vale narrowed +abruptly, and, about three miles further into the mountains, became a +mere gap or ravine through which the streamlet leaped and boiled +furiously. + +It was an hour before noon when our travellers came suddenly upon the +wide entrance to the valley. + +"How beautiful!" exclaimed Ned, as he reined up to gaze in admiration +over the flowering plain, with its groups of noble trees. + +"Ay," said Maxton, enthusiastically, "you may well say that. There may +be, perchance, as grand, but I am certain there is not a grander country +in the world than America--the land of the brave and free." + +Ned did not assent at once to the latter part of this proposition. + +"You forget," he said, hesitatingly, as if disinclined to hurt the +feelings or prejudices of his new friend, "you forget that it is the +land of _slaves_!" + +"I confess that I did forget that at the moment," answered Maxton, while +the blood mounted to his forehead. "It is the foulest blot upon my +country's honour; but I at least am guiltless of upholding the accursed +institution, as, also, are thousands of my countrymen. I feel assured, +however, that the time is coming when that blot shall be wiped away." + +"I am glad, my friend," said Ned, heartily, "to hear you speak thus; to +be frank with you, I could not have prevailed upon myself to have held +out to you the hand of intimate friendship had you proved to be a +defender of slavery." + +"Then you'll form few friendships in this country," said Tom Collins, +"for many of the Yankees here have been slave-holders in their day, and +almost all defend the custom." + +The conversation was interrupted at this point by Larry O'Neil uttering +a peculiarly Hibernian exclamation, (which no combination of letters +will convey,) and pointing in an excited manner to an object a few +hundred yards in advance of them. + +"What d'ye see, lad!" inquired Bill Jones, shading his eyes with his +hand. + +The whole party came to a halt, and gazed earnestly before them for a +few minutes in silence. + +"Och!" said O'Neil, slowly, and with trembling earnestness, "av me two +eyes are spakin' truth, it's--it's a _goold digger_!--the first o' the +goold-diggers!"--and Larry followed up the discovery with a mingled +cheer and war-whoop of delight that rang far and wide over the valley. + +At such an unwonted, we might almost say, appalling, sound, the "first +o' the goold-diggers,"--who was up to his waist in a hole, quietly and +methodically excavating the earth on the river's bank with a pick-axe-- +raised his head, and, leaning on the haft of his pick, scrutinised the +new arrivals narrowly. + +"Hooray, my hearty!" shouted Larry, as he advanced at a gallop, followed +by his laughing comrades. "The top o' the mornin' to ye--it's good luck +I'm wishin' ye, avic. How are ye gittin' on in the goold way, honey?" + +The rough-looking, dusty, and bearded miner, smiled good-humouredly, as +he replied, in a gentle tone of voice that belied his looks--"Pretty +well, friend; though not quite so well as some of my neighbours. I +presume that you and your friends have just arrived at the mines?" + +"Tear an' ages! it's a gintleman, I do belave," cried Larry, turning to +his companions with a look of surprise. + +The miner laughed at the remark, and, leaping out of the hole, did his +best to answer the many questions that were put to him in a somewhat +excited tone by the party. + +"Where's the gold?" inquired Jones, gravely, going down on his knees at +the side of the excavation, and peering into it. "I don't see none, +wotsomediver." + +"The dust is very fine here," answered the miner, "and not easily +detected until washed. Occasionally we come upon nuggets and pockets in +the dry parts of the river's bed, and the _canons_ of the hills, but I +find it most profitable to work steadily down here where the whole +earth, below the surface, is impregnated with fine particles of gold. +Many of the diggers waste their time in _prospecting_, which word, I +suppose you know, means looking out for new diggings; but, according to +the proverb of my country, I prefer to remain `contented wi' little, and +cantie wi' mair.'" + +"Are we far-distant from the other miners in this creek?" inquired Ned. + +"No; you are quite close. You will come upon the colony after passing +that bluff of trees ahead of you," answered the Scotchman; "but come, I +will shew you the way; it is not far from nooning-time, when I usually +cease work for a couple of hours." + +So saying, the miner threw his pick-axe and shovel into the hole, and +led the way towards the colony of Little Creek. + +"Ain't you afraid some of the bad-looking scoundrels in these parts may +take a fancy to your pick and shovel?" inquired the captain, as they +rode along at a foot pace. + +"Not in the least. Time was when I would have feared to leave them; for +at one time neither life nor property was safe here, where so many +ruffians congregated from all parts of the world; but the evil wrought +its own cure at last. Murders and robberies became so numerous, that +the miners took to Lynch law for mutual protection. Murderers and +thieves were hanged, or whipped almost to death, with such promptitude, +that it struck terror into the hearts of evil-doers; and the consequence +is, that we of this valley are now living in a state of perfect peace +and security, while in other districts, where the laws of Judge Lynch +are not so well administered, murders and thefts are occasionally heard +of. Here, if a man takes a fancy to go prospecting for a time, he has +only to throw his pick and shovel into his claim, or upon his heap of +dirt, [see note 1] and he will be sure to find them there untouched on +his return, even though he should be absent several weeks. Our tents, +too, are left unwatched, and our doors unfastened, with perfect safety, +though it is well-known that hundreds and thousands of dollars in +gold-dust lie within. I do not mean to assert that we have attained to +absolute perfection--a murder and a theft do occasionally occur, but +such are the exceptions, security is the rule." + +"Truly," said Ned Sinton, "you seem to live in a golden age in all +respects." + +"Not in all," answered the Scot; "the terrors of the law deter from open +violence, but they do not enforce morality, as the language and +deportment of miners generally too plainly shew. But here we are at the +colony of Little Creek." + +They rounded the projecting spur of one of the hills as he spoke, and +the whole extent of the little valley opened up to view. It was indeed +a romantic and curious sight. The vale, as we have said, was narrow, +but by no means gloomy. The noontide sun shed a flood of light over the +glistening rocks and verdant foliage of the hills on the left, and cast +the short, rounded shadows of those on the right upon the plain. +Through the centre of this the Little Creek warbled on its course; now +circling round some wooded knoll, until it almost formed an island; anon +dropping, in a quiet cascade, over the edge of a flat rock; in some +places sweeping close under the base of a perpendicular cliff; in others +shooting out into a lake-like expanse of shallow water across a +bright-green meadow, as it murmured on over its golden bed towards the +Sacramento. + +Higher up the valley the cliffs were more abrupt. Dark pines and +cedars, in groups or singly, hung on their sides, and gave point to the +landscape, in the background of which the rivulet glittered like a +silver thread where the mountains rose in peaks towards the sky. + +Along the whole course of this rivulet, as far as the eye could trace +it, searchers for gold were at work on both banks, while their white +tents, and rude wooden shanties, were scattered, singly or in clusters +of various extent, upon the wooded slopes, in every pleasant and +suitable position. From the distance at which our party first beheld +the scene, it appeared as if the miners were not men, but little animals +grubbing in the earth. Little or no sound reached their ears; there was +no bustle, no walking to and fro, as if the hundreds there assembled had +various and diverse occupations. All were intently engaged in one and +the same work. Pick-axe and shovel rose and fell with steady regularity +as each individual wrought with ceaseless activity within the narrow +limits of his own particular claim, or rocked his cradle beside it. +Dig, dig, dig; rock, rock, rock; shovel, shovel, shovel, was the order +of the day, as long as day lasted; and then the gold-hunters rested +until recruited strength and dawning light enabled them again to go down +into the mud and dig, and rock, and shovel as before. + +Many, alas! rocked themselves into a fatal sleep, and dug and shovelled +their own graves among these golden hills. Many, too, who, although +they dug and toiled for the precious metal, had neither made it their +god nor their chief good, were struck down in the midst of their heavy +toils, and retired staggering to their tents, and there, still clad in +their damp garments, laid their fevered heads on their saddles--not +unfrequently on their bags of gold-dust--to dream of the distant homes +and the loved faces they were doomed to see no more; and thus, dreaming +in solitude, or watched, mayhap, by a rough though warm-hearted mate, +breathed out their spirits to Him who gave them, and were laid in their +last resting-place with wealth untold beneath them, and earth +impregnated with gold-dust for their winding-sheet. Happy, thrice +happy, the few who in that hour could truly say to Jesus, "Whom have I +in heaven but Thee? and there is _none upon earth_ that I desire beside +Thee." + +Just as our travellers approached the nearest and largest cluster of +huts and tents, a sudden change came over the scene. The hour of noon +had arrived, and, as if with one consent, the miners threw down their +tools, and swarmed, like the skirmishers of an invading host, up from +the stream towards the huts--a few of the more jovial among them singing +at the full pitch of their lungs, but most of them too wearied to care +for aught save food and repose. + +Noon is the universal dinner-hour throughout the gold-mines, an hour +which might be adopted with profit in every way, we venture to suggest, +by those who dig for gold in commercial and legal ledgers and cash-books +in more civilised lands. When the new-comers reached a moderately-sized +log-cabin, which was the chief hotel of the colony, they found it in all +the bustle of preparation for an immediate and simple, though +substantial, meal. + +"Can we have dinner!" inquired Ned, entering this house of +entertainment, while his companions were unsaddling and picketing their +horses and mules. + +"To be sure ye can, my hearty," answered the smiling landlord, "if ye +pay for it." + +"That's just the reason I asked the question," answered Ned, seating +himself on a cask--all available chairs, stool; and benches having been +already appropriated by mud-bespattered miners, "because, you must know, +I _can't_ pay for it." + +"Ho!" ejaculated mine host, with a grin, "hard-up, eh! got cleaned out +with the trip up, an' trust to diggin' for the future? Well, I'll give +ye credit; come on, and stick in. It's every man for himself here, an' +no favour." + +Thus invited, Ned and his friends squeezed themselves into seats beside +the long _table d'hote_--which boasted a canvas table-cloth, and had +casks for legs--and made a hearty meal, in the course of which they +obtained a great deal of useful information from their friend McLeod the +Scotchman. + +After dinner, which was eaten hurriedly, most of the miners returned to +their work, and Ned with his friend; under the guidance of McLeod, went +down to the river to be initiated into the mysteries of gold-digging and +washing. As they approached several of the claims which their owners +were busy working, a Yankee swaggered up to them with a cigar in his +mouth, an impudent expression on his face, and a pick-axe on his +shoulder. + +"Guess you've just come to locate in them diggin's, strangers," he said, +addressing the party at large, but looking at Ned, whose superior height +and commanding cast of countenance proved him unmistakeably to be a +leader. + +"We have," replied Ned, who disliked the look of the man. + +"Thought so. I'm jest goin' to quit an' make tracks for the coast. +'Bliged to cut stick on business that won't wait, I calc'late. It's +plaguey unlucky, too, for my claim's turnin' out no end o' dollars, but +I must sell it slick off so I don't mind to let ye have it cheap." + +"Is your claim better than the others in the neighbourhood?" inquired +Ned. + +"Wall, I jest opine it is. Look here," cried the Yankee, jumping into +his claim, which was a pit of about eight feet square and three deep, +and delving the shovel into the earth, while Ned and his friends, +besides several of the other miners, drew near to witness the result. +Maxton and Tom Collins, however, winked knowingly at each other, and, +with the Scotchman, drew back to the rear of the group. + +The first shovelful of earth thrown up was absolutely full of glittering +particles of gold, and the second was even more richly impregnated with +the precious metal. + +Ned and the captain stood aghast with amazement, and Bill Jones opened +mouth and eyes to their utmost extent. + +"Hooroo! och! goold galore! there it is at last!" shouted Larry O'Neil, +tossing up his arms with delight. "Do buy it, Mr Ned, darlint." + +"I needn't turn up more, I guess," said the Yankee, carelessly throwing +down his shovel, and filling the earth into a tin bowl or pan; "I'll +jest wash it out an' shew ye what it's like." + +So saying he dipped the pan into the stream gently, and proceeded to +wash out the gold. As this was done in the way usually practised by +diggers, we shall describe it. + +Setting down the tin pan of earth and water, the Yankee dipped both +hands into it and stirred its contents about until it became liquid mud, +removing the stones in the operation. It was then moved round quickly +with a peculiar motion which caused some off the top to escape over the +edge of the pan with each revolution; more water was added from time to +time, and the process continued until all the earthy matter was washed +away, and nothing but a kind of black sand, in which the gold is usually +contained, remained at the bottom. + +"There you are," cried the man, exultingly, lifting up a handful of the +heavy and shining mixture; "fifteen dollars at least in two shovelfuls. +I'll sell ye the claim, if ye like, for two hundred dollars." + +"I would give it at once," said Ned, feeling at the moment deeply +troubled on account of his poverty; "but, to say truth, I have not a +farthing in the world." + +A peculiar grin rested on the faces of the miners who looked on as he +spoke, but before he could inquire the cause, Tom Collins stepped +forward, and said: + +"That's a first-rate claim of yours. What did ye say was your charge +for it?" + +"Three hundred dollars down." + +"I'll tell ye what," rejoined Tom, "I'll give you _six_ hundred dollars +for it, if you take out another shovelful of dirt like _that_!" + +This remark was greeted by a general laugh from, the bystanders, which +was joined in by the Yankee himself as he leaped out of the hole, and, +shouldering his shovel, went off with his friends, leaving Ned and some +others of his party staring at each other in astonishment. + +"What _does_ it all mean?" he inquired, turning to Tom Coffins, whose +laughing countenance shewed that he at least was not involved in +mystery. + +"It means simply that we were all taken for green-horns, which was quite +a mistake, and that we were to have been thoroughly cheated--a +catastrophe which has happily been prevented. Maxton and I determined +to let the rascally fellow go as far as he could, and then step in and +turn the laugh against him, as we have done." + +"But explain yourself. I do not yet understand," repeated Ned, with a +puzzled look. + +"Why, the fact is, that when strangers arrive at the diggings, full of +excitement and expectation, there are always a set of sharpers on the +look-out, who offer to sell their claims, as they often say, `for a mere +song,' and in order to prove their worth, dig out a little dirt, and +wash it, as you have just seen done; taking care beforehand, however, to +mingle with it a large quantity of gold-dust, which, of course, comes to +light, and a bargain is generally struck on the spot, when the sharper +goes off with the price, and boasts of having `done' a green-horn, for +which he is applauded by his comrades. Should the fraud be detected +before the completion of the bargain, as in our case, he laughs with the +rest, and says, probably, he `warn't so 'cute as usual.'" + +"Och, the scoundrels!" cried Larry; "an' is there no law for sich +doin's?" + +"None; at least in most diggings men are left to sharpen their own wits +by experience. Sometimes, however, the biter is pretty well bitten. +There was a poor Chilian once who was deceived in this way, and paid +four hundred dollars for a claim that was scarcely worth working. He +looked rather put out on discovering the imposture, but was only laughed +at by most of those who saw the transaction for his softness. Some +there were who frowned on the sharper, and even spoke of lynching him, +but they were a small minority, and had to hold their peace. However, +the Chilian plucked up heart, and, leaping into his claim, worked away +like a Trojan. After a day or two he hit upon a good layer of blue +clay, and from that time he turned out forty dollars a day for two +months." + +"Ah! good luck to him," cried Larry. + +"And did the sharper hear of it?" inquired the captain. + +"That he did, and tried to bully the poor fellow, and get his claim back +again; but there was a strong enough sense of justice among the miners +to cause such an outcry that the scoundrel was fain to seek other +diggings." + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. "Dirt" is the name given among miners, to the soil in which +gold is found. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +GOLD-WASHING--OUR ADVENTURERS COUNT THEIR GAINS, AND ARE SATISFIED--THE +"R'YAL BANK O' CALYFORNY" BEGINS TO PROSPER--FRYING GOLD--NIGHT VISIT TO +THE GRAVE OF A MURDERED MAN--A MURDERER CAUGHT--THE ESCAPE AND PURSUIT. + +Having escaped from the Yankee land-shark, as has been related, our +adventurers spent the remainder of the day in watching the various +processes of digging and washing out gold, in imbibing valuable lessons, +and in selecting a spot for their future residence. + +The two processes in vogue at Little Creek at that time were the _pan_ +and the _cradle_ washing. The former has been already adverted to, and +was much practised because the ground at that time was rich in the +precious metal and easily wrought; the extreme simplicity, too, of the +operation, which only required that the miner should possess a pick, a +shovel, and a tin pan, commended it to men who were anxious to begin at +once. An expert man, in favourable ground, could gather and wash a +panful of "dirt," as it is called, every ten minutes; and there were few +places in Little Creek that did not yield half-a-dollar or more to the +panful, thus enabling the digger to work out gold-dust to the value of +about twenty-five dollars, (five pounds sterling), every day, while +occasionally he came upon a lump or nugget, equal, perhaps, to what he +could produce by the steady labour of a week or more. + +Many of the more energetic miners, however, worked in companies and used +cradles, by means of which they washed out a much larger quantity of +gold in shorter time; and in places which did not yield a sufficient +return by the pan process to render it worth while working, the +cradle-owners obtained ample remuneration for their toil. + +The cradle is a very simple machine, being a semicircular trough, +hollowed out of a log, from five to six feet long by sixteen inches in +diameter. At one end of this is a perforated copper or iron plate, with +a rim of wood round it, on which the "dirt" is thrown, and water poured +thereon by one man, while the cradle is rocked by another. The gold and +gravel are thus separated from the larger stones, and washed down the +trough, in which, at intervals, two transverse bars, half-an-inch high, +are placed; the first of these arrests the gold, which, from its great +weight, sinks to the bottom, while the gravel and lighter substances are +swept away by the current. The lower bar catches any particles of gold +that, by awkward management, may have passed the upper one. Three men +usually worked together at a rocker, one digging, one carrying the +"dirt" in a bucket, and one rocking the cradle. + +The black sand, which, along with the gold, is usually left after all +the washing and rocking processes are completed, is too heavy to be +separated by means of washing. It has therefore to be blown away from +the gold after the mass has been dried over a fire, and in this +operation great care is requisite lest the finer particles of gold +should be blown off along with it. + +The spot fixed on as the future residence of our friends was a level +patch of greensward about a stone-cast from the banks of the stream, and +twice that distance from the lowest cabin of the colony, which was +separated and concealed from them by a group of wide-spreading oaks and +other trees. A short distance behind the spot the mountains ascended in +steep wooded slopes, and, just in front, the cliffs of the opposite +hills rose abruptly from the edge of the stream, but a narrow ravine, +that split them in a transverse manner, afforded a peep into the hills +beyond. At evening, when the rest of the vale of Little Creek was +shrouded in gloom, this ravine permitted the last beams of the setting +sun to stream through and flood their encampment with rosy light. + +Here the tent was pitched, and a fire kindled by Tom Collins, he being +intrusted with the command of the party, whose duty it was to prepare +the camp. This party included Bill Jones, Maxton, and the vaquero. +Ned, the captain, and Larry O'Neil went, under the guidance of McLeod, +to select a claim, and take lessons in washing. + +"This seems a likely spot," said the Scotchman, as he led his new +acquaintances down to the stream, a few yards below their encampment. +"You may claim as much ground as you please, for there is room enough +and to spare for all at the Creek yet. I would recommend a piece of +ground of ten or twelve feet square for each to begin with." + +"Here is a level patch that I shall appropriate, then," said Ned, +smiling at the idea of becoming so suddenly and easily a landed +proprietor--and to such an extent. + +"I suppose we don't require to make out title-deeds!" remarked the +captain. + +"There's _my_ title dade," cried Larry, driving his pick into the earth. + +"You are right, Larry," said McLeod, laughing, "no other deed is +required in this delightfully-free country." + +"Ah! thin, it's quite to my taste; sure I niver thought to see the swate +spot where I could pick out me property an' pick up me fortin' so aisy." + +"Don't count your chickens quite so fast," said Ned, "may be it won't be +so easy as you think. But let us begin and ascertain the value of our +claims; I vote that Larry shall have the honour of washing out the first +panful of gold, as a reward for his enthusiasm." + +"A very proper obsarvation," remarked the Irishman, as he commenced work +without further delay. + +In the course of ten minutes part of the layer of surface-earth was +removed, revealing the bluish-clay soil in which gold was usually found; +the pan was filled with this "pay-dirt," as it was called, in +contradistinction to the "surface-dirt," which didn't "pay," and was +taken down to the stream, where Larry washed it out under the eye of +McLeod; but he did it clumsily, as might be expected, and lost a +considerable amount of valuable material. Still, for a first attempt, +it was pretty well done, and his companions watched the result with +feelings of excited earnestness, that they felt half-ashamed to admit +even to themselves. There was mingled with this feeling a sort of vague +incredulity, and a disposition to ridicule the idea that they were +actually endeavouring to wash gold out of the ground; but when Larry's +panful began to diminish, and the black sand appeared, sparkling with +unmistakeably-brilliant particles of reddish-yellow metal, they felt +that the golden dream was in truth becoming a sober reality. + +As the process proceeded, and the precious metal began to appear, +Larry's feelings found vent in abrupt remarks. + +"Och! av me tshoo eyes--musha! there it is--goold intirely--av it isn't +brass. Ah ye purty little stars!--O Larry, it's yerself as'll buy yer +owld mother a pig, an' a coach to boot. Hooroo! Mr Scotchman, I +misremimber yer name, wot's that?" + +Larry started up in excitement, and held up between his fore-finger and +thumb what appeared to be a small stone. + +"Ha! friend, you're in luck. That's a small nugget," replied McLeod, +examining the lump of gold. "It's worth ten dollars at least. I have +worked often two or three weeks at a time without coming on such a chunk +as that." + +"Ye don't mane it! eh! Och! give it me. Hooray!" and the Irishman, +seizing the little lump with trembling eagerness, rushed off, shouting +and yelling, towards the camp to make his good fortune known to Bill +Jones, leaving the pan of black sand unheeded. This Ned took up, and +tried his hand at the work of washing. When done, the residue was found +to be exceedingly rich, so he and the captain proceeded without loss of +time to test their separate claims. Soon after, their obliging friend, +the miner, returned to his own claim further down the valley, leaving +them hard at work. + +That night, when the bright stars twinkled down upon the camp at Little +Creek, our gold-hunters, wet and tired, but hearty and hopeful, +assembled round the fire in front of their little tent among the +oak-trees. + +The entire party was assembled there, and they were gazing earnestly, as +might be expected of hungry men, into the frying-pan. But they did not +gaze at _supper_. No, that night the first thing they fried was a +mixture of black sand and gold. In fact, they were drying and blowing +the result of their first day's work at the diggings, and their friend +the Scotch miner was there to instruct them in the various processes of +their new profession, and to weigh the gold for them, in his little pair +of scales, when it should be finally cleared of all grosser substances. + +As each panful was dried and blown, the gold was weighed, and put into a +large white breakfast cup, the bottom of which was soon heaped up with +shining particles, varying in size from the smallest visible speck, to +little lumps like grains of corn. + +"Bravo!" exclaimed McLeod, as he weighed the last pan, and added the +gold to that already in the cup. "I congratulate you, gentlemen, on +your success. The day's work is equal to one hundred and eighty +dollars--about thirty dollars per man. Few men are so lucky their first +day, I assure you, unless, as has been the case once or twice they +should hit upon a nugget or two." + +"That being the case, we shall have supper," cried Ned Sinton; "and +while we are about it, do you go, Larry, to mine host of the hotel, and +pay for the dinner for which he gave us credit. I don't wish to remain +an hour in debt, if I can avoid it." + +"Mister McLeod," slowly said Bill Jones--who, during the whole operation +of drying and weighing the gold, had remained seated on a log, looking +on with an expression of imbecile astonishment, and without uttering a +word--"Mister McLeod, if I may make bold to ax, how much is one hundred +and eighty dollars?" + +Bill's calculating powers were of the weakest possible character. + +"About thirty-six pounds sterling," replied McLeod. Bill's eyes were +wide open before, but the extent to which he opened them on hearing this +was quite alarming, and suggested the idea that they would never close +again. The same incapacity to calculate figures rendered him unable to +grasp correlative facts. He knew that thirty-six pounds in one day was +a more enormous and sudden accumulation of wealth than had ever entered +into his nautical mind to conceive of. But to connect this with the +fact that a voyage and journey of many months had brought him there; +that a similar journey and voyage would be required to reconduct him +home; and that in the meantime he would have to pay perhaps five pounds +sterling for a flannel shirt, and probably four pounds or more for a +pair of boots, and everything else in proportion, was to his limited +intellectual capacity a simple impossibility. He contented himself with +remarking, in reference to these things, that "w'en things in gin'ral +wos more nor ord'nar'ly oncommon, an' w'en incomprehensibles was blowin' +a reg'lar hurricane astarn, so that a man couldn't hold on to the +belayin'-pins he'd bin used to, without their breakin' short off an' +lettin' him go spin into the lee-scuppers,--why wot then? a wise man's +course wos to take in all sail, an' scud before it under bare poles." + +Next day all the miners in the colony were up and at work by dawn. Ned +and his friends, you may be sure, were not last to leave their beds and +commence digging in their separate claims, which they resolved to work +out by means of pan-washing, until they made a little ready cash, after +which they purposed constructing two rockers, and washing out the gold +more systematically and profitably. + +They commenced by removing the surface-soil to the depth of about three +feet, a work of no small labour, until the subsoil, or "pay-dirt," was +reached. Of this they dug out a small quantity, and washed it; put the +produce of black sand and gold into leathern bags, and then, digging out +another panful, washed it as before. Thus they laboured till noon, when +they rested for an hour and dined. Then they worked on again until +night and exhaustion compelled them to desist; when they returned to +camp, dried and blew away the sand, weighed the gold, which was put +carefully into a general purse--named by Larry the "R'yal Bank o' +Calyforny"--after which they supped, and retired to rest. + +The gold was found at various depths, the "dirt" on the bed-rock being +the richest, as gold naturally, in consequence of its weight, sinks +through all other substances, until arrested in its downward career by +the solid rock. + +Of course, the labour was severe to men unaccustomed to the peculiar and +constant stooping posture they were compelled to adopt, and on the +second morning more than one of the party felt as if he had been seized +with lumbago, but this wore off in the course of a day or two. + +The result of the second day was about equal to that of the first; the +result of the third a good deal better, and Bill, who was fortunate +enough to discover a small nugget, returned to camp with a +self-satisfied swagger that indicated elation, though his visage +expressed nothing but stolidity, slightly tinged with surprise. On the +fourth day the cradles were made, and a very large portion of their +gains thereby swept away in consequence of the unconscionable prices +charged for every article used in their construction. However, this +mattered little, Maxton said, as the increased profits of their labour +would soon repay the outlay. And he was right. On the fifth day their +returns were more than trebled, and that evening the directors of the +"R'yal Bank o' Calyforny" found themselves in possession of capital +amounting to one thousand one hundred and fifty dollars, or, as Tom +Collins carefully explained to Bill, about 230 pounds. + +On the sixth day, however, which was Saturday, Larry O'Neil, who was +permitted to work with the pan in the meantime, instead of assisting +with the cradles, came up to dinner with a less hearty aspect than +usual, and at suppertime he returned with a terribly lugubrious visage +and a totally empty bag. In fact his claim had become suddenly +unproductive. + +"Look at that," he cried, swaggering recklessly into camp, and throwing +down his bag; "I haven't got a rap; faix the bag's as empty as my +intarior." + +"What! have you worked out your claim already!" inquired Maxton. + +"Troth have I, and almost worked out me own body too." + +"Well, Larry, don't lose heart," said Ned, as he dried the last panful +of sand over the fire, "there are plenty more claims beside your present +one. We, too, have not been as successful as before. I find the result +is only fifty dollars amongst us all." + +"That's a sudden falling off," remarked Tom Collins; "I fear the +`pay-dirt' is not deep near us, nevertheless it pays well enough to keep +us going for some time to come. I shall mark off a new space on +Monday." + +"By the way, Maxton," asked Ned, handing over the frying-pan to Collins, +who soon filled it with a less valuable, but at that time not less +needful commodity than gold-dust--namely, pork and beef--"how do the +miners spend the Sabbath here? I suppose not much better than in the +cities." + +"Here comes McLeod, who will be better able to answer than I am," +replied Maxton. + +The Scot strode into the camp as he spoke, and, saluting the party, +seated himself beside the fire. + +"I've come to tell you a piece of news, and to ask advice," he said; +"but before doing so, I may tell you, in answer to your question, that +the Sabbath here is devoted to drinking, gambling, and loafing about." + +"I am not surprised to hear it," said Captain Bunting; "but pray what's +i' the wind? Any new diggin's discovered?" + +"A new digging certainly has been discovered," replied McLeod, with a +peculiar smile, "but not precisely such a digging as one is wont to +search for. The fact is, that in prospecting along the edge of the +woods about a mile from this to-day, I came upon the body of a murdered +man. It was covered with stones and branches of trees, which I removed, +and I immediately recognised it to be that of a poor man who used to +work not far from my own claim. I had missed him for more than a week +past, but supposed that he had either gone to other diggings, or was +away prospecting." + +"Poor fellow!" said Ned; "but how, in such a matter, can _we_ help you +with advice?" + +"Well, you see I'm in difficult circumstances," rejoined the Scot, "for +I feel certain that I could point out the murderer, yet I cannot _prove_ +him to be such, and I want your advice as to what I should do." + +"Let it be known at once that you have discovered the murdered man at +any rate," said Maxton. + +"That I have done already." + +"Who do you think was the murderer?" inquired Ned. + +"A man who used to live in the same tent with him at one time, but who +quarrelled with him frequently, and at last went off in a rage. I know +not what was the cause, but I heard him vow that he would be revenged. +He was a great coarse fellow, more like a brute than a man, with a black +beard, and the most forbidding aspect I think I ever saw." + +"Wot wos his name?" inquired Bill Jones, while the party looked at each +other as if they knew of such a character. + +"Smith was the name he went by oftenest, but the diggers called him +Black Jim sometimes." + +"Ha! Smith--black beard--forbidding aspect! It strikes me that I too +have seen the man," said Ned Sinton, who related to McLeod the visit +paid to them in their camp by the surly stranger. While he was +speaking, Larry O'Neil sat pondering something in his mind. + +"Mister McLeod," said he, when Ned concluded, "will ye shew me the body +o' this man? faix, I'm of opinion I can prove the murder; but, first of +all, how is the black villain to be diskivered?" + +"No difficulty about that. He is even now in the colony. I saw him in +a gambling-house half-an-hour since. My fear is that, now the murder's +out, he'll bolt before we can secure him." + +"It's little trouble we'd have in preventin' that," suggested Larry. + +"The consequences might be more serious, however, than you imagine. +Suppose you were to seize and accuse him, and fail to prove the murder, +the jury would acquit him, and the first thing he would do, on being set +free, would be to shoot you, for which act the morality of the miners +would rather applaud him than otherwise. It is only on cold-blooded, +unprovoked murder and theft that Judge Lynch is severe. It is a +recognised rule here, that if a man, in a row, should merely make a +_motion_ with his hand towards his pistol, his opponent is entitled to +shoot him first if he can. The consequence is, that _bloody_ quarrels +are very rare." + +"Niver a taste do I care," cried Larry; "they may hang me tshoo times +over, but I'll prove the murder, an' nab the murderin' blackguard too." + +"Have a care," said Ned; "you'll get yourself into a scrape." + +"Make sure you are right before you act," added Maxton. Larry O'Neil +paid no attention to these warnings. "Are ye ready to go, Mister +McLeod?" said he, impatiently. + +"Quite," replied the other. + +"Then come along." And the two left the camp together, armed with their +rifles, knives, revolvers, and a shovel. + +It was a dark night. Heavy clouds obscured the face of the sky, through +which only one or two stars struggled faintly, and rendered darkness +visible. The two men passed rapidly along the little footpath that led +from the colony to the more open country beyond. This gained, they +turned abruptly to the right, and, entering a narrow defile, proceeded +at a more cautious pace into the gloomy recesses of the mountains. + +"Have a care, Larry O'Neil," whispered the Scotchman, as they advanced; +"the road is not so safe here, owing to a number of pits which have been +made by diggers after gold--they lie close to the edge of the path, and +are pretty deep." + +"All right; I'm lookin' out," replied Larry, groping his way after his +comrade, at the base of a steep precipice. + +"Here is the place," said McLeod, stopping and pushing aside the bushes +which lined the path. "Keep close to me--there is no road." + +"Are ye sure o' the spot?" inquired Larry, in an undertone, while a +feeling of awe crept over him at the thought of being within a few yards +of a murdered man in such a dark, wild place. + +"Quite sure. I have marked the trees. See there!" He pointed to a +white spot on the stem of a tree, where a chip had been cut off, and +close to which was a mound of earth and stones. This mound the two men +proceeded to break up, and in less than ten minutes they disentombed the +body from its shallow grave, and commenced to examine the fatal wound. +It was in an advanced state of decomposition, and they hurried the +process by the light of a bright solitary star, whose flickering rays +pierced through the overspreading branches and fell upon the ghastly +countenance of the murdered man. + +While thus occupied, they were startled by the sound of breaking twigs, +as if some one were slowly approaching; whispering voices were also +heard. + +"It must be hereabouts," said a voice in a low tone; "he pointed out the +place." + +"Ho!" cried McLeod, who, with Larry, had seized and cocked his rifle, +"is that you, Webster?" + +"Halloo! McLeod, where are you?" + +In another moment a party of miners broke through the underwood, talking +loudly, but they dropped their voices to a whisper on beholding the dead +body. + +"Whist, boys," said Larry, holding up his hand. "We've jist got hold o' +the bullet. It's flattened the least thing, but the size is easy to +see. There's a wound over the heart, too, made with a knife; now that's +wot I want to get at the bottom of, but I don't like to use me own knife +to cut down." + +As none of the others felt disposed to lend their knives for such a +purpose, they looked at each other in silence. + +"Mayhap," said the rough-looking miner who had been hailed by McLeod as +Webster--"mayhap the knife o' the corpse is lyin' about." + +The suggestion was a happy one. After a few minutes' search the rusty +knife of the murdered man was discovered, and with this Larry succeeded +in extracting from the wound over the heart of the body a piece of +steel, which had evidently been broken off the point of the knife, with +which the poor wretch had been slain. Larry held it up with a look of +triumph. + +"I'll soon shew ye who's the murderer now, boys, av ye'll help me to +fill up the grave." + +This was speedily accomplished; then the miners, hurrying in silence +from the spot, proceeded to the chief hotel of the place, in the +gambling-saloon of which they found the man Smith, _alias_ Black Jim, +surrounded by gamblers, and sitting on a corner of the monte table +watching the game. Larry went up to him at once, and, seizing him by +the collar, exclaimed--"I've got ye, have I, ye murderer, ye black +villain! Come along wid ye, and git yer desarts--call a coort, boys, +an' sot up Judge Lynch." + +Instantly the saloon was in an uproar. Smith turned pale as death for a +moment, but the blood returned with violence to his brazen forehead; he +seized Larry by the throat, and a deadly struggle would speedily have +taken place between the two powerful men had not Ned Sinton entered at +the moment, and, grasping Smith's arms in his Herculean gripe, rendered +him helpless. + +"What, comrades," cried Black Jim, with an oath, and looking fiercely +round, "will ye see a messmate treated like this? I'm no murderer, an' +I defy any one to prove it." + +There was a move among the miners, and a voice was heard to speak of +rescuing the prisoner. + +"Men," cried Ned, still holding Smith, and looking round upon the crowd, +"men--" + +"I guess there are no men here," interrupted a Yankee; "we're all +_gentlemen_." + +"Being a man does not incapacitate one from being a gentleman," said +Ned, sharply, with a look of scorn at the speaker, who deemed it +advisable to keep silence. + +After a moment's pause, he continued--"If this _gentleman_ has done no +evil, I and my friends will be answerable to him for what we have done; +but my comrade, Larry O'Neil, denounces him as a murderer; and says he +can prove it. Surely the law of the mines and fair play demand that he +should be tried!" + +"Hear! hear! well said. Git up a bonfire, and let's have it out," cried +several voices, approvingly. + +The miners rushed out, dragging Black Jim along with them to an open +level space in front of the hotel, where stood a solitary oak-tree, from +one of whose sturdy arms several offenders against the laws of the +gold-mines had, at various times, swung in expiation of their crimes. +Here an immense fire was kindled, and hither nearly all the miners of +the neighbourhood assembled. + +Black Jim was placed under the branch, from which depended part of the +rope that had hanged the last criminal. His rifle, pistols, and knife, +were taken from him, amid protestations of innocence, and imprecations +on the heads of his accusers. Then a speech was made by an orator who +was much admired at the place, but whose coarse language would scarcely +have claimed admiration in any civilised community. After this Larry +O'Neil stepped forward with McLeod, and the latter described all he knew +of the former life of the culprit, and his conduct towards the murdered +man. When he had finished, Larry produced the bullet, which was +compared with the rifle and the bullets in Smith's pouch, and pronounced +similar to the latter. At this, several of the miners cried out, +"Guilty, guilty; string him up at once!" + +"There are other rifles with the same bore," said Smith. "I used to +think Judge Lynch was just, but he's no better I find than the +land-sharks elsewhere. Hang me if you like, but if ye do, instead o' +gittin' rid o' one murderer, ye'll fill the Little Creek with murderers +from end to end. My blood will be on _your_ heads." + +"Save yer breath," said Larry, drawing Smith's knife from its scabbard. +"See here, boys, sure two dovetails niver fitted closer than this bit o' +steel fits the pint o' Black Jim's knife. Them men standin' beside me +can swear they saw me take it out o' the breast o' the morthered man, +an' yerselves know that this is the murderer's knife." + +Almost before Larry had concluded, Smith, who felt that his doom was +sealed, exerted all his strength, burst from the men who held him, and +darted like an arrow towards that part of the living circle which seemed +weakest. Most of the miners shrank back--only one man ventured to +oppose the fugitive; but he was driven down with such violence, that he +lay stunned on the sward, while Smith sprang like a goat up the steep +face of the adjacent precipice. A dozen rifles instantly poured forth +their contents, and the rocks rang with the leaden hail; but the aim had +been hurried, and the light shed by the fire at that distance was +uncertain. + +The murderer, next moment, stood on the verge of the precipice, from +which he wrenched a mass of rock, and, shouting defiance, hurled it +back, with a fearful imprecation, at his enemies. The rock fell into +the midst of them, and fractured the skull of a young man, who fell with +a groan to the earth. Smith, who paused a moment to witness the result +of his throw, uttered a yell of exultation, and darted into the +mountains, whither, for hours after, he was hotly pursued by the enraged +miners. But one by one they returned to the Creek exhausted, and +telling the same tale--"Black Jim had made his escape." + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +SABBATH AT THE DIGGINGS--LARRY O'NEIL TAKES TO WANDERING, AND MEETS WITH +ADVENTURES--AN IRISH YANKEE DISCOVERED--TERRIBLE CALAMITIES BEFALL +TRAVELLERS ON THE OVERLAND ROUTE. + +There is no country in our fallen world, however debased and morally +barren, in which there does not exist a few green spots where human +tenderness and sympathy are found to grow. The atmosphere of the +gold-regions of California was, indeed, clouded to a fearful extent with +the soul-destroying vapours of worldliness, selfishness, and +ungodliness, which the terrors of Lynch law alone restrained from +breaking forth in all their devastating strength. + +And this is not to be wondered at, for Europe and America naturally +poured the flood of their worst inhabitants over the land, in eager +search for that gold, the _love of which_, we are told in Sacred Writ, +"is the root of all evil." True, there were many hundreds of estimable +men who, failing, from adverse circumstances, to make a livelihood in +their native lands, sought to better their fortunes in the far west; +but, in too many cases, the gold-fever which raged there soon smote them +down; and men who once regarded gold as the means to an end, came at +last to esteem gold to be the end, and used every means, fair and foul, +to obtain it. Others there were, whose constitutions were proof against +the national disease; whose hearts deemed _love_ to be the highest bliss +of man, and doing good his greatest happiness. + +But stilling and destructive though the air of the gold-mines was, there +were a few hardy plants of moral goodness which defied it--and some of +these bloomed in the colony of Little Creek. + +The Sabbath morning dawned on Ned Sinton and his friends--the first +Sabbath since they had begun to dig for gold. On that day the miners +rested from their work. Shovel and pick lay quiet in the innumerable +pits that had been dug throughout the valley; no cradle was rocked, no +pan of golden earth was washed. Even reckless men had come to know from +experience, that the Almighty in His goodness had created the Sabbath +for the special benefit of man's _body_ as well as his soul, and that +they wrought better during the six days of the week when they rested on +the seventh. + +Unfortunately they believed only what _experience_ taught them; they +kept the Sabbath according to the letter, not according to the spirit; +and although they did not work, they did not refrain from "thinking +their own thoughts and finding their own pleasure," on God's holy day. +Early in the morning they began to wander idly about from hut to hut, +visited frequently the grog-shops, and devoted themselves to gambling, +which occupation materially marred even the physical rest they might +otherwise have enjoyed. + +"Comrades," said Ned Sinton, as the party sat inside their tent, round +the napkin on which breakfast was spread, "it is long since we have made +any difference between Saturday and Sunday, and I think it would be good +for us all if we were to begin now. Since quitting San Francisco, the +necessity of pushing forward on our journey has prevented our doing so +hitherto. How far we were right in regarding rapid travelling as being +_necessary_, I won't stop to inquire; but I think it would be well if we +should do a little more than merely rest from work on the Sabbath. I +propose that, besides doing this, we should read a chapter of the Bible +together as a family, morning and evening on Sundays. What say you?" + +There was a pause. It was evident that conflicting feelings were at +work among the party. + +"Perhaps you're right," said Maxton; "I confess that I have troubled +myself very little about religion since I came out here, but my +conscience has often reproached me for it." + +"Don't you think, messmates," said Captain Bunting, lighting his pipe, +"that if it gets wind the whole colony will