Title: To The West
Author: Fenn, George Manville, 1831-1909
Language: English
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To The West, by George Manville Fenn.

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At fifteen hours this is a fairly long book for this author.  It starts
with two young men working as clerks in the offices of a tyrannical
auctioneer.  Fed up with his unpleasant behaviour they give up their
jobs and determine to set out for British Columbia.  To get there they
must take passage in a ship going round the Horn, and up to San
Francisco.  Then they have to make their way further up the coast to
their destination.  On the way they encounter various characters, some
good and honourable, and others very much the reverse.  Finally they
arrive and set to work seeking for gold.  Of course there are more
adventures and tense situations, as you would expect from this author.

Fenn is very good at describing places, even ones to which he has never
been.  Personally I prefer the books set in England, but that is not to
say that this book is anything but most enjoyable, and I commend it to
you.

________________________________________________________________________

TO THE WEST, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.



CHAPTER ONE.

MR. JOHN DEMPSTER.

"What would I do, sir?  Why, if I were as poor as you say you are, and
couldn't get on here, I'd go abroad."

"But where, sir? where to?"

"Anywhere.  Don't ask me.  The world's big enough and round enough for
you, isn't it?"

"But without means, Mr Dempster?"

"Yes, sir, without means.  Work, sir--work.  The same as I have done.  I
pay my poor rate, and I can't afford to help other people.  Good
morning."

I heard every word uttered as I sat on my stool in the outer office, and
I felt as if I could see my employer, short, stout, fierce-looking and
grey, frowning at the thin, pale, middle-aged man whom I had ushered
in--Mr John Dempster he told me his name was--and who had come to ask
for the loan of a little money, as he was in sore distress.

Every word of his appeal hurt me, and I felt, when the words came
through the open door, as if I should have liked to take my hat and go
away.  But I dared not, for I had been set to copy some letters, and I
knew from old experience that if Mr Dempster--Mr Isaac Dempster that
is--came out or called for me, and I was not there, I should have a
repetition of many a painful scene.

I tried not to listen, but every word came, and I heard how unfortunate
Mr John Dempster had been; that his wife had been seriously ill, and
now needed nourishing food and wine; and as all that was said became
mixed up with what I was writing, and the tears would come into my eyes
and make them dim, I found myself making mistakes, and left off in
despair.

I looked cautiously over the double desk, peeping between some books to
see if Esau Dean, my fellow boy-clerk, was watching me; but as usual he
was asleep with his head hanging down over his blotting-paper, and the
sun shining through his pale-coloured knotty curls, which gave his head
the appearance of a black man's bleached to a whitey brown; and as I
looked through the loop-hole between the books, my fellow-clerk's head
faded away, and I was looking back at my pleasant old school-days at
Wiltboro', from which place I was suddenly summoned home two years
before to bid good-bye to my mother before we had to part for ever.

And then all the old home-life floated before me like a bright sunny
picture, and the holidays at the rambling red-brick house with its great
walled garden, where fruit was so abundant that it seemed of no value at
all.  There was my pony, and Don and Skurry, the dogs, and the river and
my boat, and the fellows who used to come and spend weeks with me--
school-fellows who always told me what a lucky chap I was; and perhaps
it was as well, for I did not understand it then, not till the news came
of my father's death, and my second summons home.  I did not seem to
understand it then--that I was alone in the world, and that almost the
last words my mother said to me would have to be thought out and put to
the test.  I had a dim recollection of her holding my hand, and telling
me that whatever came I was to be a man, and patient, and never to give
up; but it was not till months after that I fully realised that in place
of going back to school I was to go at once out into the world and fight
for myself, for I was quite alone.

I can't go into all this now--how I used to sit in my bed-room at night
with my head aching from thinking and trying to see impossibilities.
Let it be sufficient if I tell you that after several trials at various
things, for all of which I was soon told I was inefficient, I found
myself, a big, sturdy, country-looking lad, seated on an old
leather-covered stool at a double desk, facing Esau Dean, writing and
copying letters, while my fellow-clerk wrote out catalogues for the
printer to put in type, both of us in the service of Mr Isaac Dempster,
an auctioneer in Baring Lane, in the City of London, and also both of
us, according to Mr Dempster, the most stupid idiots that ever dipped
pen in ink.

I supposed then that Mr Dempster was right--that I was stupid and not
worth my salt, and that he had only to hold up his little finger and he
could get a thousand better lads than we were; but at the same time I
felt puzzled that he should keep us on, and that Saturday after Saturday
he should pay our wages and never say a word about discharging us--Esau
for going to sleep over his work, and me for making so many mistakes.

I had had scores of opportunities for judging that Mr Dempster was a
hard unfeeling man, who was never harder than when he had been out to
his lunch, and came back nibbling a toothpick, and smelling very
strongly of sherry; but it had never come so thoroughly home to me as on
that bright day, just at the time when for nearly an hour the sun shone
down into the narrow court-like lane, and bathed our desk, and made me
think of the country, the garden, the bright river, and above all, of
those who were dead and gone.

As I told you, my eyes were very dim when I saw Mr John Dempster come
out of the office slowly and close the door, to stand on the mat shaking
his head sadly.

"He who goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing," he said to himself, softly.
"I might have known--I might have known."

He turned then and glanced at Esau, smiling faintly to see him asleep,
and then his eyes met mine gazing at him fixedly, for somehow he seemed
just then to have a something in his face that recalled my father, as he
looked one day when he had had some very bad news--something about
money.  And as I gazed at our visitor that day the likeness seemed to
grow wonderful, not in features, but in his aspect, and the lines about
his eyes and the corner of his mouth.

"Ah, my lad," he said, with a pleasant smile full of sadness, "you ought
to pray that you might be always young and free from care.  Good-day."

He nodded and passed out of the office, and I heard his steps in the
narrow lane.

I glanced at Esau, who was asleep still, then at the door of the inner
office, and started as I heard a cough and the rustling of a newspaper.
Then, gliding off my stool, I caught my cap from the peg where it hung,
slipped out at the swing-door, and saw our late visitor just turning the
corner at the bottom of the lane into Thames Street.

The next minute I had overtaken him, and he turned sharply with a joyful
look in his eyes.

"Ah!" he said, "my cousin has sent you to call me back?"

"No, sir," I stammered, with my cheeks burning; and there I stopped, for
the words would not come.

How well I remember it!  We were close to the open door of a warehouse,
with the scent of oranges coming out strongly, and great muscular men
with knots on their shoulders, bare-armed, and with drab breeches and
white stockings, were coming up a narrow court leading to a wharf,
bearing boxes of fruit from a schooner, and going back wiping their
foreheads with their bare arms.

"You came after me?" said our visitor, with the old pained look in his
eyes, as he half turned from me, and I stood turning over something in
my hand.

"You came after me?" he said again; and as he once more looked in my
eyes, they seemed to make me speak.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, what is it?  Speak out."

"I--I couldn't help hearing all you said to Mr Dempster, sir," I
faltered.

"Eh!" he cried, with a start.  Then with a smile full of bitterness,
"Let it be a lesson to you, boy.  Work--strive--do anything sooner than
humble yourself as I have done this day.  But--but," he said, as if to
himself, "Heaven knows I was driven."

"Mr Dempster never will lend any one money, sir," I said hastily; "but
if you wouldn't mind--I don't want this for a bit.  I've been saving it
up--for a long time--and--by and by--you can pay me again, and--"

I had stammered out all this and then stopped short, drawing my breath
hard, for he had seized my hand, and was gripping it so hard that the
coin I held was pressed into my fingers, as I gazed up into his face,
while he slowly relaxed his hold and looked down into my palm.

"A sovereign!" he said slowly; and then fiercely, "Did your employer
send you with that?  And," he cried hastily, "you heard?"

"Yes, sir.  I was not listening."

"How--how long has it taken you to save up this?"

"I don't know, sir--months."

"Ah!"  Then as he held my hand tightly, he said in a half-mocking way,
"Do you know when I came into the office I envied you, my boy, for I
said, Here is one who has begun on the stool, and he'll grow up to be a
rich City man."

"I don't think I shall, sir," I said, with a laugh.

"No," he said, "you are of the wrong stuff, boy.  Do you know that you
are a weak young idiot to come and offer me, a perfect stranger, all
that money--a man you have never seen before, and may never see again?
How do you know I am not an impostor?"

"I don't know how, sir," I said, "but I can see you are not."

He pressed my hand more firmly, and I saw his lips move for a few
moments, but no sound came.  Then softly--

"Thank you, my lad," he said.  "You have given me a lesson.  I was
saying that it was a hard and a bitter and cruel world, when you came up
to show me that it is full of hope and sunshine and joy after all if we
only seek it.  I don't know who you are, but your father, boy, must have
been a gentleman at heart, and your mother as true a lady as ever
breathed.  Ah!"

He bent towards me as he still held my hand, for he must have read the
change in my face, for his words sent a curious pang through me.

"Your mother is--?"  He finished his question with a look.

I nodded, and set my teeth hard.

"Now, sir, _please_!" cried a rough voice, as a heavily-laden man came
up, and my companion drew me into the road.

"Tell me your name."

"Gordon, sir," I said.  "Mayne Gordon."

"Come and see me--and my wife," he said, taking a card from a shabby
pocket-book.  "Come on Sunday evening and have tea with us--Kentish
Town.  Will you come?"

"Yes," I said, eagerly.

"That's right.  There, I can't talk now.  Shake hands.  Good-bye."

He wrung my hand hard, and turned hurriedly away, but I was by his side
again.

"Stop," I said.  "You have not taken the--the--"

"No," he said, clapping me on the shoulder, "I can't do that.  You've
given me something worth a thousand such coins as that, boy as you are--
renewed faith in my fellow-man--better still, patience and hope.
Good-bye, my lad," he said, brightly.  "On Sunday, mind.  Don't lose
that card."

Before I could speak again he had hurried away, and just then a cold
chill ran through me, and I set off at a run.

Suppose Mr Isaac Dempster should have come out into the office and
found I had gone out!



CHAPTER TWO.

MR. ISAAC DEMPSTER.

I was in the act of opening the swing-door stealthily, and was half
through when I saw that Mr Dempster was acting precisely in the same
way, stealing through the inner doorway, and making me a sign to stop.

I obeyed, shivering a little at what was to come, and wishing that I had
the courage to utter a word of warning.  For there was Esau with his
head hanging down over the catalogue he was copying out, fast asleep,
the sun playing amongst his fair curls, and a curious guttural noise
coming from his nose.

It was that sound, I felt, which had brought Mr Dempster out with his
lips drawn back in an ugly grin, and a malicious look in his eyes as he
stepped forward on tiptoe, placed both his hands together on my
fellow-clerk's curly head, and pressed it down with a sudden heavy bang
on the desk.

Something sounded very hollow.  Perhaps it was the desk.  Then there was
a sudden bound, and Esau was standing on the floor, gazing wildly at our
employer.

"You lazy idiotic lump of opium," roared the latter.  "That's the way my
work's done, is it?"

As our employer uttered these words he made at Esau, following up and
cuffing him first on one side of the head and then on the other, while
the lad, who seemed utterly confused with sleep, and the stunning
contact of his brow against the desk, backed away round the office,
beginning then to put up his arms to defend himself.

"Here," he cried, "don't you hit me--don't you hit me."

"Hit you!--you stupid, thick-headed, drowsy oaf!  I'll knock some sense
into you.  Nice pair, upon my word!  And you--you scoundrel," he cried,
turning on me, "where have you been?"

"Only--only just outside, sir," I stammered, as I felt my cheeks flush.

"I'll only just outside you," he roared, catching me by the collar and
shaking me.  "This is the way my work is done, is it?  You're always
late of a morning--"

"No, sir," I cried, indignantly.

"Silence!--And always the first to rush off before your work's done; and
as soon as my back's turned, you're off to play with the boys in the
street.  Where have you been?"

I was silent, I felt that I could not tell him.

"Sulky, eh?  Here, you," he roared, turning upon Esau, "where has he
been?  How long has he been gone?"

"Don't you hit me!  Don't you hit me!" cried the boy, sulkily; "I shan't
stand this."

"I say, how long has he been gone?"

"I was only gone a few minutes, sir," I said.

"Gone a few minutes, you scoundrel!  How dare you be gone a few minutes,
leaving my office open?  You're no more use than a boy out of the
streets, and if I did my duty by you, I should thrash you till you could
not stand.  Back to your desk, you dog, and the next time I catch you at
any of these tricks off you go, and no character."

As I climbed back to my place at the desk, hot, flushed, and indignant,
feeling more and more unable to explain the reason for my absence, and
guilty at the same time--knowing as I did that I had no business to
steal off--Mr Dempster turned once more upon Esau, who backed away from
him round the office, sparring away with his arms to ward off the blows
aimed at him, though I don't think they were intended to strike, but
only as a malicious kind of torture.

"Here, don't you hit me! don't you hit me!"  Esau kept on saying, as if
this was the only form of words he could call up in his excitement.

"I'll half break your neck for you, you scoundrel!  Is that catalogue
done?"

"How can I get it done when you keep on chivvying me about the place?"
cried Esau.

"How can you get it done if you go to sleep, you scoundrel, you mean.
Now then, up on to that stool, and if it isn't done you stop after hours
till it is done.  Here, what are you staring at?  Get on with those
letters."

Mr Dempster had turned upon me furiously as I sat looking, and with a
sigh I went on with my writing, while red-faced and wet-eyed, for he
could not keep the tears back, Esau climbed slowly on to his stool, and
gave a tremendous sniff.

"I shall tell mother as soon as I get home," he cried.

"Tell your mother, you great calf!  You had better not," roared Mr
Dempster.  "She has troubles enough.  It was only out of charity to her
that I took you on.  For you are useless--perfectly useless.  I lose
pounds through your blunders.  There, that will do.  Get on with your
work."

He went back into the inner office, and banged the door so heavily that
all the auction bills which papered the walls of our office began to
flap and swing about.  Then for a few minutes there was only the
scratching of our pens to be heard.

Then Esau gave a tremendous sniff, began wiping his eyes on the cuffs of
his jacket, and held the blotting-paper against each in turn as he
looked across at me.

"'Tain't crying," he said.  "Only water.  Ketch him making me cry!"

"You were crying," I said, quietly.

"No, I wasn't.  Don't you get turning again' me too.  Take a better man
than him to make me cry."

I laughed.

"Ah, you may grin," grumbled my companion; "but just you have your head
knocked again' the desk, and just you see if it wouldn't make your eyes
water."

At that moment the door was opened with a snatch.

"Silence there!  You, Gordon, will you go on with your work?"

The door was banged before I could have answered.  Not that I should
have said anything.  But as soon as the door clicked Esau went on again
without subduing his voice--

"I ain't afraid of him--cheating old knocktioneer!  Thinks he's a right
to knock everybody down 'cause he's got a licence."

"Go on with your work," I whispered, "or he'll come back."

"Let him; I don't care.  I ain't afraid.  It was all your fault for
going out."

"And yours for being asleep."

"I can't help my head being heavy.  Mother says it's because I've got so
much brains.  But I'll serve him out.  I'll make all the mistakes I can,
and he'll have to pay for them being corrected."

"What good will that do?"

"I dunno; but I'll serve him out.  He shan't hit me.  I say, what did
you go out to buy?"

"Nothing.  I went out to speak to that gentleman who came."

"What gentleman who came?"

"While you were asleep."

"There you go!  You're as bad as old Knock-'em-down.  Fellow's only got
to shut his eyes, and you say he's asleep.  But I don't care.
Everybody's again' me, but I'll serve 'em out."

"You'd better go on with your writing."

"Shan't.  Go on with yours.  I know.  I'll 'list--that's what I'll do.
Like to see old Going-going touch me then!"

There was a busy interval of writing, during which something seemed to
ask me why I let Mr Dempster behave so brutally to me, and I began
wondering whether I was a coward.  I felt that I could not be as brave
as Esau, or I should have resisted.

"Not half a chap, you ain't!" said my companion, suddenly.

"Why?"

"You'd say you'd come with me.  Deal better to be soldiers than always
scrawling down Lot 104 on paper."

"I don't want to be a soldier," I said.

"No; you're not half a chap.  Only wait a bit.  I'd ha' gone long ago if
it hadn't been for mother."

"Yes; she wouldn't like you to go."

"How do you know?"

"Mrs Dean told me so.  She said you were mad about red-coats."

"That's just like mother," said Esau, with a grin, "allus wrong.  I
don't want to wear a red coat.  Blue's my colour."

"What--a sailor?"  I said quickly.

"Get out!  Sailor! all tar and taller.  I'm not going to pull ropes.  I
mean blue uniform--'Tillery--Horse Artillery.  They do look fine.  I've
seen 'em lots o' times."

"Here, you two, I'm going out.  I shall be back in five minutes," said
Mr Dempster, so suddenly that he made us both start.  "Look sharp and
get that work done."

He stood drawing a yellow silk handkerchief round and round his hat,
which was already as bright as it could be made, and then setting it on
very much on one side, he gave his silk umbrella a flourish, touched his
diamond pin with the tip of his well-gloved finger, and strutted out.

"Back in five minutes!  Yah!" cried Esau.  "It's all gammon about being
honest and getting on."

"No, it isn't," I said, as I carefully dotted a few i's.

"Yes, it is.  Look at him--makes lots o' money, and he cheats people and
tells more lies in a day than I've told in all my life."

"Nonsense!"

"Tain't.  He's a regular bad 'un.  Back in five minutes!  Why he won't
come till it's time to go, and then he'll keep us waiting so as to get
all the work he can out of us."

But that time Esau was wrong, for in about five minutes the outer door
was opened, and our employer thrust in his head.

"There's a letter on my table to post, Gordon," he said.  "Be sure it
goes."

"Yes, sir," I said, and as the door closed again I looked at Esau and
laughed.

"Oh, I don't mind," he said.  "That wasn't coming back.  He only looked
in to see if we were at work.  I shan't stop here; I shall 'list."

"No, you will not," I said, as I went on writing quietly.

"Oh, yes, I shall.  You can go on lodging with the old woman, for you
won't be the chap to come with me."

"You won't go," I said.

"Ah, you'll see.  You don't mean to stop here, do you, and be bullied
and knocked about?"

I went on writing and thinking of how dearly I should have liked to go
somewhere else, for my life was very miserable with Mr Dempster; but I
always felt as if it would be cowardly to give up, and I had stayed on,
though that day's experience was very like those which had gone before.

We had both finished our tasks an hour before Mr Dempster returned,
nearly an hour after closing time, and even then he spent a long time in
criticising the writing and finding fault, concluding by ordering Esau
to go round with the catalogue he had made out to the printer's.

"There's a master for you!" cried my fellow-clerk, as we went up into
the main street.  "I shan't stand it.  I'm going for a soldier."

I laughed.

"Ah, you may grin at what I say, but wait a bit.  Going home?"

"No," I said, "I shall walk round with you to the printer's."

He gave me a quick bright look, and his manner changed as if, once free
of the office, he felt boy-like and happy.  He whistled, hummed over
bits of songs, and chatted about the various things we passed, till we
had been at the printer's, and then had to retrace our steps so as to
cross Blackfriars Bridge, and reach Camberwell, where in a narrow street
off the Albany Road Esau's mother rented a little house, working hard
with her needle to produce not many shillings a week, which were
supplemented by her boy's earnings, and the amount I paid for my bed,
breakfast, and tea.

It was my fellow-clerk's proposal that I should join them, and I had
good cause to be grateful, the place being delightfully clean, and
little, quaint, homely Mrs Dean looking upon me as a lodger who was to
be treated with the greatest of respect.

"Shan't go for a soldier to-night!" said Esau, throwing himself back in
his chair, after we had finished our tea.

"I should think not indeed," cried his mother.  "Esau, I'm ashamed of
you for talking like that.  Has he been saying anything about it to you,
Master Gordon?"

"Oh, yes, but he don't mean it," I replied.  "It's only when he's
cross."

"Has master been scolding him then again?"

"Scolding?" cried Esau scornfully, "why he never does nothing else."

"Then you must have given him cause, Esau dear.  Master Gordon, what had
he done?"

"Mr Dempster caught him asleep."

"Well, I couldn't help it.  My head was so heavy."

"Yes," sighed Mrs Dean, "his head always was very heavy, poor boy.  He
goes to sleep at such strange times too, sir."

"Well, don't tell him that, mother," cried Esau.  "You tell everybody."

"Well, dear, there's no harm in it.  I never said it was your fault.
Lots of times, Master Gordon, I've known him go to sleep when at play,
and once I found him quite fast with his mouth full of bread and
butter."

"Such stuff!" grumbled Esau, angrily.

"It is quite true, Master Gordon.  He always was a drowsy boy."

"Make anybody drowsy to keep on writing lots and figures," grumbled
Esau.  "Heigho--ha--hum!" he yawned.  "I shan't be very long before I go
to bed."

He kept his word, and I took a book and sat down by the little fire to
read; but though I kept on turning over the pages, I did not follow the
text; for I was either thinking about Mrs Dean's needle as it darted in
and out of the stuff she was sewing, or else about Mr John Dempster and
our meeting that day--of how I had promised to go up and see him on
Sunday, and how different he was to his cousin.

The time must have gone fast, for when the clock began to strike, it
went on up to ten; and I was thinking it was impossible that it could be
so late, when I happened to glance across at little Mrs Dean, whose
work had dropped into her lap, and she was as fast asleep then as her
son had been at the office hours before.



CHAPTER THREE.

MY NEW FRIENDS.

Poor Esau and I had had a hard time at the office, for it seemed that my
patient forbearing way of receiving all the fault-finding made Mr
Dempster go home at night to invent unpleasant things to say, till, as I
had listened, it had seemed as if my blood boiled, and a hot sensation
came into my throat.

All this had greatly increased by the Saturday afternoon, and had set me
thinking that there was something in what Esau said, and that I should
be better anywhere than where I was.

But on the Sunday afternoon, as I walked up the sunny road to Kentish
Town, and turned down a side street of small old-looking houses, each
with its bit of garden and flowers, everything looked so bright and
pleasant, even there, that my spirits began to rise; and all the more
from the fact that at one of the cottage-like places with its porch and
flowers, there were three cages outside, two of whose inmates, a lark
and a canary, were singing loudly and making the place ring.

It is curious how a musical sound takes one back to the past.  In an
instant as I walked on, I was seeing the bright river down at home, with
the boat gliding along, the roach and dace flashing away to right and
left, the chub scurrying from under the willows, the water-weeds and
white buttercups brushing against the sides, and the lark singing high
overhead in the blue sky.

London and its smoke were gone, and the houses to right and left had no
existence for me then, till I was suddenly brought back to the present
by a hand being laid on my shoulder, and a familiar voice saying--

"Mr Gordon!  Had you forgotten the address?  You have passed the
house!"

As these words were uttered a hand grasped mine very warmly, and I was
looking in the thin, worn, pleasant features of Mr John Dempster, which
seemed far brighter than when I saw him at the office.

"Very, very glad to see you, my dear young friend," he cried, taking my
arm.  "My wife and I have been looking forward to this day; she is very
eager to make your acquaintance."

To my surprise he led me back to the little house where the birds were
singing, and I could not help glancing at him wonderingly, for I had
fully expected to find him living in a state of poverty, whereas
everything looked neat and good and plain.

"Give me your hat," he said, as we stood in the passage.  "That's right.
Now in here.  Alexes, my dear, this is my young friend, Mr Gordon."

"I am very glad you have come," said a sweet, musical voice; and my hand
was taken by a graceful-looking lady, who must once have been very
beautiful.  "You are hot and tired.  Come and sit down here."

I felt hot and uncomfortable, everything was so different from what I
had expected; for the room was not in the least shabby, and the
tea-things placed ready added to the pleasant home-like aspect of the
place.

"You have not walked?" said Mr John Dempster.

"Oh, yes," I replied.

"From--where?"

I told him.

"Camberwell?  And I was so unreasonable as to ask you to come all this
way."

I did not know how it was, but I somehow felt as if I had come to visit
some very old friends, and in quite a short time we were chatting
confidentially about our affairs.  They soon knew all about my own home,
and my life since I left school so suddenly; and on my side I learned
that Mrs John Dempster had had a very serious illness, but was
recovering slowly, and that they were contemplating going abroad, the
doctors having said that she must not stay in our damp climate for
another winter.

I learned, too, that, as Mr John Dempster said, when things came to the
worst they improved.  It had been so here, for the night after his visit
to his cousin in the city, a letter had come from Mrs John Dempster's
brother, who was in the North-west--wherever that might be--and their
temporary troubles were at an end.

That would have been a delightfully pleasant meal but for one thing.  No
allusion was made to the visit to the city, and though I sat trembling,
for fear they should both begin to thank me for my offer, not a word was
said.  The tea was simple.  The flowers on the table and in the window
smelled sweetly, and the birds sang, while there was something about
Mrs John that fascinated me, and set me thinking about the happy old
days at home.

The one unpleasantly was the conduct of the little maid they kept.  She
was a round rosy-faced girl of about fifteen, I suppose, but dressed in
every respect, cap and apron and all, like a woman of five-and-twenty.
In fact she looked like a small-sized woman with very hard-looking shiny
dark eyes.

Upon her first entrance into the room bearing a bright tin kettle, for
the moment I thought that as she looked so fierce, it was she who
uttered little snorts, hisses, and sputtering noises.  But of course it
was only the kettle, for she merely looked at me angrily and gave a
defiant sniff.  As the evening went on, I found that this was Maria, and
it soon became evident that Maria did not like me, but looked upon me as
a kind of intruder, of whom she was as jealous as a girl of her class
could be.

Pleasant evenings always pass too rapidly, and it was so here; I could
not believe it when the hands of the little clock on the chimney-piece
pointed to nine, and I rose to go.

"How soon it seems!" sighed Mrs John.  "Well, Mayne,"--it had soon come
to that--"you must call and see us again very soon--while we are here,"
she added, slowly.

"Ah, and who knows but what he may come when we are far away!" said Mr
John.  "The world is only a small place after all."

"Where should you go?"  I said, earnestly.  "I would come if I could."

"Possibly to Canada," said Mr John.  "But there, we are not gone yet.
You will not feel lonely, dear, if I walk a little way with our
visitor?"

She gave him a very gentle smile, and as I held out my hand, she drew me
to her and kissed me.

I could not say "Good-bye" then, for there was a strange choking feeling
in my throat which made me hurry away, and the last thing I heard as I
went out was the sharp banging and locking of the little gate, followed
by another defiant sniff.

"Come and see us as often as you can, Mayne," said my new friend at
parting.  "We never had any children, and it is a pleasure to us to have
young people about us, for since my misfortunes we have lived very much
to ourselves.  In fact, my dear wife's health has made it necessary that
she should be much alone."

"But she is getting better, sir?"

"Oh, rapidly now; and if I can get her abroad--Ah, we must talk about
this another time.  Goodnight."

"Good-night."

It was like the opening out of a new life to me, and I walked back to
Camberwell as if the distance was nothing, thinking as I was all the
time about the conversation, of Mrs John's sweet, patient face, and the
constantly attentive manner of Mr John, every action of his being
repaid by a grateful smile.  "I wonder," I thought, "how it is possible
that Mr Dempster and Mr John could be cousins;" and then I went on
thinking about the interview at the office when Mr Dempster was so
harsh.

This kept my attention till I reached the Deans', and then I walked
straight in to find Mrs Dean making believe to read, while Esau was
bending his head slowly in a swaying motion nearer and nearer to the
candle every moment.  In fact I believe if I had not arrived as I did,
Esau's hair would have been singed so as to need no cutting for some
time.  As it was, he leaped up at a touch.

"Oh, here you are!" he said.  "If you hadn't come I believe I should
soon have dropped asleep."



CHAPTER FOUR.

HOW MR. DEMPSTER USED HIS CANE.

My life at the office grew more miserable every day, and Mr Isaac
Dempster more tyrannical.

That's a big word to use, and seems more appropriate to a Roman emperor
than to a London auctioneer; but, on quietly thinking it over, it is
quite correct, for I honestly believe that that man took delight in
abusing Esau and me.

Let me see; what did some one say about the employment of boys?  "A boy
is a boy; two boys are half a boy; and three boys are no boy at all."

Of course, as to the amount of work they do.  But it is not true, for I
know--one of the auction-room porters told me--that Mr Dempster used to
keep two men-clerks in his office, till they both discharged themselves
because they would not put up with what the porter called "his
nastiness."  Then we were both engaged.

That was one day when Dingle came down in his green baize apron and
carpet-cap, and had to wait till our employer returned from his lunch.

"Ah!" he said, "the guv'nor used to lead them two a pretty life, and
keep 'em ever so late sometimes."

"But he had more business then, I suppose?"  I said.

"Not he.  Busier now, and makes more money.  Nobody won't stop with
him."

"Yes, they will," said Esau.  "You said you'd been with him fourteen
years."

"Yes," said Dingle, showing his yellow teeth, "but I'm an auctioneer's
fixtur', and going ain't in my way."

"Why not?" asked Esau.

"Got a wife and twelve children, squire, and they nails a man down."

Just then Mr Dempster came in, ordered Dingle to go into his room, and
we could hear him being well bullied about something, while as he came
out he laughed at us both, and gave his head a peculiar shake.

"Off!" he whispered.  "Flea in each ear."

I mention this because it set me thinking that if we two lads of sixteen
or seventeen did all the work for which two men were formerly kept, we
could not be quite so useless and stupid as Mr Dempster said.

I know that my handwriting was not so very good, and I was not quite so
quick with my pen as Esau, but his writing was almost like copper-plate,
and I used to feel envious; though I had one consolation--I never made
Esau's mistakes in spelling.

But nothing we ever did was right, and as the weeks went on, made bright
to me now by my visits up in North London, Esau would throw down his pen
three or four times a day, rub his hands all over his curly head, and
look over the top of the desk at me.

"Now then," he used to say; "ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"To go and 'list.  We're big enough now."

"Nonsense!"

"'Tain't nonsense," he said one morning, after Mr Dempster had been a
little more disagreeable than usual about some copying not being
finished, and then gone out, leaving me thinking what I could do to give
him a little more satisfaction, so as to induce him to raise the very
paltry salary he paid me.  "'Tain't nonsense.  Mother says that if I
stop I shall some day rise and get to be Lord Mayor, but I don't think
Demp would like it, so when you're ready we'll go.--Ready?"

"No."

"You are a fellow!" said Esau, taking up his pen again.  "I say, though,
I wish we could get places somewhere else."

"Why not try?"

"Because it would only be to do writing again, and it's what makes me so
sleepy.  I'm getting worse--keep making figures and writing out
catalogues till my head gets full of 'em."

"It is tiring," I said, with a sigh.  "But do go on; he'll be so cross
if that list isn't finished."

"Can't help it.  I'm ever so much more sleepy this morning, and the
words get running one atop of another.  Look here," he cried, holding up
a sheet of ruled paper.  "This ought to have been `chest of drawers,'
and it's run into one word, `chawers'; and up higher there's another
blunder, `loo-table,'--it's gone wrong too--do you see?--`lable.'  My
head's all a buzz."

"Tear it up quickly and write it again."

"Shan't; I shall correct it.  No, I know.  I shall cut the paper up, and
stick it on another sheet, and write these lines in again.  Pass the
gum.  Oh!"

"What's the matter?"

"Here's `mogany' lower down, and `Tarpet' for `Turkey carpet.'"

"Write it again, do," I said, for I dreaded the scene that I knew there
would be.

"Ah, well, all right, but I know I shall muddle it again, and--"

"As usual," cried Mr Dempster, and we both started back on to our
stools, for we had been standing up on the rails leaning towards each
other over the double desk, so intent on the errors that we had not
heard him open the door softly--I believe, on purpose to surprise us.

We began writing hard, and I felt my heart beating fast, as our employer
banged the door heavily and strode up to the desk.

I gave one quick glance at him as he turned to Esau's side, and snatched
up the sheet of paper the boy tried to hide under the blotting-pad; and
as I looked I saw that his face was flushed and fierce-looking as I had
never seen it before.

"Hah!" he ejaculated, as he took off his glossy hat and stood it on a
chair, with his ivory-handled Malacca cane across it.  "Pretty stuff
this, upon my word.  Here, let me look at that letter."

He reached over and snatched the missive I was writing from the desk,
and held it up before him.

"Do you call that writing?" he roared.  "Disgraceful!  Abominable!  The
first boy I met in the street would do better.  There--and there--and
there!"

He tore the letter to fragments and threw the paper in my face.

"Now then; write another directly," he cried; "and if you dare to--Here,
what are you going to do?" he roared, as Esau took hold of the sheet of
paper containing the errors.

"Going to write it over again, sir."

"Write it over again, you miserable impostor!" he cried, as he snatched
the paper back and laid a leaden weight upon it.  "I'll teach you to
waste my time and paper gossiping--that's what it means."

"Here, what are you going to do?" cried Esau, as Mr Dempster seized him
by the collar.

"I'll show you what I'm going to do, you idle young scoundrel," cried
Mr Dempster, and he reached out his hand to take his stout cane from
where it lay across his hat.

"Here, don't you hit me," cried Esau; and he tried to get away, as I sat
breathless, watching all that was going on, and thinking that Mr
Dempster dared not use the walking-cane in the way he seemed to
threaten.  Esau evidently thought he would, for he struggled hard now,
but in vain, and he was dragged towards the chair.  Then, as pulling
seemed no use, the lad changed his tactics, and he darted forward to
make for the door, just as Mr Dempster's hand was touching the stick,
which he did not secure, for the jerk he received sent cane and hat off
the chair on to the floor.

"You dog!" roared Dempster, as the hat went on to the oilcloth with a
hollow bang.

"Don't you hit me!" cried Esau, struggling wildly to escape; and the
next moment, as they swayed to and fro, I heard a strange crushing
sound, and on looking to see the cause, there lay Mr Dempster's
beautiful guinea-and-a-half hat crushed into a shapeless, battered mass.

"Ah!" roared Mr Dempster, "you dog; you did that on purpose."

"I didn't," cried Esau; "it was your foot did it."

"Was it? was it?" snarled Mr Dempster, and the struggle recommenced,
until I, with the perspiration standing on my forehead, caught tightly
hold of the desk.

Esau was pretty strong, but he was almost helpless in the bands of the
angry man who held him, and the struggle ended, after the high stool and
the chair had both been knocked over with a crash, by Mr Dempster's
getting Esau down and holding him there with one knee upon his chest.

"Hah!" he ejaculated, panting.  "Here you, Gordon, get down and pick up
my cane," and he gave his head a jerk in the direction of where the
stick lay, just as it had been knocked close to the door.

Months of rigid obedience to the tyrant had their effect, and I got down
from my stool trembling with excitement.

"Oh, don't, don't, Gordon!" cried Esau; "don't give it him."

But my employer's eyes were fixed upon me with such a look that I was
fascinated, and as if moved against my own will, I crossed the office
and picked up the thick cane.

"Give it here, quick!"

For I stood there hesitating, but the imperative voice mastered me, and
I moved towards the speaker.

"Don't--don't give it him," cried Esau.

"Quick--this instant!" roared Mr Dempster, and I handed the cane.

"You sneak!" cried Esau angrily; "I'd ha' died first."

His words sent a sting through me, and I would have given anything to
have been able to say, "I couldn't help it, Esau."  But I was
speechless, and felt the next instant as if a blow had fallen upon me,
as I saw with starting eyes Mr Dempster shift his position, keeping a
tight hold of Esau by the collar as he rose into a stooping position,
and then, _whizz! thud_! he brought the cane down with all his force
across the lad's shoulders.

