September 29, 1971 (12 pages)

ITy O IX with excitement. Steamers were departing with those to whom fortune had come, and steamers arriving with eager adventurers from all lands, a hurly-burly of humanity of all classes _ and all_degrees, a jostling tide that ebbed and flowed, inspired by the lust for easily acquired riches, In this multitude, moved only to the attainment of its own selfish interests, the amenities of ordinary life disappeared, or if practiced, wére hidden from view. There were good men and a few good women, the beginnings of home life and happy households, but to the casual observer they were not in evidence. Rogues in office plundered the city at will and almost without protest; the scum of all _nations found a harbor of refuge and ran riot in the evil ways, Legitimate business was a gamble, and gambling a legitimate pursuit; commodities that brought fabulous prices for the day and returned a thousand. or more per -cent proft, were. on the morrow drugs on the market, There was no stable foundation to the mercantile structure. Over-receipts tumbled down prices; frequent fires swept away stock; fortunes metled, and withal there was no confidence in the per manence of the place, Few had any faith in the future, and this was stimulated by the one tangible fact — the flux and refulx of individual fortunes had no bearing on or connection with the cause of it all, the outpouring of the precious metal from the foothill placers, There was no abatement to the yield, and. from a thousand sources it found its way to the treasure vaults of the metoropolis, PART XVIII For a time the conditions interested Rance; and he was pleased and content. to swim with the current. Shortly, however,he realized that he was no part of it and doubted whether he had any desire to be. The gentlemanly and dignified leisure that seemed to him to be most desirable would put one out of touch with the situation, A constitutional idler was not in’place in this busy hive, To be sure, there was a clique of Southern gentlemen who made headquarters at the hotel where he and Brant stopped, a chivalrous lot who disdained commercial pursuits, looked to a benign and sympathetic federal administration to provide them with fat berths, and cldimed an inherent right to all the offices, Rance, when it became known that he was of the elect, was warmly welcomed to the circle, more heartily, perhaps, when it was also understood that he had no ambition to feed on the bounty of the Government and was in easy circumstances, "Met your father at the St, Charles in New Orleans," confided one of these old parasities, "and he was a gentleman, suh, whom I was proud to know. Ah, it was young blood then, and I fear we were a little gay; our purses were at each other's service, suh," and he glanced at Rance to not whether his old friend's son was of the same metal, ‘ It usually ended in a trifling loan, "a debt of'honah, suh," to be paid when salary day came around, He was also welcomed to the private poker game, a privilege to which no mefe plebien dare aspire; but here he held his own, and the Judge, whos temporary embarrassment he had relieved, was pleased to admit that the boy handled the "keerds" so skillfully as to do credit to his. bringing up. ts “During this time his comrade had participated with him in the current diversions, although in a perfunctory way. His principal occupation had been in looking over inviting investments; some were safe, and others — which included the purchase of city real estate — were, owing to the difference of opinion as to its future, classed as hazardous and uncertain, If when the gold production was over there whould remain no longer any. justification for the building up of a Pacific Coast tA LE LEGS f PS gen ate Manan 8fo dad as PEST I Te 3 A = i dai ae erie ey ce a edie cn acuiet tee citeceteees codeine sac demmciniaids epbiecarahdis eundrs sanemeinmandetmeitieimaiemmmmeiaenaietel metropolis, and the country should return to its old pastoral state, then the investment would prove to be a poor one; if, on the other hand, as the more sanquine predicted, the gold discovery was but the beginning of development, and in due time a great empire should replace the old conditions, then the investor would reap a thousand fold; andBrant was gambler enough -to take what was considered the odds, This concluded, time hung heavy on his hands; he was anxious to get back to the mountains, for he had planned and secretly determined upon a radical departure, one which mean a complete change in his mode of living, — pursuits which would ring down the curtain so far as cards or games were concerned and yet not eliminate the element of chance, In fine, his visit to The City of Six hadpersuaded him that in mining the risks were no greater, the returns much larger; and he had resolved to employ som of his capital in that direction, For this reason he was more than pleased when Rance one day intimated that city life had lost its charm and expressed a wish that the Panama steamer would arrive, and a return to the Sierras be no longer delayed. Rance had arranged for suitable quarters at the hotel for the expected ones, and they both eagerly and impatiently watched the semaphore on Telegraph . Hill, which heralded the announcement of the boat's appearance of the oar. When at last the welcome signal was displayed, Rance urged the carriage driver to hasten down the sandy road to the wharf,. Here. he paced up and down for three hours before the boat made its tardy approach and docked, not heeding the fact that hacks were in great demand on these occasions and that he would be mulcted at the rate of ten dollars per hour for . the time consumed, A thousand eager faces lined the rails, a throng curious to catch a glimpse of El Dorado; and in the rush for