be laughin' at us?" + +"Sure they may laugh," said Larry O'Neil, "an' after that they may cry, +av it'll do them good. Wot's the differ to us?" + +"I don't agree with you, Ned," said Tom Collins, somewhat testily; "for +my part I like to see men straightforward, all fair and above-board, as +the captain would say. Hypocrisy is an abominable vice, whether it is +well meaning or ill meaning, and I don't see the use of pretending to be +religious when we are not." + +"Tom," replied Ned, in an earnest voice, "don't talk lightly of serious +things. I don't _pretend_ to be religious, but I do _desire_ to be so: +and I think it would be good for all of us to read a portion of God's +Word on His own day, both for the purpose of obeying and honouring Him, +and of getting our minds filled, for a short time at least, with other +thoughts than those of gold-hunting. In doing this there is no +hypocrisy." + +"Well, well," rejoined Tom, "I'll not object if the rest are agreed." + +"Agreed," was the unanimous reply. So Ned rose, and, opening his +portmanteau, drew forth the little Bible that had been presented to him +by old Mr Shirley on the day of his departure from home. + +From that day forward, every Sabbath morning and evening, Ned Sinton +read a portion of the Word of God to his companions, as long as they +were together; and each of the party afterwards, at different times, +confessed that, from the time the reading of the Bible was begun, he +felt happier than he did before. + +After breakfast they broke up, and went out to stroll for an hour or two +upon the wooded slopes of the mountains. Ned and Tom Collins went off +by themselves, the others, with the exception of Larry, walked out +together. + +That morning Larry O'Neil felt less sociable than was his wont, so he +sallied forth alone. For some time he sauntered about with his hands in +his pockets, his black pipe in his mouth, a thick oak cudgel, of his own +making, under his arm, and his hat set jauntily on one side of his head. +He went along with an easy swagger, and looked particularly reckless, +but no man ever belied his looks more thoroughly. The swagger was +unintentional, and the recklessness did not exist. On the contrary, the +reading of the Bible had brought back to his mind a flood of home +memories, which forced more than one tear from his susceptible heart +into his light-blue eye, as he wandered in memory over the green hills +of Erin. + +But the scenes that passed before him as he roamed about among the huts +and tents of the miners soon drew his thoughts to subjects less +agreeable to contemplate. On week-days the village, if we may thus +designate the scattered groups of huts and tents, was comparatively +quiet, but on Sundays it became a scene of riot and confusion. Not only +was it filled with its own idle population of diggers, but miners from +all the country round, within a circuit of eight or ten miles, flocked +into it for the purpose of buying provisions for the week, as well as +for the purpose of gambling and drinking, this being the only day in all +the week, in which they indulged in what they termed "a spree." + +Consequently the gamblers and store-keepers did more business on Sunday +than on any other day. The place was crowded with men in their rough, +though picturesque, bandit-like costumes, rambling about from store to +store, drinking and inviting friends to drink, or losing in the +gaming-saloons all the earnings of a week of hard, steady toil--toil +more severe than is that of navvies or coal-heavers. There seemed to be +an irresistible attraction in these gambling-houses. Some men seemed +unable to withstand the temptation, and they seldom escaped being +fleeced. Yet they returned, week after week, to waste in these dens of +iniquity the golden treasure gathered with so much labour during their +six working days. + +Larry O'Neil looked through the doorway of one of the gambling-houses as +he passed, and saw men standing and sitting round the tables, watching +with eager faces the progress of the play, while ever and anon one of +them would reel out, more than half-drunk with excitement and brandy. +Passing on through the crowded part of the village, which looked as if a +fair were being held there, he entered the narrow footpath that led +towards the deeper recesses at the head of the valley. O'Neil had not +yet, since his arrival, found time to wander far from his own tent. It +was therefore with a feeling of great delight that he left the scene of +riot behind him, and, turning into a bypath that led up one of the +narrow ravines, opening into the larger valley, strolled several miles +into deep solitudes that were in harmony with his feelings. + +The sun streamed through the entrance to this ravine, bathing with a +flood of light crags and caves and bush-encompassed hollows, that at +other times were shrouded in gloom. As the Irishman stood gazing in awe +and admiration at the wild, beautiful scene, beyond which were seen the +snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada, he observed a small solitary tent +pitched on a level patch of earth at the brow of a low cliff. Curiosity +prompted him to advance and ascertain what unsociable creature dwelt in +it. A few minutes sufficed to bring him close upon it, and he was about +to step forward, when the sound of a female voice arrested him. It was +soft and low, and the accents fell upon his ear with the power of an old +familiar song. Being at the back of the tent, he could not see who +spoke, but, from the monotonous regularity of the tone, he knew that the +woman was reading. He passed noiselessly round to the front, and +peeping over the tops of bushes, obtained a view of the interior. + +The reader was a young woman, whose face, which was partially concealed +by a mass of light-brown hair as she bent over her book, seemed +emaciated and pale. Looking up just as Larry's eye fell upon her, she +turned towards a man whose gaunt, attenuated form lay motionless on a +pile of brushwood beside her, and said, tenderly: + +"Are ye tired, Patrick, dear, or would you like me to go on?" + +Larry's heart gave his ribs such a thump at that moment that he felt +surprised the girl did not hear it. But he could not approach; he was +rooted to the earth as firmly, though not as permanently, as the bush +behind which he stood. An Irish voice, and an Irish girl, heard and +seen so unexpectedly, quite took away his breath. + +The sick man made some reply which was not audible, and the girl, +shutting the book, looked up for a few moments, as if in silent prayer, +then she clasped her hands upon her knees, and laying her head upon +them, remained for some time motionless. The hands were painfully thin, +as was her whole frame. The face was what might have been pretty at one +time, although it was haggard enough now, but the expression was +peculiarly sorrowful. + +In a few minutes she looked up again, and spread the ragged blanket more +carefully over the shoulders of the sick man, and Larry, feeling that he +was at that time in the questionable position of an eavesdropper, left +his place of concealment, and stood before the tent. + +The sick man saw him instantly, and, raising himself slightly, +exclaimed, "Who goes there? Sure I can't git lave to die in pace!" + +The familiar tones of a countryman's voice fell pleasantly on Larry's +ear as he sprang into the tent, and, seizing the sick man's hand, cried, +"A blissin' on the mouth that said that same. O Pat, darlint! I'm glad +to mate with ye. What's the matter with ye? Tell me now, an' don't be +lookin' as if ye'd seen a ghost." + +"Kape back," said the girl, pushing Larry aside, with a half-pleased, +half-angry expression. "Don't ye see that ye've a'most made him faint? +He's too wake intirely to be--" + +"Ah! then, cushla, forgive me; I wint and forgot meself. Blissin's on +yer pale face! sure yer Irish too." + +Before the girl could reply to this speech, which was uttered in a tone +of the deepest sympathy, the sick man recovered sufficiently to say-- + +"Sit down, friend. How comed ye to larn me name? I guess I never saw +ye before." + +"Sure, didn't I hear yer wife say it as I come for'ard to the tint," +answered Larry, somewhat staggered at the un-Irish word "guess." + +"He is my brother," remarked the girl. + +"Troth, ye've got a dash o' the Yankee brogue," said Larry, with a +puzzled look; "did ye not come from the owld country?" + +The sick man seemed too much exhausted to reply, so the girl said-- + +"Our father and mother were Irish, and left their own country to sittle +in America. We have never seen Ireland, my brother nor I, but we think +of it as almost our own land. Havin' been brought up in the woods, and +seein' a'most no one but father and mother for days an' weeks at a time, +we've got a good deal o' the Irish tone." + +"Ah! thin, ye have reason to be thankful for that same," remarked Larry, +who was a little disappointed that his new friends were not altogether +Irish; but, after a few minutes' consideration, he came to the +conclusion, that people whose father and mother were natives of the +Emerald Isle could no more be Americans, simply because they happened to +be born in America, than they could be fish if they chanced to be born +at sea. Having settled this point to his satisfaction, he proceeded to +question the girl as to their past history and the cause of their +present sad condition, and gradually obtained from her the information +that their father and mother were dead, and that, having heard of the +mines of California, her brother had sold off his farm in the backwoods, +and proceeded by the overland route to the new land of gold, in company +with many other western hunters and farmers. They reached it, after the +most inconceivable sufferings, in the beginning of winter, and took up +their abode at Little Creek. + +The rush of emigration from the western states to California, by the +overland route, that took place at this time, was attended with the most +appalling sufferings and loss of life. Men sold off their snug farms, +packed their heavy waggons with the necessaries for a journey, with +their wives and little ones, over a wilderness more than two thousand +miles in extent, and set off by scores over the prairies towards the +Ultima Thule of the far west. The first part of their journey was +prosperous enough, but the weight of their waggons rendered the pace +slow, and it was late in the season ere they reached the great barrier +of the Rocky Mountains. But severe although the sufferings of those +first emigrants were, they were as nothing compared with the dire +calamities that befell those who started from home later in the season. +All along the route the herbage was cropped bare by those who had gone +before; their oxen broke down; burning sandy deserts presented +themselves when the wretched travellers were well-nigh exhausted; and +when at length they succeeded in reaching the great mountain-chain, its +dark passes were filled with the ice and snow of early winter. + +Hundreds of men, women, and children, fell down and died on the burning +plain, or clambered up the rugged heights to pillow their dying heads at +last on wreaths of snow. To add to the unheard-of miseries of these +poor people, scurvy in its worst forms attacked them; and the air of +many of their camping places was heavy with the stench arising from the +dead bodies of men and animals that had perished by the way. + +"It was late in the season," said Kate Morgan, as Larry's new friend was +named, "when me brother Patrick an' I set off with our waggon and oxen, +an' my little sister Nelly, who was just able to run about, with her +curly yellow hair streamin' over her purty shoulders, an' her laughin' +blue eyes, almost spakin' when they looked at ye." + +The poor girl spoke with deep pathos as she mentioned Nelly's name, +while Larry O'Neil sat with his hands clasped, gazing at her with an +expression of the deepest commiseration. + +"We got pretty well on at first," she continued, after a pause, "because +our waggon was lighter than most o' the others; but it was near winter +before we got to the mountains, an' then our troubles begood. First of +all, one o' the oxen fell, and broke its leg. Then darlin' Nelly fell +sick, and Patrick had to carry her on his back up the mountains, for I +had got so weak meself that I wasn't fit to take her up. All the way +over I was troubled with one o' the emigrants that kep' us company-- +there was thirty o' us altogether--he was a very bad man, and none o' us +liked him. He took a fancy to me, an' asked me to be his wife so often +that I had to make Patrick order him to kape away from us altogether. +He wint off in a black rage, swearin' he'd be revenged,--an' oh!" +continued Kate, wringing her hands, "he kept his word. One day there +was a dispute between our leaders which way we should go, for we had got +to two passes in the mountains; so one party went one way, and we went +another. Through the night, my--my lover came into our camp to wish me +good-bye, he said, for the last time, as he was goin' with the other +party. After he was gone, I missed Nelly, and went out to seek for her +among the tents o' my neighbours, but she was nowhere to be found. At +once I guessed he had taken her away, for well did he know I would +sooner have lost my life than my own darlin' Nell." + +Again the girl paused a few moments; then she resumed, in a low voice-- + +"We never saw him or Nelly again. It is said the whole party perished, +an' I believe it, for they were far spent, and the road they took, I've +been towld, is worse than the one we took. It was dead winter when we +arrived, and Patrick and me came to live here. We made a good deal at +first by diggin', but we both fell sick o' the ague, and we've been +scarce able to kape us alive till now. But it won't last long. Dear +Patrick is broken down entirely, as ye see, and I haven't strength +a'most to go down to the diggin's for food. I haven't been there for a +month, for it's four miles away, as I dare say ye know. We'll both be +at rest soon." + +"Ah! now, don't say that again, avic," cried Larry, smiting his thigh +with energy; "ye'll be nothin' o' the sort, that ye won't; sure yer +brother Pat is slaipin' now like an infant, he is, an' I'll go down +meself to the stores and git ye medicines an' a doctor, an' what not. +Cheer up, now--" + +Larry's enthusiastic efforts to console his new friend were interrupted +by the sick man, who awoke at the moment, and whispered the word "food." + +His sister rose, and taking up a small tin pan that simmered on the fire +in front of the tent, poured some of its contents into a dish. + +"What is it ye give him?" inquired Larry, taking the dish from the +girl's hands and putting it to his lips. He instantly spat out the +mouthful, for it was soup made of rancid pork, without vegetables of any +kind. + +"'Tis all I've got left," said the girl. "Even if I was able to go down +for more, he wouldn't let me; but I couldn't, for I've tried more than +once, and near died on the road. Besides, I haven't a grain o' goold in +the tent." + +"O morther! Tare an' ages!" cried Larry, staring first at the girl and +then at her brother, while he slapped his thighs and twisted his fingers +together as if he wished to wrench them out of joint. + +"Howld on, faix I'll do it. Don't give it him, plaze; howld on, _do_!" + +Larry O'Neil turned round as he spoke, seized his cudgel, sprang right +over the bushes in front of the tent, and in two minutes more was seen +far down the ravine, spurning the ground beneath him as if life and +death depended on the race. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +KINDNESS TO STRANGERS IN DISTRESS--REMARKS IN REFERENCE TO EARLY +RISING--DIGGINGS WAX UNPRODUCTIVE--NED TAKES A RAMBLE, AND HAS A SMALL +ADVENTURE--PLANS FORMED AND PARTLY DEVELOPED--REMARKABLE HUMAN CREATURES +DISCOVERED, AND STILL MORE REMARKABLE CONVERSE HELD WITH THEM. + +"I'll throuble ye for two pounds of flour," cried Larry O'Neil, dashing +into one of the stores, which was thronged with purchasers, whom he +thrust aside rather unceremoniously. + +"You'll have to take your turn, stranger, I calculate," answered the +store-keeper, somewhat sharply. + +"Ah thin, avic, plaze do attind to me at wance; for sure I've run four +miles to git stuff for a dyin' family--won't ye now?" + +The earnest manner in which Larry made this appeal was received with a +laugh by the bystanders, and a recommendation to the store-keeper to +give him what he wanted. + +"What's the price?" inquired Larry, as the man measured it out. + +"Two dollars a pound," answered the man. + +"Musha! I've seed it chaiper." + +"I guess so have I; but provisions are gittin' up, for nothin' has come +from Sacramento for a fortnight." + +"Tay an' sugar'll be as bad, no doubt!" + +"Wuss, they are; for there's next to none at all, I opine, in this here +location." + +"Faix, I'll have a pound o' both, av they wos two dollars the +half-ounce. Have ye got raisins an' sago?" + +"Yes." + +"Give me a pound o' that, aich." + +These articles having been delivered and paid for, Larry continued-- + +"Ye'll have brandy, av coorse?" + +"I guess I have; plenty at twenty dollars a bottle." + +"Och, morther, it'll brake the bank intirely; but it's little I care. +Hand me wan bottle, plaze." + +The bottle of brandy was added to his store, and then the Irishman, +shouldering his bundle of good things, left the shop, and directed his +steps once more towards the ravine in which dwelt Kate Morgan and her +brother Pat. + +It was late when the Irishman returned from his mission of kindness, and +he found the fire nearly out, the tent closed, and all his comrades +sound asleep, so, gently lifting the curtain that covered the entrance, +he crept quietly in, lay down beside Bill Jones, whose nasal organ was +performing a trombone solo, and in five minutes was sound asleep. + +It seemed to him as if he had barely closed his eyes, when he was roused +by his comrades making preparations to resume work; nevertheless, he had +rested several hours, and the grey hue of early day that streamed in +through the opening of the tent warned him that he must recommence the +effort to realise his golden dreams. The pursuit of gold, however +engrossing it may be, does not prevent men from desiring to lie still in +the morning, or abate one jot of the misery of their condition when they +are rudely roused by _early_ comrades, and told that "it's time to get +up." Larry O'Neil, Tom Collins, and Maxton groaned, on receiving this +information from Ned, turned, and made as if they meant to go to sleep. +But they meant nothing of the sort; it was merely a silent testimony to +the fact of their thorough independence--an expressive way of shewing +that they scorned to rise at the bidding of any man, and that they would +not get up till it pleased themselves to do so. That this was the case +became evident from their groaning again, two minutes afterwards, and +turning round on their backs. Then they stretched themselves, and, +sitting up, stared at each other like owls. A moment after, Maxton +yawned vociferously, and fell back again quite flat, an act which was +instantly imitated by the other two. Such is the force of bad example. + +By this time the captain and Jones had left the tent, and Ned Sinton was +buckling on his belt. + +"Now, then, get up, and don't be lazy," cried the latter, as he stepped +out, dragging all the blankets off the trio as he took his departure, an +act which disclosed the fact that trousers and flannel shirts were the +sleeping garments of Maxton and Tom, and that Larry had gone to bed in +his boots. + +The three sprang up immediately, and, after performing their toilets, +sallied forth to the banks of the stream, where the whole population of +the place was already hard at work. + +Having worked out their claims, which proved to be pretty good, they +commenced new diggings close beside the old ones, but these turned out +complete failures, excepting that selected by Captain Bunting, which was +as rich as the first. The gold deposits were in many places very +irregular in their distribution, and it frequently happened that one man +took out thirty or forty dollars a day from his claim, while another +man, working within a few yards of him, was, to use a mining phrase, +unable "to raise the colour;" that is, to find gold enough to repay his +labour. + +This uncertainty disgusted many of the impatient gold-hunters, and not a +few returned home, saying that the finding of gold in California was a +mere lottery, who, if they had exercised a little patience and +observation, would soon have come to know the localities in which gold +was most likely to be found. There is no doubt whatever, that the whole +country is impregnated more or less with the precious material. The +quartz veins in the mountains are full of it; and although the largest +quantities are usually obtained in the beds of streams and on their +banks, gold is to be found, in smaller quantities, even on the tops of +the hills. + +Hitherto the miners at Little Creek had found the diggings on the banks +of the stream sufficiently remunerative; but the discovery of several +lumps of gold in its bed, induced many of them to search for it in the +shallow water, and they were successful. One old sea-captain was met by +Bill Jones with a nugget the size of a goose-egg in each hand, and +another man found a single lump of almost pure gold that weighed +fourteen pounds. These discoveries induced Ned Sinton to think of +adopting a plan which had been in his thoughts for some time past; so +one day he took up his rifle, intending to wander up the valley, for the +double purpose of thinking out his ideas, and seeing how the diggers +higher up got on. + +As he sauntered slowly along, he came to a solitary place where no +miners were at work, in consequence of the rugged nature of the banks of +the stream rendering the labour severe. Here, on a projecting cliff; +which overhung a deep, dark pool or eddy, he observed the tall form of a +naked man, whose brown skin bespoke him the native of a southern clime. +While Ned looked at him, wondering what he could be about, the man +suddenly bent forward, clasped his hands above his head, and dived into +the pool. Ned ran to the margin immediately, and stood for nearly a +minute observing the dark indistinct form of the savage as he groped +along the bottom. Suddenly he rose, and made for the shore with a +nugget of gold in his hand. + +He seemed a little disconcerted on observing Ned, who addressed him in +English, French, and Spanish, but without eliciting any reply, save a +grunt. This, however, did not surprise our hero, who recognised the man +to be a Sandwich Islander whom he had met before in the village, and +whose powers of diving were well-known to the miners. He ascertained by +signs, however, that there was much gold at the bottom of the stream, +which, doubtless, the diver could not detach from the rocks during the +short period of his immersion, so he hastened back to the tent, +determined to promulgate his plan to his comrades. It was noon when he +arrived, and the miners were straggling from all parts of the diggings +to the huts, tents, and restaurants. + +"Ha! Maxton, glad I've found you alone," cried Ned, seating himself on +an empty box before the fire, over which the former was engaged in +culinary operations. "I have been thinking over a plan for turning the +course of the stream, and so getting at a portion of its bed." + +"Now that's odd," observed Maxton, "I have been thinking of the very +same thing all morning." + +"Indeed! wits jump, they say. I fancied that I had the honour of first +hitting on the plan." + +"_First_ hitting on it!" rejoined Maxton, smiling. "My dear fellow, it +has not only been hit upon, but hit off, many months ago, with +considerable success in some parts of the diggings. The only thing that +prevents it being generally practised is, that men require to work in +companies, for the preliminary labour is severe, and miners seem to +prefer working singly, or in twos and threes, as long as there is good +`pay-dirt' on the banks." + +"Well, then, the difficulty does not affect us, because we are already a +pretty strong company, although our vaquero has left us, and I have seen +a place this morning which, I think, will do admirably to begin upon; it +is a deep pool, a few miles up the stream, under--" + +"I know it," interrupted Maxton, putting a large slice of pork into the +frying-pan, which hissed delightfully in the ears of hungry men. "I +know the place well, but there is a much better spot not a quarter of a +mile higher up, where a Chinaman, named Ah-wow, lives; it will be more +suitable, you'll find, when I shew it you." + +"We'll go and have a look at it after dinner," observed Ned; "meanwhile, +here are our comrades, let us hear what they have to say about the +proposal." + +As he spoke, Collins, Jones, Larry, and the captain advanced in single +file, and with disconsolate looks, that told of hard toil and little +reward. + +"Well, what have you got, comrades?" + +"Nothin'," answered Bill Jones, drawing forth his comforter. Bill's +comforter was black and short, and had a bowl, and was at all times +redolent of tobacco. + +"Niver a speck," cried Larry O'Neil, setting to with energy to assist in +preparing dinner. + +"Well, friends, I've a plan to propose to you, so let us take the edge +off our appetites, and I'll explain." + +Ned sat down tailor-fashion on the ground with his companions round him, +and, while they devoted themselves ravenously and silently to tea, +flour-cake, salt-pork, and beans, he explained to them the details of +his plan, which explanation, (if it was not the dinner), had the effect +of raising their spirits greatly. Instead, therefore, of repairing to +their profitless claims after dinner, they went in a body up the stream +to visit the Chinaman's diggings. Captain Bunting alone remained +behind, as his claim was turning out a first-rate one. + +"Sure, there's a human!" cried Larry, as they turned a projecting point, +about an hour and a half later, and came in sight of Ah-wow's +"lo-cation," as the Yankees termed it. + +"It may be a human," remarked Ned, laughing, "but it's the most inhuman +one I ever saw. I think yonder fellow must be performing a surgical +operation on the Chinaman's head." + +Ah-wow was seated on a stone in front of his own log-hut, with his arms +resting on his knees, and an expression of supreme felicity on his +yellow face, while a countryman, in what appeared a night-gown, and an +immense straw hat, dressed his tail for him. + +Lest uninformed readers should suppose that Ah-wow belonged to the +monkey-tribe, we may mention that the Chinaman's head was shaved quite +bald all round, with the exception of a _tail_ of hair, about two feet +long, and upwards of an inch thick, which jutted from the top of his +_caput_, and hung down his back. This tail he was in the act of getting +dressed when our party of miners broke in upon the privacy of his +dressing-room. + +Ah-wow had a nose which was very flat and remarkably broad, with the +nostrils pointing straight to the front. He also had a mouth which was +extremely large, frightfully thick-lipped, and quite the reverse of +pretty. He had two eyes, also, not placed, like the eyes of ordinary +men, _across_ his face, on either side of his nose, but set in an +angular manner on his visage, so that the outer corners pointed a good +deal upwards, and the inner corners pointed a good deal downwards-- +towards the point of his nose, or, rather, towards that vacant space in +front of his nostrils which would have been the point of his nose if +that member had had a point at all. Ah-wow also had cheek bones which +were uncommonly high, and a forehead which was preposterously low, and a +body which was rather squat, and a _tout ensemble_ which was desperately +ugly. Like his hairdresser, he wore a coat somewhat resembling a +night-shirt, with a belt round it, and his feet were thrust into yellow +slippers. These last, when he went to dig for gold, he exchanged for +heavy boots. + +When Ned and his friends walked up and stood in a grinning row before +him, Ah-wow opened his little eyes to the uttermost, (which wasn't +much), and said, "How!" + +If he had affixed "d'ye do" to it, the sentence would have been complete +and intelligible. His companion attempted to vary the style of address +by exclaiming, "Ho!" + +"Can you speak English?" inquired Ned, advancing. + +A shake of the head, and a consequent waggle of the tail was the reply. + +"Or French?" + +(Shake and waggle.) + +"Maybe ye can do Irish?" suggested Larry. + +The shake and waggle were more vigorous than before but Ah-wow rose, +and, drawing on his boots, made signs to his visitors to follow him, +which they did, through the bushes, round the base of a steep precipice. +A short walk brought them to an open space quite close to the banks of +the stream, which at that place was broken by sundry miniature +waterfalls and cascades, whose puny turmoil fell like woodland music on +the ear. Here was another log-hut of minute dimensions and ruinous +aspect, in front of which sat another Chinaman, eating his dinner. Him +Ah-wow addressed as Ko-sing. After a brief conversation, Ko-sing turned +to the strangers, and said-- + +"Ho! Kin speek English, me can. What you want?" + +"We want to look at your diggings," answered Ned. + +"We are going to turn the river here, if we can; and if you and your +companions choose to join us, we will give you good wages." + +"Kin speek, but not fery well kin on'erstan'. Work, work you say, an' +pay we?" + +"Yes, that's it; you work for us, and we'll pay you." + +"How moche?" inquired the cautious Celestial. + +"Five dollars a day," replied Ned. + +The Chinaman put on a broad grin, and offered to shake hands, which +offer was accepted, not only by Ned, but by the whole party; and the +contract was thus settled on the spot, to the satisfaction of all +parties. + +After this they spent some time in examining the bed of the stream, and +having fixed upon a spot on which to commence operations, they prepared, +about sunset, to return for their tent and mining tools, intending to +make a moonlight flitting in order to avoid being questioned by +over-curious neighbours. All their horses and mules, except Ned's +charger, having been sold a few days before to a Yankee who was +returning to Sacramento, they expected to get off without much noise, +with their goods and chattels on their backs. + +Before starting on their return, while the rest of the party were +crowding round and questioning Ko-sing, Bill Jones--whose mind since he +arrived in California seemed to be capable of only one sensation, that +of surprise--went up to Ah-wow, and glancing round, in order to make +sure that he was not observed, laid his hand on his shoulder, and looked +inquiringly into the Chinaman's face. The Chinaman returned the +compliment with interest, throwing into his sallow countenance an +expression of, if possible, blanker astonishment. + +"O-wow!" said Bill, with solemn gravity, and pausing, as if to give him +time to prepare for what was coming. "O-wow! wot do you dress your +pig-tail with?" + +"Ho!" replied the Chinaman. + +"Ho!" echoed Bill; "now, that's curious. I thought as how you did it +with grease, for it looks like it. Tell me now, how long did it take +afore it growed that long?" He lifted the end of the tail as he spoke. + +"How!" ejaculated the Chinaman. + +"Ay, _how_ long?" repeated Bill. + +We regret that we cannot give Ah-wow's answer to this question, seeing +that it was never given, in consequence of Bill being suddenly called +away by Ned Sinton, as he and his friends turned to go. + +"Come, Bill, let's be off." + +"Ay, ay, sir," answered Bill, turning from the Chinaman and following +his comrades with solemn stolidity, or, if you prefer the expression, +with stolid solemnity. + +"Don't linger, Larry," shouted Tom Collins. + +"Ah! thin, it's cruel to tear me away. Good-night to ye, Bow-wow, we'll +be back before mornin', ye purty creature." With this affectionate +farewell, Larry ran after his friends and followed them down the banks +of the tumbling stream towards the `R'yal Bank o' Calyforny,' which was +destined that night, for a time at least, to close its doors. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +THE NEW DIGGINGS--BRIGHT PROSPECTS--GREAT RESULTS SPRING FROM GREAT +EXERTIONS, EVEN IN CALIFORNIA--CAPTAIN BUNTING IS SEIZED WITH A GREAT +PASSION FOR SOLITARY RAMBLING, AND HAS TWO DESPERATE ENCOUNTERS; ONE +WITH A MAN, THE OTHER WITH A REAR. + +The part of the Little Creek diggings to which the gold-hunters +transported their camp, was a wild, secluded spot, not much visited by +the miners, partly on account of its gloomy appearance, and partly in +consequence of a belief that the Celestials located there were getting +little or no gold. In this supposition they were correct. Ah-wow and +Ko-sing being inveterately lazy, contented themselves with digging just +enough gold to enable them to purchase a sufficiency of the necessaries +of life. But the region was extremely rich, as our adventurers found +out very soon after their arrival. One of the ravines, in particular, +gave indications of being full of gold, and several panfuls of earth +that were washed out shewed so promising a return, that the captain and +Larry were anxious to begin at once. They were overruled, however, by +the others, who wished to make trial of the bed of the stream. + +Six days of severe labour were undergone by the whole party ere their +task was accomplished, during which period they did not make an ounce of +gold, while, at the same time, their little store was rapidly melting +away. Nevertheless, they worked heartily, knowing that a few days of +successful digging would amply replenish their coffers. At grey dawn +they set to work; some, with trousers tucked up, paddling about in the +water all day, carrying mud and stones, while others felled trees and +cut them into logs wherewith to form the dam required to turn the stream +from its course. This was a matter of no small difficulty. A new bed +had to be cut to the extent of eight or ten yards, but for a long time +the free and jovial little mountain stream scorned to make such a +pitiful twist in its course, preferring to burst its way headlong +through the almost completed barricade, by which it was pent-up. + +Twice did it accomplish this feat, and twice, in so doing, did it sweep +Captain Bunting off his legs and roll him along bodily, in a turmoil of +mud and stones and dirty water, roaring, as it gushed forth, as if in +savage triumph. On the second occasion, Bill Jones shared the captain's +ducking, and all who chanced to be working about the dam at the time +were completely drenched. But, however much their bodies might be +moistened, no untoward accident could damp the ardour of their spirits. +They resumed work again; repaired the breach, and, finally, turned the +obstinate stream out of the course which, probably, it had occupied +since creation. It rushed hissing, as if spitefully, along its new bed +for a few yards, and then darted, at a right angle, back into its former +channel, along which it leaped exultingly as before. + +But the object for which all this trouble had been undertaken was +attained. About eight yards of the old bed of the torrent were laid +bare, and the water was drained away, whereat each of the party +exhibited his satisfaction after his own peculiar manner--Larry O'Neil, +as usual, giving vent to his joy in a hearty cheer. + +The result was even more successful than had been anticipated. During +the next few days the party conversed little; their whole energies being +devoted to eating, sleeping, and digging. The bed of the stream was +filled with stones, among which they picked up numerous nuggets of +various sizes--from a pea to a walnut--some being almost pure gold, +while others were, more or less, mixed with quartz. A large quantity of +the heavy black sand was also found at the bottom of a hole, which once +had been an eddy--it literally sparkled with gold-dust, and afforded a +rich return for the labour previously expended in order to bring it to +light. The produce of the first two days' work was no less than +fourteen pounds weight of gold! + +The third day was the Sabbath, and they rested from their work. It is, +however, impossible for those who have never been in similar +circumstances to conceive how difficult it was for our party of +gold-hunters to refrain from resuming work as usual on that morning. +Some of them had never been trained to love or keep the Sabbath, and +would have certainly gone to work had not Ned and the captain +remonstrated. All were under great excitement in consequence of their +valuable discovery, and anxious to know whether the run of luck was +likely to continue, and not one of the party escaped the strong +temptation to break the Sabbath-day, except, indeed, the Chinamen, who +were too easy-going and lazy to care whether they worked or rested. But +the inestimable advantage of good early training told at this time on +Ned Sinton. It is questionable whether his principles were strong +enough to have carried him through the temptation, but Ned had been +_trained_ to reverence the Lord's-day from his earliest years, and he +looked upon working on the Sabbath with a feeling of dread which he +could not have easily shaken off, even had he tried. The promise, in +his case, was fulfilled--"Train up a child in the way he should go, and +he will not depart from it when he is old;" and though no mother's voice +of warning was heard in that wild region of the earth, and no guardian's +hand was there to beckon back the straggler from the paths of rectitude, +yet he was not "let alone;" the arm of the Lord was around him, and His +voice whispered, in tones that could not be misunderstood, "Remember the +Sabbath-day, to keep it holy." + +We have already said, that the Sabbath at the mines was a day of rest as +far as mere digging went, but this was simply for the sake of resting +the wearied frame, not from a desire to glorify God. Had any of the +reckless miners who filled the gambling-houses been anxious to work +during Sunday on a prolific claim, he would not have hesitated because +of God's command. + +The repose to their overworked muscles, and the feeling that they had +been preserved from committing a great sin, enabled the party to +commence work on Monday with a degree of cheerfulness and vigour that +told favourably on their profits that night, and in the course of a few +days they dug out gold to the extent of nearly two thousand pounds +sterling. + +"We're goin' to get rich, no doubt of it," said the captain one morning +to Ned, as the latter was preparing to resume work in the creek; "but +I'll tell you what it is, I'm tired o' salt beef and pork, and my old +hull is gettin' rheumatic with paddling about barefoot in the water, so +I mean to go off for a day's shootin' in the mountains." + +"Very good, captain," replied Ned; "but I fear you'll have to go by +yourself, for we must work out this claim as fast as we can, seeing that +the miners further down won't be long of scenting out our discovery." + +Ned's words were prophetic. In less than half-an-hour after they were +uttered a long-visaged Yankee, in a straw hat, nankeen trousers, and +fisherman's boots, came to the spot where they were at work, and seated +himself on the trunk of a tree hard by to watch their proceedings. + +"Guess you've got som'thin'," he said, as Larry, after groping in the +mud for a little, picked up a lump of white quartz with a piece of gold +the size of a marble embedded in the side of it. + +"Ah! but ye're good for sore eyes," cried Larry, examining the nugget +carefully. + +"I say, stranger," inquired the Yankee, "d'ye git many bits like that in +this location?" + +The Irishman regarded his question with an expressive leer. "Arrah! +now, ye won't tell?" he said, in a hoarse whisper; "sure it'll be the +death o' me av ye do. There's _no end_ o' them things here--as many as +ye like to pick; it's only the day before to-morrow that I turned up a +nugget of pure goold the size of me head; and the capting got hold o' +wan that's only half dug out yet, an' wot's seen o' 't is as big as the +head o' a five-gallon cask--all pure goold." + +The Yankee was not to be put off the scent by such a facetious piece of +information. He continued to smoke in silence, sauntered about with his +hands in his nankeen pockets, watched the proceedings of the party, +inspected the dirt cast ashore, and, finally, dug out and washed a +panful of earth from the banks of the stream, after which he threw away +the stump of his cigar, and went off whistling. Three hours later he +returned with a party of friends, laden with tents, provisions, and +mining tools, and they all took up their residence within twenty yards +of our adventurers, and commenced to turn the course of the river just +below them. + +Larry and Jones were at first so angry that they seriously meditated +committing an assault upon the intruders, despite the remonstrances of +Tom Collins and Maxton, who assured them that the new-comers had a +perfect right to the ground they occupied, and that any attempt to +interrupt them by violence would certainly be brought under the notice +of Judge Lynch, whose favourite punishments, they well knew, were +whipping and hanging. + +Meanwhile Captain Bunting had proceeded a considerable way on his +solitary hunting expedition into the mountains, bent upon replenishing +the larder with fresh provisions. He was armed with his favourite +blunderbuss, a pocket-compass, and a couple of ship-biscuits. As he +advanced towards the head of the valley, the scenery became more and +more gloomy and rugged, but the captain liked this. Having spent the +greater part of his life at sea, he experienced new and delightful +sensations in viewing the mountain-peaks and ravines, by which he was +now surrounded; and, although of a sociable turn of mind, he had no +objection for once to be left to ramble alone, and give full vent to the +feelings of romance and enthusiastic admiration, with which his nautical +bosom had been filled since landing in California. + +Towards noon, the captain reached the entrance to a ravine, or gorge, +which opened upon the larger valley, into which it discharged a little +stream from its dark bosom. There was an air of deep solitude and +rugged majesty about this ravine that induced the wanderer to pause +before entering it. Just then, certain sensations reminded him of the +two biscuits in his pocket, so he sat down on a rock and prepared to +dine. We say prepared to dine, advisedly, for Captain Bunting had a +pretty correct notion of what comfort meant, and how it was to be +attained. He had come out for the day to enjoy himself and although his +meal was frugal, he did not, on that account, eat it in an off-hand easy +way, while sauntering along, as many would have done. By no means. He +brushed the surface of the rock on which he sat quite clean, and, laying +the two biscuits on it, looked first at one and then at the other +complacently, while he slowly, and with great care, cut his tobacco into +delicate shreds, and filled his pipe. Then he rose, and taking the tin +prospecting-pan from his belt, went and filled it at the clear rivulet +which murmured at his feet, and placed it beside the biscuits on the +rock. This done, he completed the filling of his pipe, and cast a look +of benignity at the sun, which at that moment happened in his course to +pass an opening between two lofty peaks, which permitted him to throw a +cloth of gold over the captain's table. + +Captain Bunting's mind now became imbued with those aspirations after +knowledge, which would have induced him, had he been at sea, to inquire, +"How's her head?" so he pulled out his pocket-compass, and having +ascertained that his nose, when turned towards the sun, pointed exactly +"south-south-west, and by south," he began dinner. Thereafter he lit +his pipe, and, reclining on the green turf beside the rock, with his +head resting on his left hand, and wreaths of smoke encircling his +visage, he--he enjoyed himself. To elaborate a description, reader, +often weakens it--we cannot say more than that he enjoyed himself-- +emphatically. + +Had Captain Bunting known who was looking at him in that solitary place, +he would not have enjoyed himself quite so much, nor would he have +smoked his pipe so comfortably. + +On the summit of the precipice at his back stood, or rather sat, one of +the natives of the country, in the shape of a grizzly-bear. Bruin had +observed the captain from the time he appeared at the entrance of the +ravine, and had watched him with a curious expression of stupid interest +during all his subsequent movements. He did not attempt to interrupt +him in his meal, however, on two grounds--first, because the nature of +the grizzly-bear, if not molested, induces him to let others alone; and +secondly, because the precipice, on the top of which he sat, although +conveniently close for the purposes of observation, was too high for a +safe jump. + +Thus it happened that Captain Bunting finished his meal in peace, and +went on his way up the wild ravine, without being aware of the presence +of so dangerous a spectator. He had not proceeded far, when his +attention was arrested by the figure of a man seated on a ledge of rock +that over hung a yawning gulf into which the little stream plunged. + +So still did the figure remain, with the head drooping on the chest, as +if in deep contemplation, that it might have been mistaken for a statue, +cut out of the rock on which it sat. A deep shadow was cast over it by +the neighbouring mountain-peaks, yet, as the white sheet of a waterfall +formed the background, it was distinctly visible. + +The captain advanced towards it with some curiosity, and it was not +until he was within a hundred yards that a movement at length proved it +to be a living human being. + +The stranger rose hastily, and advanced to meet a woman, who at the same +moment issued from an opening in the brushwood near him. The meeting +was evidently disagreeable to the woman, although, from the manner of +it, and the place, it did not seem to be accidental; she pushed the man +away several times, but their words were inaudible to the captain, who +began to feel all the discomfort of being an unintentional observer. +Uncertainty as to what he should do induced him to remain for a few +moments inactive, and he had half made up his mind to endeavour to +retreat unobserved, when the man suddenly struck down the female, who +fell with a faint cry to the earth. + +In another minute the captain was at the side of the dastardly fellow, +whom he seized by the neck with the left hand, while with the right he +administered a hearty blow to his ribs. The man turned round fiercely, +and grappled with his assailant; and then Captain Bunting became aware +that his antagonist was no other than Smith, _alias_ Black Jim, the +murderer. + +Smith, although a strong man, was no match for the captain, who soon +overpowered him. + +"Ha! you villain, have I got you?" cried he, as he almost throttled the +man. "Get up now, an' come along peaceably. If you don't, I'll knock +your brains out with the butt of my gun." + +He permitted Black Jim to rise as he spoke, but held him fast by the +collar, having previously taken from him his knife and rifle. + +Black Jim did not open his lips, but the scowl on his visage shewed that +feelings of deadly hatred burned in his bosom. + +Meanwhile, the girl had recovered, and now approached. + +"Ah! plase, sir," she said, "let him off. Shure I don't mind the blow; +it's done me no harm--won't ye, now?" + +"Let him off!" exclaimed the captain, violently; "no, my good girl; if +he has not murdered you, he has at any rate murdered one human being +that I know of, and if I can, I'll bring him to justice." + +Kate, (for it was she), started at this reply, and looked earnestly at +the man, who hung his head, and, for the first time, shewed symptoms of +a softer feeling. + +"Ah! it's true, I see, an' all hope is gone. If he'd commit a murder, +he'd tell a lie too. I thought he spoke truth when he said Nelly was +alive, but--" + +The girl turned as she spoke, and left the spot hurriedly, while the +captain took out his pocket-handkerchief, and began to fasten the arms +of his prisoner behind him. But Black Jim was not to be secured without +a struggle. Despair lent him energy and power. Darting forward, he +endeavoured to throw his captor down, and partially succeeded; but +Captain Bunting's spirit was fully roused, and, like most powerful men +whose dispositions are habitually mild and peaceful, he was in a blaze +of uncontrollable passion. For some time Black Jim writhed like a +serpent in the strong grasp of his antagonist, and once or twice it +seemed as if he would succeed in freeing himself, but the captain's +hands had been trained for years to grasp and hold on with vice-like +tenacity, and no efforts could disengage them. The two men swayed to +and fro in their efforts, no sound escaping them, save an occasional +gasp for breath as they put forth renewed energy in the deadly struggle. +At last Black Jim began to