Esau uttered a yell as he tried to spring up, but he was held fast, and
the blows were falling thick and fast upon the struggling lad, when I
could bear it no longer, and with one bound I was at the auctioneer, and
had fast hold of the cane.

"Stop!"  I shouted, half hysterically; "you shan't beat him.  You have
no right to do it, sir.  Esau, get up.  Run!"

"Let go!" cried Mr Dempster, turning a face black with passion at me.
"Do you hear, beggar?  Let go!"

"I will not," I cried, for my blood was up now, and I did not feel in
the least afraid.  "You have no right to beat him."

"Let go!"

"Don't, don't, Gordon!  Yah! you great coward!"

"Once more, will you let go?" cried Mr Dempster, as he stood with one
hand in Esau's collar, bent down, and tugging at the cane, to which I
clung.

"No," I cried.  "You shall not strike him again."

I had hardly spoken when Mr Dempster rose up, loosening his hold of
Esau, and dashing his free hand full in my face, while, as I fell back,
he jerked the cane away and struck at me a cruel stinging blow from the
left shoulder, as a cavalry-man would use a sabre, the cane striking me
full across the right ear, while the pain was as acute as if the blow
had been delivered by a keen-edged sword.

For a few moments I staggered back, half stunned and confused, while
blow succeeded blow, now delivered on my back and arms with all his
might.

As I said, the first cruel, cowardly blow half stunned me; those which
followed stung me back into a wild state of rage and pain which made me
reckless and blind, as, regardless of pain and the fact that he was a
well-knit, strong man, I made a dash at the cane, got hold of it with
both hands, and in spite of his efforts kept my grip of the stout
elastic stick.

I knew that I was swung here and there, and the cane was tugged at till
the ivory handle fell on the floor, and then he changed his attack,
letting go of the cane with one hand and catching me by the throat.

"Now then," he cried, and I felt that I was mastered.

Then I knew I was wrong, for at that moment Mr Dempster was driven
forward, his forehead striking mine, and as I fell back my assailant
fell on his knees, and I stood panting, the master of the cane.

The explanation was simple.  Esau had watched his opportunity, and
leaped upon our tyrant's back, pinning his arms to his sides, and making
him in his surprise loosen his hold of the cane.

It is hard work to recall it now, so wild and confused it all seems; but
I remember well that I must have struck Mr Dempster, and that as he
came at me Esau seized and overturned the great desk right in his way,
sending him down again, while the next moment my fellow-clerk was
holding open the door, shouting to me to come.

I caught down my hat and Esau's, and made for the door, which Esau
dragged to in our employer's face, and the next minute we were tearing
up the lane.

"Stop them! stop thief!" was shouted hoarsely, and in our excitement we
looked back to see our enemy in pursuit, while, as we turned again to
run, we found ourselves face to face with a burly City policeman, who
caught each of us by an arm.



CHAPTER FIVE.

A MISERABLE NIGHT.

"Hah!  The scoundrels!" panted Dempster, as he came up, flushed,
bareheaded, his glossy coat covered with dust, and a great dark weal
growing darker moment by moment on his forehead, while for the first
time I became aware of the fact that my right ear was cut and bleeding
freely.

"What is it, sir?" said the policeman; and I shivered slightly as I felt
his grip tighten on my arm.

"Take them.  I give them in charge," panted Mr Dempster, hoarse with
rage--"robbery and assault."

"What?" shouted Esau, furiously.

"It is not true!"  I cried wildly.

"Take them," shouted Mr Dempster.  "I'll follow in a cab.  Take them."

"You'll have to charge them, sir," said the constable.

"Yes.  I know.  I must make myself decent first."

"You can do that afterwards, sir.  Better all get in a cab at once
before there's a crowd."

The cool matter-of-fact policeman was master of the situation, and,
summoning a cab, he seemed to pack us all in, and followed to unpack us
again a few minutes later, both Esau and I with the spirit evaporating
fast, and feeling soft and limp, full of pain too, as we were ushered
into the presence of a big, stern-looking inspector, who prepared to
fill up a form.

All that passed is very misty now; but I remember Mr Dempster, as he
glared at us, telling the inspector that he had had cause to complain
about our conduct, and that we had, evidently after planning it, made a
sudden attack upon him, and beaten him savagely with a stick.

"But you said robbery, sir," the policeman suggested.

"Ah!--I will not press that," cried Mr Dempster.  "I don't want to
quite ruin the boys.  I proceed against them for assault."

I looked wildly at Esau for him to speak out, and he was looking at me
as if half stupefied.  The next I recollect is that the big policeman
signed to us to follow him, and we were marched away.

Then we were in a whitewashed cell, a door was banged to, and we heard
the bolts shot.

For a few minutes I stood there as if stunned, but was brought back to
myself by Esau.

"Well," he said loudly, "this is a nice game."

"Oh, Esau!"  I said weakly.

"Yes, it is `Oh!'" he cried.  "What will my mother say?"

I could not answer--only look at him in the dim light hopelessly, and
feeling in my mental and bodily pain as if everything was over for me in
this world.

To my horror Esau burst into a heavy fit of laughter, and sitting down
he rocked himself to and fro.

"What a game!" he cried; "but, I say, you didn't half give it to him."

"Oh, Esau!"  I cried, "it's horrible."

"For him," he replied.  "I say, I'm precious stiff and sore though; did
he hurt you very much?"

"Yes; my arms ache, and my ear bleeds.  Esau, we shall never be able to
go back."

"Hooray!" cried my companion defiantly.  "Who wants to?  But that isn't
the worst of it; he will not pay us our wages."

"No," I said; "and we shall be punished."

"Then it's a jolly shame; for he ought to be punished for hitting us.  I
say, can't we have a summons against him for assaulting us?"

"I don't know," I said, wondering.  "How my head does ache!"

"Some one coming," whispered Esau.

For there were heavy footsteps, and the bolts were drawn.  Then the door
opened, to show the inspector and the big policeman.

"Here, boy," said the former roughly, "let me look at your ear."

I was holding my handkerchief to the place, which was bleeding a good
deal.

"Better have the doctor," he said.

"What, for that!  Only wants bathing and some sticking-plaster."

He smiled.

"Well, we shall see," he said, looking at me curiously.  "What did you
do with the money?"

"What money?"

"That Mr Dempster said you took."

"He didn't take any!" cried Esau indignantly.  "He knocked us about, and
we hit him again, and he got the worst of it."

"Oh, that's it, is it?  Come, my lad, that's not true."

"It is, sir, indeed," I said earnestly.

"But look at your handkerchief.  Seems to me you got the worst of it."

"Oh, that's nothing," I said.

"You had a regular scrimmage, then?"

"Yes, sir," I said; and I told him exactly how it happened.

"Humph!" ejaculated the inspector, when I had finished, "I dare say you
will not get more than seven years."

"Seven years, sir!" cried Esau.  "What for?  Old Demp ought to get it,
not us."

"You must tell the Lord Mayor that, or the alderman, to-morrow."

"But are we going to be kept in prison, sir?"  I asked, with my courage
sinking.

"You are going to be locked up here till tomorrow, of course.  Like to
have a good wash?"

Of course we said "Yes," and before long we looked fairly respectable
again, with the exception of scratches, bruises, and the ugly cut I had
on my ear.

The thing that encouraged me most was the way in which I saw the
inspector and constable exchange a smile, while later on they and the
other constables about gave us a good tea with bread and butter and
meat, and we had to tell all our adventures again before we were locked
up for the night, after refusing an offer that was made.

"Think we ought to have sent?" said Esau, as we sat together alone.

"I have no one I could send to but Mr John, and I shouldn't like to do
that," I said, as I wondered the while whether he would be very angry.

"And I've got nobody but mother," said Esau, "and that's what made it so
queer."

"What do you mean?  Queer?"

"Yes, if I sent to her and she knew I was locked up at the station,
she'd come running down here in a dreadful fright and be having fits or
something."

"But she'll be horribly frightened now!"

"Not so much frightened.  She'll think we've gone to see something, or
been asked out to supper."

"But she'll sit up."

"That won't matter, because she's sure to go to sleep."

So no message was sent--no opportunity afforded of our having bail; but
after a time this did not trouble us much.  In fact, as we were
discussing our future in a low tone, wondering what punishment would be
meted out to us, and what we could do afterwards, Esau burst into a fit
of laughter.

"It was fine," he said, as he sat afterwards wiping his eyes.  "And you
such a quiet, patient fellow!"

"What was fine?"

"To see you go on as you did.  I say, I wonder what he'll say to the
judge?"

"We shall not go before a judge," I told him.

"Well, madjistrit then.  He'll say anything, and you'll see if we don't
get sent to prison."

I said I hoped not, but I felt pretty sure that we should be punished
very severely, and the outlook seemed so bad that I began to think my
only chance would be to follow Esau's fortune, and go for a soldier.

All at once, just after he had been wondering how long "mother" would be
before she dropped off to sleep, and what she would say when she found
that we had not been home, I became aware of a low dull guttural sound,
which told me that Esau had dropped off, and was sleeping soundly.

But I could not follow his example for thinking.  What would Mr John
say?  What would Mrs John think?  They would set me down as a reckless
lad with a savage temper, and if we were punished they would never know
the truth.  Then another idea, one which made me shiver, occurred to me;
the whole account would be in the newspapers, given as Police
Intelligence, and that completely baffled all my attempts to sleep.

It was a very quiet night at the station.  I heard doors opened and
closed twice over, with a good deal of talking; and once while I was
thinking most deeply, I started and stared curiously at a bright blaze
of light, beyond which I could not see; but I felt that a constable had
that light in his hand, and that he had come to see if we were asleep.

I had not heard the door open, I suppose I was thinking too deeply; but
I heard it shut again, and heavy steps in the long stone passage
outside.  Then I began thinking again intently, full of remorse for what
I had done, and how soon it would be morning; and then I began to envy
Esau, who could sleep so soundly in spite of our position.

I remember it all--the trampling of feet outside, the dull muttering of
voices, and the curious guttural sound Esau made as he slept, one that I
was often to hear in years to come; and I sat there with my head resting
in a corner, envying him, and wishing that I too could forget.  And over
and over again came the events of the past day--the struggle in the
office, and the savage, malicious look of Mr Dempster as he struck me.

Weary, aching, and with my head throbbing, I sat and wondered now at my
daring; and then came all kinds of mental questions as to the amount of
punishment I, a poor boy, would receive.

All at once, as these miserable thoughts kept on repeating themselves in
a strange, feverish way, that was somehow connected with a throbbing,
smarting sensation in one ear, Mr Dempster seemed to have raised me by
the arm once more, and to begin shaking me roughly--so vigorously that I
made a desperate effort to escape, when he cried--

"Steady, steady!  You're all right.  Come, rouse up and have a wash, my
lad.  It's nearly eight.  Ready for some coffee and bread and butter?"

I looked up in the dim light to see the big, burly policeman leaning
over me, while Esau was giving vent to a noisy yawn.  It was morning,
indeed, and though not aware of the fact, I must have slept about seven
hours.



CHAPTER SIX.

AN ESCAPE, AND A SUGGESTION.

I don't know whether I was any more cowardly than most boys of my age;
but I certainly felt a curiously nervous sensation that morning, and I
was not alone in it; for Esau had a strange scared look, and his fair
hair did not curl nearly so tightly as usual.

"Eh?" he said, "feel frightened?" in answer to a question.  "No, I don't
think I do; but I wish they'd leave the door open so that a fellow could
run."

But there were no doors open for us to escape, and at last, after a
weary time of waiting, the big policeman who had us in his charge bent
down to us in the place where we were waiting, and said--

"Your case comes on next.  There, hold up, my lads.  Speak out, both of
you, like men, and tell the whole truth.  It's Sir Thomas Browning
to-day."

I listened to him, but I felt as if I was growing hopelessly confused,
and that I should never be able to say a word in my defence, while when
I looked at Esau, I found that he was looking at me with his forehead
full of wrinkles.

"It's all very well for him to say `hold up.'  He haven't got to be
tried," he whispered.  "I'm 'fraid it's all up with us, Gordon.  Wish we
could be together when they sends us off."

"Now then!" said the policeman, clapping me on the shoulder; "it's us.
Don't you be scared.  Sir Thomas is a good 'un."

The next minute Esau and I were standing somewhere with our constable
close by, and somewhere before us, in places that looked like pews, sat
a number of gentlemen, some of whom wore wigs.  Some were writing, and,
seen as it were through a mist, a number of people looking on.  Next, in
a confused way, I saw a red-faced, white-headed gentleman, who took off
his spectacles to have a good look at us, and put them on again to read
a paper before him.

It was all dim and strange, and there was quite a singing in my ears, as
I looked vacantly about while some talking went on, ending by a voice
saying--

"Kiss the book."

Then the white-headed old gentleman said--

"Well, Mr Dempster, what have you to say?"

At the name Dempster, I started and looked sharply about me, to see that
my employer was a little way off, very carefully dressed, and with a
glossy hat in his hand.

"That can't be _the_ hat," I remember thinking, as I stared at him
wildly.

The mist had cleared away now, and I stood listening to him as he went
on speaking, in a very quiet subdued way, about the troubles he had had
with the two defendants--boys whom he had taken into his service out of
kindness.

"Yes, yes, yes, Mr Dempster," said the old gentleman testily; "but this
isn't a sale of house property.  There's a very long charge-sheet.  You
have given these two lads into custody on a charge of assault.  Now,
shortly, please, how did it happen?"

"The fact is, your worship," said Mr Dempster, "I have had much trouble
with both of them.  The boy Dean is idle in the extreme, while Gordon is
a lad of vile and passionate temper."

"Well, sir--well, sir?"

"I had occasion to speak to them yesterday about idling in my absence,
the consequence being that a great many mistakes were made."

"Allus careful as I could be," said Esau, in an ill-used tone.

"Silence, sir!  How dare you?" cried the old gentleman.  "You shall be
heard presently.  Now, Mr Dempster, please go on."

"I was angry, Sir Thomas, and I scolded them both severely, when to my
utter surprise--stop, I will be perfectly accurate--things had come to
such a pass that I had threatened them with dismissal--when in a fit of
passion Dean struck my new hat from a chair on which it was laid, jumped
upon it, and crushed it."

"Oh, what a whopper!" cried Esau, excitedly.  "Will you be silent, sir?"
cried the old gentleman, tapping the desk in front of him with his
knuckles.

"Here is the hat, Sir Thomas," said Mr Dempster, and stooping down he
held up his crushed and beaten head-covering in corroboration of his
words, when a perfect roar of laughter ran round the court, and I saw
the old gentleman lift his glasses and smile.

"Well, Mr Dempster, well?" he said.

"Then, Sir Thomas, then, to my utter astonishment, evidently by
collusion, Gordon seized my Malacca cane, and the boy Dean shouted to
him to come on now, and they made a combined attack upon me, breaking
off the handle of my cane, inflicting the injuries you see, and but for
my energetic defence I believe they would have robbed me and gone off.
Fortunately I was able to call for the police, and give them into
custody."

"Well, of all--" began Esau; but the old alderman turned upon him
sharply.

"I shall commit you, sir, for contempt of court," he cried.

"But he is telling such--"

"Silence, sir!"

"Quiet, you young donkey," whispered the policeman.  "Hsh!"

"Hm!  Mr Dempster, Mr Dempster," said the old gentleman, "this is a
police court, not an auctioneer's rostrum."

"I beg your pardon, Sir Thomas," said Mr Dempster, with dignity.

"You are sworn, sir, and I wished to remind you that this is not a
rostrum.  You auctioneers are licenced gentlemen, and you do exaggerate
a little sometimes.  Are you not doing so now?"

"Look at my face, Sir Thomas.  My arm is terribly strained."

"Um--yes, but it does not sound reasonable to me, as an old man of the
world who has had much to do with boys."

"I have stated my case, Sir Thomas," said Mr Dempster in an ill-used
tone.

"Are you sure that you did not use the cane first yourself?"

"I--I will not swear I did not, Sir Thomas.  I was very angry."

"Hah! yes," said the old gentleman, nodding his head.  "Now, boy, speak
the truth.  This is a very serious business; what have you to say?"

"Got hold of me, sir, and was going to hit me, and we wrestled, and the
hat was knocked over, and the stick, and he trod on his 'at, sir, and I
sings out to Mayne Gordon--this is him, sir--to take the stick away, but
he got it, sir, and I calls out to Gordon not to let him thrash me."

"Gently, gently," cried the old gentleman, holding up his hands, for
Esau's words came pouring out in a breathless way, and every one was
laughing.

"No, sir, not a bit gently; 'ard, sir, awful! and I can show the marks,
and Gordon--that's him, sir--says he'd no business to 'it his mate, and
he 'it him, and then Gordon got hold of the cane and held on, and Mr
Dempster, he got it away again, and cut him across the ear, sir, and it
bled pints, and 'it him again, and then I went at him and held him, and
Gordon got the cane away and 'it 'im, sir, and then we ran away, and the
police took us and locked us up, and that's all."

"And enough too," said Sir Thomas good-humouredly.  "There, hold your
tongue.--Now, you, sir, what have you to say?--the same as your
companion?"

"I'm very sorry, sir," I said huskily; and then a feeling of indignation
seemed to give me strength, and I continued, "What Esau Dean says is all
true.  Mr Dempster has behaved cruelly to us, and I could not stand
still and see him beat Esau.  I only tried to hold the stick so that he
should not strike him, and then he hit me here, and here, and then I
think I got hold of it, and--I don't remember any more, sir.  I'm very
sorry now."

"I ain't," said Esau defiantly.

"Do you want me to send you to prison, sir?" cried the old gentleman.

"No, sir."

"Then hold your tongue.  Any witnesses, constable?"

"No, Sir Thomas."

"Humph!  Well, really, Mr Dempster, from what I know of human nature,
it seems to me that these lads have both spoken the truth."

"Incorrigible young scoundrels, Sir Thomas."

"No, no, no!  Excuse me, I think not.  A boy is only a very young man,
and there is a great responsibility in properly managing them.  The
marks upon these lads show that they have had a very cruel attack made
upon them by somebody.  You confessed that you struck one of them.
Well, I am not surprised, sir, that one took the other's part.  I say
this, not as a magistrate, but as a man.  You have to my mind, sir,
certainly been in the wrong--so have they, for they had their remedy if
they were ill-used by applying to a magistrate.  So understand this,
boys--I do not consider you have done right, though I must own that you
had great provocation."

"Then am I to understand, sir," began Mr Dempster, in a very different
tone of voice to that which he had before used, "that you are not going
to punish these young scoundrels?"

"Have the goodness to recollect where you are, sir," said the old
alderman sternly.  "Yes, sir, I dismiss the case."

"Then a more contemptible mockery of justice," roared Mr Dempster, "I
never saw."

"Exactly," said the old alderman, quietly; "your words, Mr Dempster,
quite endorse my opinion.  You are a man of ungovernable temper, and not
fit to have charge of boys."

"Then--"

"That will do, sir.--The next case."

"I should like to shake hands with that old chap," whispered Esau; and
then aloud, as he tossed his cap in the air, "Hooray!"

There was a roar of laughter in the court, and the old alderman turned
very fiercely upon Esau, and shook his head at him, but I half fancy I
saw him smile, as he turned to a gentleman at his side.

Then in the midst of a good deal of bustle in the court, and the calling
of people's names, the policeman hurried us both away, and soon after
stood shaking hands with us both.

"You've both come off splendid, my lads," he said, "and I'm glad of it.
Old Sir Thomas saw through Master Dempster at once.  I know him; he's a
bad 'un--regular bully.  One of his men--Dingle, isn't his name?--has
often told me about him."

"Ah, you don't know half," said Esau.

"Quite enough, anyhow," said the constable, clapping Esau on the
shoulder; "and you take my advice, don't you go back to him."

"No," said Esau; "he wouldn't have us if we wanted."

"What are you going to do, then?"

"Join the Royal Artillery," said Esau, importantly.

"Join the Royal Nonsense, boy!" said the big, bluff constable.  "Better
be a p.c. than that.  Plenty of gents in the city want clerks."

"Then," said Esau, "they shan't have me."

But he did not say it loud enough for the constable to hear, the words
being meant for me, and after once more shaking hands with us the man
said, "Good-bye," and we were out in the busy streets once more--as it
seemed to me, the only two lads in London with nothing to do.

I was walking along by Esau's side, low-spirited in spite of our
acquittal, for everything seemed so novel and strange, when Esau, who
had been whistling, looked round at me.

"Now then," he said, "will you come with me?"

"Where?"

"Woolwich.  'Tillery."

"No.  And you are not going."

"Oh, ain't I?"

"No," I said.  "You are going home.  Your mother must be very anxious
about us."

"I'd forgotten all about her," cried Esau.  "I say, look: here's old
Demp."

If I had obeyed my first inclination I should have turned down the first
street to avoid our late employer; but I kept on boldly, as he came
towards us, and I expected that he would go by, but he stopped short,
and looked from one to the other.

"Oh, here you are," he said; "look out, my lads, I have not done yet.
If you think I am going to be beaten like this, you are--"

"Come on, Esau," I whispered, and we did not hear the end of his threat.

"There!" cried Esau.  "Now what do you say?  He'll be giving us into
custody again.  'Tillery's our only chance.  He daren't touch us there.
But I say, he isn't going back to the office.  Let's run and get what's
in our desks.  There's my old flute."

"I thought you did not want to be given into custody again?"  I cried.
"Why, if we go and try to touch anything there, and he catches us, he is
sure to call in the police."

"Never thought o' that," said Esau, rubbing one ear.  "I say, don't be a
coward.  Come on down to Woolwich."

"You go on directly to your mother and tell her all about it."

"I say, don't order a fellow about like that.  You ain't master."

"You do as I tell you," I said, firmly.

"Oh, very well," he replied, in an ill-used tone.  "If you say I am to,
I suppose I must.  Won't you come too?"

"No; I'm going up to see Mr John Dempster to tell him all about it, and
ask him to give me his advice."

"Ah, it's all very fine," grumbled Esau; "it's always Mr John Dempster
now.  You used to make me a friend and ask my advice: now I'm nobody at
all.  You always was such a gentleman, and too fine for me."

"Don't talk like that, Esau," I said; "you hurt me."

He turned and caught hold of my hand directly.  "I didn't mean it," he
said, huskily.  "On'y don't chuck me over.  I won't go for a soldier if
you don't want, but let's stick together."

"I should like to, Esau," I said, "for I've no friends but you and Mr
John."

"Oh, I don't know 'bout friends," he said.  "I don't want to be friends,
'cause I'm not like you, but let's keep together.  I'll do anything you
want, and I'll always stick up for you, same as you did for me."

"I should be an ungrateful brute if I did part from you, Esau, for I
shall never forget how kind you and your mother have always--"

"Don't! don't! don't!" he cried, putting his fingers in his ears.  "Now
you're beginning to preach at me, and you know I hate that.  I say,
let's call at the auction-rooms and say good-bye to old Dingle.
Dempster won't be there."

I hesitated, and then hurried down the next street with Esau, for I
thought I should like to say a friendly word to the porter, who had
always been pleasant and kind, little thinking how it would influence my
future career.

He was just inside the long sale-room, and he came out to us directly to
shake hands gleefully.

"All right, lads," he cried.  "I know all about it.  I was there, and
heard every word.  Serve him precious well right!  Ah, you're lucky
ones.  Wish I was out of his service.  What are you both going to do?"

"I don't know," I said sadly.  "Esau here wants to be a soldier."

"Yes, he always was mad that way.  Don't you listen to him."

"Better be a soldier than old Demp's clerk."

"Don't you be too sure, my lad," said Dingle.  "There are such things as
drill-sergeants in the army, and they tell me they're a kind of Double
Dempsters.  It's awkward for you, Master Gordon.  You see, you'll have
to send to the guv'nor for a reference when you try for another place,
and he won't give you one, see if he does."

"No," I said sadly, "there is no chance there.  What would you do?"

"Well," he said, taking off his carpet cap, and stroking his thin grey
hair, "it's easy to advise anybody, but it ain't easy to advise right."

"Never mind," I said, "try."

"Well, sir, speaking as a poor man, if I was like you, out of a
'gagement, and no character 'cept for being able to thrash your own
master--"

"Oh, Dingle!"  I cried.

"Well, sir, it's true enough," he said; and he bent down to indulge in a
long silent fit of laughter.

"Don't do that," I said uneasily, "it's nothing to laugh at."

"Well, 'tis, and it 'tisn't, sir," said Dingle, wiping his eyes on the
corner of his apron.

"What would you do if you were out of an engagement?"

"Me?  I should do what my brother did--hemigrate."

"Your brother did, Ding?  To a nice place?" cried Esau.

"Yes, my lad, and he's getting on fine."

"Then why didn't you go too, and get on fine?"

"'Cause I've got a houseful o' children, and nearly all gals.  That's
why, Clevershakes."

"But what does your brother do?"  I said eagerly.  "Is he an
auctioneer's porter?"

"Love and bless your heart, Mr Gordon, sir, no," he cried.  "I don't
believe there's such a thing over there.  He went out in the woods, and
got a bit o' land give him, and built hisself a log-house, and made a
garden, and got cows, and shoots in the woods."

"Here, hold hard, Ding," cried Esau, excitedly; "that'll do.  Goes
shooting in the woods?"

"Yes, and gets a deer sometimes, and one winter he killed a bear and two
wolves, my lad."

"That's the place," cried Esau.  "Hooroar!  Come on, Master Gordon,
let's go there."

Dingle laughed.

"Hark at him, sir.  What a one he is!  Why, you don't know even where it
is."

"I don't care where it is," cried Esau.  "You say you can go there, and
get some land, and live in the woods, and make your own house, and shoot
bears and wolves--that's just the thing I should like to do."

"Why, you said you wanted to jyne the Ryle Artilleree."

"Yes, but I didn't know of this place then.  Where is it?  How do you
go?  You'll come too, won't you?"

"I don't know," I said, slowly, for my imagination was also fired by the
idea of living in such a land of liberty as that.  In fact, as I spoke,
bright pictures of green forests and foaming rivers and boats began to
form in my mind.  "Yes," I cried, "I think I should like to go."

"Hooroar!  Where is it, Ding?"

"Oh, my brother's in Bri'ish Columbia, but it's a long, long way."

"Oh, we don't mind that," cried Esau.  "How do you get there?"

"Him and his wife and their boy went eight or nine year ago.  Sailed in
a ship from the docks, and it took 'em five months."

"Oh!" said Esau, in a disappointed tone.  "Five months!  Why, I didn't
think there was anywhere so far off as that."

"Ah! but there is, and in one letter he told me that a man he knew was
once a year going, but he went in a waggon instead of a ship."

"Get out!  He's gammoning us," cried Esau.  "You can't drive a waggon
over the sea."

"Who said you could, Clevershakes?" said Dingle--then turning to me, "He
went over to Canady by ship, and then all acrost the prayerees in a
waggon--lots o' waggons all together, because o' the Injins."

"Fire-injins?" said Esau, eagerly.  "No.  Dunno though," said Dingle,
grinning; "they did fire at 'em a deal."

"Red Injins!" cried Esau.  "Oh, I say, I think I'd rather go that way,
because there'd be some fighting."

"What, ain't you had fightin' enough, boy?  Want to get at it again?
What yer thinking about, Mr Gordon?"

I started, for my thoughts were far away.  "I was thinking about your
brother," I said, hastily.

"Ah! but such a life wouldn't do for you, my lad.  There's no clean
hands out there--leastwise I dessay they're clean sometimes.  What I
mean is, it's always hard, rough work, and no setting on a stuffed seat
and writing on bloo paper.  Why, what do you think my brother had for
chairs in his house?"

"Boxes," I said.

"No, boxes made tables.  Stumps of wood--logs cut off a fir tree--no
castors on them, my lad."

"British Columbia?"  I said, thoughtfully, as I tried to remember where
that country was on the map, and I am afraid getting a very hazy notion
as to its position.

"Yes, my lad, Bri'ish Columbia; and if you go out there and mention my
name, my brother will be glad enough to see you, I know.  There--I must
get to work 'fore the guv'nor catches me, or p'r'aps there'll be another
fight, and me wanting a fresh place too."  So we shook hands, promising
to go and see him again, and directly after Esau and I parted, he going
south for home, I going north, and feeling a curious sensation of
shrinking as I neared Mr John Dempster's home.



CHAPTER SEVEN.

MY FRIENDS' PLANS.

They were both in the little sitting-room, when Maria, who had given me
a very indignant look for dragging her down to the gate, announced the
visitor and went away, closing the door more loudly than was necessary,
and the reception I had was very warm as they both rose from where they
had been turning over some letters together.

"Why, Mayne," cried Mr John, "this is an unexpected pleasure," and he
made way for Mrs John, who took my hand, smiling in her gentle way, and
then turning serious and eager as she exclaimed--

"There is something the matter?"

I nodded, for I could not speak.

"Some trouble with--my cousin?"

"Yes, sir," I said, hoarsely; and for a few minutes the words would not
come, the incidents of the past twenty-four hours having upset me more
than I was aware.

"Don't hurry, my boy, don't hurry; and don't question him, Alexes.  Did
you walk up?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ah, a nice day for walking.  We two ought to have had ours, but some
letters--a little business--kept us in.  We have had a very long
communication from my wife's brother, and it necessitates a great deal
of thinking at our time of life."

"I--I have left Mr Dempster, sir," I said.

"Indeed!  I am not surprised, Mayne, and--bless me! what is the matter
with your ear?"

The words came now, and I told him everything, while before I had half
got through my narrative, Mr John was upon his legs tramping excitedly
up and down the little room, and uttering angry ejaculations from time
to time.

"You--you are not very angry with me?"

"Angry?" he cried.  "I am more than angry that such a thing could have
happened, and the principal actor in it have been one who bears the same
name as myself.  It is cruel--scandalous--disgraceful; and above all, to
have exposed you to such an indignity--in custody like a common thief!
But there, you shall not continue in his office."

I could not help giving him rather a droll look.

"Of course, sir," I said, "I am discharged."

"Yes, yes, I had forgotten that," he said, hurriedly.  "You must have a
better post--one more suited to your abilities.  Now, let me see--let me
see--what steps ought I to take first?  Something in the city, perhaps,
or I would rather see you in one of the Government offices."

I looked at him wonderingly, as he sat down at the table now, and taking
up a letter, used it to tap on the polished wood.

"Yes, I think in one of the Government offices," he continued, while I
glanced now at Mrs John, whose face was full of the lines caused by her
thoughts.

As she met my eyes, she gave me a piteous look, and shook her head
sadly, as if saying something by way of warning.

"Yes, I think decidedly one of the Government offices, my dear, but
which?"

As he spoke he raised his eyes and looked at Mrs John, who met his gaze
with one so full of loving tenderness that it impressed me, and the more
that I saw what a change took place directly in Mr John's countenance,
ending by his looking down at the letter he held in his hand.

"Ah," he exclaimed, "what a miserable dreamer I am!  Always the same!
Mayne, my boy," he added, piteously, "you must not listen to me.  I
cannot even help myself, and here am I talking to you in this vain,
foolish way."

He let his head drop into his hands, and sat bent down till Mrs John
went to his side.

"Don't give way," I heard her whisper; "it was your good heart that
spoke."

"My good heart," he said piteously--"no, my weak, foolish, dreaming
brain.  It was always so, and I have brought you down to poverty like
this."

She bent lower, and whispered a few words which seemed quite to
transform him.

"Yes," he cried, with his face flushing, "I am always ungrateful, and
letting present troubles set benefits aside.  Mayne, my boy, I wanted
you to come and see us.  I told you that we were going abroad--for my
wife's health--I might say for my own," he added, with a smile, "for I
am no use here in England."

"And you are going, sir?"  I said, glad to find that the conversation
was changing.

"Yes; to join my dear wife's brother.  He has sent us an invitation.  He
thinks I might like the life out there, and he is sure that it will give
renewed health to his sister."

"I am very glad, sir," I said, holding out my hands to both, "and--very
sorry."

"To lose _us_," said Mr John.  "Yes; now we are getting to know each
other so well, it will be painful."

"Are you going to Canada, sir?"  I said, hastily, for the idea of losing
almost my only friends chilled me.

"To Canada first, then on by slow degrees to the great North-West.  My
brother-in-law--did I not tell you?"

I shook my head.

"He is in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, chief at one of their
stations in British Columbia."

"British Columbia!"  I exclaimed.

"Yes.  What do you know of the country?"

"Nothing, sir, only that one of Mr Dempster's men has a brother there.
But it is a rough place, wild, and there are forests.  Mrs John could
not go there."

"No place could be rough or wild to me, Mayne," she said, smiling, "if I
could find health and strength."

"And you will there, dear," cried Mr John excitedly.  "Your brother
says the country is lovely, and that the slow waggon journey across,
though rough, will be invigorating.  It will take many months, Mayne,"
he continued, speaking as eagerly and joyfully as a boy preparing for a
holiday, "but my brother-in-law has sent us ample for our expenses, and
he tells us to take our time, and once there I shall easily be able to
repay him, either by assisting him, or by means of a farm.  Alexes, my
darling, I feel now that nature meant me for a farmer, and at last I am
going to succeed."

"Nature meant you, John," she replied, with a look of pride at him, "for
what you are, what you always have been, and will be."

"A poor dreamer?"

"No, my dear husband--a gentleman."

"I thought I was sorry as well as glad," I said, after a pause.  "I am
now very glad.  When do you go?"

"As soon as we can make all the arrangements," said Mr John.

"But you cannot journey in a waggon by yourselves."

"We cannot?"

"No, sir; you must join a party--quite a caravan."

"That is what Dan said in the letter, dear," said Mrs John.

"Of course.  My head is in such a whirl.  I had forgotten--but you,
Mayne, you talk as if you understand all this."

"I have beard, sir," I said, colouring a little; "that is all."

"But you, my boy?--we can't go and leave you in distress, and without an
engagement."

He whispered something to her.

"I had thought the same," she said, gently; "but I did not think it
right to propose it."

"Not if he could do better here," cried Mr John, excitedly.  "Mayne, my
boy, we have only known each other a few months, but it has been enough
to make me understand you.  My wife will vouch for me.  It seems to me
that you are alone, an orphan without a chance of raising yourself here:
will you come with us to try your fortune in the new land?"

"Would you take me with you?"  I cried, excitedly.

"Take you, my boy?" he cried, "gladly; but, Alexes, speak for me, dear.
I am so prone to let heart master judgment.  Should I be doing right?
Should I be doing right?"

There was a silence in the little room which lasted for some minutes,
and during that time the shouts of a party of lads engaged in some sport
came ringing through the window.

"Yes," cried Mr John, "you hear that--boys at play!  It seems to me
that our young friend here should be engaged as they are, and not be
called upon to enter into the struggle for life away in some wild
country."

"But I have been at work now for years, Mr John," I said.

"Yes, my lad, I know, and I want to help you; but misfortune has so
marked me for her own that I seem now to have lost all faith in myself."

"Have you no relatives, Mayne?" said Mrs John, gravely.  "There are
people who could help you to some engagement?"

I shook my head.

"None that I know of," I said.

"And when we are gone what will you do?"

"Obtain some situation, I hope."

"You hope, my boy.  It is a poor prospect, that.  I do not like to say,
come with us to this new land, though I believe any enterprising lad
would be sure to make his way."

"Then why shouldn't I come?"