shore a half-hour elapsed before he could gain the deck, At last he recognized Wakefield among the waiting mass and made his way to his partner's side. There was a warm greeting, hasty. inquiries. as to the health and welfare of his absent comrades, and then they made their way to the cabin — where the wife and daughter were waiting. It is a subconscious habit — the construction of mental photographs of people talked about whom we have not met and scenes described but yet unvisited. During the long winter evenings on the mountain Wakefield havd dwelt lovingly on the personality of his wife and little gir, and Rance had been a sympathetic listener, In his mind he had framed a picture of the twain which, taking form and color from the rustic environment, evoked a type of country beauty, the maturity of a blooming, buxom village belle, growing fat and frowzy with advancing years. The invalidism of the wife had mentally changed and modified this creation into a qurulous sick woman, the victim of a harsh and depressing climate. This for the wife; as for the daughter, he anticipated meeting a round-faced, redcheeked, efflorescent hobbledehoy at the awkward age that intervenes between the child and the woman, lacking repose or refinement, except perhaps a shyness bred of her unaccustomed contact with the great world. PART XIX There was not justification for this prejudgment beyond the unconscious impressions drawn from Wakefield's references to his life in the States and the natural mate that would be the choice of a man of his robust physique and mental limitations, It was but natural that a Hebe would appeal to him in preference to a Psyche, his ideal would be material rather than spiritual; at least thus reasoned Rance if he gave any thought to the subject. Then, he was prejudiced to a degree and touched with the inherited contempt of the South for anything north of Mason and Dixon's Line; although his experience and associations since he had departed from his Southern home had taught him that his views had been essentially narrow and false and he had modified his opinions relative to those outside the sacred lines of chivalry. Judge of his surprise when, descending with Wakefield to the cabin, he encountered one who in no way resembled his forecast, Instead, he was greeted by a woman neither pronounced, embarrassed, nor shy. Instead of the rusticity and gaucherie that he had anticipated, she ment him with the quiet bearing and aplomb of a well bred poised woman of the world and yet with a sincere codiality and frank pleasure that impressed him most favorably, A rather slight but well moulded figure, features renine and regular, face a little pale and drawn, indicating the invalid and sufferer, and abundance of wavy brown hair and a pair of brown eyes beaming with welcome, — that was the vision that banished Rance's preconceived picture, (To be continuned) S&S’ —s pis ARP ais PP Pes

ITy O IX with excitement. Steamers were departing with those to whom fortune had come, and steamers arriving with eager adventurers from all lands, a hurly-burly of humanity of all classes _ and all_degrees, a jostling tide that ebbed and flowed, inspired by the lust for easily acquired riches, In this multitude, moved only to the attainment of its own selfish interests, the amenities of ordinary life disappeared, or if practiced, wére hidden from view. There were good men and a few good women, the beginnings of home life and happy households, but to the casual observer they were not in evidence. Rogues in office plundered the city at will and almost without protest; the scum of all _nations found a harbor of refuge and ran riot in the evil ways, Legitimate business was a gamble, and gambling a legitimate pursuit; commodities that brought fabulous prices for the day and returned a thousand. or more per -cent proft, were. on the morrow drugs on the market, There was no stable foundation to the mercantile structure. Over-receipts tumbled down prices; frequent fires swept away stock; fortunes metled, and withal there was no confidence in the per manence of the place, Few had any faith in the future, and this was stimulated by the one tangible fact — the flux and refulx of individual fortunes had no bearing on or connection with the cause of it all, the outpouring of the precious metal from the foothill placers, There was no abatement to the yield, and. from a thousand sources it found its way to the treasure vaults of the metoropolis, PART XVIII For a time the conditions interested Rance; and he was pleased and content. to swim with the current. Shortly, however,he realized that he was no part of it and doubted whether he had any desire to be. The gentlemanly and dignified leisure that seemed to him to be most desirable would put one out of touch with the situation, A constitutional idler was not in’place in this busy hive, To be sure, there was a clique of Southern gentlemen who made headquarters at the hotel where he and Brant stopped, a chivalrous lot who disdained commercial pursuits, looked to a benign and sympathetic federal administration to provide them with fat berths, and cldimed an inherent right to all the offices, Rance, when it became known that he was of the elect, was warmly welcomed to the circle, more heartily, perhaps, when it was also understood that he had no ambition to feed on the bounty of the Government and was in easy circumstances, "Met your father at the St, Charles in New Orleans," confided one of these old parasities, "and he was a gentleman, suh, whom I was proud to know. Ah, it was young blood then, and I fear we were a little gay; our purses were at each other's service, suh," and he glanced at Rance to not whether his old friend's son was of the same metal, ‘ It usually ended in a trifling loan, "a debt of'honah, suh," to