give way. He was forced down on one knee, +then he fell heavily on his side, and the captain placed his knee on his +chest. + +Just then a peculiar hiss was heard behind them, and the captain, +looking back, observed that a third party had come upon the scene. The +grizzly-bear, which has been described as watching Captain Bunting at +dinner, had left its former position on the brow of the precipice, and, +whether from motives of curiosity, or by accident, we will not presume +to say, had followed the captain's track. It now stood regarding the +two men with an uncommonly ferocious aspect. Its indignation may, +perhaps, be accounted for by the fact that they stood in the only path +by which it could advance--a precipice on one side and a thicket on the +other rendering the passage difficult or impossible. Grizzlies are +noted for their objection to turn out of their way for man or beast, so +the combatants no sooner beheld the ferocious-looking animal than they +sprang up, seized their weapons, and fired together at their common +enemy. Bruin shook his head, uttered a savage growl, and charged. It +seemed as if Black Jim had missed altogether--not to be wondered at +considering the circumstances--and the mixture of shot and slugs from +the blunderbuss was little more hurtful than a shower of hail to the +thick-skinned monarch of these western hills. Be this as it may, the +two men were compelled to turn and flee for their lives. Black Jim, +being the nimbler of the two, was soon out of sight among the rocks of +the precipices, and, we may remark in passing, he did not again make his +appearance. Inwardly thanking the bear for its timely appearance, he +ran at top speed into the mountains, and hid himself among those wild +lonely recesses that are visited but rarely by man or beast. + +Captain Bunting endeavoured to save himself by darting up the face of +the precipice on his left, but the foot-hold was bad, and the bear +proved about as nimble as himself, compelling him to leap down again and +make for the nearest tree. In doing so, he tripped over a fallen +branch, and fell with stunning violence to the ground. He rose, +however, instantly, and grasping the lower limb of a small oak, drew +himself with some difficulty up among the branches. + +The bear came thundering on, and reached the tree a few seconds later. +It made several abortive efforts to ascend, and then, sitting down at +the foot, it looked up, grinning and growling horribly in disappointed +rage. + +The captain had dropped the blunderbuss in his fall, and now, with deep +regret, and not a little anxiety, found himself unarmed and a prisoner. +True, his long knife was still in its place, but he was too well aware +of the strength and ferocity of the grizzly-bear--from hearsay, and now +from ocular demonstration--to entertain the idea of acting on the +offensive with such a weapon. + +The sun sank behind the mountain-peaks, and the shades of night began to +fall upon the landscape, and still did Captain Bunting and the bear +sit--the one at the top, and the other at the foot of the oak-tree-- +looking at each other. As darkness came on, the form of the bear became +indistinct and shadowy; and the captain's eyes waxed heavy, from +constant staring and fatigue, so that at length bruin seemed, to the +alarmed fancy of the tree'd mariner, to be twice the size of an +elephant. At last the darkness became so deep that its form mingled +with the shadows on the ground, and for some time the uncertainty as to +its actual presence kept the prisoner wakeful; but soon his eyes began +to close, despite his utmost efforts to keep them open; and for two +hours he endured an agonising struggle with sleep, compared to which his +previous struggle with Black Jim was mere child's-play. He tried every +possible position among the branches, in the hope of finding one in +which he might indulge in sleep without the risk of falling, but no such +position was to be found; the limbs of the tree were too small and too +far apart. + +At last, however, he did find a spot to lie down on, and, with a sigh of +relief, lay back to indulge in repose. Alas! the spot was a myth--he +merely dreamed it; the next moment he dropt, like a huge over-ripe pear, +to the ground. Fortunately a bush broke the violence of his fall, and, +springing up with a cry of consternation, he rushed towards the tree, +expecting each instant to feel the terrible hug of his ursine enemy. +The very marrow in his back-bone seemed to shrink, for he fancied that +he actually felt the dreaded claws sinking into his flesh. In his haste +he missed the branch, and fell violently forward, scratching himself +terribly among the bushes. Again he rose, and a cold perspiration broke +out upon him as he uttered an involuntary howl of terror, and once more +leaped up at the limb of the oak, which he could just barely see. He +caught it; despair nerved him, and in another moment he was safe, and +panting violently among the branches. + +We need scarcely say that this little episode gave his feelings such a +tremendous shock that his tendency to sleep was thoroughly banished; but +another and a better result flowed from it,--the involuntary hubbub +created by his yells and crashing falls reached listening and not +far-distant ears. + +During their evening meal that day, Ned Sinton and his comrades had +speculated pretty freely, and somewhat jocularly, on the probable result +of the captain's hunting expedition--expressing opinions regarding the +powers of the blunderbuss, which it was a shame, Larry O'Neil said, "to +spake behind its back;" but as night drew on, they conversed more +seriously, and when darkness had fairly set in they became anxious. + +"It's quite clear that something's wrong," cried Ned Sinton, entering +the tent hastily, "we must up and search for him. The captain's not the +man to lose his way with a compass in his pocket and so many landmarks +round him." + +All the party rose at once, and began to buckle on belts and arm, while +eagerly suggesting plans of search. + +"Who can make a torch?" inquired Ned. + +"Here's one ready made to hand," cried Maxton, seizing a huge pine-knot +and lighting it. + +"Some one must stay behind to look after our things. The new-comers who +camped beside us to-day are not used to mining life, and don't +sufficiently know the terrors of Lynch law. Do you stop, Maxton. Now +then, the rest of you, come along." + +Ned issued from the tent as he spoke, and walked at a rapid pace along +the track leading up the valley, followed closely by Tom Collins, Larry +O'Neil, and Bill Jones--all of whom were armed with rifles, revolvers, +and bowie-knives. For a long time they walked on in silence, guided by +the faint light of the stars, until they came to the flat rock which had +formed the captain's dinner-table. Here they called a halt, in order to +discuss the probability of their lost comrade having gone up the ravine. +The question was soon settled by Larry, who discovered a few crumbs of +the biscuit lying on the rock, and footprints leading up the ravine; for +the captain, worthy man, had stepped recklessly into the little stream +when he went to fill his pannikin, and his wet feet left a distinct +track behind him for some distance. + +"He can't have gone far up such a wild place as this," said Tom Collins, +while they moved cautiously along. "Kindle the torch, Ned, it will +light us on our way, and be a guide to the captain if he's within +sight." + +"It will enlighten enemies, too, if any are within range," replied Ned, +hesitating. + +"Oh, no fear," rejoined Tom, "our greatest enemy is darkness; here, +Jones, hand me your match-box." + +In a few seconds the torch flared forth, casting a broad glare of light +on their path, as they advanced, examining the foot of precipices. + +"Give a shout, Larry," said Ned. + +Larry obeyed, and all listened intently, but, save the echo from the +wild cliffs, no reply was heard. + +Had the captain been wide-awake at the time, he would, doubtless, have +heard the friendly shout, but his ears were dull from prolonged +watching. It was thought needless to repeat the cry, so the party +resumed their search with anxious forebodings in their hearts, though +their lips were silent. + +They had not proceeded far, however, when the noise occasioned by the +captain's fall from the tree, as already described, struck upon their +ears. + +"Och! what's that?" exclaimed Larry, with a look of mingled surprise and +superstitious fear. + +For a minute the party seemed transformed into statues, as each listened +intently to the mysterious sounds. + +"They come from the other side of the point ahead," remarked Ned, in a +whisper. "Light another torch, Larry, and come on--quick!" + +Ned led the way at a run, holding one of the torches high above his +head, and in a few minutes passed round the point above referred to. +The glare of his torch immediately swept far ahead, and struck with +gladsome beam on the now wakeful eye of the captain, who instantly +greeted it with one of his own peculiarly powerful and eminently +nautical roars. + +"Hooroo!" yelled Larry, in reply, dashing forward at full speed. "Here +we are all right, capting, comin' to the rescue; don't give in, capting; +pitch into the blackguards--" + +"Look out for the grizzly-bear," roared the captain, as his friends +advanced at a run, waving their torches encouragingly. + +The whole party came to a dead halt on this unexpected caution, and each +cocked his piece as they looked, first into the gloom beyond, and then +at each other, in surprise and perplexity. + +"Halloo! captain, where are you?" shouted Ned. + +"And where's the bear!" added Tom Collins. + +"Right in front o' you," replied the captain, "about fifty yards on. +The bear's at the bottom o' the tree, and I'm a-top of it. Come on, and +fire together; but aim _low_, d'ye hear?" + +"Ay, ay, sir," replied Bill Jones, as if he were answering a command on +shipboard, while he advanced boldly in the direction indicated. + +The others were abreast of him instantly, Ned and Larry holding the +torches high in their left hands as they approached, step by step, with +rifles ready for instant use. + +"Have a care," cried the captain; "I see him. He seems to be crouchin' +to make a rush." + +This caused another halt; but as no rush was made, the party continued +to advance very slowly. + +"Oh! av ye would only shew yerself," said Larry, in a suppressed tone of +exasperation at being kept so long in nervous expectation. + +"I see him," cried Ned, taking aim. + +The rest of the party cried "Where!" aimed in the same direction, and +the whole fired a volley, the result of which was, that Captain Bunting +fell a second time to the ground, crashing through the branches with a +terrible noise, and alighting heavily at the foot of the tree. To the +surprise of all, he instantly jumped up, and seizing Ned and Tom as they +came up, shook them warmly by the hand. + +"Och! are ye not shot, capting?" exclaimed Larry. + +"Not a bit; not even hurt," answered the captain, laughing. + +The fact was, that Captain Bunting, in his anxiety to escape being +accidentally shot by his comrades, had climbed to the utmost possible +height among the tender top branches of the oak. When the volley was +fired, he lost his balance, fell through the tree, the under branches of +which happily broke his fall, and finally alighted on the back of the +grizzly-bear itself, which lay extended, and quite dead, on the ground. + +"Faix we've polished him off for wance," cried Larry, in the excess of +his triumph, as he stood looking at the fallen bear. + +"Faix we've done nothing of the sort," retorted Tom Collins, who was +examining the carcase. "It's been dead for hours, and is quite cold. +Every bullet has missed, too, for the shot that settled him is on the +side next the ground. So much for hasty shooting. Had bruin been alive +when we fired, I'm inclined to think that some of us would not be alive +now." + +"Now, that's wot I wos sure of," remarked Bill Jones. "Wot I says is +this--w'en yer goin' aloft to reef to'sails, don't be in a hurry. It's +o' no manner o' use tryin' to shove on the wind. If ye've got a thing +to do, do it slow--slow an' sure. If ye haven't got a thing to do, in +coorse ye can't do it, but if ye have, don't be in a hurry--I says." + +Bill Jones's maxim is undoubtedly a good one. Not a scratch had the +bear received from any one of the party. The bullet of Black Jim had +laid him low. Although hurriedly aimed, it had reached the animal's +heart, and all the time that Captain Bunting was struggling to overcome +his irresistible tendency to sleep, poor bruin was lying a helpless and +lifeless body at the foot of the oak-tree. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +AH-WOW SAVED FROM AN UNTIMELY FATE--LYNCH LAW ENFORCED--NED SINTON +RESOLVES TO RENOUNCE GOLD-DIGGING FOR A TIME, AND TOM COLLINS SECONDS +HIM. + +Ah-wow sat on the stump of an oak-tree, looking, to use a familiar, +though incorrect expression, very blue indeed. And no wonder, for +Ah-wow was going to be hanged. Perhaps, courteous reader, you think we +are joking, but we assure you we are not. Ah-wow had just been found +guilty, or pronounced guilty--which, at the diggings, meant the same +thing--of stealing two thousand dollars' worth of gold-dust, and was +about to expiate his crime on the branch of a tree. + +There could be no doubt of his guilt; so said the enlightened jury who +tried him; so said the half-tipsy judge who condemned him; and so said +the amiable populace which had assembled to witness his execution. It +cannot be denied that appearances went very much against Ah-wow--so much +so, that Maxton, and even Captain Bunting, entertained suspicions as to +his innocence, though they pleaded hard for his pardon. The gold had +been discovered hid near the Chinaman's tent, and the bag containing it +was recognised and sworn to by at least a dozen of the diggers as that +belonging to the man from whom the gold had been stolen. The only point +that puzzled the jury was the strong assertions of Captain Bunting, +Maxton, and Collins, that, to their certain belief, the poor Celestial +had dug beside them each day, and slept beside them each night for three +weeks past, at a distance of three miles from the spot where the robbery +took place. But the jury were determined to hang somebody, so they shut +their ears to all and sundry, save and except to those who cried out, +"String the riptile up--sarves him right!" + +Ko-sing also sat on the tree-stump, endeavouring to comfort Ah-wow by +stroking his pig-tail and howling occasionally in an undertone. It +seemed indeed that the poor man's career was drawing to a close, for two +men advanced, and, seizing his pinioned arms, led him under the fatal +limb; but a short respite occurred in consequence of a commotion in the +outskirts of the crowd, where two men were seen forcing a passage +towards the centre. Ned Sinton and Larry O'Neil had been away in the +mountains prospecting at the time when Ah-wow was captured and led to +the settlement, near the first residence of our adventurers, to stand +his trial. The others accompanied the condemned man, in order, if +possible, to save him, leaving Jones behind to guard their property, and +acquaint Ned with the state of affairs on his return. Our hero knew too +well the rapid course of Lynch law to hesitate. He started at once with +Larry down the stream, to save, if possible, the life of his servant, +for whom he felt a curious sort of patronising affection, and who he was +sure must be innocent. He arrived just in time. + +"Howld on, boys," cried Larry, flourishing his felt hat as they pushed +through the crowd. + +"Stay, friends," cried Ned, gaining the centre of the circle at last; +"don't act hastily. This man is my servant." + +"_That_ don't make him an honest man, I guess," said a cynical +bystander. + +"Perhaps not," retorted Ned; "but it binds me in honour to clear him, if +I can." + +"Hear, hear," said several voices; "get up on the stump an' fire away, +stranger." + +Ned obeyed. + +"Gentlemen," he began, "I can swear, in the first place, that the +Chinaman has not been a quarter of a mile from my tent for three weeks +past, so that he could not have stolen the gold--" + +"How then came it beside his tent?" inquired a voice. + +"I'll tell you, if you will listen. This morning early I started on a +prospecting ramble up the stream, and not long after I set out I caught +a glance of that villain Black Jim, who, you know, has been supposed for +some time back to have been lurking in the neighbourhood. He ran off +the moment he caught sight of me, and although I followed him at full +speed for a considerable distance, he succeeded in escaping. However, I +noticed the print of his footsteps, in a muddy place over which he +passed, and observed that his right boot had no heel. On returning home +this afternoon, and hearing what had happened, I went to the spot where +the bag of gold had been discovered, and there, sure enough, I found +footprints, one of which shewed that the wearer's right boot had _no +heel_. Now, gentlemen, it don't need much speaking to make so clear a +matter clearer, I leave you to judge whether this robbery has been +committed by the Chinaman or not." + +Ned's speech was received with various cries; some of which shewed that +the diggers were not satisfied with his explanation, and Ah-wow's fate +still trembled in the balance, when the owner of the bag of gold stepped +forward and admitted that he had observed similar foot-marks in the +neighbourhood of his tent just after the robbery was committed, and said +that he believed the Chinaman was innocent. This set the matter at +rest. Ah-wow was cast loose and congratulated by several of the +bystanders on his escape, but there seemed a pretty general feeling +amongst many of the others that they had been unjustly deprived of their +prey, and there is no saying what might have happened had not another +culprit appeared on the scene to divert their attention. + +The man who was led forward had all the marks of a thorough desperado +about him. From his language it was impossible to judge what country +had the honour of giving him birth, but it was suspected that his last +residence had been Botany Bay. Had this man's innocence been ever so +clearly proved he could not have escaped from such judges in their then +disappointed state of mind; but his guilt was unquestionable. He had +been caught in the act of stealing from a monte table. The sum was not +very large, however, so it was thought a little too severe to hang him; +but he was condemned to have his head shaved, his ears cut off, and to +receive a hundred lashes. + +The sentence was executed promptly, notwithstanding the earnest +remonstrances of a few of the better-disposed among the crowd: and Ned, +seeing that he could do nothing to mitigate the punishment of the poor +wretch, left the spot with his comrades and the rescued Chinaman. + +That night, as they all sat round their camp-fire, eating supper with a +degree of zest known only to those who labour at severe and out-of-door +occupation all day, Ned Sinton astonished his companions not a little, +by stating his intention to leave them for the purpose of making a tour +through the country. + +"Make a tour!" exclaimed Maxton, in surprise. + +"An' lave all the goold!" cried Larry O'Neil, pausing in his mastication +of a tough lump of bear-steak. + +"Why, boy," said Captain Bunting, laying down his knife, and looking at +Ned in amazement, "what's put that in your head, eh?" + +"Being somewhat tired of grubbing in the mud has put it into my head," +replied Ned, smiling. "The fact is, comrades, that I feel disposed for +a ramble, and I _don't_ feel bent on making a fortune. You may, +perhaps, be surprised to hear such a statement, but--" + +"Not at all--by no means," interrupted Bill Jones; "I'm surprised at +nothin' in this here country. If I seed a first-rate man-o'-war comin' +up the valley at fifteen knots, with stun'-sails alow and aloft, stem +on, against the wind, an' carryin' all before it, like nothin', I +wouldn't be surprised, not a bit, so I wouldn't!" + +"Well, perhaps not," resumed Ned; "but, surprised or not, my statement +is true. I don't care about making my `pile' in a hurry. Life was not +given to us to spend it in making or digging gold; and, being quite +satisfied, in the meantime, with the five or six hundred pounds of +profits that fall to my share, I am resolved to make over my unfinished +claim to the firm, and set out on my travels through the country. I +shall buckle on my bowie-knife and revolver, and go where fancy leads +me, as long as my funds last; when they are exhausted, I will return, +and set to work again. Now, who will go with me?" + +"Are you in earnest?" asked Tom Collins. + +"In earnest! ay, that am I; never was more so in my life. Why, I feel +quite ashamed of myself. Here have I been living for weeks in one of +the most romantic and beautiful parts of this world, without taking more +notice of it, almost, than if it did not exist. Do you think that with +youth and health, and a desire to see everything that is beautiful in +creation, I'm going to stand all day and every day up to the knees in +dirty water, scraping up little particles of gold? Not I! I mean to +travel as long as I have a dollar in my pocket; when that is empty, I'll +work." + +Ned spoke in a half-jesting tone, but there is no doubt that he gave +utterance to the real feelings of his heart. He felt none of that eager +thirst for gold which burned, like a fever, in the souls of hundreds and +thousands of the men who poured at that time in a continuous and +ever-increasing stream into California. Gold he valued merely as a +means of accomplishing present ends; he had no idea of laying it up for +the future; married men, he thought, might, perhaps, with propriety, +amass money for the benefit of their families, but _he_ wasn't a married +man, and didn't mean to be one, so he felt in duty bound to spend all +the gold he dug out of the earth. + +We do not pretend to enter into a disquisition as to the correctness or +incorrectness of Ned's opinions; we merely state them, leaving our +reader to exercise his own reasoning powers on the subject, if so +disposed. + +For a few seconds after Ned's last speech, no sound escaped the lips of +his comrades, save those resulting from the process of mastication. At +last, Tom Collins threw down his knife, and slapped his thigh +energetically, as he exclaimed, "I'll go with you, Ned! I've made up my +mind. I'm tired of digging, too; and I'm game for a ramble into the +heart of the Rocky Mountains, if you like." + +"Bravo! Tom," cried Captain Bunting, slapping his companion on the +shoulder--"well and bravely spoken; but you're a goose for all that, and +so, saving his presence, is Commodore Ned Sinton. Why, you'll just +waste two months or so in profitless wandering, and return beggars to +the Little Creek to begin the work all over again. Take my advice, +lads--the advice of an old salt, who knows a thing or two--and remain +where you are till we have worked out all the gold hereabouts. After +that you may talk of shifting." + +"You're a very sour old salt to endeavour to damp our spirits in that +way at the outset, but it won't do; my mind is made up, and I'm glad to +find that there is at least one of the party who is strong enough to +break these golden chains." + +"Faix I comed here for goold, an' I stop here for the same raison," +remarked Larry, scraping the last morsels from the bottom of the kettle +with an iron spoon; "I've thravelled more nor enough in me day, so I can +affoord to stop at home now." + +"Get out, you renegade! do you call this home?" cried Ned. + +"'Tis all that's of it at present, anyhow." + +"When shall we start?" inquired Tom Collins. + +"To-morrow. We have few preparations to make, and the sooner we go the +better; for when the rainy season sets in, our journeying will be +stopped perforce. I have a plan in my mind which I shall detail to you +after we retire to rest. Meanwhile I'll go and improve my bed, which +has been so uncomfortable for some nights past that my very bones are +aching." + +Ned rose, took up an axe, and, going into the bush in rear of the tent, +cut down a young pine-tree, the tender shoots and branches of which he +stripped off, and strewed thickly on the ground on which he was wont to +sleep; over these he spread two thick blankets, and on this simple but +springy and comfortable couch he and Tom Coffins lay down side by side +to talk over their future plans, while their comrades snored around +them. + +Daylight found them still talking; so, pausing by mutual consent, they +snatched an hour's repose before commencing the needful preparations for +their contemplated journey. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +NED AND TOM TAKE TO WANDERING--PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS--A STARTLING +APPARITION--THE DIGGER INDIANS--WATER BOILED IN A BASKET--THE GLOOMY +PASS--THE ATTACK BY ROBBERS--THE FIGHT--A SURPRISE--THE ENCAMPMENT. + +Change is one of the laws of nature. We refer not to small-change, +reader, but to physical, material change. Everything is given to +change; men, and things, and place, and circumstances, all change, more +or less, as time rolls on in its endless course. Following, then, this +inevitable law of nature, we, too, will change the scene, and convey our +reader deeper in among the plains and mountains of the far, "far west." + +It is a beautiful evening in July. The hot season has not yet succeeded +in burning up all nature into a dry russet-brown. The whole face of the +country is green and fresh after a recent shower, which has left myriads +of diamond-drops trembling from the point of every leaf and blade. A +wide valley, of a noble park-like appearance, is spread out before us, +with scattered groups of trees all over it, blue mountain-ranges in the +far distance circling round it, and a bright stream winding down its +emerald breast. On the hill-sides the wild-flowers grow so thickly that +they form a soft, thick couch to lie upon, immense trees, chiefly pines +and cedars, rise here and there like giants above their fellows. Oaks, +too, are numerous, and the scene in many places is covered with +mansanita underwood, a graceful and beautiful shrub. The trees and +shrubbery, however, are not so thickly planted as to intercept the view, +and the ground undulates so much that occasionally we overtop them, and +obtain a glimpse of the wide vale before us. Over the whole landscape +there is a golden sunny haze, that enriches while it softens every +object, and the balmy atmosphere is laden with the sweet perfume called +forth by the passing shower. + +One might fancy Eden to have been somewhat similar to this, and here, as +there, the presence of the Lord might be recognised in a higher degree +than in most other parts of this earth, for, in this almost untrodden +wilderness, His pre-eminently beautiful works have not yet to any great +extent been marred by the hand of man. + +Far away towards the north, two horsemen may be seen wending their way +through the country at a slow, ambling pace, as if they would fain +prolong their ride in such a lovely vale. The one is Ned Sinton, the +other Tom Collins. + +It had cost these worthies a week of steady riding, to reach the spot on +which we now find them, during which time they had passed through great +varieties of scenery, had seen many specimens of digging-life, and had +experienced not a few vicissitudes; but their griefs were few and slight +compared with their enjoyments, and, at the moment we overtake them, +they were riding they knew not and they cared not whither! Sufficient +for them to know that the wilds before them were illimitable; that their +steeds were of the best and fleetest Mexican breed; that their purses +were well-lined with dollars and gold-dust; that they were armed with +rifles, pistols, knives, and ammunition, to the teeth; and that the land +was swarming with game. + +"'Tis a perfect paradise!" exclaimed Tom Collins, as they reined up on +the brow of a hill to gaze at the magnificent prospect before them. + +"Strange," murmured Ned, half soliloquising, "that, although so wild and +uncultivated, it should remind me so forcibly of home. Yonder bend in +the stream, and the scenery round it, is so like to the spot where I was +born, and where I spent my earliest years, that I can almost fancy the +old house will come into view at the next turn." + +"It does indeed remind one of the cultivated parks of England," replied +Tom; "but almost all my early associations are connected with cities. I +have seen little of uncontaminated nature all my life, except the blue +sky through chimney tops, and even that was seen through a medium of +smoke." + +"Do you know," remarked Ned, as they resumed their journey at a slow +pace, "it has always seemed to me that cities are unnatural +monstrosities, and that there should be no such things!" + +"Indeed," replied Tom, laughing; "how, then, would you have men to +live?" + +"In the country, of course, in cottages and detached houses. I would +sow London, Liverpool, Manchester, etcetera, broadcast over the land, so +that there would be no spot in Britain in which there were not clusters +of human dwellings, each with its little garden around it, and yet no +spot on which a _city_ could be found." + +"Hum, rather awkward for the transaction of business, I fear," suggested +Tom. + +"Not a bit; our distances would be greater, but we could overcome that +difficulty by using horses more than we do--and railroads." + +"And how would you manage with huge manufactories?" inquired Tom. + +"I've not been able to solve that difficulty yet," replied Ned, smiling; +"but my not being able to point out how things may be put right, does +not, in the least degree, alter the fact that, as they are at present, +they are wrong." + +"Most true, my sagacious friend," said Tom; "but, pray, how do you prove +the fact that things _are_ wrong?" + +"I prove it thus:--You admit, I suppose, that the air of all large +cities is unhealthy, as compared with that of the country, and that men +and women who dwell in cities are neither so robust nor so healthy as +those who dwell in country places?" + +"I'm not sure that I do admit it," answered Tom. + +"Surely you don't deny that people of the cities deem it a necessary of +life to get off to the country at least once a year, in order to +recruit, and that they invariably return better in health than when they +left?" + +"True; but that is the result of change." + +"Ay," added Ned, "the result of change from worse to better." + +"Well, I admit it for the sake of argument." + +"Well, then, if the building of cities necessarily and inevitably +creates a condition of atmosphere which is, to some extent, no matter +how slight, prejudicial to health, those who build them and dwell in +them are knowingly damaging the life which has been given them to be +cherished and taken care of." + +"Ned," said Tom, quietly, "you're a goose!" + +"Tom," retorted Ned, "I know it; but, in the sense in which you apply +the term, all men are geese. They are divided into two classes--namely, +geese who are such because they can't and won't listen to reason, and +geese who are such because they take the trouble to talk philosophically +to the former; but to return from this digression, what think you of the +argument?" + +Tom replied by reining up his steed, pointing to an object in front, and +inquiring, "What think you of _that_?" + +The object referred to was a man, but, in appearance at least, he was +not many degrees removed from the monkey. He was a black, squat, +hideous-looking native, and his whole costume, besides the little strip +of cloth usually worn by natives round the loins, consisted of a black +silk hat and a pair of Wellington boots! + +Dear reader, do not suppose that I am trying to impose upon your +good-natured credulity. What I state is a _fact_, however unlikely it +may appear in your eyes. + +The natives of this part of the country are called digger Indians, not +with reference to gold-digging, but from the fact of their digging +subterranean dwellings, in which they pass the winter, and also from the +fact that they grub in the earth a good deal for roots, on which they +partly subsist. They are degraded, miserable creatures, and altogether +uncivilised, besides being diminutive in stature. + +Soon after the first flood of gold-hunters swept over their lands these +poor creatures learned the value of gold, but they were too lazy to work +diligently for it. They contented themselves with washing out enough to +purchase a few articles of luxury, in the shape of cast-off apparel, +from the white men. When stores began to be erected here and there +throughout the country, they visited them to purchase fresh provisions +and articles of dress, of which latter they soon became passionately +fond. + +But the digger Indians were not particular as to style or fashion-- +glitter and gay colour were the chief elements of attraction. Sometimes +a naked savage might be seen going about with a second-hand dress-coat +put on the wrong way, and buttoned up the back. Another would content +himself with a red silk handkerchief tied round his head or shoulders. +A third would thrust his spindle-shanks through the arms of a sleeved +vest, and button the body round his loins; while a fourth, like the one +now under consideration, would parade about in a hat and boots. + +The poor digger had drawn the right boot on the left foot, and the left +boot on the right--a matter of little moment, however, as they were +immensely too large for him, as was also the hat, which only remained on +his brows by being placed very much back on the head. He was a most +singular being, and Ned and Tom, after the first glance of astonishment, +were so un-mannered as to laugh at him until they almost fell off their +horses. The digger was by no means disconcerted. He evidently was +accustomed to the free and easy manners of white men, and while they +rolled in their saddles, he stood quietly beside them, grinning +hideously from ear to ear. + +"Truly, a rare specimen of humanity," cried Ned, when he recovered his +composure. "Where did _you_ come from, old boy?" + +The digger shook his head, and uttered some unintelligible words. + +"It's of no use speaking to him; he don't understand English," said Tom +Collins, with a somewhat puzzled expression. + +The two friends made several attempts to ask him, by signs, where he +lived, but they utterly failed. Their first efforts had the effect of +making the man laugh, but their second attempts, being more energetic +and extravagant, frightened him so that he manifested a disposition to +run away. This disposition they purposely encouraged until he fairly +took to his heels, and, by following him, they at last came upon the +village in which his tribe resided. + +Here they found an immense assemblage of men, and women, and children, +whose appearance denoted dirtiness, laziness, and poverty. They were +almost all in a state bordering on nudity, but a few of them wore +miscellaneous portions of European apparel. The hair of the men was +long, except on the forehead, where it was cut square, just above the +eyebrows. The children wore no clothes at all. The infants were +carried on stiff cradles, similar to those used by North American +Indians. They all resided in tents, made of brushwood and sticks, and +hundreds of mangy, half-starved curs dwelt along with them. + +The hero of the hat and boots was soon propitiated by the gift of a few +inches of tobacco, and Ned Sinton and Tom Collins were quickly on +intimate terms with the whole tribe. + +It is difficult to resist the tendency to laugh when a human being +stands before you in a ludicrously-meagre costume, making hideous +grimaces with his features, and remarkable contortions with his limbs, +in the vain efforts to make himself understood by one who does not speak +his language! Ned's powers of endurance were tested in this way by the +chief of the tribe, an elderly man with a beard so sparse that each +stumpy hair might have been easily counted. + +This individual was clad in the rough, ragged blue coat usually worn by +Irish labourers of the poorest class. It was donned with the tails in +front; and two brass buttons, the last survivors of a once glittering +double row, fastened it across the back of its savage owner. + +"What _can_ he mean?" said Ned, at the close of a series of pantomimic +speeches, in which the Indian vainly endeavoured to get him to +understand something having reference to the mountains beyond, for he +pointed repeatedly towards them. + +"It seems to me that he would have us understand," said Tom, "that the +road lies before us, and the sooner we take ourselves off the better." + +Ned shook his head. "I don't think that likely; he seems rather to wish +us to remain; more than once he has pointed to his tent, and beckoned us +to enter." + +"Perhaps the old fellow wants us to become members of his tribe," +suggested Tom. "Evidently he cannot lead his braves on the war-path as +he was wont to do, and he wishes to make you chief in his room. What +think you? Shall we remain? The blue coat would suit you admirably." + +During this colloquy the old savage looked from one speaker to another +with great eagerness, as if trying to comprehend what they said, then, +renewing his gesticulations, he succeeded at last in convincing the +travellers that he wished them not to pursue their journey any further, +in the direction in which they were going. This was a request with +which they did not, however, feel disposed to comply; but seeing that he +was particularly anxious that they should accept of his hospitality, +they dismounted, and, fastening their horses to a tree close beside the +opening of the chief's hut, they entered. + +The inside of this curious bee-hive of a dwelling was dirty and dark, +besides being half-full of smoke, created by the pipe of a squaw--the +old man's wife--who regaled herself there with the soothing weed. There +were several dogs there also, and two particularly small infants in +wooden cradles, who were tied up like mummies, and did nothing but stare +right before them into space. + +"What's that?" inquired Tom, pointing to a basketful of smoking water. + +"It looks like a basket," replied Ned. + +"It _is_ a basket," remarked Tom, examining the article in question, +"and, as I live, superb soup in it." + +"Tom," said Ned Sinton, solemnly, "have a care; if it is soup, depend +upon it, dogs or rats form the basis of its composition." + +"Ned," said Tom, with equal solemnity, "eat, and ask no questions." + +Tom followed his own advice by accepting a dish of soup, with a large +lump of meat in it, which was at that moment offered to him by the old +chief who also urged Ned Sinton to partake; but he declined, and, +lighting his pipe, proceeded to enjoy a smoke, at the same time handing +the old man a plug of tobacco, which he accepted promptly, and began to +use forthwith. + +While thus engaged, they had an opportunity of observing how the squaw +boiled water in a basket. Laying aside her pipe, she hauled out a +goody-sized and very neatly-made basket of wicker-work, so closely woven +by her own ingenious hands, that it was perfectly water-tight; this she +three-quarters filled, and then put into it red-hot stones, which she +brought in from a fire kindled outside. The stones were thrown in in +succession, till the temperature was raised to the boiling point, and +afterwards a little dead animal was put into the basket. + +The sight of this caused Tom Collins to terminate his meal somewhat +abruptly, and induced Ned to advise him to try a little more. + +"No, thank you," replied Tom, lighting his pipe hastily, and taking up a +bow and several arrows, which he appeared to regard with more than usual +interest. The bow was beautifully made;--rather short, and tipped with +horn. + +The arrows were formed of two distinct pieces of wood spliced together, +and were shod with flint; they were feathered in the usual way. All the +articles manufactured by these natives were neatly done, and evinced +considerable skill in the use of their few and simple tools. + +After resting half-an-hour, the two friends rose to depart, and again +the old Indian manifested much anxiety to prevail on them to remain; but +resisting all his entreaties, they mounted their horses and rode away, +carrying with them the good wishes of the community, by the courtesy of +their manners, and a somewhat liberal distribution of tobacco at +parting. + +The country through which they passed became wilder at every step, for +each hour brought them visibly nearer the mountain-range, and towards +night-fall they entered one of the smaller passes or ravines that +divided the lower range of hills at which they first arrived. Here a +rugged precipice, from which projected pendent rocks and scrubby trees, +rose abruptly on the right of the road, and a dense thicket of +underwood, mingled with huge masses of fallen rock, lay on their left. +We use the word road advisedly, for the broad highway of the flowering +plains, over which the horsemen had just passed, narrowed at this spot +as it entered the ravine, and was a pretty-well-defined path, over which +parties of diggers and wandering Indians occasionally passed. + +"Does not this wild spot remind you of the nursery tales we used to +read?" said Ned, as they entered the somewhat gloomy defile, "which used +to begin, `Once upon a time--'" + +"Hist, Ned, is that a grizzly?" + +Both riders drew up abruptly, and grasped their rifles. + +"I hear nothing," whispered Ned. + +"It must have been imagination," said Tom, throwing his rifle carelessly +over his left arm, as they again advanced. The gloom of the locality, +which was deepened by the rapidly-gathering shades of night, quieted +their spirits, and induced them to ride on in silence. About fifty +yards further on, the rustling in the bushes was again heard, and both +travellers pulled up and listened intently. + +"Pshaw!" cried Ned, at last, urging his horse forward, and throwing his +piece on his shoulder, "we are starting at the rustling of the night +wind; come, come, Tom, don't let us indulge superstitious feelings--" + +At that moment there was a crash in the bushes on both sides of them, +and their horses reared wildly, as four men rushed upon them. Before +their steeds became manageable, they were each seized by a leg, and +hurled from their saddles. In the fall, their rifles were thrown out of +their grasp into the bushes; but this mattered little, for in a close +struggle pistols are better weapons. Seizing their revolvers, Ned and +Tom instantly sprang up, and fired at their assailants, but without +effect, both being so much shaken by their fall. The robbers returned +the fire, also without effect. In the scuffle, Ned was separated from +his friend, and only knew that he maintained the fight manfully, from +the occasional shots that were fired near him. His whole attention, +however, had to be concentrated on the two stalwart ruffians with whom +he was engaged. + +Five or six shots were fired at a few yards' distance, quick as +lightning, yet, strange to say, all missed. Then the taller of the two +opposed to Ned, hurled his revolver full in his face, and rushed at him. +The pistol struck Ned on the chest, and almost felled him, but he +retained his position, and met the highwayman with a well-directed blow +of his fist right between the eyes. Both went down, under the impetus +of the rush, and the second robber immediately sprang upon Ned, and +seized him by the throat. But he little knew the strength of the man +with whom he had to deal. Our hero caught him in the iron grasp of his +right hand, while, with his left, he hurled aside the almost inanimate +form of his first assailant; then, throwing the other on his back, he +placed his knee on his chest, and drew his bowie-knife. + +Even in the terrible passion of mortal combat, Ned shuddered at the +thought of slaying a helpless opponent. He threw the knife aside, and +struck the man violently with his fist on the forehead, and then sprang +up to rescue Tom who, although he had succeeded at the outset in felling +one of the robbers with the butt of his pistol, was still engaged in +doubtful strife with a man of great size and power. When Ned came up, +the two were down on their knees, each grasping the other's wrist in +order to prevent their bowie-knives from being used. Their struggles +were terrible; for each knew that the first who freed his right hand +would instantly take the other's life. Ned settled the matter, however, +by again using his fist, which he applied so promptly to the back of the +robber's neck, that he dropped as if he had been shot. + +"Thank you--God bless you, Ned," gasped Tom, as soon as he recovered +breath; "you have saved my life, for certainly I could not have held out +a minute longer. The villain has all but broken my right arm." + +"Never mind," cried Ned, stooping down, and turning the stunned robber +over on his face, "give me a hand, boy; we must not let the fellows +recover and find themselves free to begin the work over again. Take +that fellow's neckcloth and tie his hands behind his back." + +Tom obeyed at once, and in a few minutes the four highwaymen were bound +hand and foot, and laid at the side of the road. + +"Now," said Ned, "we must push on to the nearest settlement hot-haste, +and bring a party out to escort--Halloo! Tom, are you wounded?" + +"Not badly--a mere cut on the head." + +"Why, your face is all covered with blood!" + +"It's only in consequence of my wiping it with a bloody handkerchief, +then; but you can examine, and satisfy yourself." + +"The wound is but slight, I see," rejoined Ned, after a brief +manipulation of Tom's skull; "now, then, let us away." + +"We'll have to catch our horses first, and that won't be an easy +matter." + +Tom was right. It cost them half-an-hour to secure them and recover +their rifles and other arms, which had been scattered over the field of +battle. On returning to the spot where the robbers lay, they found them +all partially recovered, and struggling violently to free themselves. +Three of them failed even to slacken their bonds, but the fourth, the +powerful man who had nearly overcome Tom Collins, had well-nigh freed +his hands when his captors came up. + +"Lie quiet," said Ned, in a low tone, "if you don't want the butt of my +rifle on your skull." + +The man lay down instantly. + +"Tom, go and cut a stake six feet long, and I'll watch these fellows +till you come back." + +The stake was soon brought and lashed to the robber's back in such a +manner that he was rendered utterly powerless. The others were secured +in a similar manner, and then the two travellers rode forward at a +gallop. + +For nearly an hour they continued to advance without speaking or drawing +rein. At the end of that time, while sweeping round the jutting base of +a precipitous rock, they almost ran into a band of horsemen who were +trotting briskly towards them. Both parties halted, and threw forward +their rifles, or drew their revolvers for instant use, gazing at each +other the while in silent surprise at the suddenness of their meeting. + +"Give in, ye villains," at last shouted a stern voice, "or we'll blow ye +out o' the saddle. You've no chance; down your arms, I say." + +"Not until I know what right _you_ have to command us," replied Ned, +somewhat nettled at the overbearing tone of his opponent. "We are +peaceable travellers, desiring to hurt no one; but if we were not, +surely so large a party need not be afraid. We don't intend to run +away, still less do we intend to dispute your passage." + +The strangers lowered their fire-arms, as if half-ashamed at being +surprised into a state of alarm by two men. + +"Who said we were `afraid,' young man?" continued the first speaker, +riding up with his comrades, and eyeing the travellers narrowly. "Where +have you come from, and how comes it that your clothes are torn, and +your faces covered with blood?" + +The party of horsemen edged forward, as he spoke, in such a manner as to +surround the two friends, but Ned, although he observed the movement, +was unconcerned, as, from the looks of the party, he felt certain they +were good men and true. + +"You are a close interrogator for a stranger," he replied. "Perhaps you +will inform me where _you_ have come from, and what is your errand in +these lonesome places at this hour of the night?" + +"I'll tell ye wot it is, stranger," answered another of the party--a +big, insolent sort of fellow--"we're out after a band o' scoundrels that +have infested them parts for a long time, an' it strikes me you know +more about them than we do." + +"Perhaps you are right," answered Ned. + +"Mayhap they're not _very_, far off from where we're standin'," +continued the man, laying his hand on Tom Collins's shoulder. Tom gave +him a look that induced him to remove the hand. + +"Right again," rejoined Ned, with a smile. "I know where the villains +are, and I'll lead you to them in an hour, if you choose to follow me." + +The men looked at each other in surprise. + +"You'll not object to some o' us ridin' before, an' some behind ye!" +said the