"Because prosperity will have to be fought for, and obtained at so great
a cost.  Civilisation has to be left behind.  It will be a rough life."

"But if a delicate lady could bear it, why should not I?"

"I have told you why I could bear it," she said, smiling.  "You must not
judge hastily, Mayne.  I am afraid to say come."

"Would you both like me to come?"  I said, looking from one to the
other.

"For our own sakes, yes.  For yours we are afraid to speak," said Mrs
John, and her husband nodded his acquiescence in her words.

"Then I shall come," I said, firmly.  "Not with you.  I shall go by
sea."

"You will go?" cried Mr John, looking at me wonderingly.

"Yes, sir; and perhaps I shall get there first."

"But, my dear boy, how?"

"I don't know, sir," I said, laughing; "I am going to talk to a man I
know, and--Oh, I had forgotten!"

"Forgotten what?"

"Esau," I said, "the lad who worked with me in the office."

Mr John looked at his wife in a perplexed way.

"Let us think about it all," said Mrs John.  "This companion of yours--
Esau--do you like him?"

"Oh, yes," I cried; "he has always been most kind, and he wants to go
with me--for us to be together."

I did not grasp it so well then as I did afterwards, though I had an
undefined feeling that my fellow clerk's company would not be agreeable
to them; and when I left them that night, it was with the feeling that
it was quite certain that my new friends would start, possibly before
the month was out; while as far as I was concerned, my prospects were
very much as they were.



CHAPTER EIGHT.

A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT.

That night when I got back to Camberwell, I found that not only had
supper been ready above an hour, but Mrs Dean and Esau were both
waiting for me to join them.

"I thought we'd make a sort of a party of it," said Esau, "only not ask
anybody, so that we could enjoy ourselves, though if that policeman was
anywhere near, and old Dingle wasn't so far off, I should like to have
had them in."

"Oh, I am glad you've come," cried Mrs Dean, "for Esau has been going
on so."

"Only," continued Esau, ignoring his mother's words, "you couldn't ask
old Dingle without asking his wife and twelve children, and that would
take such a lot of plates, without counting the pie mother's made, and
that's only just enough for three."

"But why have you got such a grand hot supper?"  I said.

"Because of its being a holiday, and because we're going to make a fresh
start in life over there in the woods."

"Esau, my dear, don't, pray don't," whimpered his mother.  "It was bad
enough sitting up for you all night, and you not coming, but it's far
worse when you will go on like that."

"Come, sit down, Mr Gordon.  I'm as hungry as can be.  Why you know you
went to sleep, mother."

"I didn't, my dear.  I never had a wink all night for expecting you."

"Well, how could I help it, mother?  We should have been home safe
enough if we hadn't been locked up in a dun John."

"Yes, and my boy in custody--in prison.  Oh dear me! oh dear me!"

"Ah!" shouted Esau, striking the table hard with a spoon.  "You dare to
cry again, and I won't eat a bit of supper."

"But I can't help it, Esau," sobbed the poor little woman; "I declare
I've been seeing nothing but policemen and prison vans ever since you
told me where you had been."

"All comes o' getting into bad company, mother," said Esau, cutting the
steaming steak pie.  "There; that's an extra spoonful o' gravy for you
if you promise not to cry."

He passed a plate to where his mother sat, and began to help me.

"Bad company's the ruin of all boys," continued Esau, laughing at me.
"Look at Mr Gordon's ear, and that mark on his face."

"Oh, my dear," cried Mrs Dean, "my eyes were so dim, I didn't see.  Is
it very bad?"

"'Course you couldn't see," cried Esau, "if you keep on crying.  Why you
ought to laugh for joy to think Mr Gordon and me's got out of bad
company, and left old Dempster for good."

"I am glad, my dear, if it's for your good, I'm sure.  Let me give you a
hot baked potato, Mr Gordon, my dear.  But Esau has been going on in
the wildest way--says he shall start across the sea to some dreadful
place."

"That I didn't, mother; I said it was a lovely place.  There you are,
master.  Mr Esau Dean, may I have the pleasure of helping you to some
poy?"

"He says he shall be an emigrant, my dear, and shall go and build
himself a house in the woods."

"Well," said Esau, helping himself quickly, "there's no room here in
London to build one, and if there was the people wouldn't let me have
the ground."

"And it's all madness, and wild as wild."

"Well, you might give your poor son, who has just escaped outer prison,
a hot potato," said Esau, grinning at me again.

"Oh, my dear, I beg your pardon.  There, let me help you.  That's a
beauty."

"Then why didn't you give it to Mr Gordon?"

"Do be quiet, my dear.  How you do talk.  I really think you're half
crazy."

"I was, mother, to stop with old `going, going, gone' so long.  Never
mind; I'm going to have land of my own, and a house in the woods, where
I can go and shoot bears and wolves."

"There, Mr Gordon, my dear, that's how he has been going on ever since
he came home."

"Hold your plate for some more gravy," said Esau to me.  "That's the
worst part of it.  I shan't have mother to make hot steak pies and
lovely crusts."

"It isn't half so good as I should like to make it, Esau," said the poor
little woman sadly; "but do be a good boy, and leave off all that
dreadful talk.  Mr Gordon don't go on like that."

"No, but he thinks all the more, mother."

"He don't, I'm sure.  Now do you, Mr Gordon?"

"I'm afraid I've quite made up my mind to go, Mrs Dean," I said sadly.

"Oh, my dear, don't," she cried.  "It's too dreadful.  Right on the
other side of the world, where there's bears and wolves, and for all we
know perhaps savage Red Indians."

"Oh, there are, mother, lots of 'em; and they scallop people and roast
'em."

"Esau!" half shrieked the poor little woman wildly.

"Don't eat 'em afterwards, do they, Mr Gordon?"

"Don't listen to him, Mrs Dean," I cried.  "He is saying all this to
tease you."

"I thought so," she cried triumphantly.  "Then he doesn't mean to go?"

I was silent, and Mrs Dean's knife and fork dropped on the table.

"Tell me--the truth," she cried, rising and laying her hand on my
shoulder.

"The truth is, Mrs Dean, that we have both lost our situations, and
that I'm afraid Mr Dempster will be so malicious that he will keep us
from getting others."

"Yes, I'm afraid of that," she said sadly.

"So as we have heard that any one who likes to try can get on out there,
we did think of going."

"And we do think of going, mother dear," said Esau gently.  "Come, try
and look at it sensibly.  I know you will not like me to go, and when it
comes to the time, I shan't like to leave you; but I'm such a
sleepy-headed chap, I shall never get on here, and if I go over there it
will wake me up."

"But I couldn't part with you, my boy," cried Mrs Dean.  "I should be
all alone.  What would become of me?"

"Why you'd go on just as you are, and I should send you home some money
sometimes; and when I've made my fortune I shall come back and make a
lady of you."

"No, no, no," she said, with the tears running down her cheeks; "I'd
rather stop as we are, Esau."

"Yes, but we can't."

"Yes, we can, dear.  I've saved a few pounds now, and it only means
working a little harder.  I can keep you, and I'm sure--"

"Stop!" roared Esau huskily.  "I'm ashamed of you, mother.  Do you think
I'm going to be such a sop of a fellow as to sit down here and let you
keep me?  I suppose you'll want to keep Mr Gordon next."

"Then you've got nothing to be ashamed of, I'm sure, sir," said the
little woman tartly.  "What's enough for two's enough for three, and I
was going to say, when you went on like that, that if Mr Gordon
wouldn't mind, and not be too proud at things not being quite so
plentiful, which everything should be clean as clean, it's very, very
welcome you'd be, my dear, for you never could have been nicer if you
had been my own boy."

"Mrs Dean," I cried, with a curious feeling in my throat, while Esau
looked at me searchingly, as if he thought I was going to accept the
offer, "that is quite impossible.  Neither Esau nor I could do that.
Why, I should be ashamed even to think of it."

"Oh no," said Esau, sarcastically, "it's all right.  Let mother do the
work, and we two will play at tops and marbles all day."

"Be quiet, Esau.  I know you're only teasing.  But why not, my dear?  I
know I'm a very little woman, but I'm very strong."

"It's be quiet, mother, I think," cried Esau angrily.  "What do you mean
by talking like that to Mr Gordon?  I often calls him Gordon, 'cause
he's always been such a good chap to me; but I don't forget he's a
gentleman's son, and his mother was a born lady.  I'm ashamed of you,
mother, that I am."

"But it's so dreadful, my boy--worse than your being a soldier.  I could
come down to Woolwich to see you sometimes."

"No, no, Mrs Dean," I said; "don't say that.  It really would be wise
for us to go.  People do get on out there, and those friends of mine,
Mr John Dempster and Mrs John, are going."

"That's it then," cried the little lady angrily.  "It's their doing, and
it's a shame."

"Here, hold hard, mother!" cried Esau.  "I say, is that true?"

"Quite."

"And now you're trying to blind me, Esau," cried Mrs Dean; "but you
can't cheat me."

"Who's trying to blind you?"

"You, sir.  Just as if you didn't know all the time."

"He did not know, neither did I know till I went up there to-day," I
said.

"Ah, I never liked those people.  They're only Dempsters, and not
content with weaning you away from me, they've done the same now with my
boy."

"Did you ever hear such an unbelieving old creature," cried Esau
excitedly.  "Mr and Mrs John D. going!  Why you've coaxed 'em into
it."

"You don't deceive me; you don't deceive me," said Mrs Dean, sobbing.

"Be quiet, mother!--But how is it they're going?"

"For Mrs John's health.  I told you before they said they might go to
Canada."

"So you did."

"Of course you did," said Mrs Dean, scornfully.

"They are going to join Mrs John's brother, who is manager out at a
Hudson's Bay Company's station."

"Hudson's Bay," said Esau, making a grimace; "that's up at the North
Pole.  I don't want to go there."

"Nonsense!"  I said; "it's somewhere in British Columbia."

"Hudson's Bay, Baffin's Bay, Davis' Straits--all up at the North Pole.
Think nobody never learnt jography but you?"

"Ah, well, never mind where it is," I said impatiently; "they're going
out there."

"And they've coaxed you two boys away from a poor lone widow woman to go
with them," cried Mrs Dean; "and it's a sin and a shame."

"I assure you, Mrs Dean--"

"No, sir, you can't."

"Will you be quiet, mother!" cried Esau angrily, "and go on with your
supper, and let us.  You're crying right into the salt."

"I'm not, sir! and I will not be put down by a boy like you.  I say you
shan't go."

"And I say I shall," replied Esau surlily.  "If you don't know what's
for the best, I do."

"It isn't for the best, and it's cruel of you, Esau."

"Well," said Esau, turning to me, "I've made up my mind, Gordon; she
won't care when it's all over, and then she'll see it's for the best for
all of us.  So once for all, will you stick to it?"

"Yes," I said, "I am quite determined now."

"Hear that, mother?"

"Oh yes, I hear, sir."

"Then don't say sir; and let's finish supper comfortably, for I haven't
had half enough.  But let's have it all over, and then settle down to
it.  So once for all, I'm going out to British Columbia to make my
fortune."

Mrs Dean had been sitting down for some little time now, and as Esau
said these last words she started up, gave the table a sharp slap with
her hand, looked defiantly at us both, and exclaimed--

"Then I shall come too."

We two lads sank back in our chairs astonished.  Then we looked at each
other, and we ended by bursting out laughing.

"Oh, all right," said Esau at last.  "That's right, mother.--She's
coming to do the shooting for us while we build up the house."

"Ah, you may laugh, sir.  But if that's a place that is good for two
lads like you to get on in, it's a good place for a respectable
hard-working woman who can wash, and cook, and bake bread, whether it's
loaves or cakes."

"Well, mother can make cakes," said Esau, "and good ones."

"Of course I can, sir; and very glad you'll be of 'em too when you're
thousands of miles from a baker's shop."

"Yes; but the idee of your coming!" cried Esau.  "Haw, haw, haw!"

Somehow it did not seem to me such a very preposterous "idee," as Esau
called it, for just then I too had an idea.  Mrs John was going that
long waggon journey; what could be better for her than to have a clever
little managing, hard-working woman like Mrs Dean with her?

But I did not say anything about it then, for I had to think the matter
over.  Only a few hours ago it had seemed as if my connection with Esau
was likely to be in the way of my accompanying the Dempsters; now
matters were taking a form that looked as if my friendliness with him
was to be the reason, not only for my being their companion, but of
helping them admirably as well.

But matters were not quite in shape yet, and we all went to bed that
night feeling as if Esau's opinion was correct--that the little supper
had not been a success.



CHAPTER NINE.

DIFFICULTIES.

Mrs Dean was in waiting for me next morning, and attacked me directly.

"Do, do, pray try and help me, my dear," she whispered, so that her
voice might not rise to the little bed-room where we could hear Esau
stamping about, knocking the jug against the basin, and snorting like a
hippopotamus over his ablutions.  "You have such a way with you, and
Esau looks up to you so as being a gentleman, and I know he'll do what
you tell him."

"Nonsense, Mrs Dean!"  I said; "surely he'll mind his mother more than
he does me."

"No, my dear, no," she said sadly.  "He has always been the dearest and
best of boys, and I used to make him think just as I liked; but of late,
since he has been grown big and strong, he generally ends by making me
think as he likes, and he is so obstinate."

"Oh no; he's a very good fellow."

"Yes, my dear.  Hush! don't talk so loud.  You see he has got it into
his head that it is the best thing for us, and I want you to get it
out."

"But how can I, when I think the same?"

"Now, Mr Gordon, my dear, you don't--you can't think it's best for you
two boys to go trapesing hundreds of thousands of miles, and going
living among wild beasts in forests."

"I'm afraid I do, without the wild beasts," I said.

"But suppose you were both taken ill, my dear, there's no hospitals, or
dispensaries, or doctors out there."

"But you said you would come with us, and if we were taken ill, where
could we get a better nurse?"

"It's very kind of you to say so, my dear, and of course I shouldn't
think of going without some camomiles, and poppy-heads, and a little
castor-oil, and salts and senny, and jollop.  Yes, and a roll of
sticking-plaster.  And that reminds me, how is your poor ear?"

"Oh, not very bad," I said laughing.  "But there, I'm afraid I cannot do
what you wish, Mrs Dean, for if Esau does not come, I shall certainly
go myself."

"And he'd be sure to, then, my dear.  He'd have been a soldier by this
time, only you kind of held him back.  He does think such a deal of--"

"Hallo, you two!  Ketched you, have I, making plots and plans?"

"No, no, my dear."

"Why, you've been coaxing him to get me not to go."

"Well, my dear, it was something of that sort."

"Yes, I know, mother.  That's just like you, trying to stop me when I'm
going to make a big fortune."

"But you don't know that you are, my dear.  Such lots of people go
abroad to make fortunes, and I never knew one yet who brought a fortune
back."

"Then you're going to know two now--him and me.  Breakfast ready?"

"Yes, my dears; and I thought you'd like some hot rolls, so I went and
got 'em."

"I say, mother, you're going it.  Hot rolls!  Are they buttered?"

"Yes, my dear, and in the oven."

"Did you cut 'em in three?"

"Yes, dear, and put plenty of butter in, as you like them."

"Hooray!  Come on then, and let's begin."

"But, Esau dear, if you'll only promise to stop, you shall have hot
rolls for breakfast every morning.  You shall, if I work night and day."

"Then Esau and I would rather have hard biscuit and dry bread out
yonder, Mrs Dean," I said warmly; and Esau shouted--

"Hear, hear!"

Two days passed, then a third, and we had been out, and, to please
Esau's mother, tried in several places to get engagements.  But we soon
found that it was hopeless, and after tramping about for hours went back
to the cottage.

"Such waste of time, and such a lot of trouble," grumbled Esau.  "Why,
we might have done a lot of good work hunting, or shooting, or
gardening, out in Merriky yonder."

But Mrs Dean only shook her head, and told us to try again; and we
tried.

I think it was on the fourth evening that we were sitting in the little
kitchen, tired, discontented, and miserable, with Mrs Dean stitching
away more quickly than ever, when we all started, for there was a double
knock at the door, "Hullo!" cried Esau.

"Hush! my dear," said his mother, mysteriously; "I know.  It's either
Mr Dempster to beg you to go back, or news about a new place."

She smoothed her apron and went to the door, picking off threads and
ravelings from her dress so as to look neat, though that she always
looked; and the next moment I ran to the door too, for I heard a
familiar voice, and to my surprise found both Mr and Mrs John.

"Ah, my dear boy," he cried eagerly, "we were getting uneasy about you,
and thought you must be ill.  My wife could not rest till we came."

I led them into the little parlour, and placed chairs; while Mrs Dean,
after a humble courtesy, went away into the kitchen.

"Is that your landlady?" continued Mrs John, as she glanced quickly
round; and, before I could answer, "How beautifully neat and clean."

"Yes, beautifully," assented Mr John, hurriedly.  "Have you heard of an
engagement, Mayne?"

"No, sir," I said sadly.

"Then you have not tried?"

"Indeed, sir, both Esau and I have tried very hard, as his mother is so
averse to his going abroad."

"Then you have given up all thought of going abroad, my dear boy?"

I shook my head.

"But you should, Mayne," said Mrs John, in rather a low voice.  "We are
forced to go for my health's sake, but you are young and strong, and
with energy you ought to succeed here."

"I should like to do what you think right, ma'am," I said sadly.

"And we both think it right, my boy," said Mr John.  "We should dearly
like to have you with us; but it would be unjust to you to encourage you
to take a step which you might afterwards bitterly repent, and we should
feel ourselves to blame."

I looked at Mrs John, and she took my hand, and said sadly--

"Yes, we have had many talks about it, Mayne, and we can only come to
that conclusion."

"Then you are both going away, and I shall never see you again?"  I said
bitterly.

"Who can say?" said Mrs John, smiling.  "You know why I am going.  I
may come back in a few years strong and well, to find you a prosperous
and--Ah!"

"Alexes! my child!" cried Mr John in agony, for Mrs John, who had been
speaking in a low voice, suddenly changed colour, raised her hands to
her throat, as she uttered a low sigh, and would have fallen from her
chair if I had not caught and supported her.

We were lifting her to the little horse-hair couch, when there was a tap
at the door, and Mrs Dean appeared.

"Is anything the--"

"Matter," she would have said, but as she caught sight of Mrs John's
white face, she came forward quickly, and with all the clever management
of a practised nurse, assisted in laying the fainting woman back on the
couch.

"She's weak, and been trying to do too much, sir."

"Yes, yes, I was afraid," cried Mr John.  "But she would come--to see
you, Mayne.  Tell me where--I'll run for a doctor."

"Oh no, sir," said Mrs Dean, quietly; "I'll bathe her temples a bit.
She'll soon come round."

Mrs Dean hurried out of the room, and was back directly with basin,
sponge, towels, and a tiny little silver box.

"You hold that to her nose, Mr Gordon, while I sponge her face.  Mind--
it's very strong."

"But a doctor," panted Mr John in agony.  "She has been so terribly
ill.  This was too much for her."

"If you fetched a doctor, sir, he'd tell us to do just what we're
a-doing.  Bathe her face and keep her head low.  There, poor dear! she's
coming round.  Oh, how thin and white she is!"

Mrs Dean was quite right, for under her ministrations the patient soon
opened her eyes, to look vacantly about for a few moments, and murmur--

"So weak--so weak."

"Are you better, dearest?" whispered her husband.

She smiled feebly, and closed her eyes for a time.  Then with a deep
sigh she looked up again, and made an effort to rise.

"Ah, that's right," said Mr John; "you feel better."

"No, no," said Mrs Dean, firmly, "not yet.  She must lie still till the
faintness has gone off, or she'll bring it back," and, with a sigh, Mrs
John resigned herself to the stronger will, Mr John nodding at me, and
saying in a whisper--

"Yes, Mayne; she knows best."

A few minutes later Mrs Dean went towards the door.

"I'll be back again directly," she whispered.  "I want to speak to
Esau."

She was back directly, and Mrs John held out her hand to her.

"Thank you, thank you so very much," she whispered.  "I am so sorry to
have given you all this trouble."

Mrs Dean laughed.

"Trouble!" she said, merrily; "as if it was trouble for one woman to
help another.  I mean a lady," she said, colouring.

There was silence for a few moments, and then Mrs John said--

"I thought I must come down to see Mayne.  Has he told you of his wish
to go with us to the West?"

"Told me?" cried Mrs Dean, excitedly.  "Ah, now you are talking about
trouble indeed."

"We came down to tell him that it is impossible--foolish of him to think
of such a thing."

"Oh, thank you kindly, ma'am," cried Mrs Dean; "and me thinking all
kinds of evil of you, and that you had been persuading him to go."

"No, no, my good woman, no," said Mr John.

"And thank you too, sir.  And I hope Mr Gordon will take it to heart,
for if he had gone my Esau would have been sure to go too, and I should
have seemed to be quite alone in the world."

"Yes, it would be hard for you," said Mrs John, looking at her
searchingly.  "Mayne, my dear, you will not try and influence her son?"

I shook my head.

"Oh, but he don't, ma'am, never," said Mrs Dean, eagerly; "he crosses
him; but my Esau always sets Mr Gordon here up for a hidle, and thinks
whatever he does must be right."

"Why, Mayne," said Mr John, smiling, "I did not know you were such a
model boy."

"Oh, but he is, sir," cried Mrs Dean; "and my Esau is ever so much
better since--"

"I'm going for a walk," I said, with my face scarlet.

But just then there was a tap at the door, to which Mrs Dean responded,
and came back directly with a little tray, on which was her favourite
black teapot and its companions.

"I'm afraid, ma'am, it isn't such tea as you're used to, but I thought a
cup--and my boy Esau got it ready."

Mrs John gave her a grateful look, and soon after, very much refreshed,
she quite sat up, Mrs Dean helping her to a chair.

"But oh, my dear," she said, "you're so weak and thin; you're not fit to
take a long voyage and a journey such as Mr Gordon talked about."

"If I stay in England I shall die," said Mrs John, sadly.

"Oh, don't say that, my--ma'am.  But are you going alone?"

"No; with my husband."

"And soon?"

"The vessel sails in a fortnight."

"A fortnight?  There, Mr Gordon, you see you could not go.  It is too
soon."

"And you will give up all thought of going, Mayne?" said Mrs John, "for
our sake."

I was silent for a few moments, and then my voice was very husky as I
said--

"For some years now I have had no friends except Mrs Dean and her son.
Then I met Mr John Dempster, and since then it has been like having old
times.  Now you are going away, and you say don't go too."

"Yes, yes," said Mrs John; "I am speaking for your good."

"I know you think you are, Mrs John; but if Mr John here had at my age
been placed in my position, I'm sure he would not have done as you
advise."

"I'm afraid I should, my boy," he faltered.  "I never did have your
energy."

"Then I can't help it," I cried.  "I shall not say good-bye to you, for
go I must."

"Oh, Mr Gordon," cried Mrs Dean, "if you go Esau is sure to go too."

"Then we will try the harder either to make you a home out there, or to
come back here prosperous men."

"Then I say it again," cried Mrs Dean, just as if she were putting my
hopes into shape, "you two couldn't make a home comfortable; so if it is
to be, why there's an end of it.  And look here, sir and ma'am, this
poor dear is not fit to go all that long journey alone, and as I'm going
too, I shall come along with you and tend to her, and do the best I
can."

"Oh no, no," cried Mrs John.

"It is impossible," said Mr John.

"Do you want to wake up some day, sir," cried the little woman firmly,
"and find this poor, weak, suffering thing dying for want of help?  Of
course you don't.  Here, Esau," she cried, throwing open the door.

"Yes, mother; more hot water?" came from the kitchen.

"No; you may begin to pack up.  We're going across the sea."

Before Mr and Mrs John left us that night it was all settled; and when
I returned from going part of the way with them, I found Esau and his
mother hard at work, planning as to what was to be taken and what sold,
Mrs Dean rousing her son's anger as I entered the kitchen, and making
him stamp.

"Why, what is the matter?"

"Mother is so obstinate," he cried.

"Why, what about?  Does she say now she will not go?"

"No, Mr Gordon, I only told him I must take my four flat-irons with me.
They don't take up much room, and take 'em I will.  Why, bless the
boys! do you think you won't want clean shirts?"



CHAPTER TEN.

OFF TO THE WEST.

That was really the prime difficulty in our leaving England--to keep
Mrs Dean's ideas of necessaries within bounds.  Poor little woman!  She
could not, try how her son and I would to make her, understand what was
the meaning of simple necessaries.

"Now it's of no use for you to fly in a passion with your poor mother,
Esau," she used to say.  "I've consented to go with you to this wild
savage land, but I must have a few things to make the house comfortable
when we get there."

"But don't I tell you you can't take 'em, because they won't have 'em
aboard ship; and you can't stuff 'em in a waggon and carry 'em millions
of miles when you get across."

"If you wouldn't be so unreasonable, Esau.  There, I appeal to Mr
Gordon."

"So do I," roared Esau.  "Does mother want a great ironing-board?"

"No," I said; "we can make you hundreds out there."

"Oh dear me.  You'll say next I mustn't take my blankets and sheets."

"You must only take what you can pack in one big chest," I said.

"But no chest would hold what I want to take," whimpered the poor little
woman.  "I declare if I'd known that I was to give up everything I have
scraped together all these years I wouldn't have consented to go.  Here,
Esau, what are you going to do with those ornaments?"

"Set 'em aside for the broker."

"Esau, I must take them."

"All right, mother.  We'll have a ship on purpose for you, and you shall
take the kitchen fender, the coal-scuttle, the big door-mat, and the old
four-post bedstead."

"Oh, thank you, my dear; that is good of--Esau! you're laughing at me,
and you too, Mr Gordon.  I declare it's too bad."

"So it is, mother--of you.  Once for all, I tell you that you must pack
things that will be useful in one big chest, and you can take a few
things that you'll want on the voyage and in the waggon in a carpet
bag."

"But it's ruinous, my dear--all my beautiful things I've taken such
pride in to be sacrificed."

"Oh, do hark at her!" cried Esau, sticking two fingers in his ears, and
stamping about.  "I wish to goodness I'd never had no mother."

"Then you're a cruel, ungrateful boy, and you'll break my heart before
you've done.  Mr Gordon, what am I to do?"

"To try and think that we are going to start a new life, and that when
Esau makes a new home for you, all these household things can be got
together by degrees."

"But it's ruin, my dear.  All these things will go for nothing."

"They won't, I tell you," roared Esau.  "How many more times am I to
tell you that Dingle will give us fifty pounds for 'em?  Him and another
man's joining, and they're going to put 'em in sales; and if they don't
make so much, we've got to pay them, and if they make more, Dingle's
going to pay us.  What more do you want?"

"Nothing, my dear; I've done," said Mrs Dean in a resigned tone, such
as would have made a bystander think that the whole business was
settled.  It was not, however, for the next day most likely the whole
argument would be gone through again about some trifle.

Meanwhile I had been helping Mr John, and here Mr Dingle's knowledge
came in very helpful, and he devoted every spare minute he had, working
so well, that he arranged with one of our well-known auctioneers to take
the furniture of the cottage, and triumphantly brought Mr John a cheque
for far more than he expected to receive.

One way and another, Mr John was well provided with funds, laughingly
telling me he had never been so rich before, as I went with him to his
landlord's to give up the key of the pleasant little house.

For during the rapidly passing days of that fortnight everything had
been settled, a passage had been secured for Mrs Dean in the same
vessel by which Mr and Mrs John were going, and it had been finally
decided that Esau and I were to go by quite a different route.  For
while they were to go by swift steamer across to Quebec, and from there
through Canada with one or other of the waggon-trains right to Fort Elk,
on the upper waters of the Fraser, we lads were, after seeing the little
party off to Liverpool, to go on board the _Albatross_, a clipper ship
bound from London to the River Plate, and round by Cape Horn to San
Francisco, from which port we were to find our way north the best way we
could.

There would be no difficulty, we were told, for vessels often sailed
from the Golden Gate to the mouth of the Fraser, but our voyage would be
slow.

It would be rapid though compared to the land journey across the
prairies.  Our trip would probably last five months, more if our stay at
San Francisco were long; but allowing for halts at the settlements, and
the deliberate way in which, for Mrs John's benefit, the journey was to
be made, their trip would extend to a year--probably more.

Mr John had gone through it all with me again and again, reading long
extracts from his brother-in-law's letter written expressly for their
guidance, till I knew them pretty well by heart.  In these he was told
to hasten on to the high and mountainous lands, for it was there the
advantage to Mrs John would be.  They would find it cold as the autumn
passed into winter during their journey, intensely cold, perhaps; but it
would be bright and sunshiny as a rule, and the clear pure air of the
elevated regions gave health and strength.

I thought a great deal about it, and felt puzzled sometimes, wondering
whether it could be wise to take a delicate woman all that tremendous
distance.  But I was too young, I thought, to have opinions worth
consideration, and I always came to the conclusion that my elders must
know best.

Then came the day for parting, so quickly that I could hardly believe
it.  The luggage had gone on some days before to Liverpool, and there
were Esau and I seeing after the few things that were to accompany the
travellers in their cabins, as we stood on the platform at Euston.

Mrs John looked terribly thin and worn, more suited, I thought, for
going at once to her bed than to venture on such a terrible journey; but
there was a bright, hopeful look in her eyes as I helped her to her
seat, and she spoke quite cheerily as she held my hand, Mr John holding
the other, and we occupied ourselves with our final good-byes, so as not
to notice Mrs Dean and her son.  But I could not help hearing Esau's
words--

"Oh, I say, mother, don't--don't!  You must get to your seat now.
There, good-bye, dear.  It isn't so very far after all, and we'll be
there waiting for you, and ready to welcome you when you come."

"But is it right, dear?" she said; "is it right?"

"'Course it is.  Don't turn coward.  You must go now all the things are
sold."

There was a final embrace; Mrs Dean was hurried into her seat, the door
closed; Mr John pressed my hand hard without a word, and Mrs John put
her arms about my neck and kissed me.

"God bless you! _au revoir_!" she said.

"Stand back, sir, please," some one shouted; the engine gave a piercing
shriek, and Esau and I stood on the stone platform watching the train
glide away with many a head out of the window, and hand and kerchief
waving growing more and more confused, while a sense of desolation and
loneliness oppressed me till I quite started at my companion's words.

"Oh, won't poor mother have a big cry up in a corner all the way down.
It's very rum, but I suppose she is fond of me."

"Fond of you?"  I said; "of course."

"Well," he said, "here we are, passages paid, and all that money in our
pockets, and nothing to do for two days.  What shall us do--go and have
a bit of fun, or get on board at the docks?"

"Get on board the _Albatross_," I said.  "There don't seem to me as if
there is any more fun in the world."

"Well now, that is a strange thing," said Esau; "that's just how I feel.
Look here."

"What at?"

"I feel just in the humour for it--as cross and nasty as can be.  Let's
go and say good-bye to old Demp."

But we did not; we went sadly to the docks, where our boxes already
were, and that night took possession of our berths.



CHAPTER ELEVEN.

SEVENTEEN WEEKS AT SEA.

"Much better have let me had it my way, sir," said Esau, who, ever since
he had seen the John Dempsters and their treatment of me, had grown to
behave as if I was his superior.

He spoke those words one day when we had been at sea about a week, the
weather having been terribly rough, and the passengers suffering
severely.

"Oh, I don't know, Esau," I said, rather dolefully.

"I do, sir.  If you'd done as I wanted you we should ha' been walking
about Woolwich now in uniform, with swords under our arms; and I don't
know how you get on, but I can't walk at all."

"You should catch hold of something."

"Catch hold o' something?  What's the good when the ship chucks you
about just as if you were a ball.  See that chap over there?"

"What, that one-eyed man?"

"Yes; he was going to hit me just now."

"What for?"

"'Cause I run my head into his chest.  I couldn't help it.  I'd got my
legs precious wide apart, and was going steadily, when the ship gave a
regular jump and then seemed to wag her tail, and sent me flying, and
when I pollergized to him he said I was always doing it, and ought to
sit down."

"Well, it is safest, Esau," I said; "I've got several nasty bruises."

"Bruises!  Why, I'm bruised all over, and haven't got a place left clear
for another, so I've begun again making fresh bruises top of the old
'uns."

I laughed.

"Ah, I don't see nothing to grin at.  If you was as sore as I am you
wouldn't laugh.  Wouldn't have ketched me coming to sea if I'd known how
bad it was.  Why, it's like being knocked about by old Demp, only worse,
for you've got no one to hit back at."

"It's only a storm, Esau, and you'll like it when the weather's fine
again."

"Not me.  Like it!  Look here; I've read books about your yo-ho sailors
and jolly tars, and your bright blue seas, but them as wrote 'em ought
to be flogged.  Why, it's horrid.  Oh, how ill I have been.  I wouldn't
ha' cared if mother had been here.  She would ha' been sorry for me;
'stead o' everybody laughing, as if it was good fun."

"Well, you can laugh at them."

"Yes, and I just will too.  Oh, hark at that.  Here, hold tight, sir!
we're going."

For a tremendous wave struck the ship, making it quiver as tons of water
washed over her, seeming to beat her down; but she rose as if shaking
herself, and then made a pitch.

"I say," cried Esau, "I didn't know ships went like fishes sometimes."

"What do you mean?"  I said, as I listened to the rush and roar, and
noticed that it seemed to be getting dark.

"Why, swim right under water.  Shall we ever come up again.  Hah! that's
better," for the light streamed in again through the thick round glass
at the side by our heads.  "I've had about enough of this, sir.  What do
you say to getting out at the next pier and walking back?"

"Oh, Esau," I cried, "don't be such a Cockney.  What pier?  This is not
a river steamer."

"I only wish it was.  But I say, I can't eat, and I can't sleep, and I'm
sore outside and in.  Let's go back and follow mother and them two in a
waggon."

"But don't you know that we should have a rough voyage across first?"

"Couldn't be so rough as this.  Oh, there it goes again.  I know we're
going to dive down right to the bottom.  Wish we could, and then we
might get out and walk.  Here, let's go on deck."

"We can't," I said.

"No," said the one-eyed man, a big, broad, Saxon-looking fellow, "we're
battened down."

"Oh, are we?" said Esau.

"Yes; you can't go up till this weather's better.  Want to be washed
overboard?"

"I should like to be washed somewhere," said Esau, "for I feel very
dirty and miserable."

"Sit down and wait patiently, my lad," said the man; "and don't you come
butting that curly head of yours into me again, like an old Southdown
ram coming at a man.  I don't want my ribs broke."

"Have you been at sea before?"  I said to him, as he sat back smoking a
short pipe.

"Often.  Been to 'Stralia, and New Zealand, and the Cape."

"Was it ever as rough as this?"

"Worse," he said, laconically.

"But not so dangerous?" said Esau, in a questioning tone.

"Worse," said the man gruffly.

"But we keep seeming as if we should go to the bottom," said Esau,
fretfully.

"Well, if we do, we do, boy.  We're in for it, so what's the good o'
making a fuss?"

"I don't see no good in being drowned without saying a word," grumbled
Esau.  "We two paid ever so much for the passage, and a pretty passage
it is."

"Oh, it'll be all right if you keep quiet; but if you get wandering
about as you do, we shall have you going right through the bulk-head,
and have to get the carpenter to cut you out with a saw."

"Wish he was as ill as I am," whispered Esau.

"Thank ye," said the man, nodding at him.  "My eyes are a bit queer, but
my ears are sharp."

"Where do you suppose we are?"  I said.