be paid when salary day came around, He was also welcomed to the private poker game, a privilege to which no mefe plebien dare aspire; but here he held his own, and the Judge, whos temporary embarrassment he had relieved, was pleased to admit that the boy handled the "keerds" so skillfully as to do credit to his. bringing up. ts “During this time his comrade had participated with him in the current diversions, although in a perfunctory way. His principal occupation had been in looking over inviting investments; some were safe, and others — which included the purchase of city real estate — were, owing to the difference of opinion as to its future, classed as hazardous and uncertain, If when the gold production was over there whould remain no longer any. justification for the building up of a Pacific Coast tA LE LEGS f PS gen ate Manan 8fo dad as PEST I Te 3 A = i dai ae erie ey ce a edie cn acuiet tee citeceteees codeine sac demmciniaids epbiecarahdis eundrs sanemeinmandetmeitieimaiemmmmeiaenaietel metropolis, and the country should return to its old pastoral state, then the investment would prove to be a poor one; if, on the other hand, as the more sanquine predicted, the gold discovery was but the beginning of development, and in due time a great empire should replace the old conditions, then the investor would reap a thousand fold; andBrant was gambler enough -to take what was considered the odds, This concluded, time hung heavy on his hands; he was anxious to get back to the mountains, for he had planned and secretly determined upon a radical departure, one which mean a complete change in his

mode of living, — pursuits which would ring down the curtain so far as cards or games were concerned and yet not eliminate the element of chance, In fine, his visit to The City of Six hadpersuaded him that in mining the risks were no greater, the returns much larger; and he had resolved to employ som of his capital in that direction, For this reason he was more than pleased when Rance one day intimated that city life had lost its charm and expressed a wish that the Panama steamer would arrive, and a return to the Sierras be no longer delayed. Rance had arranged for suitable quarters at the hotel for the expected ones, and they both eagerly and impatiently watched the semaphore on Telegraph . Hill, which heralded the announcement of the boat's appearance of the oar. When at last the welcome signal was displayed, Rance urged the carriage driver to hasten down the sandy road to the wharf,. Here. he paced up and down for three hours before the boat made its tardy approach and docked, not heeding the fact that hacks were in great demand on these occasions and that he would be mulcted at the rate of ten dollars per hour for . the time consumed, A thousand eager faces lined the rails, a throng curious to catch a glimpse of El Dorado; and in the rush for shore a half-hour elapsed before he could gain the deck, At last he recognized Wakefield among the waiting mass and made his way to his partner's side. There was a warm greeting, hasty. inquiries. as to the health and welfare of his absent comrades, and then they made their way to the cabin — where the wife and daughter were waiting. It is a subconscious habit — the construction of mental photographs of people talked about whom we have not met and scenes described but yet unvisited. During the long winter evenings on the mountain Wakefield havd dwelt lovingly on the personality of his wife and little gir, and Rance had been a sympathetic listener, In his mind he had framed a picture of the twain which, taking form and color from the rustic environment, evoked a type of country beauty, the maturity of a blooming, buxom village belle, growing fat and frowzy with advancing years. The invalidism of the wife had mentally changed and modified this creation into a qurulous sick woman, the victim of a harsh and depressing climate. This for the wife; as for the daughter, he anticipated meeting a round-faced, redcheeked, efflorescent hobbledehoy at the awkward age that intervenes between the child and the woman, lacking repose or refinement, except perhaps a shyness bred of her unaccustomed contact with the great world. PART XIX There was not justification for this prejudgment beyond the unconscious impressions drawn from Wakefield's references to his life in the States and the natural mate that would be the choice of a man of his robust physique and mental limitations, It was but natural that a Hebe would appeal to him in preference to a Psyche, his ideal would be material rather than spiritual; at least thus reasoned Rance if he gave any thought to the subject. Then, he was prejudiced to a degree and touched with the inherited contempt of the South for anything north of Mason and Dixon's Line; although his experience and associations since he had departed from his Southern home had taught him that his views had been essentially narrow and false and he had modified his opinions relative to those outside the sacred lines of chivalry. Judge of his surprise when, descending with Wakefield to the cabin, he encountered one who in no way resembled his forecast, Instead, he was greeted by a woman neither pronounced, embarrassed, nor shy. Instead of the rusticity and gaucherie that he had anticipated, she ment him with the quiet bearing and aplomb of a well bred poised woman of the world and yet with a sincere codiality and frank pleasure that impressed him most favorably, A rather slight but well moulded figure, features renine and regular, face a little pale and drawn, indicating the invalid and sufferer, and abundance of wavy brown hair and a pair of brown eyes beaming with welcome, — that was the vision that banished Rance's preconceived picture, (To be continuned) S&S’ —s pis ARP ais PP Pes