second speaker, "jist by way o' preventin' yer hosses from +runnin' away; they looks a little skeary." + +"By no means," answered Ned, "lead on; but keep off the edge of the +track till I call a halt." + +"Why so, stranger?" + +"Never mind, but do as I bid you." + +The tone in which this was said effectually silenced the man, and during +the ride no further questions were asked. About a quarter-of-an-hour +afterwards the moon rose, and they advanced at such a rapid pace that in +a short time they were close upon the spot where the battle had taken +place. Just before reaching it Ned called a halt, and directed the +party to dismount and follow him on foot. Although a good deal +surprised, they obeyed without question; for our hero possessed, in an +eminent degree, the power of constituting himself a leader among those +with whom he chanced to come into contact. + +Fastening his horse to a tree, Ned led the men forward a hundred yards. + +"Are these the men you search for!" he inquired. + +"They are, sir," exclaimed one of the party, in surprise, as he stooped +to examine the features of the robbers, who lay where they had been +left. + +"Halloo!" exclaimed Tom Collins, "I say, the biggest fellow's gone! +Didn't we lay him hereabouts?" + +"Eh! dear me, yes; why, this is the very spot, I do believe--" + +All further remarks were checked at that moment by the sound of horses' +hoofs approaching, and, almost before any one could turn round, a +horseman came thundering down the pass at full gallop. Uttering a +savage laugh of derision, he discharged his pistol full into the centre +of the knot of men as he passed, and, in another moment, was out of +sight. Several of the onlookers had presence of mind enough to draw +their pistols and fire at the retreating figure, but apparently without +effect. + +"It's him!" cried Tom Collins; "and he's mounted on your horse, Ned." + +"After him, lads!" shouted Ned, as he ran back towards the place where +the horses were fastened. "Whose is the best horse?" + +"Hold on, stranger," said one of the men, as he ran up to Ned, "ye may +save yer wind. None o' the horses can overtake your one, I guess. I +was lookin' at him as we came along. It would only be losin' time for +nothin', an' he's miles ahead by this time." + +Ned Sinton felt that the man's remarks were too true, so he returned to +the spot where the remaining robbers lay, and found that the miners had +cut their fastenings, and were busily engaged in rebinding their hands +behind them, preparatory to carrying them back to their settlement. It +was discovered that the lashings of one of the men had been partly +severed with a knife, and, as he could not have done it himself, it was +plain that the robber who had escaped must have done it, and that the +opportune arrival of the party had prevented him from accomplishing his +purpose. How the man had broken his own bonds was a mystery that could +not now be solved, but it was conjectured they must have been too weak, +and that he had burst them by main strength. + +Another discovery was now made, namely, that one of the three robbers +secured was no other than Black Jim himself; the darkness of the night +had prevented Ned and Tom from making this discovery during the fight. + +In less time than we have taken to describe it, the robbers were +secured, and each was mounted behind one of his captors. + +"Ain't you goin' with us?" inquired one of the men, observing that Ned +Sinton stood leaning on his rifle, as if he meant to remain behind. + +"No," answered Ned; "my companion and I have travelled far to-day, +besides fighting a somewhat tough battle; we mean to camp here for the +night, and shall proceed to your settlement to-morrow." + +The men endeavoured to dissuade them from their purpose, but they were +both fatigued, and persisted in their determination. The impression +they had made, however, on their new friends was so favourable, that one +of their number, a Yankee, offered the loan of his horse to Ned, an +offer which the latter accepted thankfully, promising to return it safe +and sound early on the following day. Five minutes later the sound of +the retreating hoofs died away, and the travellers stood silently side +by side in the gloomy ravine. + +For a few minutes neither spoke; then Ned heaved a sigh, and, looking in +his companion's face with a serio-comically-sad expression, said: + +"It may not, perhaps, have occurred to you, Tom, but are you aware that +we are a couple of beggars?" + +"If you use the term in its slang sense, and mean to insinuate that we +are a couple of unfortunate beggars, I agree with you." + +"Well, I've no objection," rejoined Ned, "to your taking my words in +that sense; but I mean to say that, over and above that, we are real, +veritable, _bona fide_ beggars, inasmuch as we have not a sixpence in +the world." + +Tom Collins's visage grew exceedingly long. + +"Our united purse," pursued Ned, "hung, as you are aware, at my +saddle-bow, and yon unmitigated villain who appropriated my good steed, +is now in possession of all our hard-earned gold!" + +Tom's countenance became preternaturally grave, but he did not venture +to speak. + +"Now," continued Ned, forcing a smile, "there is nothing for it but to +make for the nearest diggings, commence work again, and postpone our +travels to a future and more convenient season. We may laugh at it as +we please, my dear fellow, but there's no denying that we are in what +the Yankees would call an `oncommon fix.'" + +Ned's remark as to "laughing at it," was altogether uncalled for and +inappropriate, for his own smile might have been more correctly termed a +grin, and nothing was further from Tom Collins's thoughts at that moment +than laughing. + +"Are the victuals gone too?" inquired Ned, hastily. + +Both turned their eyes towards Tom Collins's horse, which grazed hard +by, and both heaved a sigh of relief on observing that the saddle-bags +were safe. This was a small drop of comfort in their otherwise bitter +cup, and they made the most of it. Each, as if by a common impulse, +pretending that he cared very little about the matter, and assuming that +the other stood in need of being cheered and comforted, went about the +preparations for encamping with a degree of reckless joviality that +insensibly raised their spirits, not only up to but considerably above +the natural level; and when at last they had spread out their viands, +and lighted their fire and their pipes, they were, according to Tom's +assertion, "happy as kings." + +The choosing of a spot to encamp on formed the subject of an amicable +dispute. + +"I recommend the level turf under this oak," said Ned, pointing to a +huge old tree, whose gnarled limbs covered a wide space of level sward. + +"It's too low," objected Tom, (Tom could always object--a quality which, +while it acted like an agreeable dash of cayenne thrown into the +conversation of some of his friends, proved to be sparks applied to +gunpowder in that of others;) "it's too low, and, doubtless, moist. I +think that yonder pine, with its spreading branches and sweet-smelling +cones, and carpet of moss below, is a much more fitting spot." + +"Now, who is to decide the question if I don't give in, Tom? For I +assume, of course, that you will never give in." + +At that moment an accident occurred which decided the question for them. +It frequently happens that some of the huge, heavy branches of the oaks +in America become so thoroughly dried and brittle by the intense heat of +summer, that they snap off without a moment's warning, often when there +is not a breath of air sufficient to stir a leaf. This propensity is so +well-known to Californian travellers that they are somewhat careful in +selecting their camping ground, yet, despite all their care, an +occasional life is lost by the falling of such branches. + +An event of this kind occurred at the present time. The words had +barely passed Ned's lips, when a large limb of the oak beside which they +stood snapt off with a loud report, and fell with a crash to the ground. + +"That settles it," said Tom, somewhat seriously, as he led his horse +towards the pine-tree, and proceeded to spread his blanket beneath its +branches. + +In a few minutes the bright flame of their camp-fire threw a lurid glare +on the trees and projecting cliffs of the wild pass, while they cooked +and ate their frugal meal of jerked beef and biscuit. They conversed +little during the repast or after it, for drowsiness began to steal over +them, and it was not long before they laid their heads, side by side, on +their saddles, and murmuring "Good-night," forgot their troubles in the +embrace of deep, refreshing slumber. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +A CURIOUS AND VALUABLE DRAUGHT--LYNCH LAW APPLIED--BLACK JIM'S +CONFESSION--NED BECOMES A PAINTER, AND FINDS THE PROFESSION PROFITABLE +AS WELL AS AMUSING--THE FIRST PORTRAIT. + +Next morning the travellers were up and away by daybreak, and in the +afternoon they came upon a solitary miner who was prospecting in a gulch +near the road-side. + +This word gulch is applied to the peculiarly abrupt, short ravines, +which are a characteristic feature in Californian more than in any other +mountains. The weather was exceedingly hot, and the man took off his +cap and wiped his streaming brow as he looked at the travellers who +approached him. + +"Ha! you've got water there, I see," cried Tom Collins, leaping off his +horse, seizing a cup which stood on the ground full of clear water, and +draining it eagerly. + +"Stop!" cried the man, quickly. + +"Why!" inquired Tom, smacking his lips. + +The miner took the empty cup and gazed inquiringly into it. + +"Humph! you've drunk it, every grain." + +"Drop, you mean," suggested Tom, laughing at the man's expression; "of +course I have, and why not? There's plenty more of the same tap here." + +"Oh, I wouldn't mind the water," replied the man, "if ye had only left +the gold-dust behind, but you've finished that too." + +"You _don't_ mean it!" gasped Tom, while the questions flashed across +his mind--Is gold-dust poison? And if not, is it digestible? "How--how +much have I swallowed?" + +"Only about two dollars--it don't signify," answered the man, joining in +the burst of laughter to which Ned and Tom gave way on this +announcement. + +"I'm afraid we must owe you the sum, then," said Ned, recovering his +composure, "for we have only one dollar left, having been robbed last +night; but as we mean to work in this neighbourhood, I dare say you will +trust us." + +The man agreed to this, and having directed the travellers to the +settlement of Weaver Creek, resumed his work, while they proceeded on +their way. Tom's digestion did not suffer in consequence of his golden +draught, and we may here remark, for the benefit of the curious, that he +never afterwards experienced any evil effects from it. We may further +add, that he did not forget to discharge the debt. + +After half-an-hour's ride they came in sight of a few straggling +diggers, from whom they learned that the settlement, or village, or town +of Weaver Creek was about two miles further on, and in a quarter of an +hour they reached it. + +The spot on which it stood was wild and romantic, embosomed among lofty +wooded hills, whose sides were indented by many a rich ravine, and +seamed by many a brawling water-course. Here digging was, as the miners +have it, in full blast. Pick, and shovel, and cradle, and long-tom, and +prospecting-pan--all were being plied with the utmost energy and with +unwearied perseverance. The whole valley was cut up and converted into +a net-work of holes and mud-heaps, and the mountain slopes were covered +with the cabins, huts, and canvas tents of the miners. + +About the centre of the settlement, which was a very scattered one, +stood a log-house or cabin, of somewhat larger dimensions than the +generality of those around it. This was the grand hotel, restaurant, +and gambling-house of the place, besides being the scene of the trials +and executions that occasionally took place. Some such work was going +forward when our travellers rode up, for the area in front of the hotel +was covered with a large concourse of miners. + +"I suspect they are about to try the poor wretches who attacked us last +night," said Ned, dismounting at the door of the house. + +He had scarcely spoken, when a couple of men ran towards them. + +"Here you are, strangers," they cried, "come along and bear witness +agin' them blackguards; they're just about to be strung up. We'll look +after your horses." + +The duty was a disagreeable one, but it could not be avoided, so Ned and +Tom suffered themselves to be led into the centre of the ring where the +three culprits were standing already pinioned, and with the ropes round +their necks. For a short time silence was obtained while Ned stated the +circumstances of the robbery, and also the facts regarding the murder of +which Black Jim had been previously found guilty. Then there was a +general shout of "String 'em up!" "Up wi' the varmints!" and such +phrases; but a short respite was granted in consequence of Black Jim +expressing a desire to speak with Ned Sinton. + +"What have you to say to me?" inquired Ned, in a low tone, as he walked +close up to the wretched man, who, although his minutes on earth were +numbered, looked as if he were absolutely indifferent to his fate. + +"I've only to say," answered the culprit, sternly, "that of all the +people I leaves behind me in this world there's but one I wish I hadn't +bin bad to, and that's Kate Morgan. You know something of her, though +you've never seen her--I know that. Tell her I--no, tell her she'll +find the gold I robbed her of at the foot o' the pine-tree behind the +tent she's livin' in jist now. An' tell her that her little sister's +not dead, though she don't believe me. I took the child to--" + +"Come, come, ha' done wi' yer whisperin'," cried several of the +bystanders, who were becoming impatient of delay. + +"Have patience," said Ned, raising his hand. "The man is telling me +something of importance." + +"I've done," growled Black Jim, scowling on the crowd with a look of +hate; "I wish I hadn't said so much." + +The rope was tightened as he spoke, and Ned, turning abruptly on his +heel, hurried away with his friend from the spot just as the three +robbers were run up and suspended from the branch of the tree, beneath +and around which the crowd stood. + +Entering the inn, and seating themselves in a retired corner of the +crowded gambling-room, Ned and Tom proceeded to discuss their present +prospects and future plans in a frame of mind that was by no means +enviable. They were several hundreds of miles distant from the scene of +their first home at the diggings, without a dollar in their pockets, and +only a horse between them. With the exception of the clothes on their +backs, and Ned's portfolio of drawing materials, which he always carried +slung across his shoulder, they had nothing else in the world. Their +first and most urgent necessity was supper, in order to procure which it +behoved them to sell Tom's horse. This was easily done, as, on +application to the landlord, they were directed to a trader who was on +the point of setting out on an expedition to Sacramento city, and who +readily purchased the horse for less than half its value. + +Being thus put in possession of funds sufficient at least for a few +days, they sat down to supper with relieved minds, and afterwards went +out to stroll about the settlement, and take a look at the various +diggings. The miners here worked chiefly at the bars or sand-banks +thrown up in various places by the river which coursed through their +valley; but the labour was severe, and the return not sufficient to +attract impatient and sanguine miners, although quite remunerative +enough to those who wrought with steady perseverance. The district had +been well worked, and many of the miners were out prospecting for new +fields of labour. A few companies had been formed, and these, by united +action and with the aid of long-toms, were well rewarded, but single +diggers and pan-washers were beginning to become disheartened. + +"Our prospects are not bright," observed Tom, sitting down on a rock +close to the hut of a Yankee who was delving busily in a hole hard by. + +"True," answered Ned, "in one sense they are not bright, but in another +sense they are, for I never yet, in all my travels, beheld so beautiful +and bright a prospect of land and water as we have from this spot. Just +look at it, Tom; forget your golden dreams for a little, if you can, and +look abroad upon the splendid face of nature." + +Ned's eye brightened as he spoke, for his love and admiration of the +beauties and charms of nature amounted almost to a passion. Tom, also, +was a sincere admirer of lovely, and especially of wild, scenery, +although he did not express his feelings so enthusiastically. + +"Have you got your colours with you?" he inquired. + +"I have; and if you have patience enough to sit here for half-an-hour +I'll sketch it. If not, take a stroll, and you'll find me here when you +return." + +"I can admire nature for even longer than that period, but I cannot +consent to watch a sketcher of nature even for five minutes, so I'll +take a stroll." + +In a few minutes Ned, with book on knee and pencil in hand, was busily +engaged in transferring the scene to paper, oblivious of gold, and +prospects, and everything else, and utterly ignorant of the fact that +the Yankee digger, having become curious as to what the stranger could +be about, had quitted his hole, and now stood behind him quietly looking +over his shoulder. + +The sketch was a very beautiful one, for, in addition to the varied +character of the scenery and the noble background of the Sierra Nevada, +which here presented some of its wildest and most fantastic outlines, +the half-ruined hut of the Yankee, with the tools and other articles +scattered around it, formed a picturesque foreground. We have elsewhere +remarked that our hero was a good draughtsman. In particular, he had a +fine eye for colour, and always, when possible, made coloured sketches +during his travels in California. On the present occasion, the rich +warm glow of sunset was admirably given, and the Yankee stood gazing at +the work, transfixed with amazement and delight. Ned first became aware +of his proximity by the somewhat startling exclamation, uttered close to +his ear-- + +"Wall, stranger, you _air_ a screamer, that's a fact!" + +"I presume you mean that for a compliment," said Ned, looking up with a +smile at the tall, wiry, sun-burnt, red-flannel-shirted, straw-hatted +creature that leaned on his pick-axe beside him. + +"No, I don't; I ain't used to butter nobody. I guess you've bin raised +to that sort o' thing?" + +"No, I merely practise it as an amateur," answered Ned, resuming his +work. + +"Now, that is cur'ous," continued the Yankee; "an' I'm kinder sorry to +hear't, for if ye was purfessional I'd give ye an order." + +Ned almost laughed outright at this remark, but he checked himself as +the idea flashed across him that he might perhaps make his pencil useful +in present circumstances. + +"I'm not professional as yet," he said, gravely; "but I have no +objection to become so if art is encouraged in these diggings." + +"I guess it will be, if you shew yer work. Now, what'll ye ax for that +bit!" + +This was a home question, and a poser, for Ned had not the least idea of +what sum he ought to ask for his work, and at the same time he had a +strong antipathy to that species of haggling, which is usually prefaced +by the seller, with the reply, "What'll ye give?" There was no other +means, however, of ascertaining the market-value of his sketch, so he +put the objectionable question. + +"I'll give ye twenty dollars, slick off." + +"Very good," replied Ned, "it shall be yours in ten minutes." + +"An' I say, stranger," continued the Yankee, while Ned put the finishing +touches to his work, "will ye do the inside o' my hut for the same +money?" + +"I will," replied Ned. + +The Yankee paused for a few seconds, and then added-- + +"I'd like to git myself throwd into the bargain, but I guess ye'll ask +more for that." + +"No, I won't; I'll do it for the same sum." + +"Thank'ee; that's all square. Ye see, I've got a mother in Ohio State, +an' she'd give her ears for any scrap of a thing o' me or my new home; +an' if ye'll git 'em both fixed off by the day arter to-morrow, I'll +send 'em down to Sacramento by Sam Scott, the trader. I'll rig out and +fix up the hut to-morrow mornin', so if ye come by breakfast-time I'll +be ready." + +Ned promised to be there at the appointed hour, as he rose and handed +him the sketch, which the man, having paid the stipulated sum, carried +away to his hut with evident delight. + +"Halloo, I say," cried Ned. + +"Wall?" answered the Yankee, stopping with a look of concern, as if he +feared the artist had repented of his bargain. + +"Mind you tell no one my prices, for, you see, I've not had time to +consider about them yet." + +"All right; mum's the word," replied the man, vanishing into his little +cabin just as Tom Collins returned from his ramble. + +"Halloo, Ned, what's that I hear about prices? I hope you're not +offering to speculate in half-finished holes, or anything of that sort, +eh?" + +"Sit down here, my boy, and I'll tell you all about it." + +Tom obeyed, and, with a half-surprised and more than half-amused +expression, listened to his companion's narration of the scene that had +just taken place, and of the plan which he had formed in his mind. This +plan was carried out the following day. + +By daybreak Ned was up preparing his drawing materials; then he and Tom +breakfasted at the _table d'hote_, after which the latter went to hunt +for a suitable log-hut, in which to carry on their joint labours, while +the former proceeded to fulfil his engagement. Their night's lodging +and breakfast made a terribly large gap in their slender fortune, for +prices at the time happened to be enormously high, in consequence of +expected supplies failing to arrive at the usual time. The bill at the +hotel was ten dollars a day per man; and provisions of all kinds were so +dear, that the daily earnings of the miners barely sufficed to find them +in the necessaries of life. It therefore behoved our friends to obtain +a private dwelling and remunerative work as fast as possible. + +On reaching the little log-hut, Ned found the Yankee ready to receive +him. He wore a clean new red-flannel shirt, with a blue silk kerchief +round the throat; a broad-brimmed straw hat, corduroys, and fisherman's +long boots. To judge from his gait, and the self-satisfied expression +of his bronzed countenance, he was not a little proud of his personal +appearance. + +While Ned arranged his paper and colours, and sharpened the point of his +pencil, the Yankee kept up a running commentary on men and things in +general, rocking himself on a rudely-constructed chair the while, and +smoking his pipe. + +The hut was very small--not more than twelve feet by eight, and just +high enough inside to permit of a six-foot man grazing the beams when he +walked erect. But, although small, it was exceedingly comfortable. Its +owner was his own architect and builder, being a jack-of-all-trades, and +everything about the wooden edifice betokened the hand of a thorough +workman, who cared not for appearance, but was sensitively alive to +comfort. Comfort was stamped in unmistakeable characters on every +article of furniture, and on every atom that entered into the +composition of the Yankee's hut. The logs of which it was built were +undressed; they were not even barked, but those edges of them that lay +together were fitted and bevelled with such nicety that the keenest and +most searching blast of north wind failed to discover an entrance, and +was driven baffled and shrieking from the walls. The small fire-place +and chimney, composed of mud and dry grass, were rude in appearance; but +they were substantial, and well calculated for the work they had to +perform. The seats, of which there were four--two chairs, a bench, and +a stool--were of the plainest wood, and the simplest form; but they were +solid as rocks, and no complaining creak, when heavy men sat down on +them, betokened bad or broken constitutions. The little table--two feet +by sixteen inches--was in all respects worthy of the chairs. At one end +of the hut there was a bed-place, big enough for two; it was variously +termed a crib, a shelf, a tumble-in, and a bunk. Its owner called it a +"snoosery." This was a model of plainness and comfort. It was a mere +shell about two and a half feet broad, projecting from the wall, to +which it was attached on one side, the other side being supported by two +wooden legs a foot high. A plank at the side, and another at the foot, +in conjunction with the walls of the cottage, converted the shelf into +an oblong box. But the mattress of this rude couch was formed of +buffalo-skins, covered with thick, long luxurious hair; above which were +spread two large green mackinaw blankets of the thickest description; +and the canvas pillow-case was stuffed with the softest down, purchased +from the wild-fowl of California with leaden coin, transmitted through +the Yankee's unerring rifle. + +There was a fishing-rod in one corner, a rifle in another, a cupboard in +a third; poles and spears, several unfinished axe-handles, and a small +fishing-net lay upon the rafters overhead; while various miscellaneous +articles of clothing, and implements for mining hung on pegs from the +walls, or lay scattered about everywhere; but in the midst of apparent +confusion comfort reigned supreme, for nothing was placed so as to come +in one's way; everything was cleverly arranged, so as to _lie close_ and +_fit in_; no article or implement was superfluous; no necessary of a +miner's life was wanting; an air of thorough completeness invested the +hut and everything about it; and in the midst of all sat the presiding +genius of the place, with his long legs comfortably crossed, the tobacco +wreaths circling round his lantern jaws, the broad-brimmed straw hat +cocked jauntily on one side, his arms akimbo, and his rather languid +black eyes gazing at Ned Sinton with an expression of comfortable +self-satisfaction and assurance that was quite comforting to behold. + +"Wall, mister, if you're ready, I guess ye'd better fire away." + +"One second more and I shall commence," replied Ned; "I beg pardon, may +I ask your name?" + +"Jefferson--Abel Jefferson to command," answered the Yankee, relighting +the large clay pipe which he had just filled, and stuffing down the +glowing tobacco with the end of his little finger as slowly and +deliberately as though that member were a salamander. "What's yourn!" + +"Edward Sinton. Now, Mr Jefferson, in what position do you intend to +sit?" + +"Jest as I'm settin' now." + +"Then you must sit still, at least for a few minutes at a time, because +I cannot sketch you while you keep rocking so." + +"No! now that's a pity, for I never sits no other way when I'm to home; +an' it would look more nat'ral an' raal like to the old 'ooman if I was +drawd rockin'. However, fire away, and sing out when ye want me to +stop. Mind ye, put in the whole o' me. None o' yer half-lengths. I +never goes in for half-lengths. I always goes the whole length, an' a +leetle shave more. See that ye don't forget the mole on the side o' my +nose. My poor dear old mother wouldn't believe it was me if the mole +warn't there as big as life, with the two hairs in the middle of it. +An' I say, mister, mind that I hate flatterers, so don't flatter me no +how." + +"It wouldn't be easy to do so," thought Ned, as he plied his pencil, but +he did not deem it advisable to give expression to his thoughts. + +"Now, then, sit still for a moment," said Ned. + +The Yankee instantly let the front legs of his chair come to the ground +with a bang, and gazed right before him with that intensely-grave, +cataleptic stare that is wont to overspread the countenances of men when +they are being photographed. + +Ned laughed inwardly, and proceeded with his work in silence. + +"I guess there's Sam at the door," said Abel Jefferson, blowing a cloud +of smoke from his mouth that might have made a small cannon envious. + +The door flew open as he spoke, and Sam Scott, the trader, strode into +the hut. He was a tall, raw-boned man, with a good-humoured but +intensely impudent expression of countenance, and tanned to a rich dark +brown by constant exposure to the weather in the prosecution of his +arduous calling. + +"Halloo! stranger, what air _you_ up to!" inquired Sam, sitting down on +the bench behind Ned, and looking over his shoulder. + +Ned might perhaps have replied to this question despite its +unceremoniousness, had not the Yankee followed it up by spitting over +his shoulder into the fire-place. As it was, he kept silence, and went +on with his work. + +"Why I _do_ declare," continued Sam, "if you ain't _photogged_ here as +small as life, mole an' all, like nothin'. I say, stranger, ain't you a +Britisher?" + +Sam again followed up his question with a shot at the fire-place. + +"Yes," answered Ned, somewhat angrily, "and I am so much of a Britisher, +that I positively object to your spitting past my ear." + +"No, you don't, do you? Now, that is cur'ous. I do believe if you +Britishers had your own way, you'd not let us spit at all. What air you +better than we, that you hold your heads so high, and give yourselves +sich airs! that's what _I_ want to know." + +Ned's disgust having subsided, he replied-- + +"If we do hold our heads high, it is because we are straightforward, and +not afraid to look any man in the face. As to giving ourselves airs, +you mistake our natural reserve and dislike to obtrude ourselves upon +strangers for pride; and in this respect, at least, if in no other, we +are better than you--we don't spit all over each other's floors and +close past each other's noses." + +"Wall, now, stranger, if you choose to be resarved, and we choose to be +free-an'-easy, where's the differ? We've a right to have our own +customs, and do as we please as well as you, I guess." + +"Hear, hear!" cried Abel Jefferson, commencing to rock himself again, +and to smoke more violently than ever. "What say ye to that, mister?" + +"Only this," answered Ned, as he put the finishing touches to his +sketch, "that whereas we claim only the right to do to and with +ourselves what we please, you Yankees claim the right to do to and with +_everybody, else_ what you please. I have no objection whatever to your +spitting, but I do object to your spitting over my shoulder." + +"Do you?" said Sam Scott, in a slightly sarcastic tone, "an' suppose I +don't stop firin' over your shoulder, what then?" + +"I'll make you," replied Ned, waxing indignant at the man's cool +impudence. + +"How?" inquired Sam. + +Ned rose and shook back the flaxen curls from his flushed face, as he +replied, "By opening the door and kicking you out of the hut." + +He repented of the hasty expression the moment it passed his lips, so he +turned to Jefferson and handed him the drawing for inspection. Sam +Scott remained seated. Whether he felt that Ned was thoroughly capable +of putting his threat in execution or not we cannot tell, but he evinced +no feeling of anger as he continued the conversation. + +"I guess if you did that, you'd have to fight me, and you'd find me +pretty smart with the bowie-knife an' the revolver, either in the dark +or in daylight." + +Sam here referred to the custom prevalent among the Yankees in some +parts of the United States of duelling with bowie-knives or with pistols +in a darkened room. + +"And suppose," answered Ned, with a smile--"suppose that I refused to +fight, what then?" + +"Why, then, you'd be called a coward all over the diggin's, and you'd +have to fight to clear your character." + +"And suppose I didn't care a straw for being called a coward, and +wouldn't attempt to clear my character?" + +"Why, then, I guess, I'd have to kick you in public till you were +obligated to fight." + +"But suppose still further," continued Ned, assuming the air of a +philosopher discussing a profoundly-abstruse point in science--"suppose +that, being the stronger man, I should prevent you from kicking me by +knocking you down, what then?" + +"Why, then, I'd be compelled to snuff you out slick off?" + +Sam Scott smiled as he spoke, and touched the handle of his revolver. + +"Which means," said Ned, "that you would become a cold-blooded +murderer." + +"So you Britishers call it." + +"And so Judge Lynch would call it, if I am not mistaken, which would +insure your being snuffed out too, pretty effectually." + +"Wrong, you air, stranger," replied the trader; "Judge Lynch regards +affairs of honour in a very different light, I guess. I don't think +he'd scrag me for that." + +Further investigation of this interesting topic was interrupted by Abel +Jefferson, who had been gazing in wrapt admiration at the picture for at +least five minutes, pronouncing the work "fuss rate," emphatically. + +"It's jest what'll warm up the old 'ooman's heart, like a big fire in a +winter day. Won't she screech when she claps her peepers on't, an' go +yellin' round among the neighbours, shewin' the pictur' o' `her boy +Abel,' an' his house at the gold diggin's?" + +The two friends commented pretty freely on the merits of the work, +without the smallest consideration for the feelings of the artist. +Fortunately they had nothing but good to say about it. Sam Scott, +indeed, objected a little to the sketchy manner in which some of the +subordinate accessories were touched in, and remarked that the two large +hairs on the mole were almost invisible; but Jefferson persisted in +maintaining that the work was "fuss rate," and faultless. + +The stipulated sum was paid; and Ned, bidding his new friends +good-morning, returned to the inn, for the purpose of discussing dinner +and plans with Tom Collins. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +NED'S NEW PROFESSION PAYS ADMIRABLY--HE AND TOM WAX PHILOSOPHICAL--"PAT" +COMES FOR A "LANDSCAPE" OF HIMSELF--LYNCH LAW AND THE DOCTORS--NED'S +SITTERS--A YANKEE SWELL RECEIVES A GENTLE REBUFF. + +The ups and downs, and the outs and ins of life are, as every one is +aware, exceedingly curious,--sometimes pleasant, often the reverse, and +not infrequently abrupt. + +On the day of their arrival at the settlement, Ned and Tom were almost +beggars; a dollar or two being all the cash they possessed, besides the +gold-dust swallowed by the latter, which being, as Tom remarked, sunk +money, was not available for present purposes. + +One week later, they were, as Abel Jefferson expressed it, "driving a +roaring trade in pictur's," and in the receipt of fifty dollars, or 10 +pounds a day! Goods and provisions of all kinds had been suddenly +thrown into the settlement by speculators, so that living became +comparatively cheap; several new and profitable diggings had been +discovered, in consequence of which gold became plentiful; and the +result of all was that Edward Sinton, esquire, portrait and landscape +painter, had more orders than he could accept, at almost any price he +chose to name. Men who every Saturday came into the settlement to throw +away their hard-earned gains in the gambling-houses, or to purchase +provisions for the campaign of the following week, were delighted to +have an opportunity of procuring their portraits, and were willing to +pay any sum for them, so that, had our hero been so disposed, he could +have fleeced the miners to a considerable extent. But Ned was not so +disposed, either by nature or necessity. He fixed what he considered +fair remunerative prices for his work, according to the tariff of the +diggings, and so arranged it that he made as much per day as he would +have realised had he been the fortunate possessor of one of the best +"claims" in the neighbourhood. + +Tom Collins, meanwhile, went out prospecting, and speedily discovered a +spot of ground which, when wrought with the pan, turned him in twenty +dollars a day. So that, in the course of a fortnight, our adventurers +found themselves comparatively rich men. This was satisfactory, and Ned +admitted as much one morning to Tom, as he sat on a three-legged stool +in his studio--i.e. a dilapidated log-hut--preparing for a sitter, while +the latter was busily engaged in concluding his morning repast of +damper, pork, and beans. + +"There's no doubt about it, Tom," said he, pegging a sheet of +drawing-paper to a flat board, "we are rapidly making our fortunes, my +boy; but d'you know, I'm determined to postpone that desirable event, +and take to rambling again." + +"There you go," said Tom, somewhat testily, as he lit a cigar, and lay +down on his bed to enjoy it; "you are never content; I knew it wouldn't +last; you're a rolling stone, and will end in being a beggar. Do you +really mean to say that you intend to give up a lucrative profession and +become a vagrant?--for such you will be, if you take to wandering about +the country without any object in view." + +"Indeed, I do," answered Ned. "How often am I to tell you that I don't +and _won't_ consider the making of money the chief good of this world? +Doubtless, it is an uncommonly necessary thing, especially to those who +have families to support; but I am firmly convinced that this life was +meant to be enjoyed, and I mean to enjoy it accordingly." + +"I agree with you, Ned, heartily; but if every one enjoyed life as you +propose to do, and took to rambling over the face of the earth, there +would be no work done, and nothing could be had for love or money-- +except what grew spontaneously; and that would be a joyful state of +things, wouldn't it?" + +Tom Collins, indulging the belief that he had taken up an unassailable +position, propelled from his lips a long thin cloud of smoke, and smiled +through it at his friend. + +"Your style of reasoning is rather wild, to say the least of it," +answered Ned, as he rubbed down his colours on the bottom of a broken +plate. "In the first place, you assume that I propose to spend _all_ my +life in rambling; and, in the second place, you found your argument on +the absurd supposition that everybody else must find their sole +enjoyment in the same occupation." + +"How I wish," sighed Tom Collins, smoking languidly, "that there was no +such thing as reasoning. You would be a much more agreeable fellow, +Ned, if you didn't argue." + +"It takes two to make an argument," remarked Ned. "Well, but couldn't +you _converse_ without arguing?" + +"Certainly, if you would never contradict what I say, nor make an +incorrect statement, nor draw a wrong conclusion, nor object to being +contradicted when I think you are in the wrong." + +Tom sighed deeply, and drew comfort from his cigar. In a few minutes he +resumed,--"Well, but what do you mean by enjoying life?" + +Ned Sinton pondered the question a few seconds, and then replied-- + +"I mean this:--the way to enjoy life is to do all the good you can, by +working just enough to support yourself and your family, if you have +one; to assist in spreading the gospel, and to enable you to help a +friend in need; and to alleviate the condition of the poor, the sick, +and the destitute. To work for more than this is to be greedy; to work +for less is to be reprehensibly lazy. This amount of work being done, +men ought to mingle with their fellow-creatures, and wander abroad as +much as may be among the beautiful works of their Creator." + +"A very pretty theory, doubtless," replied Tom; "but, pray, in what +manner will your proposed ramble advance the interests of religion, or +enable you to do the extra ordinary amount of good you speak of?" + +"There you go again, Tom; you ask me the abstract question, `What do you +mean by enjoying life?' and when I reply, you object to the answer as +not being applicable to the present case. Of course, it is not. I did +not intend it to be. The good I mean to do in my present ramble is +chiefly, if not solely, to my own body and mind--" + +"Stop, my dear fellow," interrupted Tom, "don't become energetic! I +accept your answer to the general question; but how many people, think +you, can afford to put your theory in practice?" + +"Very, very few," replied Ned, earnestly; "but that does not affect the +truth of my theory. Men _will_ toil night and day to accumulate gold, +until their bodies and souls are incapable of enjoying the good things +which gold can purchase, and they are infatuated enough to plume +themselves on this account, as being diligent men of business; while +others, alas! are compelled thus to toil in order to procure the bare +necessaries of life; but these melancholy facts do not prove the +principle of `grind-and-toil' to be a right one; much less do they +constitute a reason for my refusing to enjoy life in the right way when +I have the power." + +Tom made no reply, but the vigorous puffs from his cigar seemed to +indicate that he pondered these things deeply. A few minutes +afterwards, Ned's expected sitter entered. He was a tall burly +Irishman, with a red-flannel shirt, open at the neck, a pair of huge +long boots, and a wide-awake. + +"The top o' the mornin' to yees," said the man, pulling off his hat as +he entered. + +"Good-morning, friend," said Ned, as Tom Collins rose, shouldered his +pick and shovel, and left the hut. "You are punctual, and deserve +credit for so good a quality. Pray, sit down." + +"Faix, then, I don't know what a `quality' is, but av it's a good thing +I've no objection," replied the man, taking a seat on the edge of the +bed which Tom had just vacated. "I wos wantin' to ax ye, sir, av ye +could put in me pick and shovel in the lan'scape." + +"In the landscape, Pat!" exclaimed Ned, addressing his visitor by the +generic name of the species; "I thought you wanted a portrait." + +"Troth, then, I don't know which it is ye call it; but I wants a pictur' +o' meself all over, from the top o' me hat to the sole o' me boots. +Isn't that a lan'scape?" + +"No, it's a portrait." + +"Then it's a porthraite I wants; an' if ye'll put in the pick and +shovel, I'll give ye two dollars a pace for them." + +"I'll put them in, Pat, for nothing," replied Ned, smiling, as he +commenced his sketch. "I suppose you intend to send this to some fair +one in old Ireland?" + +Pat did not reply at once. "Sure," said he, slowly, "I niver thought of +her in that way before, but maybe she was fair wance, though she's been +a'most as black as bog-oak for half-a-cintury. It's for me grandmother +I want it." + +"Your grandmother! that's curious, now; the last man I painted meant to +send the likeness to his mother." + +"Not so cur'ous neither," replied the man, with some feeling; "it's my +opinion, the further a man goes from the owld country, and the rougher +he becomes wi' scrapin' up and down through the world, the more tinder +his heart gits when he thinks o' his mother. Me own mother died whin I +wos a bit spalpeen, an' I lived wi' me grandmother, bliss her heart, +ever since,--at laste till I took to wanderin', which was tin years +past." + +"So long! Pat, you must have wandered far in that time. Have you ever +been away far into the interior of this country, among the mountains, in +the course of your wanderings!" + +"Among the mountains, is it? Indeed I have, just; an' a most +tree-mendous beautiful sight it is. Wos ye goin' there?" + +"I've been thinking about it. Is the shooting good?" + +"Shootin', ah! av ye'd bin wi' me an' Bill Simmons, two summers ago, +ye'd have had more nor enough o' shootin'. The grizzlies are thick as +paes, and the buffaloes swarm in the valleys like muskaitoes, not to +mintion wolves, and beavers, and badgers, and deer, an' sich like--forby +the red Injuns; we shot six o' them critters about the legs an' arms in +self defence, an' they shot us too--they put an arrow dane through the +pint o' Bill's nose, an' wan ripped up me left arm, it did." (Pat bared +the brawny limb, and exhibited the wound as he spoke.) "Shootin', is it? +faix there's the hoith o' shootin' there, an' no end o' sainery." + +The conversation was interrupted at this point by the door being burst +violently open, and several men rushing into the hut. They grasped the +Irishman by the arms, and attempted to drag him out, but Pat seized hold +of the plank, on the edge of which he sat, and refused to move at first. + +"Come along, boy," cried one, boisterously; "we're goin' to lynch a +doctor, an' we want you to swear to him." + +"Ay, an' to swear _at_ him too, if ye like; he's a rig'lar cheat; bin +killin' us off by the dozen, as cool as ye like, and pretendin' to be an +M.D. all the time." + +"There's more than wan," cried another man, seizing Pat again by the +arm; "won't ye come, man?" + +"Och! av coorse I will; av it's to do any good to the public, I'm yer +man. Hooray! for the people, an' down wi' the aristock-racy." + +This sentiment was received with a shout of delight, and several +exclamations of "Bah!" as the party hurried in a body from the studio. +Ned, having thus nothing to do, rose, and followed them towards the +centre of the settlement, where a large crowd was collecting to try the +unhappy doctors above referred to. + +There were six of them, all disreputable-looking rascals, who had set up +for doctors, and had carried on a thriving business among the sick +miners,--of whom there were many at that time,--until a genuine doctor +arrived at the place, and discovered and exposed them. The miners were +fortunately not bloodthirsty at this time, so the six self-dubbed M.D.s, +instead of being hanged, were banished for ever from the settlement. +Half-an-hour later the miners were busy in their respective claims, and +Ned Sinton was again seated before his "lan'scape" of the Irishman. + +Just as he was completing the sketch, the door opened slowly, and a very +remarkable man swaggered into the room, and spat on the centre of the +floor. He was dressed in the extreme of the fashion then prevalent in +the Eastern States. A superfine black coat, silk vest, superfine black +trousers, patent-leather boots, kid gloves, and a black silk hat! A +more unnatural apparition at the diggings could not well be imagined. +Ned Sinton could hardly credit his eyes, but no rubbing of them would +dispel the vision. There he stood, a regular Broadway swell, whose love +of change had induced him to seek his fortune in the gold-regions of +California, and whose vanity had induced him to retain his drawing-room +costume. + +This man, besides being possessed of a superabundance of supercilious +impudence, also possessed a set of digging tools, the handles of which +were made of polished oak and walnut, with bright brass ferrules. With +these he proposed to dig his fortune in a leisurely way; meanwhile, +finding the weather rather hot, he had made up his mind to have his +portrait done. + +Thrusting his hands into his pockets, this gentleman shut the door with +his heel, turned his back to the fire-place--from the mere force of +habit, for there was no fire--and again spat upon the floor, after which +he said: + +"I say, stranger, what's your charge for a likeness?" + +"You will excuse me, sir," answered Ned, "if, before replying to that +question, I beg of you not to spit on my floor." + +The Yankee uttered an exclamation of surprise, and asked, "Why not, +stranger?" + +"Because I don't like it." + +"You wouldn't have me spit in my hat, would you?" inquired the dandy. + +"Certainly not." + +"Where then?" + +Ned pointed to a large wooden box which stood close to the fire-place, +and said, "There--I have provided a box for the accommodation of those +sitters who indulge in that disagreeable practice. If you can't avoid +spitting, do it there." + +"Wall, now, you Britishers are strange critters. But you haven't told +me your price for a portrait." + +"I fear that I cannot paint you at any price," replied Ned, without +looking up from his paper, while Pat listened to the conversation with a +comical leer on his broad countenance. + +"Why not, stranger?" asked the dandy, in surprise. + +"Because I'm giving up business, and don't wish to take any more +orders." + +"Then I'll set here, I guess, an' look at ye while ye knock off that +one," said the man, sitting down close to Ned's elbow, and again +spitting on the floor. Whether he did so intentionally or not we cannot +tell, probably not, but the effect upon Ned was so strong that he rose +deliberately, opened the door, and pointed to the passage thus set free, +without uttering a word. His look, however, was quite sufficient. The +dandy rose abruptly, and walked out in silence, leaving Ned to shut the +door quietly behind him and return to his work, while the Irishman +rolled in convulsions of laughter on Tom Collins's bed. + +Ned's sitters, as we have hinted, were numerous and extremely various. +Sometimes he was visited by sentimental and home-sick miners, and +occasionally by dandy miners, such as we have described, but his chief +customers were the rough, hearty men from "old England," "owld Ireland," +and from the Western States; with all of whom he had many a pleasant and +profitable hour's conversation, and from many of whom, especially the +latter, he obtained valuable and interesting information in reference to +the wild regions of the interior which he longed so much to see. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +THE WILDERNESS AGAIN--A SPLENDID VALLEY--GIGANTIC TREES AND WATERFALLS-- +TOM MEETS WITH AN ACCIDENT--BOTH MEET WITH MANY SURPRISES--MYSTERIES, +CAVERNS, DOLEFUL SOUNDS, AND GRIZZLY-BEAR-CATCHERS. + +Mounted on gallant steeds, Ned and his friend again appear in the +wilderness in the afternoon of a beautiful autumn day. They had ridden +far that day. Dust covered their garments, and foam bespattered the +chests of their horses, but the spirits of men and beasts were not yet +subdued, for their muscles, by long practice, were inured to hardship. +Many days had passed since they left the scene of their recent +successful labours, and many a weary league had been traversed over the +unknown regions of the interior. They were lost, in one sense of that +term--charmingly, romantically lost--that is to say, neither Ned nor Tom +had the most distant idea of where they were, or what they were coming +to, but both of them carried pocket-compasses, and they knew that by +appealing to these, and to the daily jotting of the route they had +travelled, they could ascertain pretty closely the direction that was +necessary to be pursued in order to strike the great San Joaquin river. + +Very different was the scenery through which they now rode from that of +the northern diggings. The most stupendous and magnificent mountains in +the world surrounded, on all sides, the valley through which they +passed, giving to it an air of peaceful seclusion; yet it was not +gloomy, for the level land was broad and fertile, and so varied in +aspect that it seemed as though a beautiful world were enclosed by those +mighty hills. + +Large tracts of the valley were covered with wild oats and rich grass, +affording excellent pasturage for the deer that roamed about in large +herds. Lakes of various sizes sustained thousands of wild-fowl on their +calm breasts, and a noble river coursed down its entire length. Oaks, +chestnuts, and cypresses grew in groups all over the landscape, and up +on the hill-sides firs of gigantic size reared their straight stems high +above the surrounding trees. + +But the point in the scenery which struck the travellers as being most +peculiar was the precipitous character of the sides of many of the vast +mountains and the flatness of their summits. Tom Collins, who was a +good judge of heights, having travelled in several mountainous regions +of the world, estimated the nearest precipices to be upwards of three +thousand feet, without a break from top to bottom, but the ranges in the +background towered far above these, and must have been at least double. + +"I never saw anything like this before, Tom," said Ned, in a suppressed +voice. + +"I did not believe such sublime scenery existed," replied his companion. +"I have travelled in Switzerland and Norway, but this surpasses both. +Truly it was worth while to give up our gold-digging in order to see +this." + +"Yet there are many," rejoined Ned, "who travel just far enough into +California to reach the diggings, where they remain till their fortunes +are made, or till their hopes are disappointed, and then return to +England and write a book, perchance, in which they speak as +authoritatively as if they had swept the whole region, north and south, +east and west. Little wonder that we find such travellers contradicting +each other flatly. One speaks of `California' as being the most +splendid agricultural country in the world, and advises every one to +emigrate at once; while another condemns it as an arid, unproductive +region, fit only for the support of Indians and grizzly-bears;--the fact +being, that both speak, (correctly enough, it may be), of the very small +portion of California they have respectively visited. Why, the more I +travel in this wonderful land the more I feel how very little I know +about it; and had I returned to England without having seen this valley, +I should have missed one of the most remarkable sights, not only in the +country, but, I verily believe, in the world. If you ever return home, +Tom, and are persuaded, `at the earnest request of numerous friends,' to +write a book, _don't_ dogmatise as to _facts_; remember how limited your +experience has been, and don't forget that _facts_ in one valley are not +facts at all in another valley eight or ten miles off." + +"Perhaps," suggested Tom Collins, patting the arched neck of his +steed--"perhaps the advice with which you have just favoured me might, +with greater propriety, have proceeded from me to you; for, considering +the copious variety of your sentiments on this and other subjects, and +the fluency with which you utter them, it is likely that you will rush +into print long before I timidly venture, with characteristic modesty, +even to grasp the pen!" + +As Tom ceased speaking they came upon a forest of pine, or fir trees, in +the midst of which towered a tree of such gigantic height, that its +appearance caused them simultaneously to draw up, and gaze at it in +silent wonder. + +"Can it be possible," said Ned, "that our eyes don't deceive us! Surely +some peculiarity in the atmosphere gives that tree false proportions?" + +Without answering, Tom galloped towards the tree in question, closely +followed by his friend. + +Instead of any delusive haze being cleared away, however, the tree grew +larger as they approached, and when they halted about twenty yards from +it, they felt that they were indeed in the presence of the monarch of +the forest. The tree, which they measured, after viewing it in +wondering admiration from all points of view, was ninety-three feet in +circumference, and it could not have been less than three hundred and +sixty feet high. They little knew that, many years afterwards, the bark +of this giant tree, to the height of a hundred and sixteen feet, was to +be removed to England, built up in its original form, and exhibited in +the great Crystal Palace of Sydenham; yet so it was, and part of the +"mother of the forest" may be seen there at this day. + +Towards evening the travellers drew near to the head of the valley. + +"We must be approaching a waterfall of no ordinary size," remarked Tom, +as they rode through the dark shades of the forest, which were pretty +extensive there. + +"I have heard its roar for some time," answered Ned, "but until we clear +this belt of trees we shan't see it." + +Just then the roar of the fall burst upon them with such deafening +violence, that they involuntarily started. It seemed as if a mighty +torrent had burst its bounds and was about to sweep them away, along +with the forest through which they rode. Pressing forward in eager +haste, they soon found that their having doubled round a huge mountain +barrier, which the trees had hitherto concealed from them, was the cause +of the sudden increase in the roar of the fall, but they were still +unable to see it, owing to the dense foliage that overshadowed them. As +they galloped on, the thunder of falling waters became more deep and +intense, until they reached an elevated spot, comparatively free from +trees, which overlooked the valley, and revealed a sight such as is not +equalled even by Niagara itself. + +A succession of wall-like mountains rose in two tiers before them +literally into the clouds, for several of the lower clouds floated far +below the highest peaks, and from the summit of the highest range a +river, equal to the Thames at Richmond, dropt sheer down a fall of above +two thousand feet. Here it met the summit of the lower mountain-range, +on which it burst with a deep-toned, sullen, never-ceasing roar, +comparable only to eternal thunder. A white cloud of spray received the +falling river in its soft embrace, and sent it forth again--turbulent +and foam bespeckled--towards its second leap, another thousand feet, +into the plain below. The entire height of the fall was above three +thousand feet. Its sublimity no language can convey. Its irresistible +effect on the minds of the wanderers was to turn their thoughts to the +almighty Creator of so awe-inspiring and wonderful a scene. + +Here they discovered another tree, which was so large that their +thoughts were diverted even from the extraordinary cataract for a short +time. Unlike the previous one, this monarch of the woods lay prostrate +on the ground, but its diameter near the root was so great that they +could not see over it though seated on horseback. It measured a hundred +and twenty feet in circumference, and, when standing, must have been +little, if at all, short of five hundred feet in height. + +Surrounded as they were by such noble and stupendous works of God, the +travellers could not find words to express their feelings. Deep emotion +has no articulate language. The heaving breast and the glowing eye +alone indicate the fervour of the thoughts within. For a long time they +sat gazing round them in silent wonder and admiration, then they +dismounted to measure the great tree, and after that Ned sat down to +sketch the fall, while his companion rode forward to select a spot for +camping on. + +Tom had not proceeded far when he came upon the track of wheels in the +grass, a sight which surprised him much, for into that remote region he +had supposed few travellers ventured, even on horseback. The depth and +breadth of the tracks, too, surprised him not a little. They were much +deeper and broader than those caused by any species of cart he had yet +seen or heard of in the country, and the width apart was so great, that +he began to suspect he must have mistaken a curious freak of nature for +the tracks of a gigantic vehicle. Following the track for some +distance, he came to a muddy spot, where the footprints of men and +horses became distinctly visible. A little further on he passed the +mouth of what appeared to be a cavern, and, being of an inquisitive +disposition, he dismounted and tied his horse to a tree, intending to +examine the entrance. + +To enter a dark cave, in a wild, unknown region, with the din of a +thundering cataract filling the ears, just after having discovered +tracks of a mysterious nature in the neighbourhood, was so trying to +Tom's nervous system, that he half resolved to give it up; but the +exploration of a cavern has a fascination to some dispositions which +every one cannot understand. Tom said "Pshaw!" to himself in an +undertone, and boldly stepping into the dark portals of the cave, he +disappeared. + +Meanwhile, Edward Sinton finished his sketch, and, supposing that Tom +was waiting for him in advance, he mounted and galloped forward as fast +as the nature of the ground would allow. + +Soon he came to the tracks before mentioned, and shortly after to the +muddy spot with the footprints. Here he drew rein, and dismounted to +examine the marks more closely. Our hero was as much perplexed as his +friend had been at the unusually broad tracks of the vehicle which had +passed that way. Leading his horse by the bridle, he advanced slowly +until he came to the spot where Tom's horse stood fastened to a tree,--a +sight which alarmed him greatly, for the place was not such as any one +would have selected for an encampment, yet had any foul play befallen +his friend, he knew well that the horse would not have been left quietly +there. + +Sorely puzzled, and filled with anxious fears, he examined the spot +carefully, and at last came upon the entrance to the cavern, before +which he paused, uncertain what to do. The shadows of evening were fast +falling on the scene, and he experienced a feeling of dread as he gazed +into the profound gloom. He was convinced that Tom must be there; but +the silence, and the length of time he had been absent, led him to fear +that some accident had befallen his friend. + +"Ho! Tom!" he shouted, on entering, "are you there?" There was a +rolling echo within, but no voice replied to the question. + +Again Ned shouted at the full pitch of his lungs, and this time he +thought he heard a faint reply. Hurrying forward eagerly, as quickly as +he dared, he repeated his shout, but the declivity of the entrance +became so great that he lost his footing and well-nigh fell headlong +down a steep incline. He succeeded, however, in regaining his hold, and +clambered back to the entrance as quickly as possible. + +Here he caught up a pine-knot, struck a light and kindled it, and, with +this torch held high above his head, advanced once more into the cavern. + +The voice of Tom Collins at this moment came loud and full from the +interior,--"Take care, Ned, there's a sharp descent; I've tumbled down +it, but I don't think I'm much hurt." + +"Cheer up, my boy," cried Ned, heartily; "I'll get you out in a minute." + +The next moment he stood beside his friend, who had risen from the +rugged floor of the cave, and sat on a piece of rock, resting his head +on his hand. + +"Are you badly hurt, my poor fellow?" said Ned, anxiously, going down on +one knee and endeavouring to raise his friend's head. "I fear you are. +Here, try a drop of this brandy. That's it. Why, you look better +already. Come, now, let me examine you." + +The spirit revived Tom at once, and he replied cheerfully, as he +submitted to inspection,--"All right, I was only stunned a little by the +fall. Catch me exploring again without a light!" + +On examination, Ned found, to his great relief; that his friend's hurts +were slight. He had been stunned by the severity of his fall, but no +bones were broken, and only a few scratches received, so that, after +another sip of brandy, he felt almost as well as ever. But he firmly +resisted his companion's entreaty to leave the cavern. + +"No, my boy," said he, "after paying such a price as entrance fee, I'm +not going to quit until I have explored the whole of this cave, so +please go out for another pine-knot or two, and I'll wait for you." + +Seeing that he was determined, Ned obeyed, and soon returned with +several fresh torches, two of which were ignited, and a bright light +sent far and wide into the roof of the cave, which was at a great height +above them. + +The walls were of curious, and in some places grotesque, forms. Immense +stalactites hung from the roof, and these were of varied colours,--pale +green, pink, and white,--while some of them looked like cascades, which +sprang from the walls, and had been petrified ere they quite reached the +ground. The roof was supported by natural pillars, and various arched +openings led into similar chambers, some of which were larger and more +curious than the outer one. + +"Do you know," said Ned Sinton, as they sat down on a rock in one of the +inner chambers to rest, "this place recalls vividly to my remembrance a +strange dream which I had just before leaving England." + +"Indeed!" said Tom; "I hope you're not a believer in dreams. Don't, I +beseech you, take it into your head that it's going to be realised at +this particular moment, whatever it was." + +"It would take a very strong amount of belief indeed to induce me to +expect the realisation of _that_ dream. Shall I tell it you?" + +"Is it a very ghostly one?" inquired Tom. + +"No; not at all." + +"Then out with it." + +Ned immediately began the narration of the remarkable dream with which +this story opens, and as he went on to tell of how the stout old +gentleman snuffed gold-dust, and ultimately shot up to the roof of the +cave, and became a golden stalactite, Tom Collins, whose risible +tendencies were easily roused, roared with laughter, until the vaulted +caverns echoed again. At the end of one of these explosions, the two +friends were struck dumb by certain doleful and mysterious sounds which +proceeded from the further end of the inmost chamber. In starting to +his feet, Tom Collins let fall his torch, and in the convulsive clutch +which he made to catch it, he struck the other torch out of Ned's hand, +so that instantly both were left in the profoundest darkness, with their +hearts beating like sledge-hammers against their ribs. + +To flee was their first and natural impulse; but to flee in the dark, +over rough ground, and with very imperfect ideas as to the position of +the cave's outlet, was dangerous. + +"What _is_ to be done?" ejaculated Tom Collins in a tone that indicated +the perturbation of his heart too clearly. + +At that moment Ned remembered that he had a box of matches in the pocket +of his hunting-coat; so, without answering, he drew it forth, struck a +light, and re-ignited the torches. + +"Now, Tom," he said, "don't let us give way to unmanly fears. I have no +belief whatever in ghosts or spirits, good or evil, being permitted to +come in visible or audible form to frighten poor mortals. Every effect +has a cause, and I'm determined to find out the cause of these strange +sounds. They certainly proceed from animal lungs, whether from man or +beast remains to be seen." + +"Go ahead, then, I'll follow," said Tom, whose courage had returned with +the light, "I'm game for anything that I can see; but I confess to you +that I can _not_ stand howls, and groans and darkness." + +Notwithstanding their utmost efforts they failed to discover the cause +of the mysterious sounds, which seemed at times to be voices muttering, +while at other times they swelled out into a loud cry. All that could +be certainly ascertained was, that they proceeded from the roof of the +innermost cavern, and that the centre of that roof was too high to be +discerned by torch-light. + +"What shall we do now?" inquired Tom. + +"We shall go to the summit of the hill above this cave, and see what is +to be seen there. Always look at both sides of a mystery if you would +fathom it; come along." + +In a few minutes they stood in open air, and once more breathed freely. +Mounting their horses, they ascended the steep slope of the hill above +the cave, and, after some trouble, reached the summit. Here the first +thing that met their gaze was a camp-fire, and near to it several men +engaged in harnessing their horses to a large waggon or van. The +frantic haste with which they performed the operation convinced Ned that +he had discovered the cause of the mysterious voices, and that he and +Tom had been the innocent cause of frightening the strangers nearly out +of their wits. So engrossed were they with their work, that our +travellers advanced within the circle of light of their fire before they +were discovered. The man who first saw them uttered a yell, and the +whole party turned round, seized their rifles, and, with terror depicted +on their countenances, faced the intruders. + +"Who comes here?" shouted one. + +"Friends," answered Ned, laying down his rifle and advancing. + +Instantly the men threw down their arms and resumed the work of +harnessing their horses. + +"If ye be friends," cried the one who spoke first, "give us a hand. I +guess all the fiends in the bottomless pit are lo-cated jist below our +feet." + +"Listen to me for one moment, gentlemen," cried Ned Sinton. "I think I +can relieve your minds. What have you heard or seen?" + +At these words the men stopped, and looked inquiringly at their +questioner. + +"Seen! stranger, we've seed nothin', but we've _hear'd_ a sight, we +have, I calc'late. We hear'd the imps o' darkness talkin' as plain as I +hear you. At first I thought it was somebody at the foot o' the hill, +but all of a suddent the imps took to larfin' as if they'd split, jist +under my feet, so I yelled out to my mate here to come an' yoke the +beasts and git away as slick as we could. We wos jist about ready to +slope when you appeared." + +Ned now explained to them the cause of their alarms, and on search being +made, a hole was found, as he had anticipated, close at hand among the +bushes, which communicated with the cavern below, and formed a channel +for the conveyance of the so-called mysterious sounds. + +"And now," said Ned, "may I ask permission to pass the night with you?" + +"You're welcome, stranger," replied he who seemed to be the chief of the +band--a tall, bearded American, named Croft, who seemed more like a +bandit than an honest man. His comrades, too, six in number, appeared a +wild and reckless set of fellows, with whom one would naturally desire +to hold as little intercourse as possible; but most men at the +Californian diggings had more or less the aspect of brigands, so Ned +Sinton and his companion felt little concern as to their characters, +although they did feel a little curious as to what had brought them to +such a wild region. + +"If it is not taking too great a liberty," said Ned, after answering the +thousand questions put to him in rapid succession by his Yankee host, +"may I ask what has brought you to this out-of-the-way valley?" + +"Bear-catchin'," answered the man, shortly, as he addressed himself to a +large venison steak, which a comrade had just cooked for him. + +"Bear-catching?" ejaculated Ned. + +"Ay, an' screamin' hard work it is too, I guess; but it pays well." + +"What do you do with them when caught?" inquired Tom Collins, in a +somewhat sceptical tone. + +"Take 'em down to the cities, an' sells 'em to fight with wild bulls." + +At this answer our travellers stared at the man incredulously. + +"You're strangers here, I see," he resumed, "else you'd know that we +have bull and bear fights. The grizzlies are chained by one leg and the +bulls let loose at 'em. The bulls charge like all possessed, but they +find it hard to do much damage to Caleb, whose hide is like a +double-extra rhinoceros. The grizzlies ginerally git the best of it; +an' if they was let loose, they'd chaw up the bulls in no time, they +would. There's a great demand for 'em jist now, an' my trade is +catchin' 'em alive here in the mountains." + +The big Yankee stretched out his long limbs and smoked his pipe with the +complacent aspect of a man who felt proud of his profession. + +"Do you mean that you seven men catch fall-grown grizzly-bears alive and +take them down to the settlements?" inquired Ned in amazement. + +"Sartinly I do," replied the bear-catcher; "an' why not, stranger?" + +"Because I should have thought it impossible." + +"Nothin''s impossible," replied the man, quietly. + +"But how do you manage it?" + +Instead of replying, the Yankee inquired if "the strangers" would stay +over next forenoon with them. + +"With much pleasure," answered Ned, not a little amused at the +invitation, as well as the man's _brusque_ manner. + +"Well, then," continued the bear-catcher, shaking the ashes out of his +pipe, and putting it into his hat, "I'll let ye see how we do it in the +mornin'. Good-night." + +So saying, he drew his blanket over his head and resigned himself to +sleep, an example which was speedily followed by the whole party. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +GRIZZLY-BEAR-CATCHING IN THE MOUNTAINS--NED AND TOM DINE IN THE MIDST OF +ROMANTIC SCENERY, AND HOLD SAGACIOUS CONVERSE--THE STRANGE DEVICES OF +WOODPECKERS. + +Just as day began to peep on the following morning, the camp was roused +by one of the bear-catchers, a Mexican, who had been away to visit the +bear-trap during the night, and now came rushing in among the sleepers, +shouting-- + +"Hoor-roo! boy, him cotch, him cotch! big as twinty mans! fact!" + +At first Ned thought the camp was attacked by savages, and he and Tom +sprang to their feet and grasped their rifles, while they sought to rub +their eyes open hastily. A glance at the other members of the camp, +however, shewed that they were unnecessarily alarmed. Croft leisurely +stretched his limbs, and then gathered himself slowly into a sitting +posture, while the others arose with various degrees of reluctance. + +"Bin long in?" inquired Croft. + +"No, jist cotched," answered the Mexican, who sat down, lit his pipe, +and smoked violently, to relieve his impatient feelings. + +"Big 'un?" inquired Croft, again. + +To this the Mexican answered by rolling his eyes and exclaiming "Hoh!" +with a degree of vigour that left his hearers to imagine anything they +pleased, and then settle it in their minds that the thing so imagined +was out of all sight short of the mark. + +The excitement of the man at last fully roused the sleepy crew, and +Croft sprang up with the agility of a cat. + +"Ho! boys," he cried, proceeding to buckle his garments round him, "up +with you. Ketch the hosses, an' put to. Look alive, will you? grease +your jints, _do_. Now, strangers, I'll shew you how we ketch a bar in +this lo-cation; bring yer rules, for sometimes he breaks his trap, an' +isn't there a spree jist!" + +We need scarcely remark, that the latter part of this speech was made to +Sinton and his comrade, who were drawing the charges of their revolvers +and reloading. + +"Is the trap far off?" inquired Ned. + +"Quarter of an hour, or so. Look sharp, lads." + +This exhortation was unnecessary, for the men had already caught three +stout horses, all of which were attached to an enormous waggon or van, +whose broad wheels accounted for the tracks discovered in the valley on +the previous evening. + +"That's his cage," said the bear-catcher, replying to Ned's look of +inquiry. "It's all lined with sheet-iron, and would hold an ontamed +streak o' lightnin', it would. Now, then, drive ahead." + +The lumbering machine jolted slowly down the hill as he spoke, and while +several of the party remained with the horses, Croft and our travellers, +with the remainder, pushed on ahead. In less than twenty minutes, they +came to a ravine filled with thick underwood, from the recesses of which +came forth sounds of fierce ursine wrath that would have deterred most +men from entering; but Croft knew his game was secure, and led the way +confidently through the bushes, until he reached a spot on which stood +what appeared to be a small log-cabin without door or window. Inside of +this cabin an enormous grizzly-bear raged about furiously, thrusting his +snout and claws through the interstices of the logs, and causing +splinters to fly all round him, while he growled in tones of the deepest +indignation. + +"Oh! ain't he a bit o' thunder?" cried Croft, as he walked round the +trap, gazing in with glittering eyes at every opening between the logs. + +"How in the world did you get him in there?" asked Ned Sinton, as soon +as his astonishment had abated sufficiently to loosen his tongue. + +"Easy enough," replied Croft. "If ye obsarve the top o' the trap, ye'll +see the rope that suspended it from the limb o' that oak. Inside there +was a bit o' beef, so fixed up, that when Mister Caleb laid hold of it, +he pulled a sort o' trigger, an' down came the trap, shuttin' him in +slick, as ye see." + +At this moment the powerful animal struggled so violently that he tilted +his prison on one side, and well-nigh overturned it. + +"Look out, lads," shouted Croft, darting towards a tree, and cocking his +rifle,--actions in which he was imitated by all the rest of the party, +with surprising agility. + +"Don't fire till it turns over," he cried, sternly, on observing that +two of the more timid members of his band were about to fire at the +animal's legs, which appeared below the edge of the trap. Fortunately, +the bear ceased its efforts just at that critical moment, and the trap +fell heavily back to its original position. + +"By good luck!" shouted Croft; "an' here comes the cage. Range up on +the left, boys, and out with the hosses, they won't stand this." + +The terrified animals were removed from the scene, trembling violently +from head to foot, and the whole band, applying their shoulders to the +wheels, slowly pushed the vehicle alongside of the trap until the sides +of the two met. + +There was a strong door in the side of the trap, which was now removed +by being pulled inwards, revealing to bruin an aperture which +corresponded to another door opening into the iron-lined cage. There +were stout iron bars ready to be shot home the instant he condescended +to pass through this entrance; but Caleb, as Croft called him, shewed +himself sadly destitute of an inquiring disposition. He knew that there +was now a hole in his prison-wall, for he looked at it; he knew that a +hole either conducted into a place or out of it, for life-long +experience had taught him that; yet he refused to avail himself of the +opportunity, and continued to rage round the trap, glaring between the +logs at his foes outside. It is unreasonable to suppose that he was +afraid to go into the hole because it was a _dark_ one, for he was well +accustomed to such dark dens; besides, no one who looked at him could +for a moment suppose that he was, or could be, afraid of anything at +all. We must, therefore, put his conduct down to sheer obstinacy. + +The men poked him with sticks; shouted at him; roared in his face; threw +water over him; and even tried the effect of a shot of powder at his +flank; but all to no purpose, although their efforts were continued +vigorously for full two hours. The bear would _not_ enter that hole on +any account whatever. + +"Try another shot of powder at him," cried Croft, whose patience was now +almost exhausted. + +The shot was fired at his flank, and was received with a ferocious +growl, while the strong wood-work of the trap trembled under his efforts +to escape. + +"Ain't it vexin'?" said Croft, sitting down on the stump of a tree and +wiping the perspiration from his forehead. Ned Sinton and Tom, who had +done their utmost to assist their new acquaintance, sat down beside him +and admitted that it _was_ vexing. As if by one impulse, the whole +party then sat down to rest, and at that moment, having, as it were, +valiantly asserted his right of independent action, the bear turned +slowly round and quietly scrambled through the hole. The men sprang up; +the massive iron bars were shot into their sockets with a clang; and +bruin was a prisoner for life. + +As neither Edward Sinton nor Tom Collins had any particular desire to +become bear-catchers, they bade their new friends adieu that afternoon, +and continued their journey. The road, as they advanced, became more +and more steep and rugged, so that they could only proceed at a walk, +and in many places experienced considerable difficulty, and ran no +little risk, in passing along the faces of cliffs, where the precipices +ascended hundreds of feet upwards like walls, on the one hand, and +descended sheer down into an unfathomable abyss, on the other. But the +exceeding grandeur of the scenery amply repaid their toils, and the deep +roar of that mighty cataract ever sounded in their ears. At length they +reached the head of the valley, and stood under the spray of the fall, +which, expanding far above and around the seething caldron whence it +sprang, drenched the surrounding country with perpetual showers. + +Here a gap or pass in the mountains was discovered, ascending on the +left, and affording, apparently, an exit from the valley. Up this the +travellers toiled until they cleared the spray of the falls, and then +sat down beside a clump of trees to dry their garments in the sunshine +and to cook their mid-day meal. + +"What a glorious thing it is, Tom, to wander thus unrestrained amid such +scenes!" said Ned Sinton, as he busied himself roasting a piece of +venison, which his rifle had procured but half-an-hour before. "How +infinitely more delightful than travelling in the civilised world, where +one is cheated at every turn, and watched and guarded as if robbery, or +murder, or high treason were the only probable objects a traveller could +have in view." + +"`Comparisons,' my dear fellow--you know the proverb," replied Tom +Collins; "don't uphold California at the expense of the continent. +Besides, there are many in this world who would rather a thousand times +wander by the classic lake of Como, with its theatrical villas and its +enchanting sunshine and perfume, or paddle up the castellated Rhine, +than scramble here among wild rocks, and woods, and cataracts, with the +chance of meeting an occasional savage or a grizzly-bear." + +"Go on, my boy," said Ned, with a touch of sarcasm in his tone, "you +haven't read me half a lesson yet. Besides, the `many' you refer to, +are there not hundreds, ay, thousands, whose chief enjoyment in +travelling is derived from the historical associations called up by the +sight of the ruined castles and temples of classic ground--whose delight +it is to think that here Napoleon crossed the Alps, as Hannibal did +before him, (and many a nobody has done after him), that there, within +these mouldering ruins, the oracles of old gave forth their voice-- +forgetting, perhaps, too easily, while they indulge in these +reminiscences of the past, that the warrior's end was wholesale murder, +and that the oracle spoke only to deceive poor ignorant human nature. +Ha! I would not give one hearty dash into pure, uncontaminated nature +for all the famous `tours' put together." + +Ned looked round him as he spoke, with a glow of enthusiasm that neither +badinage nor philosophy could check. + +"Just look around thee," he continued; "open thine ears, Tom, to the +music of yon cataract, and expand thy nostrils to the wild perfume of +these pines." + +"I wouldn't, at this moment," quietly remarked Tom, "exchange for it the +perfume of that venison steak, of which I pray thee to be more +regardful, else thou'lt upset it into the fire." + +"Oh! Tom--incorrigible!" + +"Not at all, Ned. While you flatter yourself that you have all the +enthusiastic study of nature to yourself, here have I succeeded, within +the last few minutes, in solving a problem in natural history which has +puzzled my brains for weeks past." + +"And, pray thee, what may that be, most sapient philosopher?" + +"Do you see yonder bird clinging to the stem of that tree, and pitching +into it as if it were its most deadly foe?" + +"I do--a woodpecker it is." + +"Well," continued Tom, sitting down before his portion of the venison +steak, "that bird has cleared up two points in natural history, which +have, up till this time, been a mystery to me. The one was, why +woodpeckers should spend their time in pecking the trees so incessantly; +the other was, how it happened that several trees I have cut down could +have had so many little holes bored in their trunks, and an acorn neatly +inserted into each. Now that little bird has settled the question for +me. I caught him in the act not ten minutes ago. He flew to that tree +with an acorn in his beak, tried to insert it into a hole, which didn't +fit, being too small; so he tried another, which did fit, poked the nut +in, small end first, and tapped it scientifically home. Now, why did he +do it? That's the question." + +"Because he wanted to, probably," remarked Ned; "and very likely he lays +up a store of food for winter in this manner." + +"Very possibly. I shall make a note of this, for I'm determined to have +it sifted to the bottom. Meanwhile, I'll trouble you for another junk +of venison." + +It was many weeks afterwards ere Tom Collins succeeded in sifting this +interesting point to the bottom; but perhaps the reader may not object +to have the result of his inquiries noted at this point in our story. + +Many of the trees in California, on being stripped of their bark, are +found to be perforated all over with holes about the size of a +musket-ball. These are pierced by the woodpecker with such precision +and regularity that one might believe they had been cut out by a +ship-carpenter. The summer is spent by this busy little bird in making +these holes and in filling them with acorns. One acorn goes to one +hole, and the bird will not try to force the nut into a hole that is too +small for it, but flutters round the tree until it finds one which fits +it exactly. Thus one by one the holes are filled, and a store of food +is laid up for winter use in a larder which secures it from the +elements, and places it within reach of the depositor when the winter +snows have buried all the acorns that lie upon the ground, and put them +beyond the reach of woodpeckers. The birds never encroach on their +store until the snow has covered the ground, then they begin to draw +upon their bank; and it is a curious fact that the bills of these birds +are always honoured, for their instinct enables them to detect the bad +nuts with unerring certainty, so that their bank is always filled with +good ones. This matter of selecting the good nuts is a mere chance with +men, for often those shells which seem the soundest, are found to +contain a grub instead of a nut. Even the sagacious Indian is an +uncertain judge in this respect, but the woodpecker, provided by an +all-wise Creator with an unerring instinct, never makes a mistake in +selecting its store of food for winter. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +CURIOUS TREES, AND STILL MORE CURIOUS PLAINS--AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY, +FOLLOWED BY A SAD ONE--FATE OF TRAVELLERS IN THE MOUNTAINS--A SUDDEN +ILLNESS--NED PROVES HIMSELF TO BE A FRIEND IN NEED AND IN DEED, AS WELL +AS AN EXCELLENT DOCTOR, HUNTER, COOK, AND NURSE--DEER-SHOOTING BY +FIRELIGHT. + +During the course of their wanderings among the mountains our hero and +his companion met with many strange adventures and saw many strange +sights, which, however, we cannot afford space to dwell upon here. +Their knowledge in natural history, too, was wonderfully increased, for +they were both observant men, and the school of nature is the best in +which any one can study. Audubon, the hunter-naturalist of America, +knew this well! and few men have added so much as he to the sum of human +knowledge in his peculiar department, while fewer still have so +wonderfully enriched the pages of romantic adventure in wild, unknown +regions. + +In these wanderings, too, Ned and Tom learned to know experimentally +that truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and that if the writers of +fairy-tales had travelled more they would have saved their imaginations +a deal of trouble, and produced more extraordinary works. + +The size of the trees they encountered was almost beyond belief, though +none of them surpassed the giant of which an account has been already +given. Among other curious trees they found _sugar-pines_ growing in +abundance in one part of the country. This is, perhaps, the most +graceful of all the pines. With a perfectly straight and cylindrical +stem and smooth bark, it rears its proud crest high above other trees, +and flings its giant limbs abroad, like a sentinel guarding the forest. +The stem rises to about four-fifths of its height perfectly free of +branches; above this point the branches spread out almost horizontally, +drooping a little at the ends from the weight of the huge cones which +they bear. These cones are about a foot-and-a-half long, and under each +leaf lies a seed the size of a pea, which has an agreeably sweet taste, +and is much esteemed by the Indians, who use it as an article of food. + +Another remarkable sight they saw was a plain, of some miles in extent, +completely covered with shattered pieces of quartz, which shone with +specks and veins of pure gold. Of course they had neither time nor +inclination to attempt the laborious task of pulverising this quartz in +order to obtain the precious metal; but Ned moralised a little as they +galloped over the plain, spurning the gold beneath their horses' hoofs, +as if it had been of no value whatever! They both puzzled themselves +also to account for so strange an appearance; but the only solution that +seemed to them at all admissible was, that a quartz vein had, at some +early period of the world's history, been shattered by a volcanic +eruption, and the plain thus strewn with gold. + +But from the contemplation of these and many other interesting sights +and phenomena we must pass to an event which seriously affected the +future plans of the travellers. + +One beautiful evening--such an evening as, from its deep quiet and +unusual softness, leaves a lasting impression on the memory--the two +horsemen found themselves slowly toiling up the steep acclivity of a +mountain-ridge. Their advance was toilsome, for the way was rugged, and +no track of any kind assisted them in their ascent. + +"I fear the poor horses will give in," said Ned, dismounting and looking +back at his companion, who slowly followed him. + +"We are near the summit," answered Tom, "and they shall have a long rest +there." + +As he spoke, they both dismounted and advanced on foot, leading their +fatigued horses by the bridles. + +"Do you know," said Tom, with a sigh, "I feel more used up to-day than I +have been since we started on this journey. I think we had better +encamp and have a cup of tea; there is a little left yet, if I mistake +not." + +"With all my heart, Tom; I, too, feel inclined to rest, and--" + +Ned paused, for at that moment they overtopped the highest edge of the +ridge, and the view that burst upon them was well fitted to put to +flight every previous train of thought. + +The ridge on which they stood rose several hundred feet above the level +of the plain beyond, and commanded a view of unknown extent towards the +far west. + +The richest possible sweep of country was spread out at their feet like +a huge map, bathed in a glow of yellow sunshine. Lakes and streams, +crags and rocks, sward, and swamp, and plain--undulating and abrupt, +barren and verdant--all were there, and could be embraced in a single +wide-sweeping glance. It seemed, to the entranced travellers, like the +very garden of Eden. Water-fowl flew about in all directions, the +whistling of their wings and their wild cries being mellowed by distance +into pleasant music; and, far away on the right, where a clear lake +mirrored each tree on its banks, as if the image were reality, a herd of +deer were seen cooling their sides and limbs in the water, while, on the +extreme horizon, a line of light indicated the shores of the vast +Pacific Ocean. + +Ere the travellers could find words to express their feelings, a rock, +with a piece of stick and a small rag attached to it, attracted their +attention. + +"We are not the first who have set their feet here, it seems," said Ned, +pointing to the signal. + +"Strange!" muttered Tom Collins, as they turned towards the rock; "that +does not look like an Indian mark; yet I would have thought that white +men had never stood here before, for the spot is far removed from any +known diggings, and, as we know fail well, is not easily reached." + +On gaining the rock, they found that the rag was a shred of linen, +without mark of any kind to tell who had placed it there. + +"It must have been the freak of some Indian hunter," said Ned, examining +the rock on which the little flag-staff was raised. "Stay--no--here are +some marks cut in the stone! Look here, Tom, can you decipher this? It +looks like the letter D--DB." + +"DB?" cried Tom Collins, with a degree of energy that surprised his +friend. "Let me see!" + +Tom carefully removed the moss, and cleared out the letters, which were +unmistakeable. + +"Who can DB have been?" said Ned. + +Tom looked up with a flushed countenance and a glittering eye, as he +exclaimed-- + +"Who? Who but Daniel Boone, Cooper's great hero--Hawk-eye, of the `Last +of the Mohicans'--Deer-slayer--Leather-stocking! _He_ has been here +before us--ay, brave spirit! Long before other hunters had dared to +venture far into the territory of the scalping, torturing, yelling +red-skin, this bold heart had pushed westward, fearless and alone, until +his eagle eye rested on the great Pacific. It _must_ have been he. I +have followed him, Ned, in spirit, throughout all his wild career, for I +knew him to be a _real_ man, and no fiction; but little did I think that +I should see a spot where his manly foot had rested, or live to discover +his _farthest step_ in the `far west!'" + +Ned Sinton listened with interest to the words of his friend, but he did +not interrupt him, for he respected the deep emotions that swelled his +heart and beamed from his flashing eye. + +"We spoke, Ned, sometime ago, of historical associations," continued +Tom,--"here are historical associations worth coming all this way to +call up. Here are associations that touch _my_ heart more than all the +deeds of ancient chivalry. Ah! Daniel Boone, little didst thou think +when thy hawk's eye rested here, that in a few short years the land +would be overrun by gold-diggers from all ends of the earth!" + +"But this flag," said Ned; "_he_ could never have placed that here. It +would have been swept away by storms years ago." + +"You are right," said Tom, turning over the stones that supported the +staff--"halloo! what have we here?" + +He pulled out a roll of oiled cloth as he spoke, and, on opening it, +discovered a scrap of paper, on which were written, in pencil, the +words, "_Help us!--for God's sake help us! We are perishing at the foot +of the hill to the southward of this_." + +No name or date was attached to this strange paper, but the purport of +it was sufficiently clear so, without wasting time in fruitless +conjecture, the young men immediately sprang on their horses, and rode +down the hill in the direction indicated. + +The route proved more rugged and steep than that by which they had +ascended, and, for a considerable distance, they wound their way between +the trunks of a closely-planted cypress grove; after passing which they +emerged upon a rocky plain of small extent, at the further extremity of +which a green oasis indicated the presence of a spring. + +Towards this they rode in silence. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Ned, in a tone of deep pity, as he reined up at the foot +of an oak-tree, "too late!" + +They were indeed too late to succour the poor creatures who had placed +the scrap of paper on the summit of that mountain-ridge, in the faint +hope that friendly hands might discover it in time. + +Six dead forms lay at the foot of the oak, side by side, with their pale +faces turned upwards, and the expression of extreme suffering still +lingering on their shrunken features. It needed no living witness to +tell their sad history. The skeletons of oxen, the broken cart, the +scattered mining tools, and the empty provision casks, shewed clearly +enough that they were emigrants who had left their homesteads in the +States, and tried to reach the gold-regions of California by the +terrible overland journey. They had lost their way among the dreary +fastnesses of the mountains, travelled far from the right road to the +mines, and perished at last of exhaustion and hunger on the very borders +of the golden land. The grey-haired father of the family lay beside a +young girl, with his arm clasped round her neck. Two younger men also +lay near them, one lying as if, in dying, he had sought to afford +support to the other. The bodies were still fresh, and a glance shewed +that nearly all of them were of one family. + +"Alas! Ned, had we arrived a few days sooner we might have saved them," +said Tom. + +"I think they must have been freed from their pains and sorrows here +more than a week since," replied the other, fastening his horse to a +tree, and proceeding to search the clothes of the unfortunates for +letters or anything that might afford a clue to their identity. "We +must stay here an hour or two, Tom, and bury them." + +No scrap of writing, however, was found--not even a book with a name on +it--to tell who the strangers were. With hundreds of others, no doubt, +they had left their homes, full of life and hope, to seek their fortunes +in the land of gold; but the Director of man's steps had ordered it +otherwise, and their golden dreams had ended with their lives in the +unknown wilderness. + +The two friends covered the bodies with sand and stones, and, leaving +them in their shallow grave, pursued their way; but they had not gone +far when a few large drops of rain fell, and the sky became overcast +with dark leaden clouds. + +"Ned," said Tom, anxiously, "I fear we shall be caught by the rainy +season. It's awkward being so far from the settlements at such a time." + +"Oh, nonsense! surely you don't mind a wetting?" cried Ned; "we can push +on in spite of rain." + +"Can we?" retorted Tom, with unwonted gravity. "It's clear that you've +never seen the rainy season, else you would not speak of it so lightly." + +"Why, man, you seem to have lost pluck all of a sudden; come, cheer up; +rain or no rain, I mean to have a good supper, and a good night's rest; +and here is just the spot that will suit us." + +Ned Sinton leaped off his horse as he spoke, and, fastening him to a +tree, loosened the saddle-girths, and set about preparing the +encampment. Tom Collins assisted him; but neither the rallying of his +comrade, nor his own efforts could enable the latter to shake off the +depression of spirits, with which he was overpowered. That night the +rain came down in torrents, and drenched the travellers to the skin, +despite their most ingenious contrivances to keep it out. They spent +the night in misery, and when morning broke Ned found that his companion +was smitten down with ague. + +Even Ned's buoyant spirits were swamped for a time at this unlooked-for +catastrophe; for the dangers of their position were not slight. It was +clear that Tom would not be able to travel for many days, for his whole +frame trembled, when the fits came on, with a violence that seemed to +threaten dislocation to all his joints. Ned felt that both their lives, +under God, depended on his keeping well, and being able to procure food +for, and nurse, his friend. At the same time, he knew that the rainy +season, if indeed it had not already begun, would soon set in, and +perhaps render the country impassable. There was no use, however, in +giving way to morbid fears, so Ned faced his difficulties manfully, and, +remembering the promise which he had given his old uncle at parting from +him in England, he began by offering up a short but earnest prayer at +the side of his friend's couch. + +"Ned," said Tom, sadly, as his companion ceased, "I fear that you'll +have to return alone." + +"Come, come, don't speak that way, Tom; it isn't right. God is able to +help us here as well as in cities. I don't think you are so ill as you +fancy--the sight of these poor emigrants has depressed you. Cheer up, +my boy, and I'll let you see that you were right when you said I could +turn my hand to anything. I'll be hunter, woodcutter, cook, and nurse +all at once, and see if I don't make you all right in a day or two. You +merely want rest, so keep quiet for a little till I make a sort of +sheltered place to put you in." + +The sun broke through the clouds as he spoke and shed a warm beam down +on poor Tom, who was more revived by the sight of the cheering orb of +day than by the words of his companion. + +In half-an-hour Tom was wrapped in the driest portion of the driest +blanket; his wet habiliments were hung up before a roaring fire to dry, +and a rude bower of willows, covered with turf, was erected over his +head to guard him from another attack of rain, should it come; but it +didn't come. The sun shone cheerily all day, and Ned's preparations +were completed before the next deluge came, so that when it descended on +the following morning, comparatively little found its way to Tom's +resting-place. + +It was scarcely a _resting-place_, however. Tom turned and groaned on +his uneasy couch, and proved to be an uncommonly restive patient. He +complained particularly when Ned left him for a few hours each day to +procure fresh provisions; but he smiled and confessed himself +unreasonable when Ned returned, as he always did, with a dozen wild +ducks, or several geese or hares attached to his belt, or a fat deer on +his shoulders. Game of all kinds was plentiful, the weather improved, +the young hunter's rifle was good, and his aim was true, so that, but +for the sickness of his friend, he would have considered the life he led +a remarkably pleasant one. + +As day after day passed by, however, and Tom Collins grew no better, but +rather worse, he began to be seriously alarmed about him. Tom himself +took the gloomiest view of his case, and at last said plainly he +believed he was dying. At first Ned sought to effect a cure by the +simple force of kind treatment and care; but finding that this would not +do, he bethought him of trying some experiments in the medicinal way. +He chanced to have a box of pills with him, and tried one, although with +much hesitation and fear, for he had got them from a miner who could not +tell what they were composed of, but who assured him they were a +sovereign remedy for the blues! Ned, it must be confessed, was rather a +reckless doctor. He was anxious, at the time he procured the pills, to +relieve a poor miner who seemed to be knocked up with hard work, but who +insisted that he had a complication of ailments; so Ned bought the pills +for twenty times their value, and gave a few to the man, advising him, +at the same time, to rest and feed well, which he did, and the result +was a complete cure. + +Our hero did not feel so certain, however, that they would succeed as +well in the present case; but he resolved to try their virtues, for Tom +was so prostrate that he could scarcely be induced to whisper a word. +When the cold fit seized him he trembled so violently that his teeth +rattled in his head; and when that passed off it was followed by a +burning fever, which was even worse to bear. + +At first he was restive, and inclined to be peevish under his illness, +the result, no doubt, of a naturally-robust constitution struggling +unsuccessfully against the attacks of disease, but when he was +completely overcome, his irascibility passed away, and he became +patient, sweet-tempered, and gentle as a child. + +"Come, Tom, my boy," said Ned, one evening, advancing to the side of his +companion's couch and sitting down beside him, while he held up the +pill--"Open your mouth, and shut your eyes, as we used to say at +school." + +"What is it?" asked the sick man, faintly. + +"Never you mind; patients have no business to know what their doctors +prescribe. It's intended to cure ague, and that's enough for you to +know. If it doesn't cure you it's not my fault, anyhow--open your +mouth, sir!" + +Tom smiled sadly and obeyed; the pill was dropt in, a spoonful of water +added to float it down, and it disappeared. + +But the pill had no effect whatever. Another was tried with like +result--or rather with like absence of all result, and at last the box +was finished without the sick man being a whit the better or the worse +for them. This was disheartening; but Ned, having begun to dabble in +medicines, felt an irresistible tendency to go on. Like the tiger who +has once tasted blood, he could not now restrain himself. + +"I think you're a little better to-night, Tom," he said on the third +evening after the administration of the first pill; "I'm making you a +decoction of bark here that will certainly do you good." + +Tom shook his head, but said nothing. He evidently felt that a negative +sign was an appropriate reply to the notion of his being better, or of +any decoction whatever doing him good. However, Ned stirred the panful +of bark and water vigorously, chatting all the while in a cheering tone, +in order to keep up his friend's spirits, while the blaze of the +camp-fire lit up his handsome face and bathed his broad chest and +shoulders with a ruddy glow that rendered still more pallid the lustre +of the pale stars overhead. + +"It's lucky the rain has kept off so long," he said, without looking up +from the mysterious decoction over which he bent with the earnest gaze +of an alchymist. "I do believe that has something to do with your being +better, my boy--either that or the pills, or both." + +Ned totally ignored the fact that his friend did not admit that he was +better. + +"And this stuff," he continued, "will set you up in a day or two. It's +as good as quinine, any day; and you've no notion what wonderful cures +that medicine effects. It took me a long time, too, to find the right +tree. I wandered over two or three leagues of country before I came +upon one. Luckily it was a fine sunny day, and I enjoyed it much. I +wish you had been with me, Tom; but you'll be all right soon. I lay +down, too, once or twice in the sunshine, and put my head in the long +grass, and tried to fancy myself in a miniature forest. Did you ever +try that, Tom!" + +Ned looked round as he spoke, but the sick man gave a languid smile, and +shut his eyes, so he resumed his stirring of the pot and his rambling +talk. + +"You've no idea, if you never tried it, how one can deceive one's-self +in that way. I often did it at home, when I was a little boy. I used +to go away with a companion into a grass-field, and, selecting a spot +where the grass was long and tangled, and mixed with various kinds of +weeds, we used to lie flat down with our faces as near to the ground as +possible, and gaze through the grass-stems until we fancied the blades +were trees, and the pebbles were large rocks, and the clods were +mountains. Sometimes a huge beetle would crawl past, and we instantly +thought of Saint George and the dragon, and, as the unwieldy monster +came stumbling on through the forest, we actually became quite excited, +and could scarcely believe that what we tried to imagine was not real. + +"We seldom spoke on these occasions, my companion and I," continued Ned, +suspending the stirring of the decoction and filling his pipe, as he sat +down close to the blazing logs; "speaking, we found, always broke the +spell, so we agreed to keep perfect silence for as long a time as +possible. You must try it, Tom, some day, for although it may seem to +you a childish thing to do, there are many childish things which, when +done in a philosophical spirit, are deeply interesting and profitable to +men." + +Ned ceased talking for a few minutes while he ignited his pipe; when he +spoke again his thoughts had wandered into a new channel. + +"I'm sorry we have no fresh meat to-day," he said, looking earnestly at +his friend. "The remainder of that hare is not very savoury, but we +must be content; I walked all the country round to-day, without getting +within range of any living thing. There were plenty both of deer and +birds, but they were so wild I could not get near them. It would matter +little if you were well, Tom, but you require good food just now, my +poor fellow. Do you feel better to-night?" + +Tom groaned, and said that he "felt easier," in a very uneasy voice, +after which they both relapsed into silence, and no sound was heard save +the crackling of the logs and the bubbling of the mysterious decoction +in the pot. Suddenly Tom uttered a slight hiss,--that peculiar sound so +familiar to backwoods ears, by which hunters indicate to each other that +something unusual has been observed, and that they had better be on the +alert. + +Ned Sinton's nerves were of that firm kind which can never be startled +or taken by surprise. He did not spring to his feet, but, quick as +thought, he stretched forth his long arm, and, seizing his rifle, cocked +it, while he glanced at his friend's eye to see in what direction he was +looking. Tom pointed eagerly with his thin hand straight across the +fire. Ned turned in that direction, and at once saw the objects which +had attracted his attention. Two bright gleaming balls shone in the +dark background of the forest, like two lustrous Irish diamonds in a +black field of bog-oak. He knew at once that they were the eyes of a +deer, which, with a curiosity well-known as peculiar to many wild +animals, had approached the fire to stare at it. + +Ned instantly threw forward his rifle; the light of the fire enabled him +easily to align the sights on the glittering eyes; the deadly contents +belched forth, and a heavy crash told that his aim had been true. + +"Bravo!" shouted Tom Collins, forgetting his ailments in the excitement +of the moment, while Ned threw down his rifle, drew his hunting-knife, +sprang over the fire, and disappeared in the surrounding gloom. In a +few minutes he returned with a fine deer on his shoulders. + +"So ho! my boy," he cried, flinging the carcase down; "that was a lucky +shot. We shall sup well to-night, thanks to curiosity, which is a most +useful quality in beast as well as man. But what's wrong; you look +pale, and, eh? you don't mean to say you're--laughing?" + +Tom was indeed pale, for the sudden excitement, in his exhausted +condition had been too much for him; yet there did seem a peculiar +expression about the corners of his mouth that might have been the +remains of a laugh. + +"Ned," he said, faintly, "the--the decoction's all gone." Ned sprang up +and ran to the fire, where, sure enough, he found the pan, over which he +had bent so long with necromantic gaze, upset, and most of the precious +liquid gone. + +"Ha!" he cried, catching up the pot, "not _all_ gone, lad, so your +rejoicing was premature. There's quite enough left yet to physic you +well; and it's in fit state to be taken, so open your mouth at once, and +be a good boy." + +A little of the medicine, mixed in water, was administered, and Tom, +making a wry face, fell back on his couch with a sigh. Immediately +after he was seized with, perhaps, the severest shaking fit he had yet +experienced, so that Ned could not help recalling the well-known +caution, so frequently met with on medicine vials, "When taken, to be +well shaken," despite the anxiety he felt for his friend. But soon +after, the trembling fit passed away, and Tom sank into a quiet +slumber,--the first real rest he had enjoyed for several days. + +Ned felt his pulse and his brow, looked long and earnestly into his +face, nodded approvingly once or twice, and, having tucked the blankets +gently in round the sick man, he proceeded to prepare supper. He +removed just enough of the deer's skin to permit of a choice morsel +being cut out; this he put into the pot, and made thereof a rich and +savoury soup, which he tasted; and, if smacking one's lips and tasting +it again twice, indicated anything, the soup was good. But Ned Sinton +did not eat it. That was Tom's supper, and was put just near enough the +fire to keep it warm. + +This being done, Ned cut out another choice morsel of deer's-meat, which +he roasted and ate, as only those can eat who are well, and young, and +robust, and in the heart of the wilderness. Then he filled his pipe, +sat down close to Tom's couch, placed his back against a tree, crossed +his arms on his breast, and smoked and watched the whole night long. + +He rose gently several times during the night, however, partly for the +purpose of battling off his tendency to sleep, and partly for the +purpose of replenishing the fire and keeping the soup warm. + +But Tom Collins took no supper that night. Ned longed very much to see +him awake, but he didn't. Towards morning, Ned managed for some time to +fight against sleep, by entering into a close and philosophical +speculation, as to what was the precise hour at which that pot of soup +could not properly be called supper, but would merge into breakfast. +This question still remained unsettled in his mind when grey dawn lit up +the peaks of the eastern hills, and he was still debating it, and +nodding like a Chinese mandarin, and staring at intervals like a +confused owl, when the sun shot over the tree-tops, and, alighting +softly on the sleeper's face, aroused him. + +Tom awoke refreshed, ate his breakfast with relish, took his medicine +without grumbling, smiled on his comrade, and squeezed his hand as he +went to sleep again with a heavy sigh of comfort. From that hour he +mended rapidly, and in a week after he was well enough to resume his +journey. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +POWERFUL EFFECTS OF GOLD ON THE ASPECT OF THINGS IN GENERAL--THE DOINGS +AT LITTLE CREEK DIGGINGS--LARRY BECOMES SPECULATIVE, AND DIGS A HOLE +WHICH NEARLY PROVES THE GRAVE OF MANY MINERS--CAPTAIN BUNTING TAKES A +FEARFUL DIVE--AH-WOW IS SMITTEN TO THE EARTH--A MYSTERIOUS LETTER, AND A +SPLENDID DISH. + +We must now beg our reader to turn with us to another scene. + +The appearance of Little Creek diggings altered considerably, and for +the worse, after Ned Sinton and Tom Collins left. A rush of miners had +taken place in consequence of the reports of the successful adventurers +who returned to Sacramento for supplies, and, in the course of a few +weeks, the whole valley was swarming with eager gold-hunters. The +consequence of this was that laws of a somewhat stringent nature had to +be made. The ground was measured off into lots of about ten feet +square, and apportioned to the miners. Of course, in so large and rough +a community, there was a good deal of crime, so that Judge Lynch's +services were frequently called in; but upon the whole, considering the +circumstances of the colony, there was much less than might have been +expected. + +At the time of which we write, namely, several weeks after the events +narrated in our last chapter, the whole colony was thrown into a state +of excitement, in consequence of large quantities of gold having been +discovered on the banks of the stream, in the ground on which the +log-huts and tents were erected. The result of this discovery was, that +the whole place was speedily riddled with pits and their concomitant +mud-heaps, and, to walk about after night-fall, was a difficult as well +as a dangerous amusement. Many of the miners pulled down their tents, +and began to work upon the spots on which they previously stood. Others +began to dig all round their wooden huts, until these rude domiciles +threatened to become insular, and a few pulled their dwellings down in +order to get at the gold beneath them. + +One man, as he sat on his door-step smoking his pipe after dinner, +amused himself by poking the handle of an axe into the ground, and, +unexpectedly, turned up a small nugget of gold worth several dollars. +In ten minutes there was a pit before his door big enough to hold a +sheep, and, before night, he realised about fifty dollars. Another, in +the course of two days, dug out one hundred dollars behind his tent, and +all were more or less fortunate. + +At this particular time, it happened that Captain Bunting had been +seized with one of his irresistible and romantic wandering fits, and had +gone off with the blunderbuss, to hunt in the mountains. Maxton, having +heard of better diggings elsewhere, and not caring for the society of +our adventurers when Ned and Tom were absent, had bid them good-bye, and +gone off with his pick and shovel on his shoulder, and his +prospecting-pan in his hand, no one knew whither. Bill Jones was down +at Sacramento purchasing provisions, as the prices at the diggings were +ruinous; and Ko-sing had removed with one of the other Chinamen to +another part of the Creek. + +Thus it came to pass that Larry O'Neil and Ah-wow, the Chinaman, were +left alone to work out the claims of the party. + +One fine day, Larry and his comrade were seated in the sunshine, +concluding their mid-day meal, when a Yankee passed, and told them of +the discoveries that had been made further down the settlement. + +"Good luck to ye!" said Larry, nodding facetiously to the man, as he put +a tin mug to his lips, and drained its contents to the bottom. "Ha! +it's the potheen I'm fond of; not but that I've seen better; faix I've +seldom tasted worse, but there's a vartue in goold-diggin' that would +make akifortis go down like milk--it would. Will ye try a drop?" + +Larry filled the pannikin as he spoke, and handed it to the Yankee, who, +nothing loth, drained it, and returned it empty, with thanks. + +"They're diggin' goold out o' the cabin floors, are they?" said Larry, +wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. + +"They air," answered the man. "One feller dug up three hundred dollars +yesterday, from the very spot where he's bin snorin' on the last six +months." + +"Ah! thin that's a purty little sum," said Larry, with a leer that +shewed he didn't believe a word of it. "Does he expect more to-morrow, +think ye?" + +"Don't know," said the man, half offended at the doubt thus cast on his +veracity; "ye better go an' ax him. Good day, stranger;" and the Yankee +strode away rapidly. + +Larry scratched his head; then he rubbed his nose, and then his chin, +without, apparently, deriving any particular benefit from these actions. +After that, he looked up at Ah-wow, who was seated cross-legged on the +ground opposite to him, smoking, and asked him what was _his_ opinion. + +"Dun no," said the Chinaman, without moving a muscle of his stolid +countenance. + +"Oh! ye're an entertainin' cratur, ye are; I'll just make a hole here +where I sit, an' see what comes of it. Sure it's better nor doin' +nothin'." + +Saying this, Larry refilled his empty pipe, stretched himself at full +length on his side, rested his head on his left hand, and smoked +complacently for three minutes; after which he took up the long +sheath-knife, with which he had just cut up his supper, and began +carelessly to turn over the sod. + +"Sure, there _is_ goold," he said, on observing several specks of the +shining metal. As he dug deeper down, he struck upon a hard substance, +which, on being turned up, proved to be a piece of quartz, the size of a +hen's egg, in which rich lumps and veins of gold were embedded. + +"May I niver!" shouted the Irishman, starting up, and throwing away his +pipe in his excitement, "av it isn't a nugget. Hooray! where's the +pick!" + +Larry overturned the Chinaman, who sat in his way, darted into the tent +for his pick and shovel, and in five minutes was a foot down into the +earth. + +He came upon a solid rock, however, much to his chagrin, a few inches +further down. + +"Faix I'll tell ye what I'll do," he said, as a new idea struck him, +"I'll dig inside o' the tint. It 'll kape the sun an' the rain off." + +This remark was made half to himself and half to Ah-wow, who, having +gathered himself up, and resumed his pipe, was regarding him with as +much interest as he ever regarded anything. As Ah-wow made no +objection, and did not appear inclined to volunteer an opinion, Larry +entered the tent, cleared all the things away into one corner, and began +to dig in the centre of it. + +It was fortunate that he adopted this plan: first, because the rainy +season having now set in, the tent afforded him shelter; and secondly, +because the soil under the tent turned out to be exceedingly rich--so +much so, that in the course of the next few days he and the Chinaman dug +out upwards of a thousand dollars. + +But the rains, which for some time past had given indubitable hints that +they meant to pay a long visit to the settlement, at last came down like +a waterspout, and flooded Larry and his comrade out of the hole. They +cut a deep trench round the tent, however, to carry off the water, and +continued their profitable labour unremittingly. + +The inside of the once comfortable tent now presented a very remarkable +appearance. All the property of the party was thrust into the smallest +possible corner, and Larry's bed was spread out above it; the remainder +of the space was a yawning hole six feet deep, and a mound of earth +about four feet high. This earth formed a sort of breast-work, over +which Larry had to clamber night and morning in leaving and returning to +his couch. The Chinaman slept in his own little tent hard by. + +There was another inconvenience attending this style of mining which +Larry had not foreseen when he adopted it, and which caused the tent of +our adventurers to become a sort of public nuisance. Larry had +frequently to go down the stream for provisions, and Ah-wow being given +to sleep when no one watched him, took advantage of those opportunities +to retire to his own tent; the consequence was, that strangers who +chanced to look in, in passing, frequently fell headlong into the hole +ere they were aware of its existence, and on more than one occasion +Larry returned and found a miner in the bottom of it with his neck +well-nigh broken. + +To guard against this he hit upon the plan of putting up a cautionary +ticket. He purchased a flat board and a pot of black paint, with which +he wrote the words: + +"MIND YER FEET THARS A BIG HOL," and fixed it up over the entrance. The +device answered very well in as far as those who could read were +concerned, but as there were many who could not read at all, and who +mistook the ticket for the sign of a shop or store, the accidents became +rather more frequent than before. + +The Irishman at last grew desperate, and, taking Ah-wow by the pig-tail, +vowed that if he deserted his post again, "he'd blow out all the brains +he had--if he had any at all--an' if that wouldn't do, he'd cut him up +into mince-meat, so he would." + +The Chinaman evidently thought him in earnest, for he fell on his knees, +and promised, with tears in his eyes, that he would never do it again-- +or words to that effect. + +One day Larry and Ah-wow were down in the hole labouring for gold as if +it were life. It was a terribly rainy day--so bad, that it was almost +impossible to keep the water out. Larry had clambered out of the hole, +and was seated on the top of the mud-heap, resting himself and gazing +down upon his companion, who slowly, but with the steady regularity of +machinery, dug out the clay, and threw it on the heap, when a voice +called from without-- + +"Is this Mr Edward Sinton's tent?" + +"It is that same," cried Larry, rising; "don't come in, or it'll be +worse for ye." + +"Here's a letter for him, then, and twenty dollars to pay." + +"Musha! but it's chape postage," said Larry, lifting the curtain, and +stepping out; "couldn't ye say thirty, now?" + +"Come, down with the cash, and none o' yer jaw," said the man, who was a +surly fellow, and did not seem disposed to stand joking. + +"Oh! be all manes, yer honour," retorted Larry, with mock servility, as +he counted out the money. "Av it wouldn't displase yer lordship, may I +take the presumption to ax how the seal come to be broken?" + +"I know nothin' about it," answered the man, as he pocketed the money; +"I found it on the road between this an' Sacramento, and, as I was +passin' this way anyhow, I brought it on." + +"Ah, thin, it was a great kindness, intirely, to go so far out o' yer +way, an' that for a stranger, too, an' for nothin'--or nixt thing to +it!" said Larry, looking after the man as he walked away. + +"Well, now," he continued, re-entering the tent, and seating himself +again on the top of the mud-heap, while he held the letter in his hand +at arm's length, "this bates all! An' whot am I to do with it? Sure +it's not right to break the seal o' another man's letter; but then it's +broke a'ready, an' there can be no sin in raidin' it. Maybe," he +continued, with a look of anxiety, "the poor lad's ill, or dead, an' +he's wrote to say so. Sure, I would like to raid it--av I only know'd +how; but me edication's bin forgot, bad luck to the schoolmasters; I can +only make out big print--wan letter at a time." + +The poor man looked wistfully at the letter, feeling that it might +possibly contain information of importance to all of them, and that +delay in taking action might cause irreparable misfortune. While he +meditated what had best be done, and scanned the letter in all +directions, a footstep was heard outside, and the hearty voice of +Captain Bunting shouted: + +"Ship ahoy! who's within, boys!" + +"Hooroo! capting," shouted Larry, jumping up with delight; "mind yer +fut, capting, dear; don't come in." + +"Why not?" inquired the captain, as he lifted the curtain. + +"Sure, it's no use tellin' ye _now_!" said Larry, as Captain Bunting +fell head-foremost into Ah-wow's arms, and drove that worthy creature-- +as he himself would have said--"stern-foremost" into the mud and water +at the bottom. The captain happened to have a haunch of venison on his +shoulder, and the blunderbuss under his arm, so that the crash and the +splash, as they all floundered in the mud, were too much for Larry, who +sat down again on the mud-heap and roared with laughter. + +It is needless to go further into the details of this misadventure. +Captain Bunting and the Chinaman were soon restored to the upper world, +happily, unhurt; so, having changed their garments, they went into +Ah-wow's tent to discuss the letter. + +"Let me see it, Larry," said the captain, sitting down on an empty pork +cask. + +Larry handed him the missive, and he read as follows:-- + +"San Francisco. + +"Edward Sinton, Esquire, Little Creek Diggings. + +"My Dear Sir,--I have just time before the post closes, to say that I +only learned a few days ago that you were at Little Creek, otherwise I +should have written sooner, to say that--" + +Here the captain seemed puzzled. "Now, ain't that aggravatin'?" he +said; "the seal has torn away the most important bit o' the letter. I +wish I had the villains by the nose that opened it! Look here, Larry, +can you guess what it was?" + +Larry took the letter, and, after scrutinising it with intense gravity +and earnestness, returned it, with the remark, that it was "beyant him +entirely." + +"That--that--" said the captain, again attempting to read, "that-- +somethin'--great success; so you and Captain Bunting had better come +down at once. + +"Believe me, my dear Sir, Yours faithfully, John Thomson." + +"Now," remarked the captain, with a look of chagrin, as he laid down the +letter, folded his hands together, and gazed into Larry's grave visage, +"nothin' half so tantalisin' as that has happened to me since the time +when my good ship, the _Roving Bess_, was cast ashore at San Francisco." + +"It's purvokin'," replied Larry, "an' preplexin'." + +"It's most unfortunate, too," continued the captain, knitting up his +visage, "that Sinton should be away just at this time, without rudder, +chart, or compass, an' bound for no port that any one knows of. Why, +the fellow may be deep in the heart o' the Rocky Mountains, for all I +can tell. I might start off at once without him, but maybe that would +be of no use. What can it be that old Thompson's so anxious about? Why +didn't the old figur'-head use his pen more freely--his tongue goes fast +enough to drive the engines of a seventy-four. What _is_ to be done?" + +Although Captain Bunting asked the question with thorough earnestness +and much energy, looking first at Larry and then at Ah-wow, he received +no reply. The former shook his head, and the latter stared at him with +a steady, dead intensity, as if he wished to stare him through. + +After a few minutes' pause, Larry suddenly asked the captain if he was +hungry, to which the latter replied that he was; whereupon the former +suggested that it was worth while "cookin' the haunch o' ven'son," and +offered to do it in a peculiar manner, that had been taught to him not +long ago by a hunter, who had passed that way, and fallen into the hole +in the tent and sprained his ankle, so that he, (Larry), was obliged to +"kape him for a week, an' trate him to the best all the time." The +proposal was agreed to, and Larry, seizing the haunch, which was still +covered with the mud contracted in "the hole," proceeded to exhibit his +powers as a cook. + +The rain, which had been coming down as if a second flood were about to +deluge the earth, had ceased at this time, and the sun succeeded, for a +few hours, in struggling through the murky clouds and pouring a flood of +light and heat over hill and plain; the result of which was, that, along +the whole length of Little Creek, there was an eruption of blankets, and +shirts, and inexpressibles, and other garments, which stood much in need +of being dried, and which, as they fluttered and flapped their +many-coloured folds in the light breeze, gave the settlement the +appearance--as Captain Bunting expressed it--of being "dressed from stem +to stern." The steam that arose from these habiliments, and from the +soaking earth, and from the drenched forest, covered the face of nature +with a sort of luminous mist that was quite cheering, by contrast with +the leaden gloom that had preceded it, and filled with a romantic glow +the bosoms of such miners as had any romance left in their natures. + +Larry O'Neil was one of these, and he went about his work whistling +violently. We will not take upon us to say how much of his romance was +due to the haunch of venison. We would not, if called on to do it, +undertake to say how much of the romance and enjoyment of a pic-nic +party would evaporate, if it were suddenly announced that "the hamper" +had been forgotten, or that it had fallen and the contents been smashed +and mixed. We turn from such ungenerous and gross contemplations to the +cooking of that haunch of venison, which, as it was done after a fashion +never known to Soyer, and may be useful in after-years to readers of +this chronicle, whose lot it may be, perchance, to stand in need of such +knowledge, we shall carefully describe. + +It is not necessary to enlarge upon the preliminaries. We need hardly +say that Larry washed off the mud, and that he passed flattering remarks +upon his own abilities and prowess, and, in very irreverent tones and +terms, addressed Ah-wow, who smoked his pipe and looked at him. All +that, and a great deal more, we leave to our reader's well-known and +vivid imagination. Suffice it that the venison was duly washed, and a +huge fire, with much difficulty, kindled, and a number of large stones +put into it to heat. This done, Larry cut off a lump of meat from the +haunch--a good deal larger than his own head, which wasn't small--the +skin with the hair on being cut off along with the meat. A considerable +margin of flesh was then pared off from the lump, so as to leave an +edging of hide all round, which might overlap the remainder, and enclose +it, as it were, in a natural bag. + +At this stage of the process Larry paused, looked admiringly at his +work, winked over the edge of it at Ah-wow, and went hastily into the +tent, whence he issued with two little tin canisters,--one containing +pepper, the other salt. + +"Why, you beat the French all to nothing!" remarked the captain, who sat +on an upturned tea-box, smoking and watching the proceedings. + +"Ah! thin, don't spake, capting; it'll spile yer appetite," said Larry, +sprinkling the seasoning into the bag and closing it up by means of a +piece of cord. He then drew the red-hot stones and ashes from the fire, +and, making a hot-bed thereof, placed the venison-dumpling--if we may be +allowed the term--on the centre of it. Before the green hide was quite +burned through, the dish was "cooked," as Yankees express it, "to a +curiosity," and the tasting thereof would have evoked from an alderman a +look, (he would have been past speaking!) of ecstasy, while a lady might +have exclaimed, "Delicious!" or a schoolboy have said, "Hlpluhplp," [see +note 1], or some such term which ought only to be used in reference to +intellectual treats, and should never be applied to such low matters as +meat and drink. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. Hlpluhplp. As the reader may have some difficulty in +pronouncing the above word, we beg to inform him, (or her), that it is +easily done, by simply drawing in the breath, and, at the same time, +waggling the tongue between the lips. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +THE RAINY SEASON, AND ITS EFFECTS--DISEASE AND MISERY AT LITTLE CREEK-- +REAPPEARANCE OF OLD FRIENDS--AN EMIGRANT'S DEATH--AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL. + +Captain Bunting, after two days' serious consideration, made up his mind +to go down alone to San Francisco, in order to clear up the mystery of +the letter, and do all that he could personally in the absence of his +friend. To resolve, however, was easy; to carry his resolution into +effect was almost impracticable, in consequence of the inundated state +of the country. + +It was now the middle of November, and the rainy season, which extends +over six months of the year, was in full play. Language is scarcely +capable of conveying, to those who have not seen it, an adequate idea of +how it rained at this period of the year. It did not pour--there were +no drops--it roared a cataract of never-ending ramrods, as thick as your +finger, straight down from the black sky right through to the very +vitals of the earth. It struck the tents like shot, and spirted through +the tightest canvas in the form of Scotch-mist. It swept down cabin +chimneys, and put out the fires; it roared through every crevice, and +rent and seam of the hills in mad cataracts, and swelled up the Little +Creek into a mighty surging river. + +All work was arrested; men sat in their tents on mud-heaps that melted +from below them, or lay on logs that well-nigh floated away with them; +but there was not so much grumbling as one might have expected. It was +too tremendous to be merely annoying. It was sublimely ridiculous,--so +men grinned, and bore it. + +But there were many poor miners there, alas! who could not regard that +season in a light manner. There were dozens of young and middle-aged +men whose constitutions, although good, perhaps, were not robust, and +who ought never to have ventured to seek their fortunes in the +gold-regions. Men who might have lived their full time, and have served +their day and generation usefully in the civilised regions of the world, +but who, despite the advice of friends, probably, and certainly despite +the warnings of experienced travellers and authors, rushed eagerly to +California to find, not a fortune, but a grave. Dysentery, scurvy in +its worst and most loathsome type, ague, rheumatism, sciatica, +consumption, and other diseases, were now rife at the diggings, cutting +down many a youthful plant, and blasting many a golden dream. + +Doctors, too, became surprisingly numerous, but these disciples of +Esculapius failed to effect cures, and as their diplomas, when sought +for, were not forthcoming, they were ultimately banished _en masse_ by +the indignant miners. One or two old hunters and trappers turned out in +the end to be the most useful doctors, and effected a good many cures +with the simple remedies they had become acquainted with among the +red-men. + +What rendered things worse was that provisions became scarce, and, +therefore, enormously dear. No fresh vegetables of any kind were to be +had. Salt, greasy and rancid pork, bear's-meat, and venison, were all +the poor people could procure, although many a man there would have +given a thousand dollars--ay, all he possessed--for a single meal of +fresh potatoes. The men smitten with scurvy had, therefore, no chance +of recovering. The valley became a huge hospital, and the banks of the +stream a cemetery. + +There were occasional lulls, however, in this dismal state of affairs. +Sometimes the rain ceased; the sun burst forth in irresistible +splendour, and the whole country began to steam like a caldron. A cart, +too, succeeded now and then in struggling up with a load of fresh +provisions; reviving a few sinking spirits for a time, and almost making +the owner's fortune; but, at the best, it was a drearily calamitous +season,--one which caused many a sick heart to hate the sight and name +of gold, and many a digger to resolve to quit the land, and all its +treasures, at the first opportunity. + +Doubtless, too, many deep and earnest thoughts of life, and its aims and +ends, filled the minds of some men at that time. It is often in seasons +of adversity that God shews to men how mistaken their views of happiness +are, and how mad, as well as sinful, it is in them to search for joy and +peace apart from, and without the slightest regard for, the Author of +all felicity. Yes, there is reason to hope and believe that many seeds +of eternal life were sown by the Saviour, and watered by the Holy +Spirit, in that disastrous time of disease and death,--seed which, +perhaps, is now blessing and fertilising many distant regions of the +world. + +In one of the smallest and most wretched of the huts, at the entrance of +the valley of Little Creek, lay a man, whose days on earth were +evidently few. The hut stood apart from the others, in a lonely spot, +as if it shrank from observation, and was seldom visited by the miners, +who were too much concerned about their own misfortunes to care much for +those of others. Here Kate Morgan sat by the couch of her dying +brother, endeavouring to soothe his last hours by speaking to him in the +most endearing terms, and reading passages from the Word of God, which +lay open on her knee. But the dying man seemed to derive little comfort +from what she said or read. His restless eye roamed anxiously round the +wretched hut, while his breath came short and thick from between his +pale lips. + +"Shall I read to ye, darlin'?" said the woman, bending over the couch to +catch the faint whisper, which was all the poor man had strength to +utter. + +Just then, ere he could reply, the clatter of hoofs was heard, and a +bronzed, stalwart horseman was seen through the doorless entrance of the +hut, approaching at a brisk trot. Both horse and man were of immense +size, and they came on with that swinging, heavy tread, which gives the +impression of irresistible weight and power. The rider drew up +suddenly, and, leaping off his horse, cried, "Can I have a draught of +water, my good woman?" as he fastened the bridle to a tree, and strode +into the hut. + +Kate rose hurriedly, and held up her finger to impose silence, as she +handed the stranger a can of water. But he had scarcely swallowed a +mouthful when his eye fell on the sick man. Going gently forward to the +couch, he sat down beside it, and, taking the invalid's wrist, felt his +pulse. + +"Is he your husband?" inquired the stranger, in a subdued voice. + +"No, sir,--my brother." + +"Does he like to have the Bible read to him?" + +"Sometimes; but before his voice failed he was always cryin' out for the +priest. He's a Catholic, sir, though I'm not wan meself and thinks he +can't be saved unless he sees the priest." + +The stranger took up the Bible, and, turning towards the man, whose +bright eyes were fixed earnestly upon him, read, in a low impressive +voice, several of those passages in which a free salvation to the chief +of sinners is offered through Jesus Christ. He did not utter a word of +comment; but he read with deep solemnity, and paused ever and anon to +look in the face of the sick man as he read the blessed words of +comfort. The man was not in a state either to listen to arguments or to +answer questions, so the stranger wisely avoided both, and gently +quitted the hut after offering up a brief prayer, and repeating twice +the words-- + +"Jesus says, `Him that cometh to _Me_, I will in no wise cast out.'" + +Kate followed him out, and thanked him earnestly for his kindness, while +tears stood in her eyes. + +"Have you no friends or relations here but him!" inquired the stranger. + +"Not wan. There was wan man as came to see us often when we stayed in a +lonesome glen further up the Creek, but we've not seen him since we came +here. More be token he didn't know we were goin' to leave, and we wint +off in a hurry, for my poor brother was impatient, and thought the +change would do him good." + +"Take this, you will be the better of it." + +The stranger thrust a quantity of silver into Kate's hand, and sprang +upon his horse. + +"I don't need it, thank 'ee," said Kate, hurriedly. + +"But you _may_ need it; at any rate, _he_ does. Stay, what was the name +of the man who used to visit you?" + +"O'Neil, sir--Larry O'Neil." + +"Indeed! he is one of my mates. My name is Sinton--Edward Sinton; you +shall hear from me again ere long." + +Ned put spurs to his horse as he spoke, and in another moment was out of +sight. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +NED DECIDES ON VISITING SAN FRANCISCO--LARRY PAYS A VISIT, AND RECEIVES +A SEVERE DISAPPOINTMENT--THE ROAD AND THE CITY--UNEXPECTED NEWS. + +Few joys in this life are altogether without alloy. The delight +experienced by Larry O'Neil and Captain Bunting, when they heard the +hearty tones of Ned Sinton's voice, and the satisfaction with which they +beheld his face, when, in their anxiety to prevent his falling headlong +into "the hole," they both sprang out of the tent and rushed into his +arms, were somewhat damped on their observing that Tom Collins was not +with him. But their anxieties were speedily relieved on learning that +Tom was at Sacramento City, and, it was to be hoped, doing well. + +As Ned had eaten nothing on the day of his arrival since early morning, +the first care of his friends was to cook some food for him; and Larry +took special care to brew for him, as soon as possible, a stiff tumbler +of hot brandy and water, which, as he was wet and weary, was +particularly acceptable. + +While enjoying this over the fire in front of the tent, Ned related the +adventures of himself and Tom Collins circumstantially; in the course of +which narration he explained, what the reader does not yet know, how +that, after Tom had recovered from his illness sufficiently to ride, he +had conducted him by easy stages to the banks of the great San Joaquin +river, down which they had proceeded by boat until they reached +Sacramento. + +Here Ned saw him comfortably settled in the best room of the best hotel +in the town, and then, purchasing the largest and strongest horse he +could find, he set off, in spite of the rains, to let his comrades know +that they were both safe, and, in Ned's case at least, sound. + +"And, now, with reference to that letter." + +"Ay, that letter," echoed the captain; "that's what I've bin wantin' you +to come to. What can it mean?" + +"I am as ignorant of that as yourself," answered Ned; "if it had only +been you who were mentioned in the letter, I could have supposed that +your old ship had been relaunched and refitted, and had made a +successful voyage to China during your absence; but, as I left no +property of any kind in San Francisco, and had no speculations afloat, I +cannot conceive what it can be." + +"Maybe," suggested Larry, "they've heard o' our remarkable talents up +here in the diggin's, and they've been successful in gittin' us +app'inted to respansible sitivations in the new government I've heared +they're sottin' up down there. I wouldn't object to be prime minister +meself av they'd only allow me enough clarks to do the work." + +"And did you say you were all ready for a start to-morrow, captain?" +inquired Ned. + +"Quite. We've disposed of the claims and tools for fifteen hundred +dollars, an' we sold Ah-wow along with the lot; that's to say, he +remains a fixture at the same wage; and the little we meant to take with +us is stowed away in our saddle-bags. Ye see, I couldn't foresee that +you'd plump down on us in this fashion, and I felt that the letter was +urgent, and ought to be acted on at once." + +"You did quite right," returned Ned. "What a pity I missed seeing Bill +Jones at Sacramento; but the city has grown so much, and become so +populous, in a few months, that two friends might spend a week in it, +unknown to each other, without chancing to meet. And now as to the +gold. Have you been successful since I left?" + +"Ay," broke in Larry, "that have we. It's a great country intirely for +men whose bones and muscles are made o' iron. We've dug forty thousand +dollars--eight thousand pounds--out o' that same hole in the tint; forby +sprainin' the ankles, and well-nigh breakin' the legs, o' eight or tin +miners. It's sorry I'll be to lave it. But, afther all, it's a sickly +place, so I'm contint to go." + +"By the way, Larry, that reminds me I met a friend o' yours at the other +end of the settlement." + +"I belave ye," answered Larry; "ivery man in the Creek's my fri'nd. +They'd die for me, they would, av I only axed them." + +"Ay, but a particular friend, named Kate, who--" + +"Och! ye don't mane it!" cried the Irishman, starting up with an anxious +look. "Sure they lived up in the dark glen there; and they wint off wan +fine day, an' I've niver been able to hear o' them since." + +"They are not very far off," continued Ned, detailing his interview with +the brother and sister, and expressing a conviction that the former +could not now be in life. + +"I'll go down to-night," said Larry, drawing on his heavy boots. + +"You'd better wait till to-morrow," suggested the captain. "The poor +thing will be in no humour to see any one to-night, and we can make a +halt near the hut for an hour or so." + +Larry, with some reluctance, agreed to this delay, and the rest of the +evening was spent by the little party in making preparations for a start +on the following day; but difficulties arose in the way of settling with +the purchasers of their claims, so that another day passed ere they got +fairly off on their journey towards Sacramento. + +On reaching the mouth of the Little Creek, Larry O'Neil galloped ahead +of his companions, and turned aside at the little hut, the locality of +which Sinton had described to him minutely. Springing off his horse, he +threw the reins over a bush and crossed the threshold. It is easier to +conceive than to describe his amazement and consternation on finding the +place empty. Dashing out, he vaulted into the saddle, and almost +galloped through the doorway of the nearest hut in his anxiety to learn +what had become of his friends. + +"Halloo! stranger," shouted a voice from within, "no thoroughfare this +way; an' I wouldn't advise ye for to go an' try for to make one." + +"Ho! countryman, where's the sick Irishman and his sister gone, that +lived close to ye here?" + +"Wall, I ain't a countryman o' yourn, I guess; but I can answer a civil +question. They're gone. The man's dead, an' the gal took him away in a +cart day b'fore yisterday." + +"Gone! took him away in a cart!" echoed Larry, while he looked aghast at +the man. "Are ye sure?" + +"Wall, I couldn't be surer. I made the coffin for 'em, and helped to +lift it into the cart." + +"But where have they gone to?" + +"To Sacramento, I guess. I advised her not to go, but she mumbled +something about not havin' him buried in sich a wild place, an' layin' +him in a churchyard; so I gave her the loan o' fifty dollars--it was all +I could spare--for she hadn't a rap. She borrowed the horse and cart +from a countryman, who was goin' to Sacramento at any rate." + +"You're a trump, you are!" cried Larry, with energy; "give us your hand, +me boy! Ah! thin yer parents were Irish, I'll be bound; now, here's +your fifty dollars back again, with compound interest to boot--though I +don't know exactly what that is--" + +"I didn't ax ye for the fifty dollars," said the man, somewhat angrily. +"Who are you that offers 'em!" + +"I'm her--her--friend," answered Larry, in some confusion; "her intimate +friend; I might almost say a sort o' distant relation--only not quite +that." + +"Wall, if that's all, I guess I'm as much a friend as you," said the +man, re-entering his cabin, and shutting the door with a bang. + +Larry sighed, dropped the fifty dollars into his leather purse, and +galloped away. + +The journey down to Sacramento, owing to the flooded state of the +country, was not an easy one. It took the party several days' hard +riding to accomplish it, and during all that time Larry kept a vigilant +look-out for Kate Morgan and the cart, but neither of them did he see. +Each day he felt certain he would overtake them, but each evening found +him trying to console himself with the reflection that a "stern chase" +is proverbially a long one, and that _next_ day would do it. Thus they +struggled on, and finally arrived at the city of Sacramento, without +having set eyes on the wanderer. Poor Larry little knew that, having +gone with a man who knew the road thoroughly, Kate, although she +travelled slowly, had arrived there the day before him; while Ned had +lengthened the road by unwittingly making a considerable and unnecessary +detour. Still less did he know that, at the very hour he arrived in the +city, Kate, with her sad charge, embarked on board a small river +steamer, and was now on her way to San Francisco. + +As it was, Larry proposed to start back again, supposing they must have +passed them; but, on second thoughts, he decided to remain where he was +and make inquiries. So the three friends pushed forward to the City +Hotel to make inquiries after Tom Collins. + +"Mr Collins?" said the waiter, bowing to Sinton--"he's gone, sir, about +a week ago." + +"_Gone_!" exclaimed Ned, turning pale. + +"Yes, sir; gone down to San Francisco. He saw some advertisement or +other in the newspaper, and started off by the next steamer." + +Ned's heart beat freely again. "Was he well when he left?" + +"Yes, sir, pretty well. He would have been the better of a longer rest, +but he was quite fit to travel, sir." + +Captain Bunting, who, during this colloquy, had been standing with his +legs apart, and his eyes glaring at the waiter, as if he had been mad, +gave a prolonged whistle, but made no further remark. At this moment +Larry, who had been conversing with one of the under-waiters, came +rushing in with a look of desperation on his countenance. + +"Would ye belave it," he cried, throwing himself down on a splendid +crimson sofa, that seemed very much out of keeping with the dress of the +rough miners whom it was meant to accommodate--"would ye belave it, +they're gone!" + +"Who are gone, and where to!" inquired Ned. + +"Kate an'--an' the caffin. Off to San Francisco, be all that's onlucky; +an' only wint little more nor an hour ago." + +The three friends looked at each other. + +"Waiter," said Captain Bunting, in a solemn voice, "bear-chops for +three, pipes and baccy for six, an' a brandy-smash for one; an', d'ye +hear, let it be stiff!" + +"Yes, sir." + +A loud laugh from Ned and Larry relieved their over-excited and pent-up +feelings; and both agreed that, under the circumstances, the captain's +order was the best that could be given at that stage of their +perplexities. Having ascertained that there was not another steamer to +San Francisco for a week, they resolved to forget their anxieties as +much as possible, and enjoy themselves in the great city of Sacramento +during the next few days; while they instituted inquiries as to what had +become of their comrade, Bill Jones, who, they concluded, must still be +in the city, as they had not met him on the way down. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +GOLD NOT ALL-POWERFUL--REMARKABLE GROWTH OF SACRAMENTO--NEW STYLE OF +BRINGING A HOTEL INTO NOTICE--A SURPRISING DISCOVERY--DEATH OF A MEXICAN +HORSE-TAMER--THE CONCERT, AND ANOTHER DISCOVERY--MADEMOISELLE NELINA +CREATES A SENSATION. + +It is said that gold can accomplish anything; and, in some respects, the +saying is full of truth; in some points of view, however, the saying is +altogether wrong. Gold can, indeed, accomplish almost anything in the +material world--it can purchase stone, and metal, and timber; and +muscles, bones, thews, and sinews, with life in them, to any extent. It +can go a step further--it can purchase brains, intellect, genius; and, +throwing the whole together, material and immaterial, it can cut, and +carve, and mould the world to such an extent that its occupants of fifty +years ago, were they permitted to return to earth, would find it hard to +recognise the scene of their brief existence. But there are things and +powers which gold cannot purchase. That worn-out old _millionnaire_ +would give tons of it for a mere tithe of the health that yonder +ploughman enjoys. Youth cannot be bought with gold. Time cannot be +purchased with gold. The prompt obedience of thousands of men and women +may be bought with that precious metal, but one powerful throb of a +loving heart could not be procured by all the yellow gold that ever did +or ever will enrich the human family. + +But we are verging towards digression. Let us return to the simple idea +with which we intended to begin this chapter--the wonder-working power +of gold. In no country in the wide world, we venture to affirm, has +this power been exemplified so strikingly as in California. The +knowledge of the discovery of gold was so suddenly and widely +disseminated over the earth, that human beings flowed into the +formerly-uninhabited wilderness like a mighty torrent, while thousands +of ships flooded the markets with the necessaries of life. Then gold +was found to be so abundant, and, _at first_, so easily procured, that +the fever was kept up at white-heat for several years. The result of +this was, as we have remarked elsewhere, that changes, worthy of +Aladdin's lamp or Harlequin's wand, were wrought in the course of a few +weeks, sometimes in a few days. + +The city of Sacramento was one of the most remarkable of the many +strange and sudden growths in the country. The river on which it stands +is a beautiful stream, from two to three hundred yards wide, and +navigable by large craft to a few miles above the city. The banks, when +our friends were there, were fringed with rich foliage, and the wild +trees of the forest itself stood growing in the streets. The city was +laid out in the form of a square, with streets crossing each other at +right angles; a forest of masts along the _embarcadero_ attested the +growing importance and wealth of the place; and nearly ten thousand +inhabitants swarmed in its streets. Many of those streets were composed +of canvas tents, or erections scarcely more durable. Yet here, little +more than a year before, there were only _four thousand_ in the place! + +Those who chanced to be in possession of the land here were making +fortunes. Lots, twenty feet by seventy, in the best situations, brought +upwards of 3500 dollars. Rents, too, were enormous. One hotel paid +30,000 dollars (6000 pounds) per annum; another, 35,000 dollars. Small +stores fetched ten and twelve thousand dollars a year; while board at +the best hotels was five dollars a day. Truly, if gold was plentiful, +it was needed; for the common necessaries of life, though plentiful, +were bought and sold at fabulous prices. The circulation of gold was +enormous, and the growth of the city did not suffer a check even for a +day, although the cost of building was unprecedented. And this +commercial prosperity continued in spite of the fact that the place was +unhealthy--being a furnace in summer, and in winter little better than a +swamp. + +"It's a capital hotel," remarked Captain Bunting to his companions, as +they sat round their little table, enjoying their pipes after dinner; "I +wonder if they make a good thing out of it?" + +"Sure, if they don't," said Larry, tilting his chair on its hind legs, +and calmly blowing a cloud of smoke towards the roof, "it's a losin' +game they're playin', for they sarve out the grub at a tearin' pace." + +"They are doing well, I doubt not," said Ned Sinton; "and they deserve +to, for the owner--or owners, I don't know how many or few there are-- +made a remarkable and enterprising start." + +"How was that?" asked the captain. + +"I heard of it when I was down here with Tom," continued Sinton. "You +must know that this was the first regular hotel opened in the city, and +it was considered so great an event that it was celebrated by salvos of +artillery, and, on the part of the proprietors, by a great unlimited +feast to all who chose to come." + +"What!" cried Larry, "free, gratis, for nothin'?" + +"Ay, for nothing. It was done in magnificent style, I assure you. Any +one who chose came and called for what he wanted, and got it at once. +The attendance was prompt, and as cheerfully given as though it had been +paid for. Gin-slings, cocktails, mint-juleps, and brandy-smashes went +round like a circular storm, even champagne flowed like water; and +venison, wild-fowl, salmon, grizzly-bear-steaks, and pastry--all the +delicacies of the season, in short--were literally to be had for the +asking. What it cost the spirited proprietors I know not, but certainly +it was a daring stroke of genius that deserved patronage." + +"Faix it did," said Larry, emphatically; "and they shall have it, too;-- +here, waiter, a brandy-smash and a cheroot, and be aisy as to the cost; +I think me bank'll stand it." + +"What say you to a stroll!" said Ned, rising. + +"By all means," replied Captain Bunting, jumping up, and laying down his +pipe. Larry preferred to remain where he was; so the two friends left +him to enjoy his cheroot, and wandered away, where fancy led, to see the +town. There was much to be seen. It required no theatrical +representation of life to amuse one in Sacramento at that time. The +whole city was a vast series of plays in earnest. + +Every conceivable species of comedy and farce met the eye at every turn. +Costumes the most remarkable, men the most varied and peculiar, and +things the most incomprehensible and unexpected, presented themselves in +endless succession. Here a canvas restaurant stood, or, rather leaned +against a log-store. There a tent spread its folds in juxtaposition to +a deck-cabin, which seemed to have walked ashore from a neighbouring +brig, without leave, and had been let out as a grog-shop by way of +punishment. Chinamen in calico jostled sailors in canvas, or diggers in +scarlet flannel shirts, or dandies in broad-cloth and patent-leather, or +red Indians in nothing! Bustle, and hurry, and uproar, and joviality +prevailed. A good deal of drinking, too, unfortunately, went on, and +the results were occasional melodramas, and sometimes serious rows. + +Tragedies, too, were enacted, but these seldom met the eye; as is +usually the case, they were done in the dark. + +"What have we here?" cried Captain Bunting, stopping before a large +placard, and reading. "`Grand concert, this evening--wonderful singer-- +Mademoiselle Nelina, first appearance--Ethiopian serenaders.' I say, +Ned, we must go to this; I've not heard a song for ages that was worth +listening to." + +"At what hour?" inquired Ned--"oh! seven o'clock; well, we can stroll +back to the hotel, have a cup of coffee, and bring Larry O'Neil with us. +Come along." + +That evening our three adventurers occupied the back seat of a large +concert-room in one of the most crowded thoroughfares of the town, +patiently awaiting the advent of the performers. The room was filled to +overflowing, long before the hour for the commencement of the +performances, with every species of mortal, except woman. Women were +exceedingly rare creatures at that time--the meetings of all sorts were +composed almost entirely of men, in their varied and motley garbs. + +Considering the circumstances in which it was got up, the room was a +very creditable one, destitute, indeed, of ornament, but well lighted by +an enormous wooden chandelier, full of wax candles, which depended from +the centre of the ceiling. At the further end of the room was a raised +stage, with foot-lights in front, and three chairs in the middle of it. +There was a small orchestra in front, consisting of two fiddles, a +cornopian, a trombone, a clarionet, and a flute; but at first the owners +of these instruments kept out of sight, wisely reserving themselves +until that precise moment when the impatient audience would--as all +audiences do on similar occasions--threaten to bring down the building +with stamping of feet, accompanied with steam-engine-like whistles, and +savage cries of "Music!" + +While Ned Sinton and his friends were quietly looking round upon the +crowd, Larry O'Neil's attention was arrested by the conversation of two +men who sat just in front of him. One was a rough-looking miner, in a +wide-awake and red-flannel shirt; the other was a negro, in a shirt of +blue-striped calico. + +"Who be this Missey Nelina?" inquired the negro, turning to his +companion. + +"I dun know; but I was here last night, an' I'd take my davy, I saw the +little gal in the ranche of a feller away in the plains, five hundred +miles to the east'ard, two months ago. Her father, poor chap, was +killed by a wild horse." + +"How was dat?" inquired the negro, with an expression of great interest. + +"Well, it was this way it happened," replied the other, putting a quid +of tobacco into his cheek, such as only a sailor would venture to +masticate. "I was up at the diggin's about six months, without gittin' +more gold than jist kep' me in life--for, ye see, I was always an +unlucky dog--when one day I goes down to my claim, and, at the very +first lick, dug up two chunks o' gold as big as yer fists; so I sold my +claim and shovel, and came down here for a spree. Well, as I was +sayin', I come to the ranche o' a feller called Bangi, or Bongi, or +Bungi, or some sort o' bang, with a gi at the end o' 't. He was +clappin' his little gal on the head, when I comed up, and said good-bye +to her. I didn't rightly hear what she said; but I was so taken with +her pretty face that I couldn't help axin' if the little thing was +his'n. `Yees,' says he--for he was a Mexican, and couldn't come round +the English lingo--`she me darter.' I found the man was goin' to catch +a wild horse, so, says I, `I'll go with ye,' an', says he, `come 'long,' +so away we went, slappin' over the plains at a great rate, him and me, +and a Yankee, a friend o' his and three or four servants, after a drove +o' wild horses that had been seen that mornin' near the house. Well, +away we went after the wild horses. Oh! it was grand sport! The man +had lent me one of his beasts, an' it went at such a spankin' pace, I +could scarce keep my seat, and had to hold on by the saddle--not bein' +used to ridin' much, d'ye see. We soon picked out a horse--a +splendid-lookin' feller, with curved neck, and free gallop, and wide +nostrils. My eye! how he did snort and plunge, when the Mexican threw +the lasso, it went right over his head the first cast, but the wild +horse pulled the rope out o' his grip. `It's all up,' thought I; but +never a bit. The Mexican put spurs to his horse, an' while at full +gallop, made a dive with his body, and actually caught the end o' the +line, as it trailed over the ground, and recovered his seat again. It +was done in a crack; an', I believe, he held on by means of his spurs, +which were big enough, I think, to make wheels for a small carronade. +Takin' a turn o' the line round the horn of his saddle, he reined in a +bit, and then gave the spurs for another spurt, and soon after reined in +again--in fact, he jist played the wild horse like a trout, until he +well-nigh choked him; an', in an hour, or less, he was led steamin', and +startin', and jumpin', into the corral, where the man kept his other +horses." + +At this point in the narrative, the cries for music became so deafening, +that the sailor was obliged to pause, to the evident annoyance of the +negro, who seemed intensely interested in what he had heard; and, also, +to the regret of Larry, who had listened eagerly the whole time. In a +few minutes the "music" came in, in the shape of two bald-headed +Frenchmen, a wild-looking bearded German, and several lean men, who +might, as far as appearance went, have belonged to almost any nation; +and who would have, as far as musical ability went, been repudiated by +every nation, except, perhaps, the Chinese. During the quarter of an +hour in which these performers quieted the impatient audience with sweet +sounds, the sailor continued his anecdote. + +"Well, you see," said he to the negro, while Larry bent forward to +listen, "the Mexican mounted, and raced and spurred him for about an +hour; but, just at the last, the wild horse gave a tremendous leap and a +plunge, and we noticed the rider fall forward, as if he'd got a sprain. +The Yankee an' one o' the servants ran up, and caught the horse by the +head, but its rider didn't move--he was stone dead, and was held in his +seat by the spurs sticking in the saddle-cloth. The last bound must +have ruptured some blood-vessel inside, for there was no sign of hurt +upon him anywhere." + +"You don' say dat?" said the negro, with a look of horror. + +"'Deed do I; an' we took the poor feller home, where his little daughter +cried for him as if she'd break her heart. I asked the Yankee what we +should do, but he looked at me somewhat offended like, an' said he was a +relation o' the dead man's wife, and could manage the affairs o' the +family without help; so I bid him good mornin', and went my way. But I +believe in my heart he was tellin' a lie, and that he's no right to go +hawkin' the poor gal about the country in this fashion." + +Larry was deeply interested in this narrative, and felt so strong a +disposition to make further inquiries, that he made up his mind to +question the sailor, and was about to address him when a small bell +tinkled, the music ceased, and three Ethiopian minstrels, banjo in hand, +advanced to the foot-lights, made their bow, and then seated themselves +on the three chairs, with that intensity of consummate, impudent, easy +familiarity peculiar to the ebony sons of song. + +"Go it, darkies!" shouted an enthusiastic individual in the middle of +the room. + +"Three cheers for the niggers!" roared a sailor, who had just returned +from a twelvemonth's cruise at the mines, and whose delight at the +prospect of once more hearing a good song was quite irrepressible. + +The audience responded to the call with shouts of laughter, and a cheer +that would have done your heart good to listen to, while the niggers +shewed their teeth in acknowledgment of the compliment. + +The first song was "Lilly Dale," and the men, who, we need scarcely say, +were fictitious negroes, sang it so well that the audience listened with +breathless attention and evident delight, and encored it vociferously. +The next song was "Oh! Massa, how he wopped me," a ditty of quite a +different stamp, but equally popular. It also was encored, as indeed +was every song sting that evening; but the performers had counted on +this. After the third song there was a hornpipe, in the performance of +which the dancer's chief aim seemed to be, to shew in what a variety of +complex ways he could shake himself to pieces if he chose. Then there +was another trio, and then a short pause, in order duly to prepare the +public mind for the reception of the great _cantatrice_ Mademoiselle +Nelina. When she was led to the foot-lights by the tallest of the three +negroes, there was a momentary pause, as if men caught their breath; +then there was a prolonged cheer of enthusiastic admiration. And little +wonder, for the creature that appeared before these rough miners seemed +more like an angelic visitant than a mortal. + +There was nothing strikingly beautiful about the child, but she +possessed that inexpressibly _sweet_ character of face that takes the +human heart by storm at first sight; and this, added to the fact that +she was almost the only one of her sex who had been seen for many months +by any of those present,--that she was fair, blue-eyed, delicate, +modestly dressed, and innocent, filled them with an amount of enthusiasm +that would have predisposed them to call a scream melodious, had it been +uttered by Mademoiselle Nelina. + +But the voice which came timidly from her lips was in harmony with her +appearance. There was no attempt at execution, and the poor child was +too frightened to succeed in imparting much expression to the simple +ballad which she warbled; but there was an inherent richness in the +tones of her voice that entranced the ear, and dwelt for weeks and +months afterwards on the memory of those who heard it that night. + +It is needless to add, that all her songs were encored with rapturous +applause. The second song she sang was the popular one, "Erin, my +country!" and it created quite a _furore_ among the audience, many of +whom were natives of the Green Isle. + +"Oh! ye purty creature! sing it again, do!" yelled an Irishman in the +front seats, while he waved his hat, and cheered in mad enthusiasm. The +multitude shouted, "Encore!" and the song was sung for the third time. + +While it was singing, Larry O'Neil sat with his hands clasped before +him, his bosom heaving, and his eyes riveted on the child's face. + +"Mr Sinton," he said, in a deep, earnest tone, touching Ned on the +shoulder, as the last sweet notes of the air were drowned in the thunder +of applause that followed Mademoiselle Nelina off the stage; "Mr +Sinton, I'd lay me life that it's _her_!" + +"Who?" inquired Ned, smiling at the serious expression of his comrade's +face. + +"Who but Nelly Morgan, av course. She's the born image o' Kate. +They're as like as two paise. Sure av it's her, I'll know it, I will; +an' I'll make that black thief of a Yankee explain how he comed to +possess stolen goods." + +Ned and the captain at first expressed doubts as to Larry's being able +to swear to the identity of one whom he had never seen before; but the +earnest assurances of the Irishman convinced them that he must be right, +and they at once entered into his feelings, and planned, in an eager +undertone, how the child was to be communicated with. + +"It won't do," said Ned, "to tax the man right out with his villainy. +The miners would say we wanted to get possession of the child to make +money by her." + +"But if the child herself admitted that the man was not her relative!" +suggested Captain Bunting. + +"Perhaps," returned Ned, "she might at the same time admit that she +didn't like the appearance of the strangers who made such earnest +inquiries about her, and prefer to remain with her present guardian." + +"Niver fear," said Larry, in a hoarse whisper; "she'll not say that if I +tell her I know her sister Kate, and can take her to her. Besides, +hasn't she got an Irish heart? an' don't I know the way to touch it? +Jist stay where ye are, both o' ye, an' I'll go behind the scenes. The +niggers are comin' on again, so I'll try; maybe there's nobody there but +herself." + +Before they could reply, Larry was gone. In a few minutes he reached +the front seats, and, leaning his back against the wall, as if he were +watching the performers, he gradually edged himself into the dark corner +where the side curtain shut off the orchestra from the public. To his +great satisfaction he found that this was only secured to the wall by +one or two nails, which he easily removed, and then, in the midst of an +uproarious laugh, caused by a joke of the serenaders, he pushed the +curtain aside, and stood before the astonished gaze of Mademoiselle +Nelina, who sat on a chair, with her hands clasped and resting on her +knee. Unfortunately for the success of Larry's enterprise, he also +stood before the curtain-raiser--a broad, sturdy man, in rough miner's +costume--whose back was turned towards him, but whose surprised visage +instantly faced him on hearing the muffled noise caused by his entry. +There was a burly negro also in the place, seated on a small stool, who +looked at him with unqualified astonishment. + +"Halloo! wot do _you_ want?" exclaimed the curtain-raiser. + +"Eh! tare an' ages!" cried Larry, in amazement. "May I niver! Sure +it's draimin' I am; an' the ghost o' Bill Jones is comed to see me!" + +It was, indeed, no other than Bill Jones who stood revealed before him; +but no friendly glance of recognition did his old comrade vouchsafe him. +He continued, after the first look of surprise, to frown steadily on +the intruder. + +"You've the advantage o' me, young man," said Bill, in a stern, though +subdued tone, for he feared to disturb the men on the stage; "moreover, +you've comed in where ye've got no right to be. When a man goes where +he shouldn't ought to, an' things looks as if they wasn't all square, in +them circumstances, blow high or blow low, I always goes straight +for'ard an' shoves him out. If he don't shove easy, why, put on more +steam--that's wot _I_ say." + +"But sure ye don't forgit me, Bill!" pleaded Larry, in amazement. + +"Well, p'r'aps I don't, an' p'r'aps I do. W'en I last enjoyed the +dishonour o' yer acquaintance, ye wos a blackguard. It ain't likely yer +improved, so be good enough to back yer top-sails, and clear out." + +Bill Jones pointed, as he spoke, to the opening through which Larry had +entered, but, suddenly changing his mind, he said, "Hold on; there's a +back door, an' it'll be easier to kick you through that than through the +consart-room." + +So saying, Bill seized Larry O'Neil by the collar, and led that +individual, in a state of helpless and wondering consternation, through +a back door, where, however, instead of kicking him out, he released +him, and suddenly changed his tone to an eager whisper. + +"Oh! Larry, lad, I'm glad to see ye. Wherever did ye come from? I've +no time to speak. Uncle Ned's jist buried, and Jim Crow comes on in +three minutes. I had to pretend, ye know, 'cause it wouldn't do to let +Jim see I know'd ye--that wos him on the stool--I know wot brought ye +here--an' I've fund out who _she_ is. Where d'ye stop?" + +Larry's surprise just permitted him to gasp out the words "City Hotel," +when a roar of laughter and applause met their ears, followed by the +tinkle of a small bell. Bill sprang through the doorway, and slammed +the door in his old comrade's face. + +It would be difficult to say, looking at that face at that particular +time, whether the owner thereof was mad or drunk--or both--so strangely +did it wrinkle and contort as it gradually dawned upon its owner that +Bill Jones, true to his present profession, was acting a part; that he +knew about the mystery of Mademoiselle Nelina; was now acquainted with +his, (Larry's), place of abode; and would infallibly find him out after +the concert was over. As these things crossed his mind, Larry smote his +thigh so often and so vigorously, that he ran the risk of being taken up +for unwarrantably discharging his revolver in the streets, and he +whistled once or twice so significantly, that at least five stray dogs +answered to the call. At last he hitched up the band of his trousers, +and, hastening round to the front door, essayed to re-enter the +concert-room. + +"Pay here, please," cried the money-taker, in an extremely nasal tone, +as he passed the little hole in the wall. + +"I've paid already," answered Larry. + +"Shew your check, then." + +"Sure I don't know what that is." + +The doorkeeper smiled contemptuously, and shut down with a bang the bar +that kept off the public. Larry doubled his fist, and flushed crimson; +then he remembered the importance of the business he had on hand, and +quietly drew the requisite sum from his leather purse. + +"Come along," said he to Ned Sinton, on re-entering the room. "I've +see'd her; an' Bill Jones, too!" + +"Bill Jones!" cried Ned and the captain simultaneously. + +"Whist!" said Larry; "don't be makin' people obsarve us. Come along +home; it's all right--I'll tell ye all about it when we're out." + +In another minute the three friends were in the street, conversing +eagerly and earnestly as they hastened to their quarters through the +thronged and noisy streets of Sacramento. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +DEEP PLOTS AND PLANS--BILL JONES RELATES HIS MISADVENTURES--MADEMOISELLE +NELINA CONSENTS TO RUN OFF WITH LARRY O'NEIL--A YANKEE MUSICIAN +OUTWITTED--THE ESCAPE. + +As Larry had rightly anticipated, Bill Jones made his appearance at the +City Hotel the moment the concert was over, and found his old comrades +waiting anxiously for him. + +It did not take long to tell him how they had discovered the existence +of Nelly Morgan, as we shall now call her, but it took much longer to +drag from Bill the account of his career since they last met, and the +explanation of how he came to be placed in his present circumstances. + +"Ye see, friends," said he, puffing at a pipe, from which, to look at +him, one would suppose he derived most of his information, "this is how +it happened. When I set sail from the diggin's to come here for grub, I +had a pleasant trip at first. But after a little things began to look +bad; the feller that steered us lost his reckoning, an' so we took two +or three wrong turns by way o' makin' short cuts. That's always how it +Is. There's a proverb somewhere--" + +"In Milton, maybe, or Napier's book o' logarithms," suggested Captain +Bunting. + +"P'r'aps it wos, and p'r'aps it wosn't," retorted Bill, stuffing the end +of his little finger, (if such a diminutive may be used in reference to +any of his fingers), into the bowl of his pipe. "I raither think myself +it wos in _Bell's Life_ or the _Royal Almanac_; hows'ever, that's wot it +is. When ye've got a short road to go, don't try to make it shorter, +say I--" + +"An' when ye've got a long story to tell, don't try to make it longer," +interrupted Larry, winking at his comrade through the smoke of his pipe. + +"Well, as I wos sayin'," continued Bill, doggedly, "we didn't git on so +well after a bit; but somehow or other we got here at last, and cast +anchor in this very hotel. Off I goes at once an' buys a cart an' a +mule, an' then I sets to work to lay in provisions. Now, d'ye see, +lads, 'twould ha' bin better if I had bought the provisions first an' +the mule and the cart after, for I had to pay ever so many dollars a day +for their keep. At last I got it all square; packed tight and tied up +in the cart--barrels o' flour, and kegs o' pork, an' beans, an' brandy, +an' what not; an' away I went alone; for, d'ye see, I carry a compass, +an' when I've once made a voyage, I never need to be told how to steer. + +"But my troubles began soon. There's a ford across the river here, +which I was told I'd ha' to cross; and sure enough, so I did--but it's +as bad as Niagara, if not worse--an' when I gits half way over, we wos +capsized, and went down the river keel up. I dun know yet very well how +I got ashore, but I did somehow--" + +"And did the cart go for it?" inquired Captain Bunting, aghast. + +"No, the cart didn't. She stranded half-a-mile further down, on a rock, +where she lies to this hour, with a wheel smashed and the bottom out, +and about three thousand tons o' water swashin' right through her every +hour; but all the provisions and the mule went slap down the Sacramento; +an', if they haven't bin' picked up on the way, they're cruisin' off the +port o' San Francisco by this time." + +The unfortunate seaman stopped at this point to relight his pipe, while +his comrades laughingly commented on his misadventure. + +"Ah! ye may laugh; but I can tell ye it warn't a thing to be laughed at; +an' at this hour I've scarce one dollar to rub 'gainst another." + +"Never mind, my boy," said Ned, as he and the others laughed loud and +long at the lugubrious visage of their comrade; "we've got well-lined +pockets, I assure you; and, of course, we have _your_ share of the +profits of our joint concern to hand over whenever you wish it." + +The expression of Bill Jones's face was visibly improved by this piece +of news, and he went on with much greater animation. + +"Well, my story's short now. I comed back here, an' by chance fell in +with this feller--this Yankee-nigger--who offered me five dollars a day +to haul up the curtain, an' do a lot o' dirty work, sich as bill +stickin', an' lightin' the candles, an' sweepin' the floor; but it's +hard work, I tell ye, to live on so little in sich a place as this, +where everything's so dear." + +"You're not good at a bargain, I fear," remarked Sinton; "but what of +the little girl?" + +"Well, I wos comin' to that. Ye see, I felt sure, from some things I +overheerd, that she wasn't the man's daughter, so one day I axed her who +she wos, an' she said she didn't know, except that her name was Nelly +Morgan; so it comed across me that Morgan wos the name o' the Irish +family you wos so thick with up at the diggin's, Larry; an' I wos goin' +to ask if she know'd them, when Jolly--that's the name o' the gitter up +o' the concerts--catched me talkin', an' he took her away sharp, and +said he'd thank me to leave the girl alone. I've been watchin' to have +another talk with her, but Jolly's too sharp for me, an' I haven't spoke +to her yet." + +Larry manifested much disappointment at this termination, for he had +been fully prepared to hear that the girl had made Bill her confidant, +and would be ready to run away with him at a moment's notice. However, +he consoled himself by saying that he would do the thing himself; and, +after arranging that Bill was to tell Nelly that a friend of his knew +where her sister was, and would like to speak with her, they all retired +to rest, at least to rest as well as they could in a house which, like +all the houses in California, swarmed with rats. + +Next night Bill Jones made a bold effort, and succeeded in conveying +Larry's message to Nelly, very adroitly, as he thought, while she was +standing close to him waiting for Mr Jolly to lead her to the +foot-lights. The consequence was that the poor child trembled like a +leaf when she attempted to sing, and, finally, fainted on the stage, to +the consternation of a crowded house. + +The point was gained, however; Nelly soon found an opportunity of +talking in private with Bill Jones, and appointed to meet Larry in the +street next morning early, near the City Hotel. + +It was with trembling eagerness, mixed with timidity, that she took the +Irishman's arm when they met, and asked if he really knew where her +sister was. + +"Oh, how I've longed for her! But are you _sure_ you know her?" + +"Know her!" said Larry, with a smile. "Do I know meself?" + +This argument was unanswerable, so Nelly made no reply, and Larry went +on. "Yes, avic, I know'd her, an' faix I hope to know her better. But +here's her picture for ye." + +Larry then gave the earnest listener at his side a graphic description +of her sister Kate's personal appearance, and described her brother +also, but he did not, at that time, acquaint her with the death of the +latter. He also spoke of Black Jim, and described the circumstances of +her being carried off. "So ye see, darlin'," said he, "I know all about +ye; an' now I want ye to tell me what happened to ye after that." + +"It's a sad story," said the child, in a low tone, as if her mind were +recalling melancholy incidents in her career. Then she told rapidly, +how she had been forsaken by those to whom she had been intrusted, and +left to perish in the mountain snow; and how, in her extremity, God had +sent help; how another party of emigrants found her and carried her on; +how, one by one, they all died, till she was left alone a second time; +and how a Mexican horseman found her, and carried her to his home, and +kept her there as his adopted daughter, till he was killed while taming +a wild horse. After that, Nelly's story was a repetition of what Larry +had already overheard accidentally in the concert-room. + +"Now, dear," said Larry, "we haven't time to waste, will ye go with me +to San Francisco?" + +The tones of the rough man's voice, rather than his words, had +completely won the confidence of the poor child, so she said, "Yes," +without hesitation. "But how am I to escape from Mr Jolly?" she added; +"he has begun to suspect Mr Jones, I see quite well." + +"Lave that to me, darlin', an' do you kape as much as ye can in the +house the nixt day or two, an' be lookin' out for what may turn up. +Good day to ye, mavourneen; we must part here, for fear we're seen by +any lynx-eyed blackguards. Kape up yer heart." + +Nelly walked quickly away, half laughing at, and half perplexed by, the +ambiguity of her new friend's parting advice. + +The four friends now set themselves to work to outwit Mr Jolly, and rob +him of Mademoiselle Nelina. At last they hit upon a device, which did +not, indeed, say much for the ingenuity of the party, but which, like +many other bold plans, succeeded admirably. + +A steamer was to start in three days for San Francisco--one of those +splendid new vessels which, like floating palaces, had suddenly made +their appearance on these distant waters--having made the long and +dangerous voyage from the United States round the Horn. Before the +steamer started, Larry contrived to obtain another interview with Nelly +Morgan, and explained their plan, which was as follows:-- + +On the day of the steamer sailing, a few hours before the time of +starting, Mr Jolly was to receive the following letter, dated from a +well-known ranche, thirty miles up the river:-- + +"Sir,--I trust that you will forgive a perfect stranger addressing you, +but the urgency of the case must be my excuse. There is a letter lying +here for you, which, I have reason to know, contains information of the +utmost importance to yourself; but which--owing to circumstances that I +dare not explain in a letter that might chance to fall into wrong +hands--must be opened here by your own hands. It will explain all when +you arrive; meanwhile, as I am a perfect stranger to the state of your +finances, I send you a sufficient quantity of gold-dust by the bearer to +enable you to hire a horse and come up. Pray excuse the liberty I take, +and believe me to be, + +"Your obedient servant, + +"Edward Sinton." + +At the appointed time Larry delivered this epistle, and the bag of gold +into Mr Jolly's hands, and, saying that no answer was required, hurried +away. + +If Mr Jolly had been suddenly informed that he had been appointed +secretary of state to the king of Ashantee, he could not have looked +more astonished than when he perused this letter, and weighed the bag of +gold in his hand. The letter itself; had it arrived alone, might, very +likely would, have raised his suspicions, but accompanied as it was by a +bag of gold of considerable value, it commended itself as a genuine +document; and the worthy musician was in the saddle half-an-hour later. +Before starting, he cautioned Nelly not to quit the house on any account +whatever, a caution which she heard but did not reply to. Three hours +later Mr Jolly reached his destination, and had the following letter +put into his hands. + +"Sir,--By the time you receive this, your late charge, Mademoiselle +Nelina, will be on her way to San Francisco, where you are welcome to +follow her, and claim her from her sister, if you feel so disposed. + +"I am, Sir, etcetera, + +"Edward Sinton." + +We need not repeat what Mr Jolly said, or try to imagine what he felt, +on receipt of _this_ letter! About the time it was put into his hands +the magnificent steamer at the _embarcadero_ gave a shrill whistle, then +it panted violently, the paddles revolved,--and our adventurers were +soon steaming swiftly down the noble river on their way to San +Francisco. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +SAN FRANCISCO AGAIN--A TERRIBLE MISFORTUNE--AN OLD FRIEND IN +SURPRISINGLY NEW CIRCUMSTANCES--SEVERAL REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES AND NEW +LIGHTS. + +There is no time or place, perhaps, more suitable for indulging in +ruminations, cogitations, and reminiscences, than the quiet hours of a +calm night out upon the sea, when the watchful stars look down upon the +bosom of the deep, and twinkle at their reflections in placid +brilliancy. + +Late at night, when all the noisy inmates of the steamer had ceased to +eat, and drink, and laugh, and had sought repose in their berths, Edward +Sinton walked the deck alone, meditating on the past, the present, and +the future. When he looked up at the serene heavens, and down at the +tranquil sea, whose surface was unruffled, save by the long pure white +track of the vessel, he could scarcely bring himself to believe that the +whirl of incident and adventure in which he had been involved during the +last few and short months was real. It seemed like a brilliant dream. +As long as he was on shore it all appeared real enough, and the constant +pressure of _something to be done_, either immediately, or in an hour, +or to-morrow, kept his mind perpetually chained down to the +consideration of visible, and tangible, and passing events; but now the +cord of connexion with land had been suddenly and completely severed. +The very land itself was out of sight. Nothing around him tended to +recall recent events; and, as he had nothing in the world to do but wait +until the voyage should come to an end, his mind was left free to bound +over the recent-past into the region of the long-past, and revel there +at pleasure. + +But Ned Sinton was not altogether without anxieties. He felt a little +uneasy as to the high-handed manner, in which he had carried off Nelly +Morgan from her late guardian; and he was a good deal perplexed as to +what the important affairs could be, for which he had so hastily +overturned all the gold-digging plans of his whole party. With these +thoughts mingled many philosophic inquiries as to the amount of +advantage that lay--if, indeed, there was any advantage at all--in +making one's fortune suddenly and at the imminent hazard of one's life. +Overpowering sleep at last put an end to Ned's wandering thoughts, and +he too bade the stars good-night, and sought his pillow. In due course +the vessel cast anchor off the town of San Francisco. + +"There is many a slip 'tween the cup and the lip." It is an old proverb +that, but one which is proved, by frequent use, on the part of authors +in all ages, to be a salutary reminder to humanity. Its truth was +unpleasantly exemplified on the arrival of the steamer. As the tide was +out at the time, the captain ordered the boats to be lowered, in order +to land the passengers. The moment they touched the water they were +filled by impatient miners, who struggled to be first ashore. The boat +into which Ned and his friends got was soon overloaded with passengers, +and the captain ordered her to be shoved off. + +"Hold on!" shouted a big coarse-looking fellow, in a rough blue jacket +and wide-awake, who was evidently drunk; "let me in first." + +"There's no room!" cried several voices. "Shove off." + +"There's room enough!" cried the man, with an oath; at the same time +seizing the rope. + +"If ye do come down," said a sailor, sternly, "I'll pitch ye overboard." + +"Will ye!" growled the man; and the next instant he sprang upon the edge +of the boat, which upset, and left its freight struggling in the water. +The other boats immediately picked them all up; and, beyond a wetting, +they were physically none the worse. But, alas! the bags of gold which +our adventurers were carrying ashore with them, sank to the bottom of +the sea! They were landed on the wharf at San Francisco as penniless as +they were on the day of their arrival in California. + +This reverse of fortune was too tremendous to be realised in a moment. +As they stood on the wharf; dripping wet, and gazing at each other in +dismay, they suddenly, as if by one consent, burst into a loud laugh. +But the laugh had a strong dash of bitterness in its tone; and when it +passed, the expression of their countenances was not cheerful. + +Bill Jones was the first to speak, as they wandered, almost helplessly, +through the crowded streets, while little Nelly ever and anon looked +wistfully up into Larry's face, as he led her by the hand. + +"It's a stunnin' smash," said Bill, fetching a deep sigh. "But w'en a +thing's done, an' can't be undone, then it's unpossible, that's wot it +is; and wot's unpossible there's no use o' tryin' for to do. 