"Off Spain somewhere, and I dare say we shall be in smooth water before
long.  Shan't be sorry for a little fresh air myself."

I was longing for it, our experience being not very pleasant down in the
crowded steerage; and I must confess to feeling sorry a good many times
that I had come.

But after a couple more days of misery, I woke one morning to find that
the ship was gliding along easily, and in the sweet, fresh air and warm
sunshine we soon forgot the troubles of the storm.

The weather grew from pleasantly warm to terribly hot, with calms and
faint breezes; and then as we sailed slowly on we began to find the
weather cooler again, till by slow degrees we began to pass into wintry
weather, with high winds and showers of snow.  And this all puzzled
Esau, whose knowledge of the shape of the earth and a ship's course were
rather hazy.

"Yes; it puzzles me," he said.  "We got from coolish weather into
hotter; then into hot, and then it grew cooler again, and now it's cold;
and that Mr Gunson says as soon as we're round the Horn we shall get
into wet weather, and then it will be warmer every day once more."

And so it of course proved, for as we rounded the Cape, and got into the
Pacific, we gradually left behind mountains with snow in the hollows and
dark-looking pine trees, to go sailing on slowly day after day through
dreary, foggy wet days.  Then once more into sunshine, with distant
peaks of mountain points on our right, as we sailed on within sight of
the Andes; and then on for weeks till we entered the Golden Gates, and
were soon after at anchor off San Francisco.

Seventeen weeks after we had come out of the West India Docks, and every
one said we had had a capital passage, and I suppose it was; but we
passed through a very dreary time, and it is impossible to describe the
feeling of delight that took possession of us as we looked from the deck
at the bright, busy-looking city, with its forest of masts, tall houses,
and dry, bare country round.

Esau and I were leaning against the bulwarks, gazing at the shore, upon
which we were longing to set foot, when Gunson, who had all through the
voyage been distant and rather surly, came up behind us.

"Well, youngsters," he said, "going ashore?"

"Yes," I said, "as soon as we can get our chests."

"Well, good-bye, and good luck to you.  Got any money?"

"A little," I replied, rather distantly, for I did not like the man's
manner.

He saw it, and laughed.

"Oh, I'm not going to beg or borrow," he said roughly.  "I was only
going to say put it away safe, and only keep a little out for use."

"Oh, we're not fools," said Esau, shortly.

"Don't tell lies, boy," said the man, giving him an angry look.  "Don't
you be too clever, because you'll always find some one cleverer.  Look
here," he continued, turning to me, "perhaps you're not quite so clever
as he is.  I thought I'd just say a word before I go about the people
here.  There's plenty of a good sort, but there's a set hanging about
the wharfs and places that will be on the look-out to treat you two lads
like oranges--suck you dry, and then throw away the skins.  Going to
stop here?"

"No," I said; "we are going up country to join some friends."

"Then you get up country and join your friends as soon as you can.
That's all.  Good-bye."

He nodded shortly at me, but did not offer to shake hands.

"Good-bye, sharp 'un," he growled at Esau.

"Good-bye," said Esau, defiantly, and then the man turned away.

"Never did like chaps with one eye," said Esau.  "Strikes me that he's
pretending to be so innocent, and all the while he's just the sort of
fellow to try and cheat you."

"Oh no," I said; "he's not a pleasant fellow, but I think he's honest."

"I don't," cried Esau.  "He took a fancy to that four-bladed knife of
mine on the voyage, and he has been waiting till he was going to leave
the ship.  I'm not going to make a row about it, 'cause I might be
wrong; but I had that knife last night, and this morning it's gone."

"And you think he stole it?"

"I shan't say one thing nor I shan't say another.  All I know is, that
my knife's gone."

"But hadn't you better have him stopped and searched?"

"What, and if the knife ain't found, have him glaring at me with that
eye of his as if he would eat me?  Not I.  We're in a strange country,
with 'Mericans, and Indians, and Chinese all about, and we've got to be
careful.  All I say is, my knife's gone."

"There, put it in your pocket," I said, handing him the knife, "and
don't be so prejudiced against a man who wanted to give us a bit of
friendly advice."

"Why! eh?  How?  You took the knife then."

"Nonsense; you lent it to me last night when I was packing up our
things."

Esau doubled his fist, and gave himself a good punch on the head.

"Of course I did," he cried.  "Well of all!  Why how!  I say, my head
must be thick after all."



CHAPTER TWELVE.

WE GET INTO HOT WATER.

We were on shore next day, and, by the captain's advice, went to a kind
of hotel, where they undertook, not very willingly, to accommodate us,
the captain having promised to help us in getting a ship for the Fraser
River.  But though day after day passed, and we went to him again and
again, he was always too busy about his cargo being discharged, or
seeing other people, to attend to us, and at last we sat one day on some
timber on a wharf, talking about our affairs rather despondently.

"We seem to be regularly stuck fast, Esau," I said; "and one feels so
helpless out in a strange place like this."

"Yes," he said; "and the money goes so fast."

"Yes," I said, "the money goes so fast.  We must get away from here
soon."

"Couldn't walk up to what-its-name, could we?"

"Walk?  Nonsense!  Many, many hundreds of miles through a wild country,
and over mountains and rivers."

"Well, I shouldn't mind that, lad.  It would all be new."

"We shall have plenty of that when we get to British Columbia."

"What's all this then?" he said.

"Part of the United States--California."

"Oh, ah! of course.  Seems to me I spent so much time learning to write
a good hand, that I don't know half so much of other things as I
should."

"Plenty of time for learning more, Esau."

"Yes, plenty of time.  Seem to have more time than we want, and I don't
enjoy going about much, though there's plenty to see.  One's so
unsettled like."

"Yes; we want to get to our journey's end."

"So this is California, is it?  That's where they got so much gold.  I
say, let's stop here."

"Nonsense!  We must get to Fort Elk, and see what is to be done there
till Mr John comes."

"All right, I'm ready for anything.  Here's one of the chaps coming who
wanted us to let him get us a ship yesterday."

For just then a yellow-looking fellow, one of the many idlers who hung
about the docks, came slouching along towards us; and as soon as I saw
him I whispered a word or two to Esau, and we got up and walked away,
with the man still following us at a little distance.

"Those chaps smell money is my belief," said Esau.

"Yes, and Mr Gunson was right.  We mustn't trust any one, but wait till
the Captain tells us of some respectable skipper who's going up North
and will take us."

"That's it.  I say, what rum-looking chaps these Chinees are," continued
Esau, as a man in blue, with a long pig-tail, passed us and smiled.
"Why, he don't know us, does he?"

"We don't know him," I replied.

We went on past the crowded wharves, where ships were loading and
unloading, and then by the grey-tinted wooden buildings, all bright and
fresh-looking in the sunshine.  Everybody nearly seemed busy and in a
hurry except us, and the idle-looking scoundrels who hung about the
drinking and gambling saloons, into one or two of which Esau peered
curiously as we went by; and then, as if attracted by the shipping, we
made our way again down by the wharves in hopes of hearing of a vessel
that would take us on.

I have known well enough since, that had we been better instructed, all
this would have been simple enough; but to us ignorant lads, fresh come
from England, it was a terrible problem to solve, one which grew more
difficult every day.  In those days, when settlers were few, and
Vancouver Island just coming into notice, there was no regular steamer,
only a speculative trading-vessel now and then.  Still there was
communication, if we had only known where to apply.

We were watching one vessel just setting out on her voyage, and thinking
that in an hour or two she would be outside the great opening to the
harbour, and abreast of the bare, whitish-looking cliffs which form that
part of the Californian coast, when Esau said--

"I wonder whether she's going up to Fraser River.  I say, why didn't we
find out she was going to sail, and ask?"

"You want to go up the Fraser River?" said a voice close behind us.
"Guess I never see such chaps as you.  Why didn't you say so sooner?"

We both faced round at once, and found that the man who had been
haunting us for days was close behind us, and had heard every word.
"Look here," said Esau, shortly.  "There, don't you got rusty, stranger.
That's the worst of you Englishers, you think everybody wants tew hurt
you."

"Come along," I whispered.

"Yew just let him alone.  He's all right.  Now here's yew tew have
landed here days, yew may say, outer the _Albytross_, and yew goes to
spensife hotel, wasting yew're money, when we've got quite a home for
strangers like yew for half what yew pay, and we'll get yew a ship to
Fraser, Skimalt, or wheer yew like."

As he was speaking three more men sauntered slowly up and stood looking
on--men whom I felt sure I had seen with him before, and it made me
uneasy, especially as a couple more came out of a low-looking saloon
close by, and we were some distance from the better part of the city.

"Look here," I said sharply, "do you know of a ship going to sail to the
Fraser River, or to Esquimalt?"

"Why, of course I do.  Here, where's your money?  It's twenty-five
dollars a-piece.  Splendid berths, best of living.  Like gentlemen
aboard.  Hand over, and I'll take you to where they give out the
tickets."

"Thank you," I said.  "I should like to see the ship, and an agent."

"But don't I tell yew everything's first chip, and I'll do it for yew as
yew're strangers."

"Yes, it's very kind of you," I said; "but I won't trouble you."

"Trouble?  Oh, come, we're not like that here to strangers.  Nonsense,
lad.  Hand over."

"We're not going to give twenty-five dollars a piece, I can tell you,"
put in Esau.

"Why, it's next to nothing for a voyage like that.  But there, never
mind, you two are new-comers, and the skipper's a friend of mine.  I'll
put you right with him for twenty dollars each.  Here, hi!  Any of you
know the _Pauliner_?"

"Know her? yes," said one of the men hard by; and they all came up and
surrounded us.  "What about her?"

"Sails for the Fraser, don't she, to-morrow?"

"Yes, of course."

"Splendid clipper, ain't she, with cabins and all chip chop?"

"Yes," came in chorus.

"There, what more do you want?  Come along, lads; lucky I met you.  Come
and have a drink."

"No, thank you," I said.  "Come, Esau."

"Get," said the man with a forced laugh.  "What's the good of being
strangers.  Come and have a drink.  I'll pay."

"Pay?  Ah," said the second man; "and we'll all share in turn.  Come on
in here."

This fellow clapped his hand on my shoulder with a boisterous display of
friendliness, while the firstcomer thrust his hand through Esau's arm,
and began to lead him toward the saloon.

"That will do," I said, trying to be cool, for I began to fear that we
were being dragged into some disturbance, and felt that the time had
come to be firm.  "We are much obliged to you for your friendliness, but
we neither of us drink.  Be good enough to tell me where the agent of
the ship lives, and I'll give you half-a-dollar."

"Nonsense! come and have a drink, my lad."

"No, thank you," I said.  "Come, Esau."

"Why, what a fellow you are.  Very well, then, hand over the twenty
dollars each, if you can't take a friendly drop.  I'll get the tickets
for you all the same."

"No, no," said the other man.  "Let's do no business without a drink
first; they think we want to make them pay, but I'll stand liquors for
the lot."

"No, let 'em have their own way," said the first man; "they're not used
to our customs.  You let 'em alone.  I'm going to get 'em passages in
the _Paulina_, for twenty dollars each.  Come, lads, where's your
money?"

I glanced quickly to right and left, but we seemed to be away from help,
and, strangers as we were, in the lower part of the port, quite at the
mercy of these men.  Then, having made up my mind what to do, I pressed
up to Esau, pushing rather roughly by our first friend.

"Now, Esau," I said, "back to the hotel.  Straight on," I whispered.
"Run!"

"I bet you don't," said our first friend; "that trick won't do here,
stranger;" and his smooth looks and tones gave place to a scowl and the
air of a bully.  "Come along, Esau," I said sharply.  "No, nor you don't
come along neither," said the man, as the others closed round us as if
out of curiosity, but so as to effectually bar our retreat.

"What's matter?" said one who had not yet spoken.

"Matter?" cried our friend.  "Why jest this.  These here tew have been
holding me off and on for three days, wanting me to get 'em a ship to
take 'em to Esquimalt.  First they wanted to go for ten, then they'd
give fifteen."

"Fifteen dollars to Skimalt?" cried the new man.  "Gammon."

"That's so," said our friend.  "Last they said they'd give twenty
dollars a-piece, and after a deal o' trouble we got 'em berths, and paid
half the money down; now they want to back out of it."

"Oh, yes," cried the second man; "that won't do here, mates."

"It's not true," I said, indignantly.  "And now wants to bounce me out
of it.  Here, yew wouldn't hev that, mates, would yew?"

There was a regular excited chorus here, and the men closed in upon us,
so that we were quite helpless, and for a moment I felt that we must buy
ourselves out of our awkward position.  But a glance at Esau showed that
he was stubborn and angry as I, and that if called upon he would be
ready to fight for it, and make a dash for liberty.

Those were only momentary thoughts, for we were two lads of sixteen or
seventeen against a gang of strong men who were holding us now, and our
position was hopeless.

Just then our first friend said in a carneying tone--

"There, don't be hard on 'em, mates.  They're going to be reasonable.
Now then, are you going to pay those twenty dollars each for your
passages?"

"No," I said, choking with rage.

"Yew don't mean to go in the _Pauliner_?"

"No, we don't," cried Esau.

"Very well, then, yew must each on yew pay the smart.  I paid for yew--
ten dollars each, and tew fur my trouble.  That's fair, ain't it,
mates?"

"Ay, ay.  Make 'em pay three dollars," was chorussed.

"There, yew hear 'em, so out with the spots, and no more nonsents."

"You won't get no money out o' me," cried Esau, fiercely.

"Nor from me," I cried.

"We'll soon see that.  Now quick!"

It was broad daylight, but we seemed to be quite alone, and I was being
forced back over a man's knee, when I was jerked up again, and the man
who was holding me went backwards, while a familiar voice said--

"Hullo, boys; seem to be enjoying yourselves."

"Mr Gunson, help!"  I cried, as I recognised our shipboard companion;
"these men--"

"I see, my lad, steady.  Ah, would you!"  For a quick look had passed
among the men, and they were about to make a rush, when Gimson stepped
back and whipped out a revolver.

"Don't come too near, boys," he said.  "I'm rather a good shot."

The men stopped short at the sight of the revolver barrel covering first
one and then another.  But the first man said "Come on!" with quite a
snarl, drew a knife, and flung himself at Gunson.

I felt a horrible sensation run through me as I listened for the report;
but instead of firing, Gunson struck up with his revolver, and the man
went over sidewise, while our friend now fired over the heads of the
others of the gang.

This stopped them for the moment, but as they saw that no one fell, they
came on again, and one of them seized Gunson before he could fire, or
before he attempted to fire, for, as he told me afterwards, he did not
want to feel that he had killed a man.

In the struggle which followed I saw the pistol drop from our defender's
hand, and one of the men stooped to pick it up, but Esau was too quick
for him.  Making quite a leap, as if playing leap-frog, he pitched with
his hands right on the man's shoulders, sending him over and over, but
falling himself, while I picked up the pistol and drew the trigger.

The sharp report made my ears ring, and I stood back now with the weapon
presented, expecting some of the others to rush at me.  But the two
reports had spread the alarm, and a couple of the officials came running
up, whilst our assailants took to flight, giving Gunson an opportunity
to rise and shake himself.

"Hurt, my lads?" he said, as he took his pistol.  "They were too many
for me; I got the worst of it."

"I'm not hurt, sir; are you?"  I said.

"Only a bit bruised."

"I am," grumbled Esau.  "Feel as if my wrist's out of joint."

By this time a crowd had assembled, and we were very glad to get away
with our protector, after a few words of explanation to the two
policemen, who told us we had better mind what company we got into,
nodded to one another and laughed, as if it was all a good joke, and
then went their way.

"Here, come to my diggings," said Gunson, rather gruffly.  "I thought I
told you two to mind what you were about, and what sort of customers you
would meet with out here."

"Yes," I said; "but--"

"Wait till we get to my place, and we'll sit down and talk there.  Some
one has been pretty foolish to let two boys like you come wandering
round the world by yourselves."

In about ten minutes he stopped at so shabby looking a hotel that I half
shrank from entering.

Gunson noticed it.

"Needn't be scared," he said.  "Decent people.  Germans;" and throwing
off my hesitation, I followed him with Esau to his room, where he
pointed to a chair and a stool, and seated himself upon a very
homely-looking bed, taking out his revolver, and putting in two fresh
cartridges.

"Nasty thing to carry," he said, "but it's as good as a big dog.  It can
bark loudly as well as bite.  Barking did this time.  Now then," he
continued, as he replaced the pistol in his hip pocket, "I suppose you
two know that those fellows were regular blackguards, who would have
stripped you of every shilling you possessed--by fair means or foul.
How was it you were with them?"

I told him all that Esau would let me say, for he was very anxious to
relate the story himself.

"Oh, that was it, was it?" said Gunson.  "Glad you were so sensible, but
you see what this place is.  It will be all right by and by, but at
present it's a regular sink for all the ruffians in the States to drain
into.  Why don't you get out of it?"

"That's what we are trying to do--hard," I said eagerly.

"Why you can't have tried much.  There are plenty of ways out.  Where do
you want to go?"

"To the Fraser River," I said, "and then away north to Fort Elk."

"Ah," he said, looking at us both curiously.  "Fraser River, eh?  That's
where I'm going."

I looked at him distrustfully, and he saw it.

"Quite true, my lad," he said, smiling good-humouredly; "and I sail by a
vessel which starts the day after to-morrow.  What did those rascals
want twenty-five and then twenty dollars a-piece for your passage money?
Humph!  Well, I think I can do better for you than that."

"If you would give us the name of the agent," I said.

"I'll do better--I'll take you to him, and say you are friends of mine,
if you are not ashamed of such a disreputable-looking character."

"I was not ashamed to take your help just now," I said.

"No," he replied drily; "but you had no time then to examine my
appearance.  Where are you staying, my lads?"

I told him, and he uttered a long low whistle.  "Of course I don't know
what your friends are, but doesn't the money run away very fast?"

"Fast?" cried Esau; "why, I could live ten times as long on the same
money in London."

"I dare say you could live twenty times as long, boy; I could.  Look
here; these people are decent, clean, and honest,--do as you like,--
hadn't you better come here?  They'll board you for half the money I'm
paying--that is, they would you.  I don't know about him--he's such a
wolfish-looking fellow."

"Why, I don't eat any more than he does!" cried Esau.

"Don't think you do, boy, you should say.  Well, what do you think of
it?"

"Dunno," said Esau, rather surlily.  "Seems to me as if everybody here
wants to rob you.  How do I know you don't?"

"Ah, to be sure, boy, how do you know?  Perhaps I do.  Going to plan to
get you somewhere all by yourselves, and then shoot you both.  I am
pretty good with a revolver."

"Didn't seem like it just now."

"No, it didn't," said Gunson, coolly.  "Ah, how like a boy that sounds.
Do you know what shooting a man means?"

"Killing him if you fire straight," said Esau.

"Right; and hurting him, eh?"

"Of course."

"Well, look here, my lad; the man who shoots another hurts himself far
more than he hurts his victim.  You don't understand that.  Wait till
you are as old as I am, and you will.  I did not want to kill either of
those ruffians.  It was not a question of aiming, I had only to hold the
pistol down, and it would have hit one of them.  Well," he continued,
"shall I take you to the captain? and will you bring your things here?
or will you go your own way?"

I looked at him fixedly, for everything in the man's appearance seemed
to say, "Don't trust him," till his one eye lit up, and a smile began to
curl his lip.  Then my hand went out to him.

"Yes," I said, "you are an Englishman, and I'll trust you."

He gripped my hand hard, and then turned to Esau.

"Well," he said, "what do you say?  Think I shall do you a mischief?"

"Yah!  Not you," said Esau.  "I'm not afraid of you.  Here, let's get
our things from that other place."

"Let's have the landlady in first," said Gunson, smiling; and he went to
the door and called.

A pleasant-looking German woman came, and in the most broken up English
I ever heard, said we could come at once, but got into a muddle over
terms till Gunson joined in, and spoke to her in German, when the
difficulty was at an end.

"Nice bright-looking place, and plenty of sunshine," said Gunson, as he
led us down to a wharf where a schooner was being laden with barrels,
while a red-nosed, copper-complexioned man looked on smoking a cigar.

"Here, skipper, two more passengers for you--friends of mine; will you
have them?"

The captain looked us both over, and then nodded.

"How much?"

The captain looked at us again, and then said a certain number of
dollars for the two--a price which astonished us.

"I'll say right for them," said Gunson.  "They'll send their chests on
board."

"There!" said our new friend, as we walked back.  "That matter was soon
settled.  Now go and pay your bills, get your traps, and come on to me."



CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

IN NEW QUARTERS.

Gunson nodded, and we parted, Esau keeping very quiet for a few minutes
before speaking.

"I suppose it's all right," he said; "but if ever a chap looked like bad
company, he do."

"But he seems as friendly to us as can be."

"Yes," said Esau.  "But what does he want here with a pistol?  Some of
the people board ship was coming to keep shop, some to farm, and some to
be servants.  I want to know what he wants here?"

"Perhaps the same as he would in New Zealand, and at the Cape of Good
Hope.  I should say he's a traveller."

"What in?  Yah!  He don't look the sort of man people would trust with
goods to sell.  Traveller?  Why, you see dozens of 'em in the streets
off Cheapside--big, good-looking fellows, with great curly whiskers and
beards.  He isn't a traveller.  Nobody would buy of him."

"I mean a man who goes through foreign countries."

"What for?"

"To see them."

Esau shook his head.

"I don't think he's a traveller of that sort.  I say, look out."

"What is it?"  I said, expecting to see a dray come along.

"That chap."

Sure enough, there was the dark, yellow-looking scoundrel watching us,
and he followed at a distance till he had seen us enter the hotel where
we had been staying.

We stated that we were going away, and went and packed up our few things
at once, while from the corner of the window we had the satisfaction of
seeing two more of our assailants come up, and remain in conversation
with the first for a few minutes, after which they walked away.

"Now, if we could get off at once, Esau," I said, "they would not see us
go, and when they return they might come and watch here as long as they
liked."

Esau jumped at the idea, and went out to see if he could find a man to
help us carry our boxes, while I paid our bill.

Before I had done he was back with Gunson, whom he had met, and told
what he was after, with the result that they had returned together.

"I'm only a poor man," said our friend, with a laugh, "so I thought I
might as well come and earn half a dollar.  I thought too," he added,
seriously, "that it would be better not to employ a stranger, who would
be able to point out where you are staying, in case your acquaintances
want to hunt you out to do you an ill turn."

We were only too glad of his offer, and in less than an hour we were
safely in the shelter of our new resting-place; while upon Esau's going
out to reconnoitre, taking a good round so as not to be seen, he
returned shortly in high glee, to tell us that the three men were seated
on a stack of timber, watching the hotel we had left.

"And ready for some mischief, I'll be bound," said Gunson.  "These
fellows work in clans, and I shall be very glad if we can get away
without a crack on the head."

As we sat chatting with Gunson the rest of that day and evening, he
seemed to puzzle me, for sometimes he talked quite like a steerage
passenger, just as the rough-looking man he seemed should talk, while at
others, words and ideas kept slipping out which made me think he must be
one who had had a good education.  He had travelled a great deal, as we
knew, but he seemed singularly reserved about his intentions.  That he
was going to the Fraser River he made no secret; but though he kept us
in the dark, he somehow or another, now that he was more with us,
contrived to possess himself of all our projects.

He seemed at times quite changed, and his manner set me wondering why it
was that, though we had passed nearly five months together on board the
_Albatross_, seeing us every day, he had rarely spoken to us then, and
we parted almost as much strangers as on the first day when we
encountered each other in the dark cabin of the ship.

First one and then the other would think he had found a clue to our
companion's intentions; but when we parted for the night we felt far
from sure, but more curious than ever.

"So you are going hunting, are you?" he said, in the course of our
conversation.

"No," I said.

"What do you call it then, a chase--wild-goose chase?"

"I don't see that it's a wild-goose chase for two lads to come to a new
country to try and get on," I said.

"Not a bit, my lad, but a very worthy thing to do.  I meant it was
rather a wild-goose chase for this friend of yours to send you in the
hope of his brother-in-law helping you.  Isn't he rather an inconsistent
sort of a gentleman?"

"Mr John Dempster is one of the best of men," I said warmly.

"Perhaps so; but the best of men make mistakes sometimes, and it looks
like one to me for him to be taking a sick wife right across the country
to this new home.  Tried it before, perhaps?"

"No," I said; "Mr John was never out of England.  He told me so."

"Then he will have rather a startling experience, and I wish him well
through with it."

"I say, don't talk like that," said Esau, suddenly, "because my mother's
there."

"Then I wish her well out of it too."

"Have you ever made the journey?"  I said eagerly.

"Yes, once," said Gunson, quietly.  "Once was enough."

"But Mrs John's brother told them he thought it would do his sister
good."

"Well, it may.  I'm not a doctor; but after what I went through I should
hesitate about taking a delicate woman such a route.  And you too.  When
you get to the Fraser, how do you mean to journey hundreds of miles up
to Fort Elk?"

I was silent, for it seemed to me as if we were for the first time
coming face to face with the difficulties of our task.

"Dunno," said Esau, thoughtfully.  "S'pose there ain't no 'buses."

"No, nor yet cabs," said Gunson, laughing.

"Might be a stage-coach running now and then, p'r'aps."

"My good lad, there isn't even a road.  Perhaps there is a trail.  There
is sure to be that, of course, for the Indians would go to the Fort with
their pelting."

"With their what?" said Esau.

"Pelts--skins, to sell to the company's agent."

"Oh," said Esau.

"But the river," I said suddenly.  "We could go up that by a boat,
couldn't we?"

Gunson laughed.

"Yes, there is a river," he said; "but, like all mountain streams, boats
cannot go up very far for the torrents and falls and rocks.  Have you
any arms?"

"Of course," said Esau.

"I mean weapons."

"No," I said.

"Humph!  Perhaps better without them--at your age."

"You have," I said, as I glanced toward his hip-pocket.

Gunson nodded.

"Got a gun too?" said Esau.

"A rifle or two," replied our companion, rather reluctantly; and he rose
then and left the room, as if to avoid being questioned.

"Hunting and shooting, that's what he's after," said Esau triumphantly,
as soon as we were alone.

And at that moment I could not help thinking that he was right, and that
we had hit upon a very satisfactory companion, for part of our journey
at least, if it did not turn out that Gunson had some designs of his
own.



CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

A SERIOUS TROUBLE.

Esau took it all coolly enough.  I believe he thought hard sometimes,
but it was soon over; and to him the most serious things in life seemed
to be making a big meal and having a good sleep.

Now for my part I could not help thinking a great deal, and worrying so
much about the future that my thoughts would not let me sleep.

My thoughts generally took this form--"Suppose--" And then I used to be
supposing: suppose Mrs John were taken much worse and died; suppose the
party were attacked by Indians; suppose they never got across all that
great stretch of country; suppose Esau and I were lost in the woods, to
starve to death, or drowned in the river, and so on, and so on; till
toward morning sleep would come, and I began dreaming about that
long-haired dark Yankee loafer, who had got hold of me, and was banging
my head against the ground, and trying to kill me, till I opened my eyes
the next morning and found that it was Esau.

"I say," he cried, grinning, "don't you ever call me a sleepy-headed
chap again.  Why, I've been shaking you, and doing everything I could to
rouse you up."

"Oh," I exclaimed, "I am so glad!  I was dreaming."

"As if I didn't know.  Why, you were on your back snorting, and puffing,
and talking all sorts of nonsense.  That's eating 'Merican pie for
supper."

"I couldn't go to sleep for hours."

"Yah! that's what mother always said when she was late of a morning, and
I had to light the fire.  I say, wonder how they are getting on?"

"So do I.  I lay thinking about them last night, hoping they wouldn't be
attacked by Indians."

"I don't think an Indian would like to attack my mother again.  She
ain't a big woman, but she has got a temper when it's roused.  Make
haste; I want my breakfast."

I was not long in dressing, and on going down we found Mr Gunson
waiting for us, and looking more sour, fierce, and forbidding than ever.

"Come, young sirs," he said, "you must learn to see the sun rise
regularly out here in the West.  Sit down, and let's have breakfast.
I've a lot to do ready for starting to-morrow."

"I'm sorry I am so late," I said.  "I could not sleep last night."

"Why?  Let's look at you.  Not ill?"

"Oh, no," I said, beginning on my breakfast to try and overtake Esau.

"No," he said, "you're not ill, or you couldn't eat like that.  Why
couldn't you sleep?"

"I was thinking so much of what you said about the difficulties before
us.  I never thought of them before."

"Oh!" he said, looking at me curiously.  "Well, I'm glad of it.  But
don't worry yourself.  The troubles will not come all at once.  You can
fight them one at a time, and get over them, I dare say."

"Then you think we shall be able to get up to Fort Elk somehow?"

"If you make up your minds to it, and say you will do it.  That's the
way.  There, make a good breakfast, and then perhaps you can help me a
bit.  I want to finish buying a few things that one can't get up the
country.  By the way, you will have to leave those chests of yours up at
one of the settlements."

"Leave our chests?" said Esau, staring.

"Why, you don't expect to be able to carry a great box each on your
head, do you, through such a country as you'll have to travel.  Never
thought of that, I suppose?"

"I'm afraid I did not," I said.

"Of course you did not.  Look here, while I think of it.  Have you both
got blankets?"

"No," I said.  "I thought we need not buy them till we built a house."

"And don't you want to go to sleep till you've built a house?  My good
lads, a thoroughly well made thick blanket--a dark-coloured one--is a
man's best friend out here.  It's bed, greatcoat, seat, cushion,
carpet-bag, everything.  It's even food sometimes."

"Go on," cried Esau, laughing.  "You can't eat your blanket."

"There was a snake at the Zoo once thought differently," said Gunson,
laughing.  "No, you can't eat your blanket, but you can roll yourself up
warm in it sometimes when there's no food, and have a good sleep.  _Qui
dort dine_, the French folk say."

"But do you mean to say that up there we shan't get anything to eat
sometimes?" cried Esau, who looked aghast.

"Yes, often.  A man who wants to get on in a new country must not think
of eating and drinking.  Why, I went three days once with nothing but a
drop of water now and then, and a bit of stick to chew, so as to keep my
mouth moist."

I burst out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, and Gunson looked
annoyed.

"It's no joke, young fellow," he said; "and I'm not romancing."

"No, no, no," I panted out; "not--laughing--at you.  Look--look!"

I pointed at Esau, and Mr Gunson's face relaxed into a smile, and then
he too laughed heartily at the comical, horror-stricken countenance
before us.

"What are you laughing at?" cried Esau.  "I say, though, do you mean it?
Shall we have to go without sometimes like that?"

"Of course you will."

"I say, Mr Gordon," said Esau, in despondent tones, "hadn't we better
go back?"

"Go back?--no!"  I cried.  "It will not be very pleasant, but we can eat
all the more afterwards."

Esau brightened up.

"Yes," he said.  "I didn't think of that."

"You neither of you seem to have thought anything about what's before
you, my lads."

"Then you think we have done very foolishly in coming?"  I said.

"Not I.  You have done wisely; and if you make up your minds to take
everything as it comes, I have no doubt that you will grow up into
well-to-do hearty men.  There, now, let's talk business.  I'll go with
you and see that you are not cheated while you buy yourselves a blanket
apiece.  Have you knives?"

"Yes," I said; and we each produced one.

"Ah, well, you can keep those in your pockets to pick your teeth with
when you do get anything to eat.  You must buy yourselves each a good
strong case-knife, big enough to chop wood or skin an animal, and to use
for your food."

"Anything else, sir?"

"There are other things you'll want, but you can wait till you join your
friend up at Fort Elk.  I dare say he will be able to supply you out of
his store."

"But he does not keep a store," I ventured to observe.  "He is the head
man over one of the Hudson's Bay Company's depots."

"Exactly.  Then he keeps a store.  You don't suppose he gives the
Indians dollars for the skins they bring in, do you?  He keeps a store
of blankets and cutlery, and all kinds of useful things for barter with
the people.  Blankets up yonder are like bank-notes.  Well, what are you
looking at?"

"I was wishing I knew as much about the place as you do."

"Have patience," he said, laughing, "and I dare say you'll know a good
deal more."

We went out soon after breakfast, and I had my first lesson in frontier
life in watching Gunson make his purchases after he had helped us make
ours; and the rest of the day was occupied in overhauling our chests,
and repacking them with things our new friend assured us that we should
not want, while he pointed out to us those we did, and showed us how to
make a light package of them that we could easily carry.

Twice over that day I caught sight of the man I wanted to avoid, but
fortunately he did not see us, and at last night came, and we sat down
to our supper with our chests on board the schooner, and nothing to do
the next morning but walk on board.

I slept well that night, and we were down in good time, Mr Gunson
nodding his approval, and after breakfast he said--

"Look here, my lads, I've seen those roughs hanging about as if they
meant mischief.  Of course we could get the protection of the law, but
that might mean detaining us, and as the schooner sails at noon, we
don't want any complications of that sort."

"Of course not," I said.

"So my advice is, that you stop here quietly till nearly the time, and
then we'll go on board, though I dare say it will be evening before we
really start."

I agreed at once, but Esau looked disappointed.

"Well, what is it?" said Gunson.

"I did want to go back to that store and buy something else before we
started."

"Money burning your pocket?"

"No, it aren't that," said Esau, turning a little red.

"Well, you are your own master, my lad.  Go and buy what you want, and
make haste back."

Esau brightened up, and I rose to go with him.

"No, no; I don't want you to come," said Esau.  "You stop with Mr
Gunson.  I shan't be long."

It struck me that this was rather curious on my companion's part, but I
said nothing, only sat and looked out at the lovely bay, while Gunson
busied himself with writing a letter.

"There," he said, when he had done; "want to write too?"

I shook my head.

"Better," he said.  "Mayn't have another chance to write home for
mouths."

"I have no home," I said sadly, "and no one to whom I could write."

He clapped me on the shoulder, and looked down at me searchingly as I
thought.

"Never mind, lad; you are going to make a home and friends too.  Some
day you may have more friends to write to than you want."

I walked away to the window, to stand looking out at the shipping,
wondering how long Esau would be, and what the article was that had
taken his fancy, till all of a sudden the idea came to me that it must
be a revolver.

"Do you know what your young mate has gone to buy?" said Mr Gunson just
then, but I avowed my ignorance.  "I hope he will not be very long,
because we may as well be getting on board and settling down.  Our
chests are all right.  The captain told me that they were right down in
the hold, and well above the chance of getting any bilge water upon
them."

He went to the window I had just left.

"Looks like fine weather," he said, "with perhaps a little wind.  You
must try and be a better sailor this time."

The last look round was given, the bill paid, and as we waited, I
congratulated myself upon the fact that we were going to escape without
another encounter with the loafers, for I felt sure they had been
watching for us, so as to pick a quarrel.  But the time glided on, and
Esau did not return.

Gunson got up and went to the door twice, coming back each time with a
very severe look on his countenance, as I saw at a glance, for I avoided
his eyes, feeling, as I did, unwilling to meet some angry outburst, and
hoping every moment to have an end put to a very unpleasant state of
affairs.

Over and over again I started at some impatient movement on the part of
Gunson; but he did not speak, contenting himself with walking
impatiently up and down like some animal in a cage.

"Have you no idea what Dean has gone to buy?" he said at last.

"Not the least, unless he has fancied that he would like a revolver."

"Absurd!" cried Gunson; and there was another pause, during which I
listened to every passing step, hoping against hope that it might be
Esau.

My position was growing more and more painful, and at last I could bear
it no longer.

"What is it?  What are you going to do?" said Gunson, as I suddenly
jumped up.

"Look for Esau," I said.

"Sit still, boy.  What do you know about the place, and which way will
you go?"

I was obliged to say that I didn't know, but I would hunt for him well.

"It is now close upon twelve o'clock," said Gunson, angrily, "and he has
been gone nearly three hours.  If he is coming back it must be directly,
and then, with you gone, we shall miss the boat, and all our belongings
will go on up north without us.  Hang him, he must be mad!"

"But I would not go far without coming back," I said.

"I think, my lad, you may save yourself the trouble."

"What do you mean?  He will be back here directly?"

"No.  I'm afraid," said Gunson, bitterly, "that we have been talking too
much for him lately."

"Mr Gunson?"

"We have scared him with our account of the troubles, and he has backed
out."

"Backed out?"  I faltered, quite horrified at the idea of being left
alone.

"Yes, and gone into hiding until we have sailed."

"Oh, impossible!"

"No, my lad, quite possible.  You saw how startled he was at the idea of
a journey through a wild country."

"No, no, I think not," I said.

"I feel nearly sure of it.  He had no real reason for going out this
morning, and his excuses to get away were as slippery as could be.
Depend upon it we shall not see him again--at least, I shall not, for of
course you will wait for him."

"If I thought he could play such a mean, deceitful trick I should go
without him," I said hotly.

"Indeed?  Well then, my lad, you had better come, for it is high time we
were off."

I stared at him wildly, for what he had said seemed terribly likely.
Esau had been startled on hearing the real difficulties and dangers that
we had to go through, and much as he seemed to like me, he might have
been overcome by his thoughts, and at the last moment felt that he must
turn tail.

"Well?" said Gunson, "what do you say?  Will you come?  I must be off
almost directly."

"Yes," I said, "you must go, but I'm sure Esau is in some trouble.  He
could not be such a coward as that."

"Then you will not go with me?"

"I would if I could think as you do," I said; "but I'm sure he would not
forsake me."

"Human nature, boy."

"It isn't his human nature," I said boldly.  "If he had wanted to back
out he would have confided in me, and wanted me to go with him till you
had sailed."

"I have no time to argue," said Gunson sternly.  "What are you going to
do?"

"I must try and find my companion."

"But your chests?--they will be taken on to Esquimalt."

"We should have to go up and claim them afterwards."

"You believe, then, that he is staunch?"

"I am sure of it, sir."

"Well, then, good-bye, my lad.  I'll speak to the captain about your
chests, and have them left with the agents of the ship, but you will
have to give up your passage-money.  There will be no getting that
back."

"I'm afraid not," I said gloomily.

"Yes, they may sail at any time," said Gunson, impatiently.  "Better go
with me, boy."

"No," I said.

"You are giving up your passage and your chances for the sake of a
fellow not worth his salt."

"You don't know him as I do," I replied.  "I will not believe it of
him."

"Well, if he is not staunch you are, at all events, my lad.  Good-bye.
If he does come back run down to the wharf at once, the schooner may not
have sailed."

"He has got into some trouble, I'm sure," I cried.

"Good-bye."

"Good-bye," I said, holding out my hand; but my lips quivered, for I was
horribly disappointed.

"Once more," cried Mr Gunson, as he gripped my hand hard, "I tell you
he is playing you false.  You had better come."

"No."

"You are not afraid, are you?"

I flung his hand away.

"No," he said, smiling, "not a bit.  There, Mayne, my lad, he has thrown
you over, but I can't.  If you stay, I'll stay too."

"Mr Gunson!"  I cried.

"Yes, my lad, and we'll see if he comes back."

"He will if he can, I'm sure," I cried.  "Well, we shall see."

"I am sure he has got into some trouble; I am certain of it.  Ah, here
he is!"

For the door opened at that moment, but it was not Esau, only the
landlady, who in broken German-English, told us that a message had
arrived from the captain to say we were to go on board.

"Thank you.  _Gut_!" said Gunson, laconically.  And then, as the woman
left the room, he continued, "Well, I'll take your view of it, my lad.
We'll say he has got into some trouble and cannot get back."

"Yes; I'm sure of it," I cried.  "Very well, then, we must get him out
of it.  Of course it is no use for us to waste time by going from house
to house.  I'll go and see the chief man in the police, and see if they
can find him for us."

"Yes," I said, eagerly; "come on."

"No, no, you stay.  He may, as you say, return, and you must be here to
meet him, or he may go off again, and matters be worse."

"He'd go to the schooner then."

"If the schooner had not sailed.  You stop, and I hope he will turn up
hero."

Anxious as I was to go in search of Esau, I was obliged to obey, and I
was directly after left to myself to pass quite a couple of hours before
Gunson came back.

"No news yet," he said; "the police are trying what they can do, but if
he is in hiding they are not likely to succeed."

"Then he is not in prison?"

"Oh, no; as far as I can hear, nothing has been seen of him."

"I thought he might have got in some trouble, and been arrested.  Then
those men must be at the bottom of it, Mr Gunson."

"Yes, I thought so, but what could I do?  I told one of the chiefs of
the police that I was afraid he had been attacked, and the man looked
serious, and said `Very likely.'  Then he asked me to describe the men,
and I did."

"Well?"  I said eagerly.

"He told me that my description was like that of hundreds of scoundrels
about the place."

"Let's go and see if we can meet them anywhere about," I said.  "They
were watching our hotel yesterday where we stayed."

"Yes, I know," said Gunson, thoughtfully.  "It hardly seems likely.  I
don't know, though, there are always men hanging about ports ready to do
anything for the sake of a few shillings, all the world over."

I felt a shiver run through me at his words, as my busy brain began to
suggest endless horrors that might have befallen poor Esau; and as I
followed Gunson out into the road, these thoughts grew and grew till I
found myself telling poor little Mrs Dean about the loss of her son,
and hearing her reproaches as she told me that it was all my fault, and
that if it had not been for me Esau would have stayed at home.

We went along the road, and down to the wharves, and to and fro about
the hotel where we had been staying, and there was no sign of either of
the men who had assailed us.  There were, as the police had said, plenty
of a similar class, many of whom resembled them somewhat in appearance;
but our search was entirely in vain, while towards evening, as we came
out once more where we had a full view of the beautiful bay, I saw
something which made me start, and, full of misery and self-reproach, I
stopped and looked up at Gunson.

"Yes," he said, frowning heavily, "I see.  There she goes, and with a
good wind too.  Nice clean-sailing little vessel.  We ought to have been
on board."

For there, a mile now from the shore, with her sails set, and looking
half-transparent in the light of the setting sun, was the
graceful-looking schooner, which I felt must be ours, heeling over
gently, and taking with her our few belongings.

"Pretty good waste of time as well as money, Gordon, my lad," said my
strange-looking companion, harshly.  "But there, it is of no use to cry
over spilt milk.  You could not go off and leave your mate in this way,
and I, as an Englishman, could not leave a fellow-countryman--I mean
boy--in trouble."

I tried to thank him, but suitable words would not come, and he clapped
me on the shoulder in a friendly way.

"There," he said, "come back to our friend the Frau.  You are faint and
hungry, and so am I.  She shall give us a good square meal, as they call
it out here, and then we shall be rested, and better able to think."

I was faint, certainly, but the idea of eating anything seemed to make
me feel heart-sick; but I said nothing, only followed my companion back
to the little hotel, feeling as if this was after all only some bad,
confused dream.



CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

WHERE ESAU HAD BEEN.

"We are forgetting one thing," said Gunson, as we drew near our
resting-place; and I believe now he said it to try and cheer me on.
"Perhaps while we have been away the truant may have returned."

His words had the required effect, for I hurried on by Gunson's side,
and was the first to enter and ask the landlady if Esau had been back.

"Nein! nein! nein!" she cried.  "Bood der Herr captain send doo dimes
for you bode, and say he go doo sea mit dout you, and die schip ist
gone.  Ya."

"Yes, gone," said Gunson; "and we have come back.  Give us some tea and
dinner together."

"_Zo_," cried the landlady.  "Ach you are sehr hungrig."

She hurried away nodding her head, and we heard her shrill voice giving
orders directly, while Gunson began to try and cheer me up.

"It's very kind of you," I said; "but what shall we do?"

"Wait patiently, my lad.  There, don't mind about me, perhaps it's all
for the best; the schooner may get into a bad storm, and we shall be
better ashore, perhaps save our lives, who knows.  There, lie down on
that bench, and try and have a nap."

But I couldn't close my eyes for thinking of poor Esau.  Perhaps he was
dead; perhaps even then he was shut up somewhere by a gang of scoundrels
who might be meaning to keep him till they could secure a ransom.

Ah, what a host of thoughts of that kind came rushing through my weary
head, which now began to ache terribly.

In due time the landlady came in, bringing us our meal; and, signing me
to take my place, Gunson seated himself and began to eat, not like a man
who partakes of food for the pleasure of the meal, but as if it was a
necessity to supply himself with the support required for doing a great
deal of work.  And I suppose it was in something like that spirit that,
after he had first requested me to eat, and then ordered me sharply, I
managed to force a little down.

It was getting quite dark, when Gunson said suddenly--

"Now is there anything else we could do--anything we have not thought
of?"

"The hospital," I said suddenly, as the idea came like a flash of light.

"I did not say anything to you, my lad," replied Gunson, "but that was
the first place I went to, thinking he might have been knocked down.
No: try again."

But no, I could think of nothing else, and my despondency was rapidly
increasing, when all at once Gunson jumped up and said sharply--

"It's too bad to destroy your belief, my lad, but I feel sure that mate
of yours is playing you a dirty trick.  He is a miserable coward, and
hiding away.  The lad has turned tail and--I'm a fool."

For at that moment, panting and exhausted with running, Esau rushed into
the room, with nothing on but his shirt and trousers, and the former
torn halfway across his back.

"Esau!"  I shouted, joyfully.

"Then--you're--not gone," he panted hoarsely; and turning from me, he
threw himself into a chair at the table and began to eat ravenously.

"You young scoundrel! where have you been?" cried Gunson, angrily.

"Tell you presently," said Esau, with his mouth full.  "Go and fetch the
police."

"Police! no," cried Gunson, excitedly.  "Here, do as I do," he
continued; and taking out his handkerchief, he hastily made a bundle of
the meat, butter, and bread we had left.

"No, no," cried Esau, "I'm so hungry."

"Eat as we go."

"Where?"  I cried.

"Boat.  We may catch the schooner after all."

"No, no," cried Esau; "fetch the police.  They've got my clothes, money,
everything.  I'll show you where."

"And I'll show you where," cried Gunson, "if you don't come along."

"But I can't go like this," cried Esau.

"Can't you," said Gunson, fiercely.  "Here, hi!  Frau!"

The landlady came running in, and began to exclaim on seeing Esau's
state; but she was silenced directly by Gunson, who thrust a couple of
dollars into her hands, and between us we hurried Esau out into the
road.

"But I can't--my--"

"Come along!" cried Gunson, fiercely.

"And they'll be after me directly," panted Esau.  "Said I shouldn't go
till I'd paid a hundred dollars."

"They had better come for them," muttered Gunson between his teeth; and
after that Esau suffered himself to be hurried along, consoling himself
with a few bites at the piece of bread he held, as we ran on to where in
the soft moonlight we could see several good-sized fishing-boats lying,
with men idling near them on the shore.

"Now then," cried Gunson, quickly; "we want to be put aboard the
schooner that sailed this evening.  Three dollars.  There she is, two
miles out."

No one answered.

"Four dollars!" shouted Gunson.  "There's a good light wind, and you can
soon reach her."

Still no one stirred, the men staring at us in a dull, apathetic way.

"Five dollars," cried Gunson, angrily.

"Say, stranger," said one of the men, "what's your hurry? stole
suthin'?"

"No," I shouted; "but it's as if they have.  Our chests are aboard, and
we've paid our passage."

"Come on then," said one of the men, rousing himself.  "I'll take you
for five dollars.  Jump in."

He led the way to a little skiff, two more of his companions following
him, and they rowed us out to one of the fishing-boats, made fast the
one we had come in with the painter, cast off the buoy-rope, and began
to hoist a sail, with the result that a soft pattering sound began under
the boat's bows, and she careened over and began to glide softly away,
the man who had gone to the rudder guiding her safely through the
vessels lying by the buoy near the shore.

"There," cried Gunson, taking off the pea-jacket he wore, and throwing
it to Esau.  "Put that on, my lad; and here, eat away if you're hungry.
You shall tell us afterwards where you've been."

"But they've got my money," said Esau, in an ill-used tone.

"Then we must share with you, and set you up.  Think we shall catch the
schooner, skipper?"

"Guess we shall if this wind holds.  If it changes she'll be off out to
sea, and we shall lose her.  Guess you'll pay your five dollars all the
same?"

"Look here," said Gunson, roughly.  "You've got an Englishman to deal
with."

"Oh, yes; guess I see that; but you send some ugly customers out here
sometimes, stranger.  Not good enough for yew to keep at home."

Gunson made no answer, but sat watching the vessel, which, as it lay far
out in the soft moonlight, looked faint, shadowy, and unreal.

Every now and then a good puff of wind filled our sail, so that the boat
rushed through the water, and our hopes rose high, far we felt that in
less than an hour we should be alongside our goal; but soon after Gunson
would utter an impatient ejaculation, for the wind that sent us surging
through the beautiful waters of the bay, sent the schooner along rapidly
too, so that she grew more faint.

Once or twice I glanced back at the shore, to see how beautiful the town
looked with its lights rising above lights, and all softened and subdued
in the clear moonlight; but I was soon looking ahead again, for our
chase was too exciting for me to take much interest in a view.

Every now and then the boat tacked, and we went skimming along with her
gunwale close down to the water, when we were all called upon to shift
our position, the boatman evidently doing his best to overtake the
schooner, which kept seeming nearer and then farther off in the most
tantalising way.

"Guess I didn't ask you enough, skipper," said the boatman.  "This is
going to be a long job, and I don't think we shall dew it now."

"Do your best, man," said Gunson quietly.  "I must overtake the schooner
if it is possible."

All at once the wind dropped, the sail shivered and flapped, and we lay
almost without motion, but to our annoyance we could just make out the
schooner with her sails well filled, gliding steadily away.

The master of the boat laughed.

"Wait a bit," he said.  "She won't go on like that long.  P'r'aps we
shall have the wind next and she be nowhere."

Gunson glanced at the oars, but feeling that if we were to overtake the
vessel it must be by means of the sails, he said nothing, but sat
watching by me till we saw the schooner's sails die away.

"Gone?"  I whispered.

"No; she has changed her course a little and is stern on to us.  There,
you can see her again."

To my great delight I saw that it was so, the schooner having now
turned, and she grew plainer and plainer in our sight as the moon shone
full now on the other side of her sails, and we saw that she too was
becalmed.  Then in a few minutes our own sails filled, and we went
gliding on over the glistening sea, which flashed like silver as we
looked back.

I uttered a sigh full of relief, for the schooner still lay becalmed,
while we were now rushing through the water.

"Well, my lad," said Gunson suddenly, "we thought we had lost you.  How
was it?  One of us thought you had turned tail, and slipped away."

"That wasn't Mr Gordon, I know," said Esau.  "I ain't the slipping away
sort.  Those chaps got hold of me again, and I don't like going away
like this without setting the police at them."

"You are best away, my lad," said Gunson.

"I don't know so much about that," cried Esau.  "They've got all my
money, and my knife and coat, and that new pipe."

"What new pipe?"  I said sharply.  "You don't smoke."

"Nobody said I did," replied Esau, gruffly.  "Fellow isn't obliged to
smoke because he's got a pipe in his pocket, is he?"

"No, but you had no pipe in your pockets this morning, because you
turned them all out before me."

"Well, then, I'd got one since if you must know."

"Why, you did not go away to buy a pipe, did you?"  I said.

"Why, there wouldn't ha' been any harm in it if I had, would there?" he
said surlily, as he held one hand over the side to let the water foam
through his fingers.

"Then you gave us all this trouble and anxiety," I cried angrily, "and
have made us perhaps ruin our passage, because you wanted to learn to
smoke."

"I didn't know it was going to give all this trouble," he said, in a
grumbling tone.

"But you see it has."

"Well, I've got it worse than you have, haven't I?  Lost everything I've
got except what's in my chest."

"And it begins to look as if you've lost that too, my lad," said Gunson
bitterly.  "You'd better have waited a bit before you began to learn to
smoke.  There goes your chest and your passage money."

"Yes, and ours," I said, as Gunson pointed to where the schooner's sails
were once more full, and she was gliding away.  "Is it any use to shout
and hail them?"

"Stretch your breathing tackle a bit, my lad," said the master.  "Do you
good p'r'aps."

"But wouldn't they hear us?"

"No; and if they did they wouldn't stop," said the master; and we all
sat silent and gloomy, till the injury Esau had inflicted upon us
through that pipe came uppermost again.

"Serves you well right, Esau," I said to him in a low voice.  "You
deserve to lose your things for sneaking off like that to buy a pipe.
You--pish--want to learn to smoke!"

I said this with so much contempt in my tones that my words seemed to
sting him.

"Didn't want to learn to smoke," he grumbled.

"Yes, you did.  Don't make worse of it by telling a lie."

"Who's telling a lie?" he cried aloud.  "Tell you I wasn't going to
smoke it myself."

"Then why did you go for it?"

"Never you mind," he said sulkily, "Pipe's gone--half-dollar pipe in a
case--nobody won't smoke it now, p'r'aps.  Wish I hadn't come."

"So do I now," I said hotly.  "You did buy it to learn to smoke, and
we've lost our passage through you."

Esau was silent for a few moments, and then he came towards me and
whispered--

"Don't say that, sir.  I saw what a shabby old clay pipe Mr Gunson had
got, and I thought a good noo clean briar-root one would be a nice
present for him, and I ran off to get it, and bought a big strong one as
wouldn't break.  And then, as I was out, I thought I'd look in at some
of the stores, and see if there wasn't something that would do for you."

"And you went off to buy me a pipe, my lad?" said Gunson, who had heard
every word.

"Didn't know you was listening," said Esau, awkwardly.

"I could not help hearing.  You were excited and spoke louder than you
thought.  Thank you, my lad, though I haven't got the pipe.  Well, how
did you get on then?"

"That's what I hardly know, sir.  I s'pose those chaps we had the tussle
with had seen me, and I was going stoopidly along after I'd bought your
pipe--and it was such a good one--staring in at the windows thinking of
what I could buy for him, for there don't seem to be anything you can
buy for a boy or a young fellow but a knife, and he'd got two already,
when in one of the narrow streets, Shove! bang!"

"What?"  I said.

"Shove! bang!  Some one seemed to jump right on me, and drove me up
against a door--bang, and I was knocked into a passage.  'Course I
turned sharply to hit out, but five or six fellows had rushed in after
me, and they shoved me along that passage and out into a yard, and then
through another door, and before I knew where I was they'd got me down
and were sitting on me."

"But didn't you holler out, or cry for help?"

"He says didn't I holler out, or shout for help!  I should just think I
did; but before I'd opened my mouth more than twice they'd stuffed some
dirty old rag in,--I believe it was some one's pocket-hankychy,--and
then they tied another over it and behind my head to keep it in, right
over my nose too, and there I was."

"But you saw the men," said Gunson, who was deeply interested.

"Oh yes, I saw 'em.  One of 'em was that long-haired chap; and it was
him whose hands run so easy into my pockets, and who got off my coat and
weskit, and slit up my shirt like this so as to get at the belt I had on
with my money in it.  He had that in a moment, the beggar! and then if
he didn't say my braces were good 'uns and he'd change.  They were good
'uns too, real leather, as a saddler--"

"Well?" said Gunson.  "What took place then?"

"Nothing; only that long-haired chap grinned at me and kicked me twice.
'Member that policeman as took us up, Mr Gordon?"

"Yes."

"I only wish I could hand that long-haired chap over to him.  Strikes me
they'd cut his hair very short for him before they let him go."

"But what happened next?"

"Nothing, sir; only they tied my hands behind me, and then put a rope
round my ankles, and then one took hold of my head and another of my
feet, and they give me a swing, and pitched me on to a heap of them dry
leaves like we used to see put round the oranges down in Thames Street."

"Indian corn," said Gunson, shortly.

"Yes; and then they went out, and I heard 'em lock the door, leaving me
in the half dark place nearly choked with that hankychy in my mouth."

"Yes; go on, Esau," I said eagerly.  And just then the master of the
boat spoke--

"Say, youngster, you was in for it.  They meant to hit you over the head
to-night, and chuck you into the harbour after dark."

"Yes," said Gunson.

"Well, I saved 'em the trouble," said Esau.  "Oh, I just was mad about
that pipe; and I seemed to think more about them braces than I did about
the money, because, you see, being sewed up like in a belt I never saw
the money, and I used to see the braces, and think what good ones they
was, every day."

"Go on, Esau," I said.  "How did you get away?"

"Well, I lay there a bit frightened at first and listened, and all was
still; and then I began to wonder what you and Mr Gunson would think
about me, and last of all, as I couldn't hardly breathe, and that great
rag thing in my mouth half choked me, I turned over on my face, and
began pushing and pushing like a pig, running my nose along till I got
the hankychy that was tight round my face down over my nose, and then
lower and lower over my mouth and chin, till it was loose round my
neck."

I glanced round and saw that the man who was forward had crept back, and
that the other who held the sheet of the sail, and the master who was
steering, were all listening attentively, while the boat rushed swiftly
through the water.

"Next job," said Esau, "was to get that choking rag out of my mouth; and
hard work it was, for they'd rammed it in tight, and all the time I was
trying I was listening too, so as to hear if they were coming.  I say,
ought one to feel so frightened as I did then?"

"Most people do," said Gunson quietly.

"And 'nuff to make 'em," said the master.

"Well, I kept on working away at it for what seemed to be hours,"
continued Esau, "but all I could do was to get one end of the rag out
between my teeth, and I couldn't work it any further, but lay there with
my jaws aching, and feeling as if I hadn't got any hands or feet,
because they'd tied 'em so tight.

"It was very horrid, for all the time as I lay there I was expecting
them to come back, and I thought that if they did, and found me trying
to get the things off, they'd half kill me.  And didn't I wish you'd
been there to help me, and then was sorry I wished it, for I shouldn't
have liked anybody to have been in such a fix.

"I got so faint and dizzy at last that things began to go up and down,
and round and round, and for ever so long I lay there thinking I was
aboard ship again in the storm, just like when I was off my head at home
with the fever I had when I was a little chap.  But at last I came to
again, and lay on my side wondering how I could get that horrible
choking thing out of my mouth, for I couldn't move it even now when I
tried again, only hold a great piece between my teeth.

"The place was very dark, only light came in here and there through
cracks and holes where the knots had been knocked out of some of the
boards; and as I thought I said to myself, if I could get that thing out
I might call for help; but directly after I felt that I dared not, for
it would p'r'aps bring some of those chaps back.

"All at once, where the light came through a hole, I saw something that
made my heart jump, and I wondered I had not seen it before.  It was a
hook fastened up against one of the joists, with some bits of rope
hanging upon it.  It was a sharp kind of thing, like the meat-hooks you
see nailed up against the sides of a butcher's shop; and I began rolling
myself over the rustling leaves, over and over, till I was up against
the side, and then it was a long time before I could get up on my knees
and look up at the hook.

"But I couldn't reach it, and I had to try and get on to my feet.  It
took a long time, and I went down twice before I was standing, and even
then I went down again; for though I did stand up, I didn't know I had
any feet, for all the feeling was gone.  Then all at once down I went
sidewise, and lay there as miserable as could be, for I couldn't hardly
move.  But at last I had another try, getting on to my knees, and taking
tight hold of the edge of one of the side pieces of wood with my teeth;
and somehow or other I got on my feet again and worked myself along,
nearly falling over and over again, before I could touch the hook with
my chin, and there I stood for fear I should fall, and the hook run into
me and hold me."

"What did you want the hook for, boy?" said the master, shifting his
rudder a little, and leaning forward with his face full in the
moonlight, and looking deeply interested.

"What did I want the hook for?" said Esau, with a little laugh.  "I'll
tell you directly."

The master nodded, and the others drew a little nearer.

"What I wanted was to hold that end of the great rag in my teeth, and
see if I couldn't fix it on the hook; and after a lot of tries I did,
and then began to hang back from it gently, to see if I couldn't draw
the stuff out of my mouth."

"And could you?"  I said eagerly.

"Yes; it began to come slowly more and more, till it was about half out,
and then the sick feeling that had come over me again got worse and
worse, and the hook and the great dark warehouse place swam round, and I
didn't know any more till I opened my eyes as I lay on the leaves,
staring at a great wet dirty rag hanging on that hook, and I was able to
breathe freely now.

"I felt so much better that I could think more easily; but I was very
miserable, for I got thinking about you two, and I knew I must have been
there a very long time, and that the schooner was to sail at twelve
o'clock, so I felt sure that you would go without me, and think I'd been
frightened and wouldn't come."

"That's what I did think," said Gunson; "but Mayne Gordon here stuck up
for you all through."

"Thankye, Mr Gordon," said Esau, who was gently chafing his wrists.
"That's being a good mate.  No, I wouldn't back out.  I meant coming
when I'd said I would.  Well, next thing was to get my hands clear, and
that done, of course I could easily do my legs.  So I began to get up
again, with my feet feeling nowhere; and as I tried, to wonder what I
was going to do next, for I couldn't see no way of getting out of a
place with no windows in, not even a skylight at the top.  But anyhow I
meant to have that rope off my hands, and I was thinking then that if
the hook could help me get rid of the rag, it might help me to get rid
of the tie round my wrists."

"O' course," said the master.  "See, lads," he said, turning round to
his two companions; "he gets the hook in threw the last knot and hitches
the end out.  That's easy enough;" and the two men uttered a low growl.

"Oh, is it?" said Esau.  "Just you be tied up with your hands behind you
for hours, and all pins-and-needles, and numb, and you try behind you to
get that hook through the knot in the right place.  You wouldn't say it
was easy."

"But anyways that was hard, I reckon," said the master.

"Yes, that was hard," said Esau; "but I kep on seeming to tighten it,
and the more I tried the worse it was; till all at once, as I strained
and reached up behind me, I slipped a little, and the hook was fast
somehow, and nearly jerked my arms out of my shoulders as I hung forward
now, with my feet giving way, and I couldn't get up again."

"If a fellow had on'y ha' been there with a knife," said the master,
shaking his head.

"Yes; but he wasn't," cried Esau; "and there I hung for ever so long,
giving myself a bit of a wriggle now and then, but afraid to do much, it
hurt so, dragging at my arms, while they were twisted up.  I s'pose I
must have been 'bout an hour like that, but it seemed a week, and I was
beginning to get sick again, when all at once, after a good struggle, I
fell forward on to my face in amongst the dry leaves.  My wrists and
hands were tingling dreadfully, but they did not feel so numb now; and
after a bit, as I moved them gently up and down, one over the other, so
as to get rid of the pain, I began to find I could move them a little
more and a little more, till at last, as I worked away at them in a
regular state of 'citement, I pulled one of 'em right out, and sat up
comfortable with my hands in my lap."

"Well done, well done," cried the master; and I could not help joining
in the murmur of satisfaction uttered by the men.

"And then yew began to look at the rope round your legs," said one of
the latter.

"That I just did," said Esau; "but my fingers were so bad it took me
hours, as it seemed, before I had those knots undone."

"But yew got 'em off?" said the master.  "Oh yes, I got 'em off at last,
every knot undone; but when I'd unwound the rope, there I sat, feeling
as if it was not a bit of use, for I could not move my feet, nor yet
stand.  They felt as if they were made of wood."

"Yew should have chafed 'em, stranger," said one of the men.

"Well, of course that's what he did do, mate," said the master,
reprovingly; "and yew got 'em to work easy at last, didn't you?"

"Yes, that's what I did do, when they would work.  I had to set to and
see if I couldn't get away out of that place."

"'Fore them scallywags come back," said the master, drawing a long
breath.  "That's right."

"There was the door locked fast," continued Esau, "and I knew I couldn't
get out that way; so as there was no windows, and the boards were all
nailed down tight, the only way seemed to be through the roof."

"I know," said the master, changing the course of the boat.  "Yew meant
to get up, knock off some shingles, and then let yewrself down with the
two ropes tied together."

"Look here," said Esau, ill-humouredly, "you'd better tell the story."

"No, no, stranger; go on, go on," said the master, apologetically.  "Go
on, go on."

"Well, that's just what I was going to do," said Esau, condescendingly,
"only there wasn't any shingles that I saw, but the place was covered
over with wooden slates."

"Those are what they call shingles, my lad," said Gunson.

"Oh, very well, I don't care," said Esau, acidly.  "All I know is, I
joined those two pieces of rope together, tied one end round my waist,
and I was just going to climb up the side to the rafters, when I thought
to myself I might meet somebody outside, who'd try to stop me; and
though I felt that you two would be gone, I didn't want to have taken
all my trouble for nothing, and be locked up there again.  So I had a
bit of a look round, and picked out from some wood in a corner a pretty
tidy bit, with a good headache at the end."

The master chuckled.

"And I'd no sooner done that than I heard some one coming."

"Did yew get behind the door?" said the master hoarsely.  "Yew said it
was dark."

"I do wish you'd let me go on my own way," said Esau, in an ill-used
tone.

"Yes, yes, yes; go on, my lad, go on," said the master.

"Why can't you let him bide!" growled the others; and I saw Gunson
looking on in an amused way, as he turned from watching the distant
schooner, far enough away now.

"My wrists and my ankles ache so I can't hardly bear it," continued
Esau; "and when you keep on putting in your spoon it worries me."

"Yes, yes, my lad; I won't do so no more."

"'Tain't as if I was a reg'lar story-teller," grumbled Esau.  "I ain't
used to this sort o' thing."

"Go on telling us, Esau," I said.  "They were only eager to know."

"Well," he continued, "that's what I did do, as it was dark.  I got
behind the door with that there stick in my hand, just as I heard the
key rattling in the lock, and then the door was opened, and the leaves
rustled, and I saw just dimly that there long-haired chap's head come in
slowly; and he seemed to me to look puzzled, as he stared at the heap of
leaves as if he thought I'd crept under 'em and gone to sleep."

At this moment I looked round, to see in the bright moonlight the faces
of the master and the two fishermen watching Esau excitedly, as they
waited for the end of the scene he described.  Gunson's face was in
shadow now, but he too was leaning forward, while, in the interest of
the recollection of what he had passed through, Esau began to act as
well as speak.  He raised one hand as if it was still grasping the
head-aching stick, and leaned toward the listeners, looking from one to
the other as he spoke, and as if the narrative was intended expressly
for them and not for us.

"All at once," continued Esau, "he took a step forward toward the heap
of leaves, and then another, and then he turned sharply round as if he
had heard me move or felt I was close behind him.  But when a man tries
to jump out of the way, he don't move so quickly as a big stick.  I'd
got that well up with both hands, and down it came right on his head,
and there he was lying just about where him and the rest of 'em had
pitched me."

"Ah!" ejaculated the master, and his two companions gave a shout and
jumped up.

"Sit down, will yew!" he shouted.  "Want to swamp the boat.  He arn't
done yet."

"Not quite," said Esau.  "I felt horrid frightened as soon as I'd done
it, for fear I'd given it him too hard, and I turned to run out of the
place, but I could hear a lot of men talking, so I took out the key, put
it inside, and shut and locked the door.  Then I clambered up the side
and soon had some of those wooden slates off, to find as I crawled on to
the roof that it was quite evening, and whereabouts I was to get down I
couldn't tell.  I dare not stop though, for fear the others should come
to look after their mate, so unfastening the rope from my waist I tied
it to a rafter, slid down as far as it would reach, and hung swinging at
the end, thinking that it was all no good, for you two would be gone;
and then I dropped, and found myself in a yard.

"Some one saw me and shouted," continued Esau, "but I didn't stop to
hear what he had to say, for I went over first one fence and then
another till I got out into a lane, at the bottom of which was a street;
and then I went into one after the other, looking like a fellow begging,
till I knew where I was, and got down at last to the hotel."

"And well done too!" cried Gunson, clapping him on the shoulder.  "All
to get me a new pipe, eh?"

"Yes; and I'll get you another too some day."

"I knew you wouldn't leave me in the lurch, Esau," I whispered; and then
I started, for the master brought down his hand with a heavy slap on his
knee.

"That was a good 'un," he cried.  "There's too many o' them sort in
'Frisco, and it gives the place a bad name.  I don't wish that loafer
any harm, but I hope you've killed him."

"I hope not," I said, fervently.

"Best thing as could happen to him, my lad," said the man.  "You see
he's a regular bad 'un now, and he'd go on getting worse and worse, so
the kindest thing your mate could do was to finish him off.  But he
arn't done it.  Them sort's as hard as lobsters.  Take a deal o' licking
to get through the rind."

"Hah!" ejaculated Gunson just then.

"What's matter?"

"She is leaving us behind," said Gunson, as he looked sadly out to sea.

"Now she arn't," said the master; "and I arn't going to let her.  Her
skipper and me's had many a argyment together 'bout his craft, and he's
precious fond o' jeering and fleering at me about my bit of a cutter,
and thinks he can sail twiced as fast.  I'm going tew show him he
can't."

"Do you think you can overtake him then?"  I cried eagerly.

"Dunno about overtake, my lad, but I'm going to overhaul him.  Here,
Zeke, come and lay hold of this here tiller.  You keep her full.  Elim,
you and me's going to get up that forsle.  I'm going tew put yew chaps
aboard o' that schooner if I sail on for a week."

"Without provisions?" said Gunson, sadly.

"Who says 'thout provisions," retorted the man.  "There's a locker
forrard and there's a locker aft, for we never know how long we may be
getting back when we're out fishing.  I say I'm going to put you aboard
that there schooner for the dollars as we 'greed on first, and if I
don't, why I'm more of a Dutchman than lots o' them as comes from the
east to set up business in 'Frisco.  There!"



CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

EMULATING THE CORNISHMEN.

Unwittingly we had made friends with the master of the little fishing
craft and his men; and as we sat watching them in the moonlight, and
looking away at the schooner, which always stood out in the distance
faint and misty, as if some thing of shadow instead of real, a spar was
got out from where it was lashed below the thwarts, and run out over the
bows, a bolt or two holding it in its place, while the stays were made
fast to the masthead and the sides of the boat.  Then a large red sail
was drawn out of the locker forward, bent on, run up, and the boat
heeled over more and more.

"Don't capsize us," said Gunson.  "Can she bear all that sail?"

"Ay, and more too.  If we capsized yew we should capsize ourselves too,
and what's more, our missuses at home, and that wouldn't do.  We won't
capsize yew.  Only sit well up to the side, and don't mind a sprinkle of
water now and then.  I'm going to make the old girl fly."

He chuckled as he saw the difference the fresh spread of canvas had made
in the boat's progress, and, taking the tiller now himself, he seemed to
send the light craft skimming over the sea, and leaving an ever-widening
path of foam glittering in the moonlight behind.

"That's different, my lads, eh?" the master said, with a fresh chuckle.
"Yew see yew were only kind o' passengers before--so many dollar
passengers; now yew're kind o' friends as we wants to oblige, while
we're cutting yonder skipper's comb for him.  Say, do yew know what they
do in Cornwall in England?  I'll tell yew.  When they want to make a
skipper wild who's precious proud of his craft, they hystes up a bit
more sail, runs by him, and then goes aft and holds out a rope's end,
and asks him if they shall give him a tow.  That's what I'm going to do
to the schooner's skipper, so don't you fret no more.  You hold tight,
and you shall be aboard some time."