'Cause +why? it only wastes yer time an' frets yer sperrit--that's _my_ +opinion." + +Not one of the party ventured to smile--as was their wont in happier +circumstances--at the philosophy of their comrade's remark. They +wandered on in silence till they reached--they scarce knew how or why-- +the centre plaza of the town. + +"It's of no use giving way to it," said Ned Sinton, at last, making a +mighty effort to recover: "we must face our reverses like men; and, +after all, it might have been worse. We might have lost our lives as +well as our gold, so we ought to be thankful instead of depressed." + +"What shall we do now?" inquired Captain Bunting, in a tone that proved +sufficiently that he at least could not benefit by Ned's advice. + +"Sure we'll have to go an' work, capting," replied Larry, in a tone of +facetious desperation; "but first of all we'll have to go an' see Mr +Thompson, and git dry clo'se for Nelly, poor thing--are ye cowld, +darlin'?" + +"No, not in the least," answered the child, sadly. "I think my things +will dry soon, if we walk in the sun." + +Nelly's voice seemed to rouse the energies of the party more effectually +than Ned's moralising. + +"Yes," cried the latter, "let us away to old Thompson's. His daughter, +Lizette, will put you all to rights, dear, in a short time. Come +along." + +So saying, Ned led the way, and the whole party speedily stood at the +door of Mr Thompson's cottage. + +The door was merely fastened by a latch, and as no notice was taken of +their first knock, Ned lifted it and entered the hall, then advancing to +the parlour door, he opened it and looked in. + +The sight that met his gaze was well calculated to make him open his +eyes, and his mouth too, if that would in any way have relieved his +feelings. + +Seated in old Mr Thompson's easy-chair, with one leg stretched upon an +ottoman, and the other reposing on a stool, reclined Tom Collins, +looking, perhaps, a little paler than was his wont, as if still +suffering from the effects of recent illness, but evidently quite happy +and comfortable. + +Beside Tom, on another stool, with her arm resting on Tom's knee, and +looking up in his face with a quiet smile, sat Elizabeth Thompson. + +"Tom! Miss Thompson!" cried Ned Sinton, standing absolutely aghast. + +Miss Thompson sprang up with a face of crimson, but Tom sat coolly +still, and said, while a broad grin overspread his handsome countenance, +"No, Ned, not Miss Thompson--Mrs _Collins_, who, I know, is rejoiced to +see you." + +"You are jesting, Tom," said Ned, as he advanced quickly, and took the +lady's hand, while Tom rose and heartily welcomed his old companions. + +"Not a bit of it, my dear fellow," he repeated. "This, I assure you, is +my wife. Pray, dear Lizette, corroborate my statement, else our friends +won't believe me. But sit down, sit down, and let's hear all about you. +Go, Lizette, get 'em something to eat. I knew you would make your +appearance ere long. Old Thompson's letter--halloo! why what's this? +You're wet! and _who's_ this--a wet little girl?" + +"Faix, ye may well be surprised, Mister Tom," said Larry, "for we're all +wet _beggars_, ivery wan o' us--without a dollar to bless ourselves +with." + +Tom Collins looked perplexed, as he turned from one to the other. +"Stay," he shouted; "wife, come here. There's a mystery going on. Take +this moist little one to your room; and there," he added, throwing open +a door, "you fellows will all find dry apparel to put on--though I don't +say to fit. Come along with me, Ned, and while you change, give an +account of yourself." + +Ned did as he was desired; and, in the course of a lengthened +conversation, detailed to Tom the present condition of himself and his +friends. + +"It's unfortunate," said Tom, after a pause; "ill-luck seems to follow +us wherever we go." + +"You ought to be ashamed of yourself;" cried Ned, "for saying so, +considering the wife you have got." + +"True, my boy," replied the other, "I ought indeed to be ashamed, but I +spoke in reference to money matters. What say you to the fact, that I +am as much a beggar as yourself?" + +"Outward appearances would seem to contradict you." + +"Nevertheless, it is true, I assure you. When you left me, Ned, in the +hotel at Sacramento, I became so lonely that I grew desperate; and, +feeling much stronger in body, I set off for this town in the new +steamer--that in which you arrived. I came straight up here, +re-introduced myself to Mr Thompson; and, two days after--for I count +it folly to waste time in such matters when one's mind is made up--I +proposed to Lizette, and was accepted conditionally. Of course, the +condition was that papa should be willing. But papa was _not_ willing. +He said that three thousand dollars, all I possessed, was a capital sum, +but not sufficient to marry on, and that he could not risk his +daughter's happiness, etcetera, etcetera--you know the rest. Well, the +very next day news came that one of Thompson's best ships had been +wrecked off Cape Horn. This was a terrible blow, for the old man's +affairs were in a rickety condition at any rate, and this sank him +altogether. His creditors were willing enough to wait, but one rascal +refused to do so, and swore he would sequestrate him. I found that the +sum due him was exactly three thousand dollars, so I paid him the amount +in full, and handed Thompson the discharged account. `Now,' said I, +`I'm off to the diggings, so good-bye!' for, you see, Ned, I felt that I +could not urge my suit at that time, as it would be like putting on the +screw--taking an unfair advantage of him. + +"`Why, what do you mean, my lad?' said he. + +"`That I'm off to-morrow,' replied I. + +"`That you must not do,' said he. + +"`Why not?' said I. + +"`Because,' said he, `now that things are going smooth, I must go to +England by the first ship that sails, and get my affairs there put on a +better footing, so you must stay here to look after my business, and +to--to--take care of Lizette.' + +"`Eh! what!' said I, `what do you mean? You know _that_ is impossible.' + +"`Not at all, boy, if you marry her!' + +"Of course I could not refuse, and so, to cut it short, we were married +right off and here we are, the representatives of the great firm of +Thompson and Company, of California." + +"Then, do you mean to say that Thompson is gone?" Inquired Ned, with a +look of horror. + +"Near the Horn, I should think, by this time; but why so anxious?" + +"Because," sighed Ned, sitting down on the edge of the bed, with a look +of despair, "I came here by his invitation; and--" + +"Oh! it's all right," interrupted Tom; "I know all about it, and am +commissioned by him to settle the affair for you." + +"But what _is_ the affair?" inquired Ned, eagerly. + +"Ah! my dear boy, do try to exercise patience. If I tell you everything +before we go down to our comrades, I fear we shall have to send a +message to say that we are not coming till to-morrow morning." + +Tom rose as he spoke, and led the way to the parlour, where bread and +cheese were spread out for them. + +"The only drawback to my felicity," whispered Tom to Sinton, as they +entered, "is that I find Thompson's affairs far worse than he himself +was aware of; and it's a fact, that at this moment I can scarcely draw +enough out of the business to supply the necessaries of life." + +There was a slight bitterness in Tom's tone as he said this, but the +next moment he was jesting with his old companions as lightheartedly as +ever. During the meal he refused, however, to talk business, and, when +it was concluded, he proposed that they should go out for a stroll +through the town. + +"By the way," remarked Ned, as they walked along, "what of Captain +Bunting's old ship?" + +"Ay!" echoed the captain, "that's the uppermost thing in _my_ mind; but +master Tom seems determined to keep us in the dark. I do believe the +_Roving Bess_ has been burned, an' he's afraid to tell us." + +"You're a desperately inquisitive set," cried Tom Collins, laughing. +"Could you not suppose that I wanted to give you a surprise, by shewing +you how curiously she has been surrounded by houses since you last saw +her. You'll think nothing of it, now that I have told you." + +"Why, where are ye goin'?" cried Larry, as Tom turned up a street that +led a little away from the shore, towards which they had been walking! + +Tom made no reply, but led on. They were now in that densely-crowded +part of the town where shops were less numerous, warehouses more +plentiful, and disagreeable odours more abundant, than elsewhere. A +dense mass of buildings lay between them and the sea, and in the centre +of these was a square or plaza, on one side of which stood a large +hotel, out of the roof of which rose a gigantic flag-staff. A broad and +magnificent flight of wooden steps led up to the door of this house of +entertainment, over which, on a large board, was written its name--"The +Roving Bess Tavern." + +"Dear me! that's a strange coincidence," exclaimed the captain, as his +eye caught the name. + +"Tare an' ages!" yelled Larry, "av it isn't the owld ship! Don't I know +the mizzen-mast as well as I know me right leg?" + +"The _Roving Bess_ Tavern!" muttered Captain Bunting, while his eyes +stared incredulously at the remarkable edifice before him. + +Bill Jones, who, up to this point, had walked beside his comrades in +silent meditation, here lost presence of mind and, putting both hands to +his mouth, sang out, in true stentorian boatswain tones, "All hands +ahoy! tumble up there--tumble up!" + +"Ay, ay, sir!" roared half-a-dozen jack tars, who chanced to be regaling +themselves within, and who rushed out, hat in hand, ready for a spree, +at the unexpected but well-known summons. + +"Major Whitlaw," said Tom Collins, springing up the steps, and +addressing a tall, cadaverous-looking Yankee, "allow me to introduce to +you your landlord, Captain Bunting--your tenant, captain. I dare say +you have almost forgotten each other." + +The captain held out his hand mechanically and gazed at his tenant +unbelievingly, while the major said-- + +"Glad to see ye, cap'n, I guess. Wanted to for a long time. Couldn't +come to terms with old Thompson. Won't you step in and take a cocktail +or a gin-sling? I'd like to have a private talk--this way." + +The landlord of the _Roving Bess_ Tavern led the captain to what was +once his own cabin, and begged him to be seated on his own locker at the +head of his own table. He accepted these civilities, staring round him +in mute wonder all the time, as if he thought it was a dream, out of +which he should wake in due course, while, from all parts of the tavern, +came sounds of mirth, and clatter of knives and forks and dishes, and +odours of gin-slings and bear-steaks and pork-pies. + +"Jist sit there a minute," said the Yankee, "till I see to your friends +bein' fixed off comfortable; of course, Mr Collins may stay, for he +knows all about it." + +When he was gone, the captain rose and looked into his old berth. It +had been converted into a pantry, so he shut the door quickly and +returned to his seat. + +"Tom," said he, in a low whisper, as if he feared to break the spell, +"how _did_ they get her up here!" + +"She's never been moved since you left her," answered Tom, laughing; +"the town has gradually surrounded her, as you see, and crept out upon +the shore, filling up the sea with rubbish, till it has left her nearly +a quarter of a mile inland." + +The captain's eyes opened wider than ever, but before he could find +words again to speak, Major Whitlaw returned. + +"They're all square now, gentlemen, so, if you please, we'll proceed to +business. I suppose your friend has told you how the land lies?" + +"He certainly has," replied the captain, who accepted the phrase +literally. + +"Wall, I reckon your property's riz since ye wor here; now, if you give +me leave to make the alterations I want to, I'll give you 1000 dollars a +month, payable in advance." + +"You'd better tell Captain Bunting what the alterations you refer to +are," suggested Tom Collins, who saw that the captain's state of mind +rendered him totally incapable of transacting business. + +"That's soon done. I'll give it ye slick off. I want to cut away the +companion-hatch and run up a regular stair to the deck; then it's +advisable to cut away at least half o' the main deck to heighten the +gamin' saloon. But I guess the main point is to knock out half-a-dozen +windows in the hold, for gas-light is plaguey dear, when it's goin' full +blast day and night. Besides, I must cut the entrance-door down to the +ground, for this tree-mendous flight o' stairs'll be the ruin o' the +business. It's only a week since a man was shot by a comrade here in +the cabin, an' as they rushed out after him, two customers fell down the +stair and broke their arms. And I calc'late the gentlemen that's +overtaken by liquor every night won't stand it much longer. There isn't +a single man that quits this house after 12 p.m. but goes down that +flight head-foremost. If you don't sanction that change, I guess I'll +have to get 'em padded, and spread feather-beds at the foot. Now, +cap'n, if you agrees to this right off, I'll give the sum named." + +Captain Bunting's astonishment had now reached that point at which +extremes are supposed to meet, and a reaction began to take place. + +"How much did you propose?" he inquired, taking out a pencil and an old +letter, as if he were about to make notes, at the same time knitting his +brows, and endeavouring to look intensely sagacious. + +"One thousand dollars a month," answered the Yankee; "I railly can't +stand more." + +"Let me see," muttered the captain slowly, in an under tone, while he +pressed his forehead with his fore-finger; "one thousand dollars--200 +pounds sterling--hum, equal to about 2400 pounds a year. Well," he +added, raising his voice, "I don't mind if I do. I suppose, Tom, it's +not _much_ below the thing, as rents go!" + +"It's a fair offer," said Tom, carelessly; "we might, perhaps, get a +higher, but Major Whitlaw is in possession, and is, besides, a good +tenant." + +"Then I'll conclude the bargain--pray get pen, ink, and paper." + +While the major turned for a moment to procure writing materials, the +captain looked at Tom and winked expressively. Then, a document was +drawn up, signed, and witnessed, and then the captain, politely +declining a brandy-smash, or any other smash whatever, left the _Roving +Bess_ Tavern with his friends, and with 200 pounds--the first month's +rent--in his pocket. + +It is needless to remark, that his comrades congratulated him heartily, +and that the worthy captain walked along the streets of San Francisco +chuckling. + +In a few minutes, Tom Collins stopped before a row of immense +warehouses. There was one gap in the row, a space of several yards +square, that might have held two good-sized houses. Four wooden posts +stood at the corners of the plot, and an old boat, turned keel up, lay +in the middle of it. + +"I know it!" cried Ned Sinton, laughing in gleeful surprise; "it's my +old boat, isn't it? Well, I can scarcely credit my eyes! I saw it last +on the sea-shore, and now it's a quarter of a mile into the town!" + +"More than that, Ned," said Tom Collins, "the plot of ground is worth +ten thousand dollars at this moment. Had it been a little further +south, it would have been worth ten times that sum. And more than that +still, the Irish family you lent the boat to--you remember them--well, +they dug up a bag from under the boat which contained five thousand +dollars; the honest people at once gave it up, and Mr Thompson rewarded +them well; but they did not live to enjoy it long, they're all dead now. +So you see, Ned, you're just 3000 pounds richer than you thought you +were this morning." + +"It's a great day!" remarked Larry O'Neil, looking round upon his +comrades, who received all this information with an expression of +doubting surprise; "a great day intirely! Faix, I'm only hopin' we +won't waken up an' find it's all a dhrame!" + +Larry's companions quite agreed with him. They did not indeed say so, +but, as they returned home after that stroll, talking eagerly of future +plans and prospects, the ever-recurring sentiment broke from their lips, +in every style of phrase, "It's a great day, intirely!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +MORE UNEXPECTED DISCOVERIES--CAPTAIN BUNTING MAKES BILL JONES A FIRST +MATE--LARRY O'NEIL MAKES HIMSELF A FIRST MATE--THE PARTING--NED SINTON +PROVES HIMSELF, A SECOND TIME, TO BE A FRIEND IN NEED AND IN DEED. + +"It never rains but it pours," saith the proverb. We are fond of +proverbs. We confess to a weakness that way. There is a depth of +meaning in them which courts investigation from the strongest +intellects. Even when they are nonsensical, which is not unfrequently +the case, their nonsense is unfathomable, and, therefore, invested with +all the zest which attaches, metaphysically speaking, to the +incomprehensible. + +Astonishing circumstances had been raining for some time past around our +bewildered adventurers, and, latterly, they had begun to pour. On the +afternoon of the day, the events of which have been recorded in the last +chapter, there was, metaphorically speaking, a regular thunder-plump. +No sooner had the party returned to old Mr Thompson's cottage, than +down it came again, heavy as ever. + +On entering the porch, Lizette ran up to Tom, in that pretty tripping +style peculiar to herself, and whispered in his ear. + +"Well, you baggage," said he, "I'll go with you; but I don't like +secrets. Walk into the parlour, friends; I'll be with you in a minute." + +"Tom," said Lizette, pursing up her little mouth and elevating her pert +nose; "you can't guess what an interesting discovery I've made." + +"Of course I can't," replied Tom, with affected impatience; "now, pray, +don't ask me to try, else I shall leave you instantly." + +"What an impatient creature you are!" said Lizette. "Only think! I +have discovered that my maid, whom we hired only two days ago, has--" + +"Bolted with the black cook, or somebody else, and married him," +interrupted Tom, with a look of horror, as he threw himself into any +easy-chair. + +"Not at all," rejoined Lizette, hurriedly; "nothing of the sort; she has +discovered that the little girl Mr Sinton brought with him is her +sister." + +"What! Kate Morgan's sister!" cried Tom, with a look of surprise. "I +knew it; I was sure I had heard the name before, but I couldn't remember +when or where; I see it now; she must be the girl Larry O'Neil used to +talk about up at the diggin's; but as I never saw her there, of course I +couldn't know her." + +"Well, I don't know about that; I suppose you're right," replied +Lizette; "but isn't it nice? They're kissing and hugging each other, +and crying, in the kitchen at this moment. Oh! I'm _so_ happy--the +dear little thing!" + +If Lizette was happy she took a strange way to shew it, for she sat down +beside Tom and began to sob. + +While the above conversation was going on up-stairs, another +conversation--interesting enough to deserve special notice--was going on +in the parlour. + +"Sure don't I know me own feelin's best?" remarked Larry, addressing Ned +Sinton. "It's all very well at the diggin's; but when it comes to +drawin'-rooms and parlours, I feels--an' so does Bill Jones here--that +we're out 'o place. In the matter o' diggin' we're all equals, no +doubt; but we feels that we ain't gintlemen born, and that it's a'k'ard +to the lady to be havin' sich rough customers at her table, so Bill an' +me has agreed to make the most o' ourselves in the kitchen." + +"Larry, you're talking nonsense. We have messed together on equal terms +for many months; and, whatever course we may follow after this, you +_must_ sup with us to-night, as usual. I know Tom will be angry if you +don't." + +"Ay, sir, but it ain't `as oosual,'" suggested Bill Jones, turning the +quid in his cheek; "it's quite on-oosual for the likes o' us to sup with +a lady." + +"That's it," chimed in Larry; "so, Mister Ned, ye'll jist plaise to make +our excuges to Mrs Tom, and tell her where we've gone to lo-cate, as +the Yankees say. Come away, Bill." + +Larry took his friend by the arm, and, leading him out of the room, shut +the door. + +Five seconds after that there came an appalling female shriek, and a +dreadful masculine yell, from the region of the kitchen, accompanied by +a subdued squeak of such extreme sweetness, that it could have come only +from the throat of Mademoiselle Nelina. Ned and the captain sprang to +the door, and dashed violently against Tom and his wife, whom they +unexpectedly met also rushing towards the kitchen. In another moment a +curious and deeply interesting _tableau vivant_ was revealed to their +astonished gaze. + +In the middle of the room was Larry O'Neil, down on one knee, while with +both arms he supported the fainting form of Kate Morgan. By Kate's side +knelt her sister Nelly, who bent over her pale face with anxious, +tearful countenance, while, presiding over the group, like an amiable +ogre, stood Bill Jones, with his hands in his breeches-pockets, his legs +apart, one eye tightly screwed up, and his mouth expanded from ear to +ear. + +"That's yer sort!" cried Bill, in ecstatic glee. "W'en a thing comes +all right, an' tight, an' ship-shape, why, wot then? In coorse it's all +square--that's wot _I_ say." + +"She's comin' to," whispered Larry. "Ah! thin, spake, won't ye, +darlin'? It'll do ye good, maybe, an' help to open yer two purty eyes." + +Kate Morgan recovered--we need scarcely tell our reader that--and Nelly +dried her eyes, and that evening was spent in a fashion that conduced to +the well-being, and comfort, and good humour of all parties concerned. +Perhaps it is also needless to inform our reader that Larry O'Neil and +Bill Jones carried their point. They supped in the kitchen that night. +Our informant does not say whether Kate Morgan and her sister Nelly +supped with them--but we rather think they did. + +A week afterwards, Captain Bunting had matured his future plans. He +resolved to purchase a clipper-brig that was lying at that time useless +in the harbour, and embark in the coasting trade of California. He made +Bill Jones his first mate, and offered to make Larry O'Neil his second, +but Larry wanted a mate himself, and declined the honour; so the captain +gave him five hundred pounds to set him up in any line he chose. Ned +Sinton sold his property, and also presented his old comrade with a +goodly sum of money, saying, that as he, (Ned), had been the means of +dragging him away from the diggings, he felt bound to assist him in the +hour of need. So Kate Morgan became Mrs O'Neil the week following; and +she, with her husband and her little sister, started off for the +interior of the country to look after a farm. + +About the same time, Captain Bunting having completed the lading of his +brig, succeeded in manning her by offering a high wage, and, bidding +adieu to Ned and Tom, set sail for the Sacramento. + +Two days afterwards, Ned got a letter from old Mr Shirley--the first +that he had received since leaving England. It began thus:-- + +"My Dearest Boy,--What has become of you? I have written six letters, +at least, but have never got a single line in reply. You must come home +immediately, as affairs here require your assistance, and I'm getting +too old to attend to business matters. Do come at once, my dear Ned, +unless you wish me to reprove you. Moxton says only a young and +vigorous man of business can manage things properly; but when I +mentioned you, he shook his head gravely. `Too wild and absurd in his +notions,' said he. I stopped him, however, by saying that I was fully +aware of your faults--" + +The letter then went rambling on in a quaint, prosy, but interesting +style; and Ned sat long in his room in old Mr Thompson's cottage poring +over its contents, and gradually maturing his future plans. + +"It's awkward," soliloquised he, resting his head on both hands. "I +shall have to go at once, and so won't have a chance of seeing Bunting +again, to tell him of poor Tom's circumstances. He would only be too +glad to give him a helping hand; but I know Tom will never let him know +how hard-up he is. There's nothing else for it," he added, +determinedly; "my uncle will laugh at my profitless tour--but, +_n'importe_, I have learned much.--Come in!" + +This last remark was addressed to some one who had tapped gently at the +door. + +"It's only me, Ned; can I come in? I fear I interrupt you," said Tom, +as he entered the room. + +"Not at all; sit down, my boy. I have just been perusing a letter from +my good old uncle Shirley: he writes so urgently that I fear I must +return to England by the first homeward-bound ship." + +"Return to England!" exclaimed Tom, in surprise. "What! leave the +gold-fields just as the sun is beginning to shine on you?" + +"Even so, Tom." + +"My dear Ned, you are mad! This is a splendid country. Just see what +fortunes we should have made, but for the unfortunate accidents that +have happened!" Tom sighed as he spoke. + +"I know it," replied his friend, with sadden energy. "This is a +splendid country; gold exists all over it--not only in the streams, but +on the hill-sides, and even on hill-tops, as you and I know from +personal experience--but gold, Tom, is not _everything_ in this world, +and the getting of it should not be our chief aim. Moreover, I have +come to the conclusion, that _digging_ gold ought to be left entirely to +such men as are accustomed to dig ditches and throw up railway +embankments. Men whose intelligence is of a higher order ought not to +ignore the faculties that have been given to them, and devote their +time--too often, alas! their lives--to a species of work that the merest +savage is equally capable of performing. Navvies may work at the mines +with propriety; but educated men who devote themselves to such work are, +I fear, among the number of those to whom Scripture specially speaks, +when it says, `Make not haste to be rich.'" + +"But there are other occupations here besides digging for gold," said +Tom. + +"I know it; and I would be happy and proud to rank among the merchants, +and engineers, and such men, of California; but duty calls me home, and, +to say truth," added Ned, with a smile, "inclination points the way." + +Tom Collins still for some time attempted to dissuade his friend from +quitting the country, and his sweet little wife, Lizette, seconded his +efforts with much earnestness; but Ned Sinton was immovable. He took +passage in the first ship that sailed for England. + +The night before he sailed, Ned, after retiring to his room for the last +time in his friend's house, locked his door, and went through a variety +of little pieces of business that would have surprised his hosts had +they seen him. He placed a large strong-box on the table, and +cautiously drew from under his bed a carpet-bag, which, from the effort +made to lift it, seemed to be filled with some weighty substance. +Unlocking the bag, he proceeded to lift out handful after handful of +shining dollars and gold pieces, interspersed here and there with +massive nuggets. These he transferred into the wooden box until it was +full. This was nearly the whole of Ned's fortune. It amounted to a +little more than 3000 pounds sterling. Having completed the transfer, +Ned counted the surplus left in the bag, and found it to be about 500 +pounds. This he secured in a leather purse, and then sat down to write +a letter. The letter was short when finished, but it took him long to +write, for he meditated much during the writing of it, and several times +laid his head on his hands. At last it was completed, put into the box, +and the lid screwed down above it. Then Ned read a chapter in the +Bible, as was his wont, and retired to rest. + +Next day Tom and Lizette stood on the wharf to see him embark for +England. Long and earnest was the converse of the two friends, as they +were about to part, probably for ever, and then, for the first time, +they became aware how deep was the attachment which each had formed for +the other. At last the mate of the ship came up, and touched his hat. + +"Now, sir, boat's ready, sir; and we don't wish to lose the first of the +ebb." + +"Good-bye, Lizette--good-bye, Tom! God be with and bless you, my dear +fellow! Stay, I had almost forgotten. Tom, you will find a box on the +table in my room; you can keep the contents--a letter in it will +explain. Farewell!" + +Tom's heart was too full to speak. He squeezed his friend's hand in +silence, and, turning hurriedly round, walked away with Lizette the +instant the boat left the shore. + +Late in the evening, Tom and his wife remembered the box, and went +up-stairs to open it. Their surprise at its rich contents may be +imagined. Both at once understood its meaning; and Lizette sat down, +and covered her face with her hands, to hide the tears that flowed, +while her husband read the letter. It ran thus:-- + +"My Dearest Tom,--You must not be angry with me for leaving this +trifle--it _is_ a trifle compared with the amount of gold I would give +you if I had it. But I need not apologise; the spirit of love in which +it is given demands that it shall be unhesitatingly received in the same +spirit. May God, who has blessed us and protected us in all our +wanderings together, cause your worldly affairs to prosper, and +especially may He bless your soul. Seas and continents may separate us, +but I shall never forget you, Tom, or your dear wife. But I must not +write as if I were saying farewell. I intend this epistle to be the +opening of a correspondence that shall continue as long as we live. You +shall hear from me again ere long. + +"Your sincerely-attached friend, + +"Edward Sinton." + +At the time Tom Collins was reading the above letter to Lizette, in a +broken, husky voice, our hero was seated on the taffrail of the ship +that bore him swiftly over the sea, gazing wistfully at the receding +shore, and bidding a final adieu to California and all his golden +dreams. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +OUR STORY COMES TO AN END. + +Home! What a host of old and deep and heart-stirring associations arise +in every human breast at the sound of that old familiar word! How well +we know it--how vividly it recalls certain scenes and faces--how +pleasantly it falls on the ear, and slips from the tongue--yet how +little do we appreciate home until we have left it, and longed for it, +perhaps, for many years. + +Our hero, Ned Sinton, is home at last. He sits in his old place beside +the fire, with his feet on the fender. Opposite to him sits old Mr +Shirley, with a bland smile on his kind, wrinkled visage, and two pair +of spectacles on his brow. Mr Shirley, as we formerly stated, +regularly loses one pair of spectacles, and always searches for them in +vain, in consequence of his having pushed them too far up on his bald +head; he, therefore, is frequently compelled to put on his second pair, +and hence makes a spectacle, to some extent, of himself. Exactly +between the uncle and the nephew, on a low stool, sits the cat--the cat, +_par excellence_--Mr Shirley's cat, a creature which he has always been +passionately fond of since it was a kitten, and to which, after Ned's +departure for California, he had devoted himself so tenderly, that he +felt half-ashamed of himself, and would not like to have been asked how +much he loved it. + +Yes, the cat sits there, looking neither at old Mr Shirley nor at young +Mr Sinton, but bestowing its undivided attentions and affections on the +fire, which it enjoys extremely, if we may judge from the placid manner +in which it winks and purrs. + +Ned has been a week at home, and he has just reached that point of +experience at which the wild life of the diggings through which he has +passed begins to seem like a vivid dream rather than reality. + +Breakfast had just been concluded, although the cloth had not yet been +removed. + +"Do you know, uncle," remarked Ned, settling his bulky frame more +comfortably in the easy-chair, and twirling his watch-key, "I find it +more difficult every day to believe that the events of the last few +months of my life have actually occurred. When I sit here in my old +seat, and look at you and the cat and the furniture--everything, in +fact, just the same as when I left--I cannot realise that I have been +nearly two years away." + +"I understand your feelings, my dear boy," replied Mr Shirley, taking +off his spectacles, (the lower pair,) wiping them with his handkerchief +putting them on again, and looking _over_ them at his nephew, with an +expression of unmitigated admiration. "I can sympathise with you, Ned, +for I have gone through the same experience more than once in the course +of my life. It's a strange life, boy, a very strange life this, as +you'll come to know, if you're spared to be as old as I am." + +Ned thought that his knowledge was already pretty extended in reference +to life, and even flattered himself that he had had some stranger views +of it than his uncle, but he prudently did not give expression to his +thoughts; and, after a short pause, Mr Shirley resumed-- + +"Yes, lad, it's a very strange life; and the strangest part of it is, +that the longer we live the stranger it gets. I travelled once in +Switzerland--," (the old gentleman paused, as if to allow the statement +to have its full weight on Ned's youthful mind,) "and it's a curious +fact, that when I had been some months there, home and all connected +with it became like a dream to me, and Switzerland became a reality. +But after I came back to England, and had spent some time here, home +again became the reality, and Switzerland appeared like a dream, so that +I sometimes said to myself, `Can it be possible that I have been there!' +Very odd, isn't it?" + +"It is, uncle; and I have very much the same feelings now." + +"Very odd, indeed," repeated Mr Shirley. "By the way, that reminds me +that we have to talk about that farm of which I spoke to you on the day +of your arrival." + +We might feel surprised that the above conversation could in any way +have the remotest connexion with "that farm" of which Mr Shirley was so +suddenly reminded, did we not know that the subject was, in fact, never +out of his mind. + +"True, uncle, I had almost forgotten about it, but you know I've been so +much engaged during the last few days in visiting my old friends and +college companions, that--" + +"I know it, I know it, Ned, and I don't want to bother you with business +matters sooner than I can help, but--" + +"My dear uncle, how can you for a moment suppose that I could be +`bothered' by--" + +"Of course not, boy," interrupted Mr Shirley. "Well, now, let me ask +you, Ned, how much gold have you brought back from the diggings?" + +Ned fidgeted uncomfortably on his seat--the subject could no longer be +avoided. + +"I--I--must confess," said he, with hesitation, "that I haven't brought +much." + +"Of course, you couldn't be expected to have done much in so short a +time; but _how_ much?" + +"Only 500 pounds," replied Ned, with a sigh, while a slight blush shone +through the deep bronze of his countenance. + +"Oh!" said Mr Shirley, pursing up his mouth, while an arch twinkle +lurked in the corners of each eye. + +"Ah! but, uncle, you mustn't quiz me. I _had_ more, and might have +brought it home too, if I had chosen." + +"Then why didn't you?" + +Ned replied to this question by detailing how most of his money had been +lost, and how, at the last, he gave nearly all that remained to his +friend Tom Collins. + +"You did quite right, Ned, _quite right_," said Mr Shirley, when his +nephew had concluded; "and now I'll tell you what I want you to do. You +told me the other day, I think, that you wished to become a farmer." + +"Yes, uncle. I do think that that life would suit me better than any +other. I'm fond of the country and a quiet life, and I don't like +cities; but, then, I know nothing about farming, and I doubt whether I +should succeed without being educated to it to some extent at least." + +"A very modest and proper feeling to entertain," said Mr Shirley, with +a smile; "particularly when it is considered that farming is an +exceedingly difficult profession to acquire a knowledge of. But I have +thought of that for you, Ned, and I think I see a way out of the +difficulty." + +"What way is that?" + +"I won't tell you just yet, boy. But answer me this. Are you willing +to take any farm I suggest to you, and henceforth to give up all notion +of wandering over the face of the earth, and devote yourself steadily to +your new profession?" + +"I am, uncle; if you will point out to me how I am to pay the rent and +stock the farm, and how I am to carry it on in the meantime without a +knowledge of husbandry." + +"I'll do that for you, all in good time; meanwhile, will you put on your +hat, and run down to Moxton's office--you remember it?" + +"That I do," replied Ned, with a smile. + +"Well, go there, and ask him for the papers I wrote about to him two +days ago. Bring them here as quickly as you can. We shall then take +the train, and run down to Brixley, and look at the farm." + +"But are you really in earnest!" asked Ned, in some surprise. + +"Never more so in my life," replied the old gentleman, mildly. "Now be +off; I want to read the paper." + +Ned rose and left the room, scarcely believing that his uncle did not +jest. As he shut the door, old Mr Shirley took up the paper, pulled +down the upper pair of spectacles--an act which knocked the lower pair +off his nose, whereat he smiled more blandly than ever--and began to +read. + +Meanwhile, Edward Sinton put on his great-coat--the identical one he +used to wear before he went away--and his hat and his gloves, and walked +out into the crowded streets of London, with feelings somewhat akin, +probably, to those of a somnambulist. Having been so long accustomed to +the free-and-easy costume of the mines, Ned felt about as uncomfortable +and stiff as a warrior of old must have felt when armed _cap-a-pie_. +His stalwart frame was some what thinner and harder than when he last +took the same walk; his fair moustache and whiskers were somewhat more +decided, and less like wreaths of smoke, and his countenance was of a +deep-brown colour; but in other respects Ned was the same dashing fellow +that he used to be--dashing by _nature_, we may remark, not by +_affectation_. + +In half-an-hour he stood before Moxton's door. There it was, as large +as life, and as green as ever. Ned really found it impossible to +believe that it was so long since he last saw it. He felt as if it had +been yesterday. The brass knocker and the brass plate were there too, +as dirty as ever--perhaps a thought dirtier--and the dirty house still +retreated a little behind its fellows, and was still as much ashamed of +itself--seemingly--as ever. + +Ned raised the knocker, and smote the brass knob. The result was, as +formerly, a disagreeable-looking old woman, who replied to the question, +"Is Mr Moxton in?" with a sharp, short, "Yes." The dingy little +office, with its insufficient allowance of daylight, and its +compensating mixture of yellow gas, was inhabited by the same identical +small dishevelled clerk who, nearly two years before, was busily +employed in writing his name interminably on scraps of paper, and who +now, as then, answered to the question, "Can I see Mr Moxton?" by +pointing to the door which opened into the inner apartment, and resuming +his occupation--the same occupation--writing his name on scraps of +paper. + +Ned tapped--as of yore. + +"Come in," cried a stern voice--as of ditto. + +Ned entered; and there, sure enough, was the same tall, gaunt man, with +the sour cast of countenance, standing, (as formerly,) with his back to +the fire. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Moxton, "you're young Sinton, I suppose?" + +Ned almost started at the perfect reproduction of events, and questions, +and answers. He felt a species of reckless incredulity in reference to +everything steal over him, as he replied-- + +"Yes; I came, at my uncle's request, for some papers that--" + +"Ah, yes, they're all ready," interrupted the lawyer, advancing to the +table. "Tell your uncle that I shall be glad to hear from him again in +reference to the subject of those papers; and take care of them--they +are of value. Good-morning!" + +"Good-morning!" replied our hero, retreating. + +"Stay!" said Moxton. + +Ned stopped, and turned round. + +"You've been in California, since I last saw you, I understand?" + +"I have," replied Ned. + +"Umph! You haven't made your fortune, I fancy?" + +"No, not quite." + +"It's a wild place, if all reports are true?" + +"Rather," replied Ned, smiling; "there's a want of law there." + +"Ha! and lawyers," remarked Moxton, sarcastically. + +"Indeed there is," replied Ned, with some enthusiasm, as he thought of +the gold-hunting spirit that prevailed in the cities of California. +"There is great need out there of men of learning--men who can resist +the temptation to collect gold, and are capable of doing good to the +colony in an intellectual and spiritual point of view. Clergymen, +doctors, and lawyers are much wanted there. You'd find it worth your +while to go, sir." + +Had Edward Sinton advised Mr Moxton to go and rent an office in the +moon, he could scarcely have surprised that staid gentleman more than he +did by this suggestion. The lawyer gazed at him for one moment in +amazement. Then he said-- + +"These papers are of value, young man: be careful of them. +Good-morning--" and sat down at his desk to write. Ned did not venture +to reply, but instantly retired, and found himself in the street with-- +not, as formerly, an indistinct, but--a distinct impression that he had +heard the dishevelled clerk chuckling vociferously as he passed through +the office. + +That afternoon Ned and old Mr Shirley alighted from the train at a +small village not a hundred miles out of London, and wended their way +leisurely--for it was a warm sunny day for the season--towards a large, +quaint, old farm-house, about two miles distant from the station. + +"What a very pleasant-looking house that is on the hill-top!" remarked +Ned, as he gave his arm to his uncle. + +"D'you think so? Well, I'm glad of it, because that's the farm I wish +you to take." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Ned, in surprise. "Surely the farm connected with +such a house must be a large one?" + +"So it is," replied the other. + +Ned laughed. "My dear uncle," said he, "how can _I_ manage such a +place, without means or knowledge?" + +"I said before, boy, that I would overcome both these difficulties for +you." + +"You did, dear uncle; and if you were a rich man, I could understand how +you might overcome the first; but you have often told me you had no +money in the world except the rent of a small property." + +"Right, Ned; I said so; and I say it again. I shan't leave you a +sixpence when I die, and I can't afford to give you one while I am +alive." + +"Then I must just leave the matter in your own hands," replied Ned, +smiling, "for I cannot comprehend your plans." + +They had now reached the gate of the park that surrounded the fine old +building of Brixley Hall. + +The house was one of those rambling, picturesque old mansions, which, +although not very large in reality, have a certain air of magnitude, and +even grandeur, about them. The windows were modern and large, so that +the rooms were well lighted, and the view in all directions was +magnificent. Wherever the eye turned, it met knolls, and mounds, and +fields, and picturesque groves, with here and there a substantial +farm-steading, or a little hamlet, with its modest church-spire pointing +ever upwards to the bright sky. Cattle and sheep lowed and bleated in +the meadows, while gentle murmurs told that a rivulet flowed along its +placid course at no great distance. + +The spot was simply enchanting--and Ned said so, in the fulness of his +heart, emphatically. + +"'Tis a sweet spot!" remarked his uncle, in a low, sad tone, as he +entered the open door of the dwelling, and walked deliberately into the +drawing-room. + +"Now, Ned, sit down--here, opposite that window, where you can see the +view--and I'll tell you how we shall manage. You tell me you have 500 +pounds?" + +"Yes, uncle." + +"Well, your dear mother left you her fortune when she died--it amounts +to the small sum of 200 pounds. I never told you of it before, my boy, +for reasons of my own. That makes 700 pounds." + +"Will that suffice to stock and carry on so large a farm," inquired Ned? + +"Not quite," replied Mr Shirley, "but the farm is partly stocked +already, so it'll do. Now, I've made arrangements with the proprietor +to let you have it for the first year or two rent free. His last +tenant's lease happens to have expired six months ago, and he is anxious +to have it let immediately." + +Ned opened his eyes very wide at this. + +"He says," continued the old gentleman, "that if you can't manage to +make the two ends meet in the course of a year or two, he will extend +the _gratis_ lease." + +Ned began to think his uncle had gone deranged. "Why, what _do_ you +mean," said he, "who is this extraordinary proprietor?" + +"He's an eccentric old fellow, Ned, who lives in London--they call him +Shirley, I believe." + +"Yourself, uncle!" cried Ned, starting up. + +Dear reader, the conversation that followed was so abrupt, exclamatory, +interjectional, and occasionally ungrammatical, as well as absurd, that +it could not be reduced to writing. We therefore leave it to your +imagination. After a time, the uncle and nephew subsided, and again +became sane. + +"But," said Ned, "I shall have to get a steward--is that what you call +him? or overseer, to manage affairs until I am able to do it myself." + +"True, Ned; but I have provided one already." + +"Indeed!--but I might have guessed that. What shall I have to pay him? +a good round sum, I suppose." + +"No," replied Mr Shirley; "he is very moderate in his expectations. He +only expects his food and lodging, besides a little care, and attention, +and love, particularly in his old age." + +"He must be a cautious fellow, to look so far forward," said Ned, +laughing. "What's his name?" + +"His name--is Shirley." + +"What! yourself again?" + +"And why not, nephew? I've as much right to count myself fit to +superintend a farm, as you had, a year ago, to think yourself able to +manage a gold mine. Nay, I have a better right--for I was a farmer the +greater part of my life before I went to reside in London. Now, boy, as +I went to live in the Great City--which I _don't_ like--in order to give +you a good education, I expect that you'll take me to the country--which +I _do_ like--to be your overseer. I was born and bred here, Ned; this +was my father's property, and, when I am gone, it shall be yours. It is +not much to boast of. You won't be able to spend an idle life of it +here; for, although a goodly place, it must be carefully tended if you +would make it pay." + +"I don't need to tell _you_," replied Ned, "that I have no desire to +lead an idle life. But, uncle, I think your terms are very high." + +"How so, boy?" + +"_Love_ is a very high price to pay for service," replied Ned. "Your +kindness and your generosity in this matter make me very happy and very +grateful, and, perhaps, might make me very obedient and extremely +attentive; but I cannot give you _love_ at any price. I must refuse you +_as an overseer_, but if you will come to me as old Uncle Shirley--" + +"Well, well, Ned," interrupted the old gentleman, with a benign smile, +"we'll not dispute about that. Let us now go and take a run round the +grounds." + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +It is needless, dear reader, to prolong our story. Perchance we have +taxed your patience too much already--but we cannot close without a word +or two regarding the subsequent life of those whose fortunes we have +followed so long. + +Ned Sinton and old Mr Shirley applied themselves with diligence and +enthusiasm to the cultivation of their farm, and to the cultivation of +the friendship and good-will of their neighbours all round. In both +efforts they were eminently successful. + +Ned made many interesting discoveries during his residence at Brixley +Hall, chief among which was a certain Louisa Leslie, with whom he fell +desperately in love--so desperately that his case was deemed hopeless. +Louisa therefore took pity on him, and became Mrs Sinton, to the +unutterable delight of old Mr Shirley--and the cat, both of whom +benefited considerably by this addition to the household. + +About the time this event occurred, Ned received a letter from Tom +Collins, desiring him to purchase a farm for him as near to his own as +possible. Tom had been successful as a merchant, and had made a large +fortune--as was often the case in those days--in the course of a year or +two. At first, indeed, he had had a hard struggle, and was more than +once nearly driven, by desperation, to the gaming-table, but Ned's +advice and warnings came back upon him again and again--so he fought +against the temptation manfully, and came off victorious. Improved +trade soon removed the temptation--perhaps we should say that his +heavenly Father took that means to remove it--and at last, as we have +said, he made a fortune, as many had done, in like circumstances, before +him. Ned bought a farm three miles from his own, and, in the course of +a few months, Tom and he were once more walking together, arm in arm, +recalling other days, and--arguing. + +Lizette and Louisa drew together like two magnets, the instant they met. +But the best of it was, Tom had brought home Larry O'Neil as his +butler, and Mrs Kate O'Neil as his cook while Nelly became his wife's +maid. + +Larry, it seems, had not taken kindly to farming in California, the more +so that he pitched unluckily on an unproductive piece of land, which +speedily swallowed up his little fortune, and refused to yield any +return. Larry, therefore, like some men who thought themselves much +wiser fellows, pronounced the country a wretched one, in reference to +agriculture, and returned to San Francisco, where he found Tom Collins, +prospering and ready to employ himself and his family. + +As butler to an English squire, Larry O'Neil was, according to his own +statement, "a continted man." May he long remain so! + +Nelly Morgan soon became, out of sight, the sweetest girl in the +countryside, and, ere long, one of the best young fellows in the +district carried her off triumphantly, and placed her at the head of +affairs in his own cottage. We say he was one of the best young +fellows--this husband of Nelly's--but he was by no means the handsomest; +many a handsome strapping youth there failed to obtain so good a wife as +Nelly. Her husband was a steady, hard working, thriving, good man--and +quite good-looking enough for her--so Nelly said. + +As for Captain Bunting and Bill Jones, they stuck to each other to the +last, like two limpets, and both of them stuck to the sea like fish. No +shore-going felicities could tempt these hardy sons of Neptune to +forsake their native element again. He had done it once, Bill Jones +said, "in one o' the splendidest countries goin', where gold was to be +had for the pickin' up, and all sorts o' agues and rheumatizes for +nothin'; but w'en things didn't somehow go all square, an' the anchor +got foul with a gale o' adwerse circumstances springin' up astarn, why, +wot then?--go to sea again, of coorse, an' stick to it; them wos _his_ +sentiments." As these were also Captain Bunting's sentiments, they +naturally took to the same boat for life. + +But, although Captain Bunting and Bill did not live on shore, they +occasionally, at long intervals, condescended to revisit the terrestrial +globe, and, at such seasons of weakness, made a point of running down to +Brixley Hall to see Ned and Tom. Then, indeed, "the light of other +days" shone again in retrospect on our adventurers with refulgent +splendour; then Larry sank the butler, and came out as the miner--as one +of the partners of the "R'yal Bank o' Calyforny"--then Ned and Tom +related marvellous adventures, to the admiration of their respective +wives, and the captain smote his thigh with frequency and emphasis, to +the terror of the cat, and Bill Jones gave utterance to deeply-pregnant +sentences, and told how that, on his last voyage to China, he had been +up at Pekin, and had heard that Ah-wow had dug up a nugget of gold three +times the size of his own head, and had returned to his native land a +_millionnaire_, and been made a mandarin, and after that something else, +and at last became prime minister of China--so Bill had been _told_, but +he wouldn't vouch for it, no how. + +All this, and a great deal more, was said and done on these great and +rare occasions--and our quondam gold-hunters fought their battles o'er +again, to the ineffable delight of old Mr Shirley, who sat in his +easy-chair, and gazed, and smiled, and stared, and laughed, and even +wept, and chuckled--but never spoke--he was past that. + +In the course of time Ned and Tom became extremely intimate with the +pastor of their village, and were at last his right and left-hand men. +This pastor was a man whose aim was to live as his Master had lived +before him--he went about doing good--and, of all the happy years our +two friends spent, the happiest were those in which they followed in the +footsteps and strengthened the hands of this good man, Lizette and +Louisa were helpmates to their husbands in this respect, as in all +others, and a blessing to the surrounding country. + +Ned Sinton's golden dream was over now, in one sense, but by no means +over in another. His sleeping and his waking dreams were still, as of +old, tinged with a golden hue, but they had not a metallic ring. The +_golden rule_ was the foundation on which his new visions were reared, +and that which we are told is _better_ than gold, "yea, than much fine +gold," was thenceforth eagerly sought for and coveted by him. As for +other matters--he delighted chiefly in the sunshine of Louisa's smile, +and in fields of golden grain. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Golden Dream, by R.M. 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