"I hope we shall," said Gunson quietly; but I could feel that there was
doubt in his tones, and as I looked at the shadowy image away there in
the offing, the case seemed very hopeless indeed.

We had been sailing for some time now, but the distance from the city
was not very great, the wind not having been favourable.  Consequently
our course had been a series of tacks to and fro, like the zigzags of a
mountain road.  Still we had this on our side--the schooner had to shape
her course in the same way, and suffer from the constant little
succession of calms as we did.

The confident tone of our skipper was encouraging, but we could not feel
very sure when we saw from time to time that the schooner was evidently
leaving us behind.  But we had not calculated on our man's nautical
knowledge, for as we got further out he began to manoeuvre so as to make
shorter tacks, and at last, when the moon was rising high in the
heavens, and we were getting well out from under the influence of the
land, the easy way in which the course of the boat could be changed gave
us a great advantage, and towards midnight our hopes rose high.

"There," said our skipper, "what do yew say now?  That's a little craft
to move, ain't she?"

"Move? she flies," said Gunson; "but with this wind, arn't you carrying
too much sail?"

"Not enough," said the skipper gruffly.  "You let me alone.  Only thing
that can hurt us is a spar going, and they won't do that.  That there
mast and bowsprit both came from up where you're going--Vancouver
Island.  There's some fine sticks of timber up there."

We eased off the way of the boat a little, for water was lapping over
the bows, and even he had tacitly agreed that we were heeling over more
than was quite safe.

"Swab that drop o' juice up," he growled; and one of the men quietly
mopped up the water, of which there was not enough to bale.

"She must see us now," said Gunson, after another long interval, during
which we all sat holding on by the gunwale.

"See us?  Oh, she sees us plain enough."

"Then why doesn't she heave to?"

"Skipper's too obstint.  Perhaps he don't think there's any one aboard,
for it's misty to make anything out in the moonlight, even with a glass.
P'r'aps he knows the boat again, and won't take no heed because it's
me.  But you wait a bit; we're going through the water free now, eh,
squire?"

"You'll sink her directly," said Esau, who had already grasped the fact
that a vessel was always "she."

"Not I.  I say, you didn't expect a ride like this t'night, did yew?"

"No," said Esau, whose attention was all taken up with holding on to the
side.

"No, not yew.  Steady, my lass, steady," he said softly, as the boat
made a plunge or two.  "Don't kick.  Say, youngster, any message for
that there chap as you hit?"

"Yes; tell him I'll set the police to work if ever I come back here."

"Right.  I'll tell him.  I know where to find him."

"Where will that be?"  I said, wondering whether he meant the very
worst; and I breathed more freely as I heard his answer.

"In the hospital, lad, in the hospital.  They'll have to mend the crack
in his head, for I dessay your mate here hit as hard as he could."

"I did," said Esau.

And now we sat in silence gazing at the moonlit water, with its
wonderful flecks of silvery ripple, then at the misty schooner, and then
across at the lights of the city; while I wondered at the fact that one
could go on sailing so long, and that the distance looked so small, for
a mile at sea seemed to be a mere sham.

"What do yew say now?" said the master an hour later.  "Shall we
overhaul her?"

"Yes, we must catch her now," said Gunson, excitedly.  "Don't overdo it
when we are so near success."

"Yew let me alone; yew let me be," he grumbled.  "I'm going to putt yew
aboard that craft, first, because I think yew all ought to be helped;
and second, because I want to show the schooner's skipper that he arn't
everybody on these shores."

On we went through the silver water, with the path behind us looking
like molten metal, and the wind seeming to hiss by us and rattle in the
boat's sails, we went so fast.  Every now and then from where I sat I
could look down and see that the lee bulwark almost dipped under water,
but always when it was within apparently half an inch of the surface the
master eased the boat and it rose a little.

The schooner was going on the opposite tack to ours, so that when at
last we crossed her we seemed so near that one might have hailed; but in
obedience to the master's wish we passed on in silence, so as to let him
enjoy the triumph of over-sailing the bigger vessel, and then hailing
her after the Cornwall fashion of which he had boasted.

"Now," he said, "we're ahead."  And almost at that moment there was a
loud crack, the mast went by the thwarts, and the sails lay like the
wings of a wounded bird upon the silvery sea.



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

"IT'S THEM."

"Wal," said the master, "reckon that arn't quite such a good stick as I
thout it war."

I sat looking despondently at the wreck, for the accident had happened
just as I felt sure of our overtaking the schooner, which was rapidly
gliding away from us again, when Esau caught hold of my arm.

"I say, arn't going to the bottom, are we?"

"All our trouble for nothing, I'm afraid, my lads," said Gunson.

"What are yew two looking at?" roared the master.  "Going to let them
two sails drag down under the boat?  Haul 'em in, will yew!"

These words startled the two men into action, and they began to loosen
the ropes and haul in the sails rapidly, prior to getting the broken
mast on board.

"Wal, might ha' been worse," said the master, giving his head a scratch;
"but there goes your dollars, mister, for a new stick."

"I'll pay for it," said Gunson, quickly.  "Could you rig up the broken
spar afresh?"

"Guess I'm going to try."

"Do you think they could hear us on the schooner if we all shouted
together?"

"No, I don't, my lad.  If I had, I would have opened my mouth to onced.
Here, let me come by; them two's going to sleep.  I want to fix that
stick up again.  I won't be able to give the schooner a tow this time.
He's beat me, but I'll do it yet."

He set to work getting out the broken stump, which was standing jagged
above the thwart, and looked at it thoughtfully.

"Make a nice bit o' firewood for the old woman," he said, as he laid it
down forward before beginning to examine the broken end of the mast.

"Guess yew arn't got such a thing as a saw in your pocket, hev you,
either on yew?" he continued, with a grim smile.  "Not yew!  One never
has got what one wants in one's pocket.  Lend a hand here, Elim, never
mind about them stays.  Don't shove: them sharp ends 'll go through the
bottom.  If they do, one of you youngsters 'll hev to putt your leg
through the hole to keep the water out.  Now, Zeke, never mind the sail.
Hyste away."

Between them they raised the broken mast, which was now about three feet
shorter, tightened the ropes, and, just as the schooner was coming back
on the next tack, to pass us about half a mile away, the master said--

"They ought to see as we're in trouble, but I 'spect they're nearly all
asleep.  Here, all on yew be ready, and when I cry, _hail_! open your
shoulders, and all together give 'em a good _ahoy_!  Not yet, mind--not
till I speak.  Lot o' little footy squeaks arn't no good; we must have a
big shout.  Guess we shan't haul up the sail till we've tried whether
they'll lay to."

The schooner came nearer and nearer, with her sails growing so plain
that even the ropes that held them glistened white in the moonlight, and
looking so beautiful as she glided smoothly onward, that for the moment
I forgot our predicament; but I was roused up at last by the master's
voice.

"All together!" he said, quietly.  "Hail!"

Our voices rose high in a discordant shout.

"Now again," cried the master.

Our voices rose once more, and then another shout broke the stillness of
the soft night air; but the schooner glided on, her sails hiding
everything, so that we did not see a soul on board save the man at the
wheel, whose white face gleamed for a few moments as it emerged from the
black shadow cast by the great mainsail.

"They're all asleep," cried the master, fiercely.  "Here, lay holt,
Zeke.  I say, squire, take holt o' the tiller, and keep her straight.
Hyste away, Elim, we'll show 'em the rope's end yet."

"Look!" cried Gunson, quickly.

"Eh?  Why, they did hear us," cried the master, in a disappointed tone.
"Why didn't they hail back?  Shan't show him the rope's end arter all."

For the schooner glided slowly round till she was head to wind; and
instead of her sails curving out in the moonlight, they were now dark,
save where they shivered and flapped to and fro, so that a part of the
canvas glistened now and then in the light.

"Ahoy!" came faintly from her decks, for she was a quarter of a mile
away; and in a few minutes a boat dropped over the side with a splash,
and four men began to row toward us.

"There you are," said the master, grimly; "they'll take you aboard now.
Going up the Fraser, arn't you?"

"Yes, I hope so," said Gunson, as he thrust his hand into his pocket,
and then handed some money to the old man, who took it with a
dissatisfied grunt, and turned it over in his rough hand.

"What's this?" he said roughly; "ten dollars.  There, we said five.
Take them back."  He held out half the money.  "No, no: bargain's a
bargain.  Lay holt."

"But the broken spar?"

"Don't you fret yewrself about that.  I'm going to show it to him as
sold it to me, and make him take it again.  There, good luck to you all.
Good-bye, youngsters; and if you find any gold up yonder, bring me back
a little bit to make a brooch for my old missus."

Gunson pressed him to keep the money, but he refused angrily.

"Shake hands, all on yew, and good-bye.  I meant to put you all aboard,
and I've done it, arn't I?"

"Indeed you have," I said; "and we are very grateful."

"That's right, lad," he said, shaking hands warmly; after which the
others held out their hands, and to my great satisfaction Gunson said--

"Will you let me give these two a dollar each?"

"Oh, very well," grunted the master.  "If yew've got so much money to
throw away, yew can dew it."

"Hillo!" came from the fast-nearing boat, "what's the matter?--sinking?"

"No," roared the master.  "Sinking indeed!  What yer going off and
leaving all your passengers behind for?"

"Oh," said a gruff voice, "it's them."

It was the skipper of the schooner who spoke, and a quarter of an hour
later we were on board his vessel, waving our caps to the master and his
two sturdy fisher-lads, as, with their shortened sails now filling, the
boat began to glide rapidly back, while the schooner's head was turned
once more for the open sea.

"Thought you warn't coming," said the skipper, gruffly, after seeing
that the little boat was swinging safely from the davits.

"Yes, it was a close shave," replied Gunson, who hardly spoke again to
us, but went below; and soon after we two were fast asleep, forgetful of
all the past troubles of the day.



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

When I awoke next morning it was blowing hard, and the timbers of the
schooner were groaning and creaking so dismally, that when every now and
then a wave struck the bows, Esau turned to me and shook his head, "Next
big one as comes 'll knock her all to pieces."

We did not care much for our breakfast, for more than one reason, and
were glad to get on deck, where we found Gunson talking with the
skipper, or I should say Gunson talking, and the old captain rolling an
eye, or giving a short nod now and then.  Away to our right lay the
coast of California, with its pale-coloured bare-looking cliffs
appearing anything but attractive; and as we tossed about in the little
schooner, I could not help thinking how different it was to the great
clipper-ship in which we had sailed round the Horn.

We were soon glad to go below again, and there, as Esau could not get at
his chest, which was down in the hold, he was glad to accept the loan of
a blue jersey from one of the sailors, so as to set Gunson's jacket at
liberty.

It was almost a repetition of our experience in the _Albatross_ for some
days, only in this case we could have gone on deck at any time; but
there was no temptation to do so, for it meant holding on by the side,
and being soaked by the spray which kept on flying aboard.

During those days Esau passed the greater part of his time lying down,
and about once an hour he got into the habit of lifting his head, and
looking at me fixedly.

"I say," he would begin.

"Yes?"

"Don't think I shall take to sailoring;" and I agreed with him that
other lines would be pleasanter.

It was not that we were so very cowardly, for the sailors we spoke to
all agreed that it was one of the worst trips they had ever had along
the coast; and we afterwards heard that the skipper had been very
anxious more than once.  But there is always an end to bad weather; and
the morning came when I went on deck to find sky and sea of a lovely
blue, and away to my right a glorious green land, with swelling hills,
forests of pines, and beyond them, dazzlingly white in the bright
sunshine, the tops of two snow-capped mountains.

As I leaned aft, gazing at the beautiful land, my spirits began to grow
brighter, and I was turning round to go down and fetch Esau to come and
see the place, when I found that Gunson had come on deck too, and was
looking at me in his peculiar manner which always repelled me.

"Is that British Columbia?"  I said, to break an awkward silence, for he
stood perfectly silent, fixing me with that one piercing eye.

"No, not yet--that's Yankee-land still.  We've got to get into the
Straits yet before we can see our country."

"Straits--Gibraltar?"  I said thoughtlessly; and then I felt red in the
face at my stupidity.

"Not exactly, my lad," he said, laughing.  "Why, my geography is better
than yours.  The straits we go through are those of Juan de Fuca, the
old sailor who discovered them.  But from what I know of it, the country
is very much the same as this.  Think it will do for you?"

"It is lovely," I cried, enthusiastically.

"Yes," he said, thoughtfully, and speaking in a quiet soft way that
seemed to be very different from his appearance; "a lovely land--a land
of promise.  I hope your people will all get up yonder safe and sound.
It is a long, weary task they have before them."

"Can't be worse than ours has been," I said.

"Well, no, I suppose not; but very trying to those poor women.  Look
here, my lad," he said, after a pause, "how are you going to manage when
you get ashore at Victoria?"

"Start at once for Fort Elk."

"How?"

"Get somebody who knows the way to tell us, and then walk on a few miles
every day.  It can't be very difficult to find if we keep along the
river bank."

"Along the towing-path, eh?"

"Yes, if there is one," I said, eagerly.

"Towing-path!  Why, you young innocent," he cried, angrily, "don't you
know that it's a fierce wild mountain-torrent, running through canons,
and in deep mountain valleys, with vast forests wherever trees can grow,
all packed closely together--sometimes so close that you can hardly
force your way through?"

"I did not know it was like that," I said; "but we must make the best of
it, I suppose.  If we can't go twenty miles a day we must go fifteen."

"Or ten, or five, or one," he cried, with a contemptuous laugh.  "Why,
Mayne, my lad, that last will often be the extent of your journey."

I looked at him in dismay.

"You have no friends then at Victoria--no introductions?"

I shook my head.

"And you do not even seem to know that Victoria is on an island, from
which you will have to cross to the mouth of the Fraser."

"I'm afraid I am very ignorant," I said, bitterly; "but I am going to
try to learn.  I suppose there are villages here and there up the
country?"

"Perhaps a few, not many yet; but you will find some settler's place now
and then."

"Well, they will be English people," I said, "and they will help us."

"Of course."

"Where are you going?"  I asked suddenly.

He gave a little start, and his face relaxed.

"I?" he said quickly, and he looked as if he were going to take me into
his confidence; but just then Esau came on deck to stand looking
shoreward, and Gunson turned cold and stern directly.  "Don't know for
certain," he replied.  "Morning, my lad," to Esau, and then walked
forward to speak to the skipper.

"There, Esau," I said eagerly; "that's something like a country to come
to," for the fresh beauties which were unfolding in the morning sun made
me forget all Gunson's suggestions of difficulties.

"Yes, that's something like," said Esau.  "What makes those big hills
look so blue as that?"

"They are mountains, and I suppose it's the morning mist."

"Mountains!" said Esau, contemptuously, "not much o' mountains.  Why,
that one over yonder don't look much bigger than Primrose Hill."

"Not much," said Gunson, who was walking back with the skipper.  "Very
much like it too, especially the snow on the top.  How far is that
mountain off?" he added, turning to the skipper.

"Hunard miles," grunted the person addressed.

"Look here," whispered Esau, as soon as we were alone, for the skipper
and Gunson went below, "I don't say that he hasn't been very civil to
us, and he helped us nicely about getting on here, but I don't like that
chap.  Do you?"

"I really don't know," I said with a laugh.

"Well, I do know.  He looks at one with that eye of his, as if he was
thinking about the money in your belt all the time."

"He can't be thinking about yours," I said drily.

"Oh dear!  I forgot that," said Esau.  "But all the same, I don't like a
man with one eye."

"But it isn't his fault, Esau."

"No, not exactly his fault; but it sets you against him, and he's got so
much pump in him."

"Pump?"

"Yes; always getting out of you everything you are going to do, and who
you are, and where you come from."

"Yes, he does question pretty well."

"He just does.  Very well, then; I want to know who he is, and where he
comes from, and what he's going to be up to.  Do you know?"

"No, not in the least."

"Same here.  Well, I don't like a man who's so close, and the sooner we
both shake hands with him, and say good-bye, the better I shall like
it."

"Well, Esau, I'm beginning to feel like that," I said, "myself."

"That's right, then, and we shan't quarrel over that bit o' business.
Soon be there now, I think, shan't we?"

"To-morrow about this time," said a familiar voice; and we both started,
for Gunson was standing close behind us.  "Didn't you hear me come up?"

"No," I said hurriedly; and he laughed a little, rather unpleasantly, I
thought, and walked forward to stand with his elbows on the bulwark
watching the distant shore.

"There!" whispered Esau.  "Now would a fellow who was all right and
square come and listen to all we said like that?  Seems to be always
creeping up behind you."

"I don't think he did that purposely."

"Well then, I do.  You always take his part, no matter what I say; and
it sometimes seems to me as if you were pitching me over, so as to take
up with him."

"That's right, Esau," I replied.  "That is why we sailed off together,
and left you in the lurch."

Esau pressed his lips together, gave his foot a stamp, and then pushed
close up to me.

"Here," he said, "punch my head, please.  Do.  I wish you would.  My
tongue's always saying something I don't mean."

I did not punch Esau's head, and the little incident was soon forgotten
in the interest of the rest of our journey.  For we sailed on now in
bright sunshine, the uneasy motion of the schooner was at an end, and
there was always something fresh to see.  Now it was a whale, then a
shoal of fish of some kind, and sea-birds floating here and there.  Then
some mountain peak came into view, with lovely valleys and vast forests
of pines--scene after scene of beauty that kept us on deck till it was
too dark to see anything, and tempted us on deck again the moment it was
light.

By midday we were in the port of Victoria, where the skipper began at
once to discharge his cargo, and hence we were not long before our
chests were on the rough timber wharf, side by side with those of
Gunson, who left us in charge of them while he went away.

"Wish he wouldn't order us about like that," cried Esau, angrily; "let's
go away, and let some one else look after his traps."

"We can't now," I said.

"But we don't want him with us any more.  I say, I don't think much of
this place."

"It's very beautiful," I said, looking away over the sea at beautiful
islands, and up at the wooded hills in view.

"But it looks just like being at home in England.  I expected all kinds
of wonderful things in a foreign country, and not to be sitting down on
one's box, with sheds and stacks of timber and wooden houses all about
you.  We can get that at home."

I was obliged to own that everything did look rather home-like, even to
some names we could see over the stores.

"And do you know where the skipper's going as soon as he has unloaded?"

"No," I said.

"Up to some place with a rum name here in this island, to get a load of
coals to take back.  They only had to call it Newcastle to make it
right.  What are you looking at over yonder?"

"Those beautiful mountains across the sea, rising up and up in the
sunshine.  That's British Columbia, I suppose, and it must be up among
those mountains that our river runs, and where Fort Elk lies."

"All right, I'm ready.  How are we to go?"

"We shall have to find out when some boat sails across I suppose.  Let's
go and find the captain, and ask him where we ought to go to get a
night's lodging."

"Here he comes back," said Esau.

"The skipper?"

"No, Gunson.  Now let's say good-bye to him, and part friends."

"There's a little steamer goes across to the settlement at the mouth of
the river this afternoon," said Gunson; "so we'll have your chests
carried down.  Here, you two can get some kind of dinner in that place,
where you see the red board up.  You go on and get something ready; I'll
join you as soon as I've seen your chests on board.  The boat starts
from close by here."

"No, no," whispered Esau; "we mustn't trust him, because--"

Esau stopped, for he had glanced at Gunson, and found his eye fixed upon
him searchingly.

"I said I would see your chests safely on board, my lad," he said
sternly.  "I suppose you'll trust me, Gordon?"

"Of course I will," I cried, eagerly; for I was ashamed of Esau's
suspicions.

"Go on then and order some dinner," he said; and Esau accompanied me
unwillingly to the rough kind of tavern.

"It's like madness," Esau kept on saying.  "You see if he don't go off
with our chests, and then where shall we be?"

"Grumbling because I was so weak as to trust him.  Never mind; I'm
hungry.  Let's have something to eat."

We ordered it, and partook of a thoroughly hearty, English-looking meal;
but Gunson did not come, and as soon as Esau had finished, he suggested
that we should go and look after him.

"But he said we were to wait for him here."

"Yes, but I'm going to look for my chest," cried Esau.  "I don't see any
fun in losing that."

"Nonsense!  Don't be so suspicious," I said; and we waited on a full
hour, with Esau growing more and more fidgety, and by degrees infecting
me with his doubts.

All at once we heard from the distance the ringing of a bell, and the
Englishman who, as he called it, "ran the place," came up to us.

"Didn't I hear you two say that you were going by the steamer 's
afternoon?"

"Yes," I said.

"Well then, look sharp, or you'll lose the boat.  She's just off."

I glanced at Esau, and as soon as he had paid we set off at a run,
reaching the little steamer just as she was being cast off from the
wharf.

"He ain't here," cried Esau, excitedly.  "What shall we do--stop?"

"No," I said; "let's go on.  We may find our chests on board."

"Yes," he said, sarcastically; "may.  Well, we can come back again.  Oh,
what a set of thieves there are abroad."

We were by this time on deck, and after a quick glance round, I pitched
upon a man who seemed to be either skipper or mate.

"Were two chests sent on board here belonging to us?"

"One-eyed man with 'em?" he said, looking at us curiously.

"Yes," I cried eagerly.

"All right.  Down below."

"There, Esau," I cried, gripping him by the arm.  "What do you deserve
now?"

"Punch o' the head, I suppose.  Well, hooroar! and I'm glad we've got
rid of him at last."

"I don't know," I said.  "I should have liked to shake hands first."

"Come, lads, what a while you've been," said Gunson, coming up out of
the cabin.  "I told that boy to say you were to make haste."

"What boy?"  I said.

"The one I sent.  Didn't he tell you?"

I shook my head.

"Went to the wrong place, perhaps.  Boxes are all right below yonder."

"But how are you going to get ashore?"  I said, wonderingly.

"Same as you do."

"But--"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?  I thought I'd come across with you, and see you
well on your way.  Esau there wouldn't be comfortable without me.  I
don't know when I became such friends with any one before as I have with
him.  Well, did you get a good dinner?"

He fixed Esau with his eye, and I saw the perspiration begin to stand in
little drops on my companion's forehead, as he stammered out something
about "good-dinner."

"But what about yours?"  I said.

"Oh, I was afraid of some muddle being made with our luggage, so I
stopped and got something to eat here."

"Our luggage?"  I said.

"Oh yes," he replied with a curious laugh.  "Mine is below too."



CHAPTER NINETEEN.

GUNSON FIGHTS MY BATTLE.

Gunson left us then, as if on purpose to give us an opportunity to talk
about him; and as soon as he was out of hearing, Esau began by wiping
the perspiration from his forehead with the back of first one hand, then
with the other.

"It's o' no use," he said in a low, hoarse voice; "we shan't get rid o'
that chap till he has had his wicked way of us."

I was puzzled by Gunson's acts, but all the same, I could not help
laughing at Esau's comically dismal manner.

"Why, what idea have you got in your head now?"  I cried.

"Him!" whispered Esau, in a tragic way.  "I don't quite see through it
all, but I do through some of it.  Look here, Mr Gordon, sir, you mark
my words, he's one of that gang we met at 'Frisco, only he plays the
respectable game.  He'd got me into their hands, and had me robbed, and
then he was going to rob you, only I turned up just in time to save
you."

"Look here, Esau," I said angrily; "if you talk any more nonsense like
that I'll kick you."

"All right: kick away," he said--"I won't mind; but I'm not going to see
you served as I was without saying a word."

"What you said was ridiculous."

"It was ridiklus for me to be served as I was, p'r'aps, but never mind;
you'll see."

"I tell you what you say is absurd."

"Very well, then, you have a say, and tell me what he means by hanging
on to us as he does."

"I cannot explain it, of course.  How can I tell what Gunson means?  All
I know is, that it's better to have a man with us who seems to know
something about the country."

"Ah, but does he?" said Esau, with a cunning look.  "I don't believe he
knows anything about it.  He's been cramming us full of stories about
dangers and stuff to frighten us.  You'll see it won't be half so bad as
you say.  Hullo! what's the matter?"

For at that moment there arose a curious yelling sound which sent a
chill through me.

"We've run down a boat," I said excitedly, "and the people are
drowning."

I ran toward the bows of the little panting and snorting steamer, where
those on board were gathered in a knot, and just then the skipper
shouted an order, the clank of the engine ceased, and I caught sight of
a curious-looking canoe that had come out from one of the islands which
dotted the channel, and had been paddled across our course.

"Is any one drowned?"  I said to Gunson excitedly.

"Drowned? no.  Only going to take a passenger on board."

By this time I was looking over the side at the occupants of the canoe,
which was formed of skins stretched over a framework, and was now being
paddled up close alongside.  Then one of the men in her caught the rope
thrown to him, and held on while a little yellow-complexioned boy, as he
seemed to me, dressed in a blue cotton pinafore and trousers, and
wearing a flat, black skull-cap, made of rolls of some material joined
together, suddenly stood up and threw a small bundle on board, after
which he scrambled over the side himself, nodding and smiling to all
around.  The rope was loosened by the man in the boat, the paddle-wheels
began to beat the water again, and I watched the canoe as it rapidly
fell astern.

"Well, what do you think of the Indians?" said Gunson, coming to where I
stood.

"Were those Indians?"

"Yes; three siwashes and a klootchman, as they call themselves--three
men and a woman."

I began to regret that I had not taken more notice of them, and seeing
how I leaned over to get another glimpse, Gunson continued--

"Oh, you'll meet plenty more.  But you see how civilised they are
getting, carrying passengers aboard.  I did not expect to find him
here."

"Do you know that boy then in the blue blouse?"  I said wonderingly.

"Oh yes, I know him.  I used to see a good deal of him right away yonder
in the south; and now I see that he is getting naturalised here.  Come
up from 'Frisco, I suppose."

"But you don't mean that you know that particular boy?"

"Oh no.  I was speaking of him as a class.  He must have an object in
coming across here."

Gunson said this in a thoughtful way that I did not understand then; and
as he saw that I was watching him curiously, he drew my attention to the
mainland, towards which we were gliding.

"There," he said, "you'll soon be able to say goodbye to the sea.  It
will be canoes and legs for the rest of your journey."

"Legs," I said laughing; "I don't think we could manage a canoe."

"No; but it would be wise to get your boxes as far up the country as you
can, and that can only be by means of the Indians and one of their
canoes."

"But you would have to pay them."

"Of course."

"And would it be safe to trust them?"

"We shall see, my lad.  But patience.  They ought to have called this
place New England.  What a country and a climate for a man who could be
content to settle down to a ranch and farm.  There," he continued, "I
dare say you two want to have a chat.  I shall be aft there if you wish
to say anything to me."

He was quite right.  Esau was waiting to come up and talk, pointing out
distant mountains, the islands we were passing, and the appearance of
the land we were approaching, a place all mystery and interest to us
now.

"I say," he cried, "I've been talking to one of the men aboard here, and
he says it will be easy enough to find Fort Elk; that we've only got to
keep to the side of the river, and we shall be sure to get there some
time."

"Some time?"  I said rather dismally.  "When is that?"

"Oh, there's no hurry," cried Esau, enthusiastically.  "It will be rare
good fun going along by the river, and through the woods, with no one to
interfere with you, and order you to copy this or write out that.  But
let's get away from old Gunson as soon as we can."

"You want boy?" said a mild, insinuating voice, and the little fellow in
blue stood by us with his head on one side, and his black, currant-like
eyes twinkling in his yellow face.  The black close cap which he had
seemed to wear had disappeared, for it had only been his curled-up
pigtail, which now hung down his back nearly to his heels.  "You want
boy?" he said again.

He was so close to us now that I could see, in spite of his being only
about the stature of a lad of thirteen, that he must be a man of thirty
at least, and in spite of his quaint aspect, there was something
pleasant and good-humoured about his countenance that was attractive.

"Want a boy?" said Esau, rather roughly.  "He's got one.  Can't you see
him?  Me!"

The Chinaman nodded and smiled at Esau, as if he admired his
fresh-coloured smooth face and curly fair hair.  Then showing his teeth
a little, he went on--

"Me speak ploper Inglis allee same Melican man.  Velly stlong.  Washee.
Cally big pack allee over countly.  Cookee.  Velly good cookee.  Make
nicee blead.  Hot fire, plenty tea."

"No," I said, smiling at his earnestness.  "We don't want a servant."

"Yes; want boy.  Quong.  Me Quong, talk ploper Inglis.  No talkee
pidgin."

"Get out!" cried Esau.  "Who ever heard of talking pigeon!  You mean a
parrot."

"Hey?  Pallot.  Yes, talkee pallot--pletty polly what o'clock?"

"Yes, that's right!" cried Esau.

"Quong talk ploper Inglis.  Allee same Melican man.  No talkee pidgin,
no talkee pallot.  Quong come along cally big pack.  Cookee.  Washee
clean do."

"But we don't want you," I said.

"No wantee Quong?  Hey?"

"No."

"Ah."

He nodded as good-humouredly as if we had engaged him to cook and wash
for us, and as we stood there leaning over the side of the puffing
little steamer, we saw him go from one to another, and amongst them to
Gunson.  But he was everywhere received with a shake of the head, and at
last, apparently in no wise discouraged, he sat down forward on the
deck, took his little bundle on his knees, and curled up his tail again.

They were a curious lot of people on board, and I was dividing my time
between watching the panorama of hills and mountains that seemed to rise
up out of the sea, and trying to make out what the people might be by
whom I was surrounded, thinking that one or two must be Englishmen,
others Americans, and some people who had settled down in the country to
which we were going, when a big, roughly-bearded fellow, who was very
loud and noisy in his conversation, suddenly burst into a roar of
laughter, and gave his leg a slap, while some of the men about him
joined in his mirth.

For some minutes I could not make out what was the object which
attracted them, but Esau was quicker, and gave me a nudge with his
elbow.

"They're going to play some games," he said; and I grasped directly what
it meant, for the big fellow went quietly up behind the little Chinaman,
and with a clever twitch unfastened the pin, or whatever it was which
held up the coil, and the long tail untwisted and rolled down on the
deck amidst a roar of laughter--one which increased as the Chinaman
turned to see who had played the trick, but only to find the man
standing near with his back toward him, apparently talking thoughtfully.

"You pullee?" said the Chinaman good-humouredly.

"What?" came back in a voice of thunder.

"You pullee tail?"

The man gave him a furious scowl, and uttered a low growl like that of
some savage beast, while the little Chinaman slunk toward the bulwark,
and began to coil up his _queue_ once more, after which he bent forward
over his bundle, his eyes half closed, and evidently thinking so deeply,
that he was quite ignorant of what was passing around.  Perhaps he was
wondering where he would be able to sleep that night, perhaps of how he
was to obtain work.  At any rate he was too much occupied with his
thoughts to notice that the big fellow was slowly edging his way toward
him.

"They are going to play some trick, Esau," I said softly.  "What a shame
it seems."

"Yes; look.  That other chap's going to help him."

"But it's too bad."

"Yes; lots of things are too bad; but it ain't our business, and if we
interfere we shall get into trouble."

I heard my companion's words, but they did not make any impression on
me, for I was too deeply intent upon what was taking place before me.
There was the little Chinaman bent forward, blinking and apparently half
asleep, and there on either side were the men, evidently about to
disturb him in some way or another.

All at once, after exchanging glances with the others, I saw the big
fellow place his foot just under the Chinaman, and give him a lift which
sent him up against the other man, who roared out angrily.

"Where are you coming to, you yellow-eyed, waggle-headed mandarin?" he
cried; and he gave the poor fellow two or three cuffs and a rude push,
which sent him staggering against his first disturber, who turned upon
him furiously in turn, and cuffed him back to the other.

"Why, it's like playing shuttlecock and battledore," said Esau grimly.
"If they served me so I should kick."

But the little Chinaman did not resist in the slightest degree; he only
bore the buffeting patiently till such time as he could rescue his
bundle, and escape to the other side of the deck, where, as if he were
accustomed to such treatment, he shook himself, pulled down his blouse,
and, amidst the roars of laughter that had arisen, he placed his bundle
on the bulwark, and folding his arms upon it, leaned there gazing out to
sea.

"I do hate to see big chaps bullying little ones," said Esau in a
whisper, as I stood hoping that the horse-play was at an end, for I
shared Esau's dislike to that kind of tyranny; and though the little
Celestial was nothing to me whatever, I felt hot and angry at what had
been going on, and wondered why Gunson, a strong, a powerful man, had
stood there smoking without interfering in the least.

But my hope of the horse-play being at an end was not gratified, for a
few minutes after I saw the two men whisper together, and the big fellow
took out his knife and tried the edge.

"Hullo!" whispered Esau, "he ain't going to cut his head off, is he?"

I did not answer, though I seemed to divine what was about to take
place, and the blood flushed into my cheeks with the annoyance I felt.

My ideas were quite correct, for directly after the second of the two
men lounged up quietly behind the Chinaman, and before he was aware of
it, he too cleverly undid the tail, but kept hold of it and drew it away
tight.

"Hallo!" he shouted, so as to be heard above the roars of laughter which
arose, "why what's all this ere?"

The little fellow put up his hands to his head, and bent down, calling
out piteously, while the big passenger took a step or two forward with
the open knife hidden in his hand.  Then clapping his left on the
Chinaman's head, he thrust it forward, so that the tail was held out
tightly, and in another moment it would have been cut off close to the
head, if in my excitement I had not suddenly made a leap forward,
planting my hands on the man's chest, and with such good effect
consequent upon my weight being entirely unexpected, that he staggered
back some yards, and then came down heavily in a sitting position on the
deck.

I was as much astonished at the result as he was, and as there was a
roar of laughter from all on deck, he sat there staring at me and I at
him, till I could find words to say indignantly--

"Let the poor fellow be.  It's a shame!"

The next minute the man sprang up, and Quong, as he called himself,
cowered behind me, the other having in his astonishment loosened the
poor fellow's tail and set him free.

"Why, you young cockerel," roared the big fellow, striding up to me, and
bringing his left hand down heavily upon my shoulder.  "Not to cut off
that yallow scoundrel's tail, arn't I?"

"No," I cried stoutly, though I felt anything but brave; "let him
alone."

"Will I?  Look here, I'm going to have off that tail; and just to give
you a lesson, I'm going to try the edge o' my knife first on one of your
ears."

I wrested myself away, but he was as quick as I was, and had me again
directly, holding the knife in a threatening way as if he really
intended to fulfil his threat.

"Get hold of the knife, Esau," I shouted; but it was not his hand and
arm which interposed, for Gunson forced himself between us, thrusting me
right away, as he said quietly--

"Let the boy alone."

"Let the boy alone!" cried the big fellow, fiercely.  "No, I shan't let
the boy alone.  What do you mean by interfering?  Who are you?"

"Like yourself, man--an Englishman."

"And a precious ugly one too.  Here, I don't want to hurt you, so be off
and lie down."

He strode on one side, and then made at me, driving me to bay against
the bulwark.

"Now then," he cried, with an ugly laugh, which did not conceal his
rage, "I've got you again, have I?"

"No," said Gunson quietly, as he took him by the collar and swung him
round, so that he staggered away; but he recovered himself and made at
my protector.  "Keep back! the boy is a friend of mine, and I will not
have him touched."

"Friend of yours, is he?  Oh, then you want to fight, do you?"

"No," said Gunson, standing firmly before him, "I don't want to fight,
neither do you, so go your way, and we'll go ours."

"After a bit, my lad," cried the man, fiercely.  "This isn't England,
but a country where a man can fight if he likes, so clear the course,
some of you, and let's see who's best shot."

He thrust his hand behind him, and pulled a revolver from his
hip-pocket, cocking it as he spoke.

"Now then, out with your own," he cried.

But Gunson seized the man's wrist instead, gave it a wrench round, there
was a sharp report, and the pistol fell heavily on the deck, and was
secured by one of the sailors.

"Give him a hug, mate," cried the man who had joined in the attack upon
the Chinaman.

"That's what I'm just going to do, my lad," said the big fellow in
hoarse, angry tones.  "He's got hold of the wrong pig by the ear this
time;" and to my horror he drew back a little, and then suddenly darted
his body forward and locked Gunson in his arms.

I had often heard tell of and read accounts about wrestling, but this
was the first time I had ever witnessed an encounter in the old English
sport, if sport it could be called, where two strong men, one far bigger
and heavier than the other, swayed to and fro, heaving, straining, and
doing all they could to throw one another.

There was a dead silence on the deck, and passengers, skipper, and
sailors all bent forward, eagerly watching the encounter, but not one
with such earnestness as I, who fully expected to see Gunson flung
heavily.  But no: he was raised again and again from the deck, but he
always recovered his feet, and twined and swayed here and there in a way
that completely baffled his powerful adversary.

All this took a very short time, but as I watched I was able to see that
Gunson seemed to grow cooler as the struggle went on, while his opponent
became more enraged.

The excitement was now intense, and I felt my heart beat heavily as I
momentarily expected to see my defender dashed down insensible, while a
feeling of rage at my own helplessness made my position more painful.
For it was this: I could do nothing, and no man present made the
slightest movement either to help or separate the combatants.  Then,
too, I felt that it was my fault for behaving as I did, yet I could
hardly feel regret for my interference.

And while thoughts like these coursed rapidly through my mind, I too was
watching the struggling pair, who swayed here and there, and once struck
so violently against the bulwark that I gave a sudden gasp as I expected
that they would both go overboard together.  But no; they struggled back
again to the middle of the deck, Gunson seeming quite helpless, and
offering scarcely any resistance, save when his opponent lifted or tried
to throw him, when he suddenly became quick as light almost in his
effort to recover himself.  And all the while an excited murmur went on
among those crowded together to see the weaker fall.  There was no doubt
as to which it would be, and one of my great dreads was lest Gunson
should not only be beaten but seriously hurt.

At last the struggle seemed to be coming to an end.  The big fellow
swung my champion round and round, and lifted him again and again, just
as he seemed to please, but could never unloosen the tight grip of
Gunson's hands.

"Now, Gully lad," cried the second man, "down with him."

These words seemed to act as a spur to the wrestler, and I saw his face
of a deep angry red as he put all his force now into a final effort to
crush the active man who clung so tenaciously to him.  They had
struggled now so far aft that another step would have brought them in
contact with the man at the wheel; but Gunson gave himself a wrench,
swung round, and as he reversed his position the big Englishman forced
him a little backward, bearing right over him as it seemed to me; while
the next moment, to my intense astonishment, I saw Gunson now lift the
great fellow from the deck and literally throw him over his shoulder, to
come down on the planks with quite a crash.  There was a curious cry of
astonishment from the group of spectators, in the midst of which the
second man stepped to his companion's side.

"Get up, my lad," he cried.  "Did he play foul?"

But there was no reply.  The great fellow lay on the deck as if dead,
and when his companion raised his head it went heavily down again.

"Here, I can't stand this," roared the fallen man's companion.  "You
played foul--you played foul;" and he rushed at Gunson and seized him,
the latter only just having time to secure a good grip of the attacking
party.

There was a fresh murmur of excitement, followed by a roar, as,
apparently without effort, Gunson threw his new opponent upon his back.

"Was that foul?" cried Gunson, as he stood over him; but the man made no
answer.  He only got up slowly.

"Here, I want to help my mate," he said surlily; and there was a burst
of laughter, for the first fall had taken all desire out of him to try
another.

By this time the big fellow--Gully--gave signs of returning
consciousness, and sat up slowly to look about him, gently stroking his
head, and accepting the offer of a couple of hands as he rose to his
legs, and suffered himself to be led forward, while I turned my eyes now
to where Gunson was putting on his jacket.

"Are you hurt?"  I said.

"No; only a bit strained, my lad.  It was like wrestling with an
elephant.  I was obliged to let him have his own way till he grew tired,
and then that old Cornish fall was too much for him."

"I'm very sorry," I said humbly.  "It was all my fault."

"Yes," he said, laughing.  "We ought to go different ways now.  I can't
spend my time and strength in fighting your battles.  There, I am going
to see for a bucket of water and a wash."

He went forward with one of the sailors, while as I turned, it was to
see the Chinaman looking at me in a curious way.  But just then Esau
came between us.

"What did he say?" he whispered; "that we were going different ways
now?"

"Yes," I replied; "but I don't think he meant it.  I hope not.  Why,
Esau, what should we have done twice without him?"

"Well, he can fight and wrastle," said Esau.  "It was quite wonderful to
see how he upset those two.  And that's what I don't like, because if
he's so strong with those two big fellows, and can do just what he likes
with them, what chance should we have?"



CHAPTER TWENTY.

A STRANGE HOTEL.

We landed at a rough wharf at the mouth of the wide river, where a few
shanties and a plank warehouse stood just in front of a forest of
pine-trees, the stumps, five or six feet high, of many that had been cut
down to make room for the tiny settlement, still standing up and forming
a graceful curve all round from the ground to the place where the marks
of the axe still looked white and yellowish red.

Our chests were carried out on to the shaky platform in front of the
shanties, one of which was dignified by the title of hotel, and to
Esau's great disgust, Gunson's two chests and a long wooden case were
set down close to them.  Then three men who had been passengers landed,
and lastly the little Chinaman, who had hung back for some time, till
the steamer was about to start again, sprang quickly on to the wharf,
with his luggage hanging to one crooked finger.  His movements were
quickened by the big fellow Gully, who, as soon as he caught sight of
him, made a rush and then leaned over the gangway, uttering a roar like
that of some huge beast of prey.  This done he shouted to us.

"Wait a bit," he said.  "We shall run again one another some day.  Then
we'll all have another grip--"

"With all my heart," said Gunson, in a loud voice; "but I should have
thought you had had enough of my manners and custom's."

We stood waiting till the boat had gone some distance, and then, as the
three men who had landed had disappeared, and the Chinaman was seated on
a log at a short distance from where we stood, I turned to Gunson.

"Where does the town lie?"  I asked.

"What town?" he said, smiling.

"The one at the mouth of the river."

"Oh, there is one over yonder," he said, "but it is not much better than
this, and as this was the handiest for you, I thought you had better
stop here."

I had often felt low-spirited since leaving England, but that evening,
with the last glow of the sun fast dying out over the ocean, the huge
wall of enormous trees behind, and the gliding river in front, and
nothing but a few roughly-built boarded houses in sight, my spirits
seemed to sink far lower than they had ever been before.

I glanced at Esau, and he looked gloomy in the extreme.  But I tried to
put a good face on the matter, as I said to him--

"One of us had better go and see if these people will give us a night's
lodging."

"You may take that for granted," said Gunson.  "Take hold of one end of
my chest here, and let's get it under cover."

I saw Esau frown, and I knew that as soon as we were alone he would
protest against our being ordered about.  But I did not hesitate,
helping Gunson to get his two chests and packing-case into the house,
when he frankly enough came and helped in with ours.

The people did not seem disposed to be very friendly; but rough as the
shed-like house was, everything seemed clean, and they were ready to
supply us with some cake-like, heavy bread, and a glowing fire composed
of pine-roots and great wedge-like chips, evidently the result of
cutting down trees.

"Rather rough, Squire Gordon," said Gunson, with a laugh, as he saw me
sitting disconsolate and tired on the end of my chest; "but you'll have
it worse than this.  What do you say to camping out in the forest with
no cover but a blanket, and the rain coming down in sheets? you'd think
this a palace then."

"I was not complaining," I said, trying to be brisk.

"Not with your lips, my lad, but you looked as if you'd give anything to
be back in London."

"Oh, we ain't such cowards as that," said Esau shortly.

At that moment the wife of the settler, who called himself in red
letters a hotel-keeper, came toward us with a large tin pot like a
saucepan with a loose wire cross handle.

"Here's a kettle," she said, in rather an ill-used tone; "and there's a
tub o' water for drinking outside.  Got any tea?"

"Yes, thank you," said Gunson, good-humouredly.  "We shall do now."

The woman left us, and Gunson turned to me.

"Well, squire," he said, "what have you got in the commissariat
department?"

"Some bread and cold ham," I replied.

"Oh, but we must have some hot.  I've done better than you," he said,
laughing, and taking out of a wallet a piece of raw bacon, which he laid
upon the rough board table, and then a tin canister.  "Now then, Esau,
my lad, let's see you cut that in slices, while I make some tea ready.
Gordon, will you go and fill the kettle half full?"

He spoke so briskly and cheerily that I hardly knew the man again, and
his words had so good an effect upon me, that I soon had the kettle
filled and seated in the midst of the cheery blaze; while Esau was
cutting up the bacon, and Gunson was heating and cleaning a bent
gridiron, that had been made by binding some pieces of thick wire a
little distance apart.

"Now then, Dean," he said, "can you cook that bacon?"

Esau laughed scornfully.

"Do you hear that?" he said, turning to me.  "Why, I've cooked bacon and
bloaters at home hundreds of times."

"Good!" cried Gunson.  "Then you shall cook a bit here.  There will not
be any bloaters, but as much salmon as you like to grill."

"Salmon?" said Esau, pausing in the act of paring off some bacon rind.

"Yes; salmon.  The rivers are so full of them here sometimes, that they
crowd one another out on to the shore."

Esau gave him a look, and then went on preparing the bacon, afterwards
setting it to frizzle over the clear fire.

"I must rout up some basins," said Gunson, rising.  "I don't suppose we
shall get any tea-cups and saucers here."

He went out of the rough room, and left us together just as the kettle
began to sing, and the bacon to send out an appetising odour.

"Well," said Esau, "that don't smell bad.  Seems to make one feel not
quite so mizzable to hear a kettle singing again.  I did feel bad a bit
back."

"Didn't you?"

"Yes: wretched," I replied.

"And all the more," continued Esau, "because old Gunson seems to have
taken us into custody like, and orders us to do this and do that."

"But--"

"Now do let _me_ finish," grumbled Esau.  "I know what you're going to
say, and I'll say it for you.  You're allus getting into scrapes, and
he's getting you out of 'em."

"And you?"  I said, laughing.

"Hah! that's better," cried Esau, pouncing on a piece of bacon and
turning it over.  "I do like to see you laugh a bit; seems to make
things cheery.  But I say, when is he going his way and going to let us
go ours?"

"How's the bacon getting on?" said Gunson, entering, and the rough board
door swung to.  "Ah, nice and brown, and the kettle close upon the boil.
Know how to make tea, Gordon?  Not our way in camp I know.  Look here."

He turned out nearly a handful out of the common tin canister, waited
till the water in the open kettle was bubbling all over, and then threw
in the tea, lifted the kettle off, and stood it down.

"There," he said, "that's camp fashion.  The old lady's going to bring
us something to drink it out of;" and as he spoke the settler's wife
brought in two tin pint mugs and a cracked and chipped basin, which she
banged roughly on the table.

Gunson gave me a peculiar look as the sour woman turned away.

"I say, Mrs--I don't know your name."

"Well, what is it now?" said the woman, in a vinegary tone.  "I can't
spend all my time waiting on you."

"My dear madam, no," said Gunson, in the most gentlemanly way; "I only
wanted to say that a cup of good tea in this wilderness is a thing that
one may offer a lady, and as that is thoroughly prime China tea that I
have brought up from 'Frisco, will you do us the honour of trying a
cup?"

The change in the woman's countenance was wonderful.  It softened; then
there was a smile, and her face looked quite pleasant.

"Well, really, that's very good of you," she said.  "I'll go and get
myself a cup.  A drop of good tea is such a treat out here."

She hurried out of the room, and Gunson laughed.

"Here, Gordon," he said, "get out that sugar you'll find in my bag.  We
must do it well with company."

I brought forth a tin of sugar and placed it on the table, and Gunson
having tidied it a little by throwing the bacon rind away, and spreading
the mugs about, we sat listening to the sputtering of the bacon and
watching the flickering of the flames, which in the increasing darkness
began to gild and tinge the rough boarded walls with red.

Just then the woman came back, with two cups, a saucer, and another tin.

"I thought I'd bring you a cup to dip with," she said, "and a drop of
milk.  A neighbour of ours ten miles up the river has got two cows, and
he brings me a little milk when he comes down to buy stores.  He was
here this morning, so it's quite fresh."

A few minutes later, and our landlady had finished her cup of tea, which
she declared to be "lovely," while upon a second one being dipped she
took it up and carried it off, saying she was too busy to stay.

Left alone, we proceeded to discuss our own meal, slices of the
cake-like bread forming our plates, and our pocket-knives doing double
duty.  Great draughts of hot tea washed down the bacon, and scarcely a
word was spoken till Esau sighed, and began to wipe and polish his big
new knife.

"Feel better, my lad?" said Gunson, smiling.

"Yes," said Esau, speaking rather reluctantly.  "I am a bit better now."

"A bit?  Why, you are like a new lad.  Nothing like a good tea meal out
in the wilds, my lad, to put life into one.  Why I've known days when
we've been ready to break down, or give up, or go back; then we've
formed camp, got a bit of fire on the way, boiled the kettle with a
pinch of tea in it, and eaten our cold bacon and damper, and been fit to
do anything after.  So are you two.  To-morrow morning you'll be ready
to make your start up the river, and this will be like your first lesson
in camping out."

"Which way are you going, sir?" said Esau, after a long silence, during
which we had been sitting gazing at the fire, but not until there had
been a general tidy up of our table.

"Nor'-east," said Gunson, laconically.  Then in a very abrupt way, "Now
then, you've a hard day's work before you to-morrow, so roll yourselves
up in your blankets and go to sleep."

"Where?"  I said.  "She has not showed us our bedroom."

"No, because this is, as the old song says, `parlour and kitchen and
hall,' with sleeping accommodation included.  There are plenty of fine
spreading spruces outside, though, if you prefer a bed there."

"Oh no," I said, as I began to realise that our journey now was going to
be very rough indeed; and thoroughly appreciating the value of the
blanket I had brought, I rolled myself in it, and lay down to think
wonderingly of where we should be to-morrow.  I knew that I could not go
to sleep, but thought it better to obey Gunson in every way while he was
with us; and as I lay there, I saw him rise and stand thoughtfully
before the fire, while almost directly a sound arose from close by me as
if Esau was practising ventriloquism, and wanted to give a good
imitation of wood-sawing.

This grew so exasperating at last, that I should have kicked him to wake
him up if I had not been prevented by my blanket, which was twisted so
tightly round my legs that they would not move.

"I suppose he must be lying on his back," I remember thinking; and
directly after, as it seemed to me, when I looked at Gunson, whose
figure just before stood out big and black before the glowing fire, he
was not there.

I think I considered it rather strange, but I was under the impression
directly after that he had lain down too.  Then there was a low, dull,
humming sound, which I knew came from the river, and then I was looking
up at Gunson, who was standing over me, with the fire lighting him on
one side, and the broad, warm glow of the rising sun on the other.



CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

OUR MORNING BATH.

"Well, have you had a good night's rest?" cried Gunson, smiling at me.

"Have--have I been asleep?"  I said, sitting up.

"Asleep?  Yes, for a good eight hours.  There, tumble up.  Your
washhand-basin is waiting for you.  Now, Dean," he continued, touching
him with his foot, "are you going to lie there all day?"

"Don't--I say, be quiet.  I've only just closed my eyes.  Why!  Eh?  If
it ain't to-morrow morning!"

He got up and shook himself, and then followed my example of folding up
my blanket.

"Can you lads swim?"

"I can," I said; and the words recalled our river at home, and the green
bank off which I used to plunge.

"I learned in Lambeth Baths," said Esau.

"Then if I were you I'd go and have a dip; freshen you both up for the
day.  There's a place under the trees about a hundred yards from the
wharf.  I've had a swim there this morning."

"Already?"  I said.

"Yes, and done some business beside.  But look here; keep to the
shallows there, and don't venture into the stream, for the current is
exceedingly swift."

A swim in the bright morning sunshine sounded so delightful that I made
for the door at once.

"Remember about the current, my lads," said Gunson; "and you, Dean, if
you keep your eyes open you'll see plenty of salmon."

"That's his way of making fun of me," said Esau, as soon as we were
outside.  "Somehow he don't like me."

"And you don't like him, Esau?"

"That's about true, Mr Gordon," cried Esau.  "But oh my!--only look!"

I needed no telling, for as we stood on the banks of that swift river,
with the forest rising behind us, and the sun glorifying everything
around, all thoughts of the last night's low spirits, and the trouble we
had gone through, were forgotten, and I felt ready to shout for joy.

The axe of the woodman had been at work, but so little that it was
hardly noticeable, and, look which way we would, all was lovely,
glorious, more beautiful than words can paint.

"Here, I want to shout.  I want to lie down and roll.  Here, lay hold of
my ankles and hold me," cried Esau, "Why?  What are you going to do?"

"I feel as if I must stand on my head, or I shall go mad.  I do indeed."

"Don't be so stupid."

"But it ain't stupid.  It's all so--so--Oh!  I can't tell you how
beautiful it is."

"Never mind now.  We are here, and can go on liking it."

"Yes, I know; but--I say, lookye here.  What a tree to climb, with all
its branches standing out like steps, and--Why, it must be a hundred
feet high."

"It's more than two," I said as I gazed up at the grand green spire of a
Douglas pine, tapering gradually up, as if it intended to pierce the
bright blue sky.

"Can't be so high as that," said Esau.  "But I don't know," he cried.
"Look at this stump; why, it must be twenty or thirty feet round.  And
look at 'em, hundreds and thousands of 'em, all standing as close
together as they can.  Oh, look! look! look!  Can't help it, I must
shout.  I don't care about the trouble or the work, or the long voyage.
I'd go through it all again to come to such a place as this.  Oh, I do
wish mother was here to see."

I did not give vent to my feelings in the same way, but I felt as much;
and all the time, as my heart seemed to swell with joy, there were tears
rising to my eyes, and dimming the glorious view of river, mountain, and
forest, while I kept on saying to myself, "Thank God for making such a
lovely world."

The first excitement over, and the feeling of wonder that we had not
seen all this last night passed away, we went on along the clearing to
the bank of the river, overlooking the shallows where we were to have
our bathe.

The sun was shining down through the opening formed by the stream, and
its waters were sparkling and flashing in the light, as we reached the
spot Gunson evidently meant, and just then I caught hold of Esau's arm,
and stood pointing away toward the middle.

"I see 'em," cried Esau, "just over those shallows.  Just like shoals of
roach in the Lea or the New River.  They must be gudgeon."

"Gudgeon!--nonsense!  You forget how big everything is here.  They're
salmon."

"Go along with you," he cried.  "Think I don't know better than that?
Well, I am--"

This last was on seeing a bar of silver about three feet long shoot out
of the water, describe a curve, and fall with a tremendous splash not
half a stone's throw from where we stood.

"Why, it is!" cried Esau, excitedly.  "That was a salmon, and I can see
'em now--they are big--hundreds of 'em, and oh! not a bit o'
fishing-tackle of any sort, not so much as a line."

"Are you coming to bathe?"  I cried, laughing.

"Who's to bathe when there's everything to look at like this?  Here,
don't let's go any further; let's write to mother and the others to come
over here."

"There, I shan't wait for you, Esau," I cried, slipping off my clothes;
while he began more slowly, gazing about him all the while.

"Can't help it," he said.  "I never thought there could be such places
as this.  I say, ain't it too beautiful a'most?"

_Splash_!

That was my answer as I plunged in, only to shout as I rose to the top
again, for the water was so cold it sent quite a thrill through me, and
the next minute I was swimming about in the full enjoyment of the dip,
after having to be content for months with a miserable allowance of
water for washing purposes.

"Here I come: look out!" cried Esau; and the next moment he too sprang
in, sending the water up sparkling in the morning sunshine.  "Oh!" he
cried; "oh! ice!  Isn't it cold?"

"You'll soon feel warm," I shouted; and a minute later he was up close
beside me, swimming easily, and every now and then dipping his head
under water like a duck.

"I shan't go away from here," panted Esau.  "It's too lovely to leave.
I shall build a cottage down by the river side and live there, and then
we can fish for salmon.  What more does a fellow want?"

"Let's wait a bit, and see what the rest of the country is like.  We may
find a better place."

"Couldn't," cried Esau.  "I say, one don't feel the water so cold now.
I don't want a place to be any better than this.  It's just right."

"Well, let's swim back now, and dress.  I want my breakfast, and I dare
say Gunson's ready."

"Bother old Gunson!" puffed Esau.  "He's a regular nuisance.  Is he
going to-day?"

"I can't talk in--the water."

"What?"

"Come on back now."

I had turned, and begun swimming steadily back, for the water hardly
flowed here close to the shore; and as I swam I kept on glancing up at
the huge trees, which were four or five times the size of any I had ever
seen before.

"Don't you want your breakfast, Esau?"  I said, after a few minutes'
swim, but he did not answer.  "Esau, come along."  But still there was
no answer; and I turned round and looked back, to see that he was still
swimming in the other direction, and a long way from me.

"Esau," I roared, "come back!" and I had the satisfaction of seeing him
turn, and begin to swim in my direction.

Striking out strongly, I was making for the place where I had left my
clothes, when I suddenly heard him hail me.

"Hallo!"  I shouted.

"Can't seem to get along here."

I stopped to watch him, and then a cold shudder ran through me, for I
could see that though he was swimming with his face toward me, he was
slowly gliding away by the trees on the opposite bank.

"He has got into the current," I thought; and I was going to shout a
warning, but I had the good sense not to do so, for I felt that it would
alarm him, and beginning to swim back, I cried--

"Turn in for the shore."

"Eh?"

"Make for the shore."

"Can't, lad," came back; and the cold chill I had before felt thrilled
me; while feeling as if I dared not speak, I swam towards him, in agony
all the time, for fear I should get into the current with which he was
struggling.

"Don't get much nearer," he shouted, coolly enough, for he had not yet
realised his clanger; and making an effort to speak as calmly, I raised
my voice and shouted--

"Of course you don't.  Turn round and swim the other way, sloping for
the bank."

He did not answer, but he had evidently heard my words, for he rose in
the water, turned with a bit of a splash, and began to swim in the other
direction; while I followed, keeping close in where there was hardly any
current.

Then I stopped and uttered a hoarse cry, for I saw him suddenly shoot
right out toward the centre of the stream, and begin going down at a
rate that was terrible.  For I could see that any attempt to fight
against the stream would be folly; all he could do was to keep himself
afloat, and trust to being swept into some other cross current which
might take him shoreward.

I felt willing enough to go to his help, but I could do nothing, and the
feeling of impotence began to rob me of such little power as I
possessed.

And now I saw that he realised his peril, for he raised one arm above
the water and waved it to me, lowering it again directly, and swimming
with the side-stroke, so that it seemed to me that he was drowning, for
his head was nearly hidden by the water.

"Now, my lads, breakfast," came from the bank, and I saw Gunson appear
from among the pines.  "Out with you.  Where is Dean?"

I rose in the water, and pointed to where the poor fellow was rapidly
passing out of eye-shot, being now quite three hundred yards away, and
rapidly increasing the distance.

"What madness!  He'll be--"

I didn't hear him finish the sentence, but I know what he meant to say;
and in despair I swam to the shallows, waded out, and stood shading my
eyes and watching Esau, who was still afloat, but rapidly being carried
away.

As I reached the bank, I just caught a glimpse of Gunson running along
the clearing beyond the little settlement, and my feeling of despair
increased, for I knew that at the end of the opening the forest went
down to the water's edge, and that any one would have to struggle
through the tangle of branches and fallen trees.

"No," I thought; "he will get a boat."

But I could not remember that there was a boat about the place.  I had
not seen one.  As I thought all this in a wild, excitable way, I
snatched up some of my clothes, slipped them on partly as I ran; and
even then, incongruous as it may sound, I could not help thinking how
the wet hindered me.  Then running on, I came upon Gunson, with his face
cut and bleeding, struggling back from among the trees.

"Boat! boat!" he shouted, hoarsely.  "Is there no boat?"

His words brought out the settler's wife, and a couple of men from one
of the shanties.

"No boat here," said one of the men.  "Anything the matter?"

Gunson tried to speak, but no words came, and in a despairing way he
pointed down the river in the direction poor Esau had been swept.

The man looked as he pointed, but nothing was visible, and just then the
woman cried out--

"Why, where's your mate?"

Neither could I say more than one word--"Bathing," and I too pointed
down the river.

"Bathing, and swep' away," said one of the men.  "Ah, she runs stronger
nor a man can swim.  None on us here don't bathe."

"No," said the other man quietly; and they stood looking at us heavily.

"But is there no boat to be had?" cried Gunson, hoarsely.  "The Indians.
A canoe!"

"Went down the river last night, after bringing the fish," said the
woman wildly, and then--"Oh, the poor boy--the poor boy!" and she
covered her face with her apron and began to sob.

"And we stand here like this," groaned Gunson, "shut in here by these
interminable trees.  Is there no way through--no path?"

"No," said the man who had spoken first, "no path.  Only the river.  We
came by the water and landed here."

"Gordon," said my companion bitterly, "I'd have plunged in and tried to
save him, but I knew it was impossible.  Poor lad! poor lad!  I'd have
given five years of my life to have saved him."

"But will he not swim ashore somewhere lower down?"  I cried, unwilling
to give up all hope.  "Where the stream isn't so strong.  Let's try and
find a way through the trees."

"Yes; let's try a way along by the river if we can," he said, wearily.
"Poor lad!  I meant differently to this."

He led the way back to the end of the clearing, and then hesitated.

"If we could contrive something in the shape of a raft, we might float
down the river.  Hark!  What's that?"

For there was a faint hail from somewhere down the river--in the part
hidden from us by the trees.  "Ahoy!" came quite distinctly this time.
"He has swum to one of the overhanging branches, and is holding on," I
cried, excitedly.  "Can't we make a raft so as to get to him?"

Gunson turned, and was in the act of running toward our stopping-place,
with some idea, as he afterwards told me, of tearing down two or three
doors, when more plainly still came the hail.  "Ahoy!  Gordon.  Ahoy!"

"Why, he is swimming back," I cried.  "Ah!" shouted Gunson, running
back.  "The Indians!  It was about their time."

Almost as he spoke, the end of a canoe propelled by four Indians came
into sight slowly from behind the trees, and as it drew a little further
into view, I could see Esau's head just above the side right back in the
stern, and this was followed by one bare arm, which was waved in the
air, and he shouted--"Gordon.  Ahoy!  Got my clothes?"  Gunson gave his
foot an angry stamp, and walked back to the settler's house.



CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

WE START UP THE RIVER.

"Esau!"  I cried, half hysterically, as the canoe was paddled up to the
wharf; "you frightened us horribly."

"You?" he said, coolly, "frightened you?  Why, you should have been me."

I said nothing then, but made signs to the Indians, who, partly from my
motions, and partly from their understanding a few words of English,
paddled the boat up to where we had undressed; and as Esau leaped
ashore, and hurried on his clothes, he went on talking readily enough,
though I could hardly say a word.

"Yes, I did begin to get a bit scared when I found I couldn't do
anything to paddle ashore," said Esau quietly.  "It does run fast.  And
as soon as I was in the full stream, away I went.  Didn't have no
trouble about swimming, only a stroke now and then to keep one's head
right; river did all the rest.  I could have gone on for an hour, I dare
say, if I could have kept from being frightened, but--don't tell old
Gunson--I was scared, and no mistake."

"Till you saw the Indians with the canoe," I said huskily.

"What?" cried Esau, staring at me in astonishment.  "Why that made me
ever so much more frightened.  How did I know but what they wanted to
pull all the hair off my head?  Why, I tried to swim away from them, and
dived down when they were getting close, so as to let them paddle right
by.  I stopped under too as long as I could, and when I came up, if they
hadn't managed their boat just so as one of 'em could duck his hand down
and catch hold of my curly hair."

"Esau!"

"I shouted and struggled, but he held tight, and another came to help
him, and they dragged me over the side into the boat, where I durstn't
kick for fear of poking my feet through the bottom, for it's only skin
stretched over a frame, just as you might make a boat as one would an
umbrella, only I don't think they could shut it up."

"But they didn't attempt to hurt you."

"No; they were civil enough their way, and kept on jabbering at me, and
saying something about Si wash, si wash.  I'd had si wash enough, but
they never offered to lend me a towel, and I had to get dry in the sun."

"Esau," I said, as he was finishing dressing, "you ought to be thankful
that you have had such an escape."

"Ought I?  Well, I suppose I ought, lad; and I am thankful, though I
take it so easy, for my poor mother would have broke her heart if I'd
been drowned.  She thinks a deal of me."

"Of course," I said.

"I say, what did old Gunson say?"

"Don't ask me; don't talk about it," I said, for I felt half choking, I
was so overset by the whole scene.

"Why, Mayne Gordon," said Esau softly, as he laid his hand on my
shoulder, "don't go on like that.  I ain't nothing to you, and--"

"Esau," I cried angrily, "will you hold your tongue?  Hush! don't say
another word.  Here's Mr Gunson."

"Yes," said Esau, in rather an ill-used tone, "it always is `Here's Mr
Gunson!'"

"Breakfast's waiting, my lads," he said.  "Make haste; I don't want to
keep the Indians long."

"Keep the Indians?"  I said.  "Ah, you mean we ought to pay them
something for saving him."

"Yes, for one thing; but that is not all.  They will easily be
satisfied."

"I sha'n't give them anything," said Esau sourly.  "One of 'em tried to
pull the hair off my head."

"Nonsense!  It must have been to get you into the boat.  Here we are."

He signed to us to go into our room in the shanty, and I felt puzzled at
his quiet calm way of speaking now, just as if there had been nothing
the matter that morning.  But it was not so with Esau.  The shock and
its accompanying fright had had a peculiar effect upon his temper.

As we entered the room there was the bright fire with the boiling water;
and the landlady had been busy for us, and broiled some bacon, the smell
of which was very welcome at that time in the morning; but as Esau was
about to take his place he looked sharply round.

"Where's my box?" he said.  And as he spoke I saw that mine and the
others were gone.

"In the canoe," said Gunson, quietly.

"What's it in the canoe for?" cried Esau.  "Those Indian chaps will run
away with it."

"If they do," said Gunson, who was busy making the tea, "they'll take
your companion's and mine too."

"What's the good o' that to me?" cried Esau angrily.  "That won't bring
mine back.  Here, I want my box."

"Sit down, and don't be stupid, my lad.  You've given us quite enough
trouble this morning."

"But I want my box," cried Esau.  "There's lots o' things in that I
wouldn't lose on no account."

He moved toward the door, but Gunson set down the kettle and stepped
before him.

"Go and sit down," he said sternly.

"But I want--"

"Sit down!" roared Gunson.  "Your companion here does not make an idiot
of himself because his box is in the canoe.  Do you think I want to run
away with it?"

"No; but those Indians--"

"Are more honest than you are, my lad, or as honest."

"But who told them to take the boxes?"

"I did.  For if you go and nearly drown yourself there is no opportunity
for consulting you about matters.  You want to go up the river, do you
not?"

"Well, I don't know," cried Esau, whose anger was now comical.

"Then we know for you.  As it happens, my first halting-place is at a
settlement twelve miles up the river.  I wanted my chests taken up
there, and I ventured to think it would be doing you lads a good turn to
take you and your boxes as well.  So I engaged these Indians with their
canoe.  They will paddle us up there and land us."

"Oh," said Esau discontentedly.  And I burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry you do not like it, Mr Dean; but if you wish it, I will
apologise for the liberties my Indians have taken in saving your life as
they came, as well as in taking your chest."

"Well, I--that is--if I'd--"

"Will you hold your mug this way for some tea, Mr Dean?" said Gunson,
with mock politeness.

"Oh!" exclaimed Esau.

"There, help yourself to sugar and milk.  Gordon, my lad, help the
bacon, and give our much-injured friend the best piece."

"Look here," cried Esau fiercely, "you may hit me, or you may kick me,
but I can't stand being made fun of.  Say another word like that, and I
won't eat a bit."

"I have said my say," cried Gunson, with a look at me.  And after
gulping down his tin mug of tea, Esau seemed to get better, and the meal
was hastily finished in peace.

"Now, Gordon," said Gunson, "our landlady has been very civil to us,
what shall we give her beside the pay for what we have had?"

"If I did what I liked, I should give her a little paper of tea."

"Well done, Solomon of wisdom," said Gunson, taking something from his
pocket; "here it is, done up all ready.  Now then, the sooner we start
the better."

Our arrangements with the settler's wife were soon concluded, and it was
still early morning when we took our places in the big skin canoe with
all our personal belongings under our eyes now; and the Indians having
been well fed, pushed off rather sluggishly.  But they kept time with
their paddles, and soon set up a low, sad, crooning kind of chorus as
they carefully avoided the powerful stream by keeping well inshore,
where I gazed up in wonder at the magnificent trees which appeared in
masses and clumps at every turn.

It was a wonderful experience that first ride on the fierce river, whose
snow-charged waters gave quite a sting to the fingers whenever they were
immersed.  And there was always something fresh to see.  Now it was a
vast shoal of salmon gliding up over the shallows, or collecting about
the edges of one of the many falls we passed, where some stream or
another came down from the high grounds to swell the already full bed of
the river.  Then some bird flew up within tempting distance for one who
handled a gun, and then there would be a little bit of excitement as we
neared some fierce part of the river where the bed was dotted with
rocks, a touch upon any of which must mean a hole through the bottom of
our canoe, and her freight sent whirling helplessly down the stream.

It was at one of these rapids that Esau, who had been very quiet and
rather ashamed of himself, suddenly half rose in his place, exclaiming--

"Don't let them go there; it isn't safe."

"They know best how to manage the canoe," said Gunson quietly.

"But you won't let them go up that bit of water?  It's like a
mill-race."

"Yes; only fiercer," said Gunson coolly.  "Feel startled, Gordon?"

"I do feel a bit nervous," I said.

"And not ashamed to say so," he replied, laughing.  "Well, you are a
strange lad.  Of course you are not frightened, Dean?"

"Why it's enough to scare any one," cried Esau.  "We shall all have to
swim for it directly, and nice chance we shall have.  Get stunned with
stones before we know where we are.  Here, look! what are they going to
do?"

"Sit still, and you'll see," said Gunson; and he joined me in looking
eagerly at the men, who ran the boat as far as they could go toward the
shallow rapids by energetic use of their paddles, and then, at a grunt
from the one who seemed to take the lead, they dropped their paddles in
the canoe, and, as if by one movement, swung themselves over into the
rapids, and began to wade and drag the vessel against the surging
stream.

"Look here," said Gunson, with his lips close to my ear, for the noise
of the rushing water was deafening, "if we do go over, make for that big
piece of rock below there, and try to climb up."

"Yes," I said rather breathlessly; "but tell Esau too."

"Oh no; there is no need," he said sarcastically.  "Your companion is
too clever to want help."

Meanwhile we were being dragged slowly up and up against the fierce
current, and in and out among rocks, any one of which would have overset
the canoe; and as I looked forward and to right and left, where the
sides of the river were formed by precipices which ran up so high that
the trees growing here and there on the ledges looked quite small, I
felt a kind of shrinking sensation at my own insignificance, and turned
at last to see what effect all this had upon Esau.

He was seated holding on to the bottom of the canoe with all his might,
and staring at the threatening rocks with eyes and mouth wide open.

"Afraid?"  I shouted in his ear.

"Not a bit," he replied; "but be ready for a swim if some of those rocks
up above don't tumble down and sink us."

And all the time the Indians dragged hard at the canoe, and with so much
success that they proceeded over some three hundred yards of rapid, and
then stopped where the water looked deep and glassy, and where it was
evident that they could wade no further.

Here, as they held the canoe fast to keep it from being swept back down
the rapids, one of the foremost swung himself in, took his paddle, and
began to use it with all his might.  Then another sprang in on the other
side, and paddled hard to keep the canoe stationary, two still holding
tightly.  Then the third leaped in, and the one still holding uttered a
hoarse cry, which made the others ply their paddles with all their
might, for it seemed as if the stream would be too strong for them.
Finally the fourth gave another cry, and his muscles stood out in the
sunshine on his forehead and neck, as he gave the boat a tremendous
thrust, swung himself in, and began to paddle rapidly.

The thrust he gave the boat sent it on a couple of yards, and then it
became stationary, with the water, which looked white and glassy, now
rushing by us, and threatening to drive the canoe on to the rocks just
behind, or else to capsize us, and sweep the party headlong down the
long water slope up which we had been so toilsomely drawn.  And I
believe we should have been mastered, for what with three passengers and
the chests, the canoe was heavily laden; but Gunson suddenly pressed
himself close to the last Indian, reached out one strong arm, and
grasped his paddle, swaying with him, and bringing the full force of his
powerful muscles to bear.

The hint was sufficient.  I gave Esau a look, and crawled right forward
to the first paddler, and did precisely the same, and Esau acted
likewise, so that there was the addition of our arms on the port side of
the boat to balance Gunson's on the starboard.

For the moment my Indian, the first, seemed ready to start up, leap
overboard, and swim for his life, evidently thinking I was attacking
him; but he saw what it meant directly, and as soon as we boys were in
regular swing with them, the chief man gave a shout, and the paddles
were plied with such effect that the canoe began to move from where it
had been stationary, as if one end were fixed on a rock, which allowed
the hows to sway a little.  Then we gained a foot or two, the feet
became yards, and the Indians set up a triumphant chorus, as we glided
on and on, more into smoother water, and at last right in, under the
lowering precipice on our left, where we got along more rapidly, till
the vessel was steered in behind a huge projecting mass of rock, where
one paddle was sufficient to hold her in the eddy that was caused by the
stone, and here all paused to rest.

"Well done, Bri'ish muscles!" said Esau, looking round, and smiling as
he wiped the perspiration from his forehead.  "I say, I thought it was
all over once."

"Yes," said Gunson, "they had all they could do to hold their own, and
of course they would soon have given way."

"Is there much more like this?"  I asked.

"You know the river as well as I do, my lad," said Gunson.  "As far as I
can make out, it is nearly all like this, and runs through canons and
wild places, where at times the sides are so high that it is quite
gloomy below."

"Well, I like it," said Esau.  "There's something in it.  I've been on
the river at home in the steamers, but there's nothing to see."

"You'll see enough here," said Gunson, dryly.  "What do you think of
your journey up the river now?  Didn't I hear one of you speak about
walking on the bank?"

I looked to right and left, and felt my forehead pucker up as I saw the
difficulties we should have to contend with.

"But will the banks be always like this?"  I said.

"Of course not.  I should say that we shall find everything, from
piled-up masses of rock to pleasant patches of meadow, and no two miles
alike."

"But no steamers could ever come up here," said Esau.

"Oh yes, out there in the broad channel in the middle, but they will
need very powerful engines and careful pilots.  Ah, they are getting
ready for a fresh start."

"But it will take us a long time to get up to where we are to stop for
to-night," I said.

"Twelve miles at the outside," replied Gunson.  "Yes, I am beginning to
be in doubt as to whether we shall get there to-night."

The leader of the Indians shouted, they plunged in their paddles, and
the next minute we were again struggling with a rapid bit of the river
between two rocks; but they soon got into smooth water again, and,
evidently quite at home in the intricacies of the navigation, they took
advantage of every sheltering clump of rocks, and cut across swift
rapids to get into eddies here, there, and everywhere.  Now we were
right in the middle of the stream, now crossing under the left bank, now
making for the right, but always advancing slowly, with the sides of the
river growing grander every hour, and Gunson smiling at our ecstasies,
as we kept getting glimpses of ravines down which tumbled silvery
streams, whose spray moistened the gigantic pines which shot up like
spires.

"Wouldn't have ketched me sitting on the stool in old Dempster's office
all that mizzable time," cried Esau, "if I'd known there were places
like this to come and live at."

"It is a grand valley," said Gunson thoughtfully, and looking at me as
he spoke; "but as it is, what is it?  Only something beautiful to be
admired.  You couldn't live on waterfalls and pine-trees here.  Suppose
I landed you two lads in that lovely gorge, where the water comes down
like a veil of silver, and--yes, look, there's a rainbow floating in
that mist just above the big fall.  Look at the ferns, and perfect shape
of that great fir-tree, with its branches drooping right to the ground.
You could sleep under its spreading boughs, and find a soft bed of
pine-needles; but I don't think it would be possible to climb up the
sides of the gorge, and in a short time you would starve."

"Oh would we?" cried Esau.  "We'd soon build a hut, and we could catch
the salmon."

"Yes, you might catch some salmon in the season; but there is nothing
else you could eat.  It is very beautiful too, and those pine-trees that
stand there are as they stand worth nothing, but if you had them cut
into square timbers, and lying in one of the London docks, they would be
worth from ten to forty pounds each."

"But it is glorious to see all this," I said eagerly.

"Yes; glorious.  In all my travels I have seen nothing more beautiful,"
said Gunson; and he added laughing, "I never went up a river that was so
rugged and so swift."

It was just in such a nook as that which we had admired so much that the
Indians ran the boat ashore about midday, and after making her fast in a
glassy little pool, they signed to us to get out, after which they all
sat down among the ferns, and under the shelter of the spreading boughs
of a pine, and brought out some food.  We imitated their example, and
made a hearty meal, washing it down with a tin of water from a little
fountain which gushed from a moss-covered rock.

By this time the Indians were lying down apparently asleep, and it set
me thinking about what our position would be if we followed their
example and they decamped with our boxes and stores.  Suppose there was
no way out of this neck, for the sides looked as if it would be
impossible to climb them, and it was evidently a rare thing for any boat
to go up or down.

However, these were only fancies, for after about an hour's rest the
Indians suddenly jumped up and pointed to the boat.  We got in, and the
struggle with the river began again, to be kept up till the sun had
descended behind the mountains, and it was beginning to look gloomy
where the river ran.  Places that would have been glorious to the eye in
the bright sunshine now seemed weird and terrible, impressing even our
hard, stern friend, so that he suddenly said--

"We had better land at the first suitable place, and make camp for the
night.  We can easily get a good fire."

I was glad to hear him say this, for with the advancing evening the
waters looked cold, and the echoing roar of torrent and fall had an
awful sound that began to affect my spirits, and Esau's as well, for he
suddenly said to me--

"I say, this part ain't half so beautiful as some of the others."

Gunson set himself the task of explaining to the Indians that we wanted
to land, a want that they grasped directly; the leader nodding and
pointing forward beyond a sudden bend of the river, where it made a
sweep to our right round a towering buttress of rock, which projected so
far that it seemed to block up the channel, and turn the place into a
lake.  Then bending once more to their paddles, they set up their
monotonous chant, and in about an hour we were round the great rocky
buttress, and making for a meadow-like patch surrounded by magnificent
trees, and upon which dotted here and there were rough shanties.

"Why this is the settlement!" cried Gunson.  "They have done as they
promised after all.  Now, my lads," he said, "what do you say?--shall we
try and get shelter at one of those places, or camp out for the first
time, and you can try what it's like?"

"Camp out," I said eagerly, for there was an attraction about the idea.
"What do you say, Esau?"

"Same as you do, sir, same as you."

"Then we will camp out," said Gunson; and directing the Indians to a
nook away from the tents, they landed us there by a spring of cold
water, and then began to take out the chests.

"No, no.  To-morrow," said Gunson.  "Now then; first thing is a fire
when we have chosen our tent."

Just then Esau cried sharply--"I say, lookye there!" and burst into a
fit of laughter.



CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

ESAU HAS A DREAM.

I laughed too as I saw the little yellow-faced figure of our Chinese
companion of the boat, as he came up with his small bundle swinging from
one finger.

"Why how did you get up here?"  I said.

"Indian--chinook come along, walkee, walkee," he said; and he pointed
toward the west.  "Wantee fire--make blead?" he said laconically; and
then without losing a moment, he selected a sheltered spot, collected a
quantity of pine-needles and fir-cones, produced a box of matches from
somewhere,--I think it was from up his sleeve,--started the fire, nursed
it carefully, and as soon as it began to burn freely, ran here and there
to collect dry wood, and after building this up round, dragged up bigger
pieces, and then added these, making a famous fire in a very short time.

Gunson laughed at the Chinaman's busy, officious way, and with us to
help him, brought our stores ashore, while the Indians prepared their
own camping-place some little distance off.

"We may as well make ourselves comfortable for the night," he said.  "We
shall work all the better to-morrow."

"Where floul--make blead?" said the Chinaman, looking up suddenly.

"Don't want any.  Got plenty of bread."

"Don'tee want any.  Plenty blead?" said the Chinaman.  "Want pot makum
boil tea; want bacon--good fi' cook bacon."

I was just unpacking the latter, which had been tucked in the kettle
safe receptacle, and our new acquaintance's fingers were soon busy.  He
seized the kettle, went to the spring, rinsed it out, and brought it
full to the fire.  Then, before I could interfere, he had seized upon
the bacon, taken out a long ugly knife, whetted it upon his boot, and
began to cut off thin slices, which he laid upon a thin square of iron,
whose purpose I had not divined when Gunson unpacked it, bore them to
the fire, and stood there ready for a clear place where one side was all
aglow with embers.

This done, the Chinaman placed one or two branches in more favourable
positions for burning, and turned to Gunson again.

"Kettle nealy leady.  Want tea?"

Gunson handed the tin to him, and the little yellow face lightened up as
the cover was taken off.

"Melican tea?  No.  Good tea.  Ah!"

There was a long, eager sniff taken, and then a look was given round.

"One, two, thlee," said the little fellow, raising finger after finger
as he counted.  "One, two, thlee," and he gave the tea a shake in the
canister.

"Not enough," said Gunson; "we like a good cup."

"Hey? like good cup?  Yes, plenty tea fo' good cup," and he took off the
lid of the tin, and went and squatted down by the kettle, set the tea
aside, ready for the boiling of the water, and so brought the bacon over
the glowing embers slowly and carefully, using the point of his knife in
place of a fork.  That tea proved to be excellent, and the bacon so
delicious that we felt kindly disposed toward the Chinaman as we ate it;
and the more so that as soon as he saw us well started, in place of
hanging about to be asked to join, he whetted his knife again, trotted
off, and began to collect pine-needles, and cut down boughs of fir and
spruce to pack together under the biggest tree for our bed.

"Here, what are you doing?" said Gunson.  "Hey?" cried the little
fellow, trotting up.  "Doing!  Want mo' bacon--make blead.  Blead gone
high."

"No, no.  Sit down and have some tea."

"By and by!" said the little fellow.  "Cut much bed.  Velly black
dleckly; no see."

He went off, and we heard his knife hacking away again, and the rustling
of the boughs, as he laid them neatly together in the big, pine natural
tent that was to be our home that night.

"Well," said Gunson, "what do you think of real camping out?"

"Lovely," said Esau.  "Oh!  I say!"

"What's the matter?"  I said.  "Gnat sort of thing bit me on the side of
the neck.  Why, if there ain't another."

He gave his face a sharp smack, and I was engaged too, and directly
after Gunson was smacking his hands and legs, for a cloud of mosquitoes
had found us out, and were increasing in number every moment.

"This is intolerable," cried Gunson.  "Old friends.  Haven't been bitten
for years.  We shall have to shift our quarters."

Just then the Chinaman came up, and took in the situation at a glance.

"Skittum," he said, sharply.  "I mudjums."

Running to the fire, he took hold of the end of a branch, drew it out,
gave it a wave to put out the flame, and then held it smoking low down
by us on the side where the wind blew, with the result that a thick
cloud of aromatic vapour was wafted by us, stinging our eyes a little,
but making the vicious little insects turn their attention to the
Indians, who started a burning branch as well, after which we could hear
our enemies making their sharp, threatening hum all about us, but they
rarely ventured to attack us through the smoke.

"I say," cried Esau, "I hope there ain't many of these things about.
My! how the bites itch."

As he spoke he moved out from under the protecting smoke, but a sharp
trumpeting hum sent him back directly with his head in the cloud.

"Wants a good sharp wind to blow 'em away," he muttered, as he began to
rub at the bites viciously, while Gunson turned to the Chinaman and
nodded toward the remains of our food.

"Have some tea," he said, "and something to eat?"

The little fellow nodded and smiled.

"All a done?" he said.  "Tea velly good?" and filling himself a tin mug
from the supply in the kettle, he sat sipping it with his eyes closed.
Then helping himself moderately to the remains of the bread and bacon,
he rinsed out the kettle and mugs, and set all aside under a big fern.

"All leady fo' bleakfass," he said, nodding.  "Keep a fi'.  Quong mind.
Leady fo' bleakfass, mollow.  You want?"

He looked at Gunson, who shook his head.

"You want?" he said again, looking at Esau.

"No, I don't want you," replied Esau; and the same question was
addressed to me, of course with the same result.

"Velly ti'e.  Go sleep," said the little fellow; and, selecting a tree
about half way between us and the Indians' camp, I saw him, in the
fast-fading light, put his bundle down for a pillow, and curl up
directly.

"Good example," said Gunson.  "Let's follow it, and be off in good
time."

We took his advice; but this time I lay awake for long enough, listening
to the murmur of the wind in the pines, and the low, deep bass roar of
the river.  It had rapidly grown dark, and the fire flickered and
flashed, and sent up curls of golden smoke; while on one side there was
a bough of a pine-tree with every needle standing out clear and bright
against the intense blackness beyond.  And as I lay there listening to
the heavy breathing of my two companions, I began to think how easy it
would be for the little Chinaman to crawl silently up and rob us of our
money and valuables; then that there was nothing to prevent the Indians
from making their way round among the trees and killing us all.  I had
read of Indian massacres, and a curious, hot sensation of dread came
over me as I looked nervously round, half expecting that my fancies
might not be without cause, and that my wakefulness was due to a sense
of coming danger.

But the various objects dimly seen by the firelight by degrees took
their proper form; and I saw that one which I had believed to be an
Indian's head was only a tuft of some low growth; that it was a fern and
not a crouching enemy just beyond the fire; and the group to my left, a
curious shadowy group, consisted of young pines which the falling in and
following blaze of the fire made quite plain.

I told myself that it was foolish to feel so nervous, and that I was as
safe out there in the forest as in some room at home; but myself would
not believe it, and kept on conjuring up dangers surrounding us till I
felt irritable with my two companions for sleeping so peaceably.

The time went on, and I began wondering how Mr John Dempster and those
with him were getting on; how long it would be before we should meet--if
we ever did meet; and then the end of my journey here became a great
trouble to me, as the question rose in a very portentous fashion--what
would Uncle Dan, as they familiarly called him, say when I presented
myself and said I had come?

Those hours--perhaps they only seemed to be hours--passed on very
wearily, and I turned and turned again, troubled as I was by a painful,
burning itching where I had been bitten, and never once thinking of
attributing my wakefulness to the real cause--the mosquitoes.

At last, just when I was most miserable, nervous, and low-spirited, I
suddenly saw a bright, flashing eye appear over the edge of the black
ridge on the other side of the river, and begin peering at me through
the pine boughs, so full of peace and beauty that I lay gazing at it,
feeling more and more calm as I recalled the times when I had seen that
same planet shining so brightly in the dear old home; till at last my
leaden eyelids closed, and I slept profoundly, but only to start into
wakefulness as some one trampled upon me heavily; and as I leaped up,
there close to me came the sounds of heavy blows, of the pine twigs
being broken, and loud gaspings and pantings, mingled with heavy
trampling, a low hoarse cry, and a heavy fall.

My heart stood still, and I was paralysed for a few moments as I stood
there in the dark; then the instinct of self-preservation rose strong in
me, and I took out and drew the great knife I had bought, and stood
there ready to sell my life as dearly as I could, but unwilling to move
lest I should indicate to the Indians where they might make their next
attack.

For I felt convinced that my imaginations had been realised; that the
Indians had stolen upon us, and murdered my two companions in their
sleep, while I alone was left helpless in that wild place, and not
daring to call for help.

I suppose all this could not have taken a minute, long as in my agony it
seemed to me before a voice close by me said--

"Dean--Gordon!  Wake up, lads.  A light--a light!"

A thrill of joy shot through me as I recognised Gunson's voice, although
it was changed by excitement, and panting, just as it sounded to me
after his encounter with the big settler; while before I could speak
there came an answer to his appeal in the shrill tones of the Chinaman.

"Wantee lightee?  Yes."

Then there was a blaze, and directly after I saw the little fellow
bearing a great pine branch which he had dragged out of the fire.

"What is it?"  I said, eagerly.

"I don't know yet, boy.  One of the Indians, I think.  He struck me with
a club, but fortunately it was only on the shoulder, and when I leaped
up and struck out he went down.  I've got him here.  Don't come till we
can see.  He may sting."

The light flashed in under the pine boughs then, and I could see
Gunson's back as he knelt down, evidently holding his enemy there by the
throat.

"Why, hang it!" he cried, drawing back sharply; "it's Dean."

"Dean!"  I cried.  "There must be some one else."

"No; only him.  He was striking about with--yes, here it is," he
continued, picking up a stout piece of pine, one of the branches that
had been in the fire till the small twigs were burned off, leaving it as
a strong cudgel about two feet long.  "He struck me with this, and he
was dashing it about among the branches."

"He trampled on me too.  I thought it was the Indians," I said.

"Then it's a false alarm, and I'm afraid I've hurt the poor lad a good
deal."

But just then Esau sat up, and began rubbing the side of his head.

"Where's my stick?" he said.  "Oh, you've got it.  Have you driven 'em
away?"

"Driven whom away?"  I said.

"Injuns.  I thought they would.  They came at us, and I'd got that stick
ready."

"Injun allee seepee," said the Chinaman, waving the pine branch to make
it blaze.

"No; they came and attacked us, and I fought 'em till one of 'em knocked
me down and held me on the ground."

"Did you see them come?" said Gunson.

"Couldn't see 'em because it was so dark; but I sprang up at them, and
did the best I could."

"Quong fuss wake.  No Injun came all 'long.  Quong been make fire all
light fo' bleakfass."

"I tell you they came," cried Esau, angrily.  "Look here at my cheek.
It's cut, and bleeds.  That was one of their knives."

"That was my knuckles, my lad," said Gunson, "after you had hit me with
this cudgel."

"What?" cried Esau.

"Why, Esau, you were dreaming of Indians, and got up.  You stamped on
me."

"Oh, come, if you won't believe it's of no use for me to talk," cried
Esau, angrily.

"Not a bit, so lie down again and go to sleep."

"Yes; allee go seep," said the little Chinaman.  "No Injun.  Allee
seep."

"Take away that branch, or you'll set this tree on fire," said Gunson.
"Then it's a false alarm.  Too much supper, I suppose."

"I wasn't asleep," said Esau, surlily.

"Don't be stubborn," I cried, angrily.  "Lie down."

"Here, I ain't your dog, Mr Gordon," said Esau, sourly.  "I did all I
could to fight for you both."

"Yes, and jumped on your companion, and nearly broke my collar-bone."

"Well, you've cut my cheek.  Why, I shall have a black eye to-morrow."

"I think you and I may as well shake hands about that," said Gunson.
"There, good-night."

As he lay down once more, and the fire flashed up consequent upon the
little Chinaman throwing back the branch, Esau turned to me.

"I say," he whispered, "was I really dreaming?"

"No doubt about it."

"And walked in my sleep?"

"Yes, and fought in your sleep."

"But it was so real.  I could see their grinning teeth and rolling eyes,
and every one had got a knife in one hand and a chopper in the other as
they sprang at me."

"That proves it, Esau," I said.  "How could you see their knives, and
eyes, and teeth here in this darkness!  Why, you can't see my face, not
even your own hands, and yet the fire's brighter than it was before."

"Well, that is rum," cried Esau, as if to himself.  "I saw 'em all as
plain as could be, and they shouted their war-cry."

"War!--gammon!" said Gunson, crossly.  "Lie down, you two fellows, and
go to sleep.  He was dreaming, Gordon.  Don't listen to his
cock-and-bull nonsense."

"All right," I said.  "Good-night."

"Good-night."

"Good-night, Esau."

"Good-night.  But dreaming!  Well, of all!  And they were as plain as
could be, and had got feathers in their heads."

"Yes, blue ones," I said, grumpily.  "And look here, Esau, if you're
going to dance a war-dance on my chest again, please to take off your
boots."

Esau chuckled, and the last thing I heard as I dropped asleep again was
Esau muttering to himself--

"Asleep!--dreaming!  Well, of all!"



CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

I SEE FOOTPRINTS.

Esau was quite right; he had a terribly discoloured eye next morning,
and it was the first thing I saw as we both sat up together in the soft
light under the great pine, though I was half asleep still.  But I had
started up on hearing a shrill voice close to me say--

"Bleakfass all ready."

"Come and bathe your face, Esau," I said; and I led the way down to the
water's edge to have a good wash, Gunson and Esau following my example,
while when we got back to the fire it was to find that Quong had been
making himself quite at home with our stores.  For not only had he cut
up and cooked some bacon, and made the tea, but he had found the
flour-bag; and there, upon a piece of sheet-iron, was a large bread-cake
freshly baked in the embers.

Gunson laughed as he saw these preparations, but he said no more till we
had partaken of a hearty meal.  Then the four Indians came up to be
paid, readily taking the dollars promised for the trip, and going back
directly to the boat to land the boxes; but Gunson followed them, and
they agreed to take them to the front of the biggest shanty about half a
mile higher up, waiting till we were ready.

Quong was busy now making his breakfast, and Gunson turned to him.

"Now, my Celestial friend," he said; "we're going to say good-bye to
you.  Where are you bound for?"

"Up libber, washee gole."

Gunson started.

"What?" he cried.

"Up libber, washee gole."

"Who told you that there was gold there?"

"Melican man come down, show bit gold to Melican man.  Big man you
chuckee chuckee down in boat."

Gunson looked disturbed, but he made no remark then, and at last I said
to him--

"I suppose we shall part company to-day, Mr Gunson?"

"What for?  Like your friend there, Esau--tired of me?"

"No," I said; "but we are going on tramp now up to Fort Elk."

"Yes," said Esau, "that's what we're going to do; but I don't quite see
what we're to do with our boxes."

"Leave them in charge, as I shall mine, at this settlement," said
Gunson.  "You'll have just to make a bundle in your blanket that you can
carry easily.  I shall do the same, and we may as well go on together,
and protect one another as we did last night."

He laughed and looked at Esau, who coloured up.  "But we are going to
Fort Elk," I said.

"So am _I_," said Gunson, coolly; and I saw Esau give quite a start, and
look at me with a countenance full of dismay.

Gunson saw it, and went on quietly--

"I did not mean to go on there, only up this river for some distance,
and then off here or there toward the sources of one or other of the
streams that run into it from the mountains; but as I have run up
against you two, why we may as well go on together; it will give me a
chance to knock you both on the head, and then come back here, and get
your chests, as well as the money you have in your belts under your
clothes."

I stared at him in a horrified way for a moment, and then, as I seemed
to understand him, I burst out laughing.

"Nonsense!"  I said.

"Oh no.  That's the idea of me your companion here has taken."

"Never said nothing of the sort," cried Esau, defiantly, and with his
face scarlet.

"Your face says you thought so, my lad."

"Well, a chap can think what he likes, can't he?"

"No, boy," said Gunson, and his one eye seemed to blaze; "not of a man
who has done nothing but kindness for you ever since we met, even if it
was in a rough way."

"How was I to know you didn't mean artful, and it was all a trick?" said
Esau sourly.

"Ah, how indeed?"

"Everybody out here's been trying to get the better of us, and rob us.
I couldn't tell you wasn't one of 'em."

"Why, you ill-conditioned cub!" cried Gunson, angrily, "you make me feel
as if I should like to thrash you till you could not stand."

"Better not try it," grumbled Esau; "you go your way, and let us go
ours.  We told you all about ourselves, and where we were going; but
you've done nothing but shut yourself up, and look as if you were after
no good."

"Esau!"  I cried angrily; "it isn't fair.  Mr Gunson has always been
the best of friends to us, and given us good advice."

"Ah, you always did take his part.  I ain't going to make friends with
strangers."

"Mr Gunson isn't a stranger.  We've known him nearly six months.  If
you don't trust him, I do."

I held out my hand to him as I spoke, and he brought his down in it
heavily, giving me such a grip that I had hard work not to wince.
"Thank you, my lad," he said, cheerily.  "Then you're going to pitch me
over?" said Esau, surlily.

"I'm going to kick you if you go on in this stupid, suspicious way.
Don't take any notice of him, Mr Gunson."

"I do not intend to."

"Oh, come, we can't go on like that," cried Esau quickly.  "I don't want
to be bad friends.  I don't want to think you mean to rob us.  I don't
think--I don't--"

Esau stopped short, shuffled about from one leg to the other, faltered
again in his speech as he tried to say something which would not come,
and then in a sharp, short, decisive manner, cried--

"Beg your pardon, Mr Gunson.  Couldn't help thinking what I did."

"That will do," said Gunson, holding out his hand, which was eagerly
seized by Esau.  "I know you couldn't help it, my lad.  Mine is not a
face to invite confidence.  I'm an ill-looking dog, and I bite hard
sometimes; but I never bite my friends, and they are very few.  Look
here, Mayne Gordon," he continued, after glancing in Quong's direction
to see if he was within hearing, "I am going up this river on such a
mission as needs silence, and you have to keep silence too.  First of
all, what do you suppose I am?"

I shook my head.

"Emigrant," said Esau.

"No; I am a prospector."

"I know," cried Esau, eagerly.  "I've copied lots of 'em for
prospectors--prospectuses.  You get up companies?"

"No," said Gunson, smiling.  "The companies follow sometimes.  I am a
prospector--a searcher for mineral veins and deposits in the mountains.
I was convinced that there was gold up here, and we have just had proof
that I am right.  That Chinaman you see is bound on a similar mission,
for those fellows have a wonderful scent for gold.  And you see that
those big roughs that he calls Melican men, but who were undoubtedly
English, have been up here, and found gold.  That is a surprise and an
encouragement, and a damping, all in one, for it may mean a regular rush
of people up the river.  Now do you see why I have kept my counsel so
long?"

"Yes," I cried.

"Of course," said Esau; "but why didn't you say so before?  You might
have trusted us."

"Why didn't you become friendly before, my lad? you might have trusted
me."

Esau looked at him comically, and gave one ear a rub.

"Now then," said Gunson, "shall we travel on together in company?"

"Of course," I cried.

"Then the sooner the better.  Your way will suit me as well as any, so
let's make up our packs, leave the boxes in some one's charge here, and
then the word is forward."

Two hours later, under Gunson's directions, we had made a pack each,
consisting principally of provisions, and Gunson in addition had brought
out of his case a rifle and ammunition.

"There, Dean," he said, "you may as well shoulder that, and you may as
well carry this, Gordon," he continued, taking a small revolver with
holster, strap, and cartridge-box.  "You are not to use it except in a
case of the most extreme urgency.  Strap it on, my lad.  It looks
formidable, and the possession of such a weapon will often keep off
danger."

"What Quong cally?" said that gentleman when we were ready.

"Nothing," said Gunson, shortly; "you don't go our way."

"Yes, go allee same way 'long libber.  No other way.  Quong cally pack."

"Humph!" ejaculated Gunson; "if we don't employ him, he'll follow us, so
one may as well make him useful.  We can easily pay him; it will not
mean much.  Here, make yourself up a pack."

Quong smiled with pleasure, and taking the blanket Gunson threw him out
of his chest, he had it soon full of stores and necessaries, a bag of
flour being added to his load.

"Want um fizzlum?" said Quong, suddenly.

"Want what?"  I said.

"Fizzlum.  Bakum powdum make blead."

"Ah, I had forgotten," said Gunson; and he took a small tin from his
box.

An hour later the Indians were paddling slowly back along the river, and
after a friendly good-bye from the settler who had taken charge of our
boxes, we shouldered our packs, and began to trudge up the river-side,
finding it easy going, for we were in quite an open part here, with a
grassy margin for a short distance at the foot of the mountains on one
side.  But higher up the rocks began to close in the prospect, there was
the faint roar of tumbling water, and dense black pine forests clothed
the sides of the valley as far as we could see.

Before we had gone very far along the forest track, the perspiration was
oozing out fast on my forehead; and lightly as I was loaded, I began to
think regretfully of the boat, and of how much easier it was to sit or
kneel there, and watch the Indians paddle, while over and over again I
had come to the conclusion that it was a very fortunate thing that we
were not alone, but backed up by such a tower of strength as Gunson,
whose counsels were called in question every few minutes to decide which
way we were to go next.

The direction was undoubted, for, so long as we kept to the valley in
which the river ran, we could not be wrong, but the task was to keep
along it by a way that was passable to people carrying loads.

For a mile or so beyond the tiny settlement we had left behind, we
found, as we had been told, some traces of a track; but it was wanting
more often than present, and several times over we thought we had come
to the end of it, only for it to begin again some fifty yards further
on.

At last though we had passed the final vestige of a trail, and there was
the valley before us with the mountains rising up steeply on either
side, and our way to make along the steep slope crowded with trees or
covered with the _debris_ of great masses of rock which had broken from
their hold hundreds upon hundreds of yards above us to come thundering
down scattering smaller fragments, and forming a chaos of moss-covered
pieces, over and in and out among which we had to make our way.

"Rather rough," Gunson said, "but keep up your spirits: it will soon be
much better, or much worse."

"It's always like that--worse," Esau grumbled to me at last, as our
companion went forward, while the patient little Chinaman plodded on
with his load as steadily as if he had been a machine.

"Never mind, Esau," I said.

"I don't," he replied, sturdily; and he drew himself up, and tramped on
with the rifle over his shoulder, evidently very proud of being trusted
with it; but he had an unpleasant way of turning sharply round every now
and then to look at something, with the result that, after being struck
smartly by the barrel of the piece, I had to jump out of his way.

"Beg your pardon," he would say, and a few minutes after forget all
about it, and turn the barrel upon me again.

"I say, Esau," I cried, at last, "do be careful with that gun."

"'Tain't a gun--it's a rifle."

"Call it what you like, but don't shoot me."

"Ain't going to," he said, drily.  "What's the good?  We ain't
cannibals.  But I say, I wish something nice would come along.  I know I
could hit it.  What would you like--a deer?  Deer's very good to eat,
isn't it?"

"I suppose so."

"Wonder which is the best place to aim at.  His head, I suppose.  I
should like to bring one down."

"I don't think you'll have a chance, Esau.  Besides, we couldn't carry
it.  We've got as much as we can manage now."

"Ah, but there's another way of carrying meat," said Esau, with a
curious cock of the eye.  "I mean after it's roasted."

"But we are not hungry yet."

"Not hungry!" cried Esau.  "Not hungry!  Why, what a fellow you are!"
and we trudged on in silence.

After a time Gunson turned round and let us overtake him, laughing the
while at our tired and weary looks.

"Loads feel heavy, eh?" he said.  "You are not used to them yet.  I've
been talking to Mr Quong, and he tells me that he is going to hunt
about till he finds gold.  Then I suppose he'll leave us to ourselves."

We were both too hot and tired to trouble about the Chinaman, and were
very glad when, about midday, Gunson called a halt under the shade of a
great tree, that grew beside a little brawling stream which came
hurrying down from above.

Here we dropped our burdens with a sigh of relief, and partook of some
cold bacon and bread, which seemed about the most delicious thing I had
ever tasted.

Quong was given a lunch for himself, and he took it aside, ate it
quickly, and then, in place of lying down as we did for a good two
hours' rest during the heat of the day, he produced a little tin plate
and picked his way down to the stream's edge, and then amongst the
rocks, till he came upon a patch of gravelly sand over which a few
inches of water danced merrily.

Gunson watched him curiously; I did the same, Esau having dropped off to
sleep as soon as he had eaten his midday meal.

For it was interesting to see the busy little fellow.  His first step
was to roll up his sleeves to the elbow, stoop down, and scoop up as
much gravel and sand as the tin plate would hold.  This he shook about a
little under water, brought it all up again, and picked out the stones.
Then he held it down low again and worked it about, and picked out a
second batch of much smaller stones.  Again he placed the tin beneath
the water, where it ran pretty swiftly, and kept up a regular circular
motion, which caused the fine dirt and sand to be washed out and pass
over the side, till only a small patch of sand of a coarse grain
remained on the tin; and at last, as if satisfied with his task, he
stepped out on to the dry bank, and held the plate sidewise for the
water to drain off.  This took some few minutes, the hot sun drying the
sand as he turned it about with one finger.

Every movement was performed with the most patient deliberation, and in
utter unconsciousness of the fact that we were watching him, both eager
to learn the result of his search.

It was a long time before we knew, for Quong turned the sand about over
and over again, and then inspected it with a peculiarly magpieish air,
before he shook his head, tossed the sand away, and selected another
spot in the stream, where he went through the same process, while we lay
and watched him till the final examination.  This time, just as I fully
expected to see him toss out the sand, he rose up with a triumphant look
on his yellow face, and caught sight of us.  His jaw dropped, and he
appeared frightened, but the dread seemed to pass away, and he came
towards us with his tin.

"Me washee gole," he said, excitedly.  "Fine gole."

"Where?" said Gunson, abruptly.  "Let's look."

He stretched out his hand for the tin, which was placed in it
hesitatingly, Quong's face betokening that he did not expect to see it
again.

Gunson gave the half-dry sand a shake which spread part of it over the
bottom of the tin, then another and another, while I looked on eagerly,
and at last he uttered a contemptuous "pish!"

"I thought you said you had found gold."

"Yes.  Quong fine gole.  Washee gole."

"Washee gole!  Where is it then?"

The Chinaman took back the tin, shook it, peered in among the grains of
sand; shook it again and again; then shook his head instead, and looked
up at Gunson.

"Yes; washee gole," he said, in a tone of voice which seemed to mean,
"but it's gone away now."

"Fancy, my lad, fancy.  There, lie down and rest.  I'll have a try when
we come to a likely place.  We must work in the river."

"No; too muchee water," said Quong.

"Yes; here.  We must go up higher."

"Quong washee gole," said the little fellow again.

"Well then, where is it?"

Quong shook his head despondently once more.

"Washee gole," he whined, and again his tone of voice seemed to say to
me, "and there was some in that plate, but where it's gone to now I
haven't the least idea."

"Come along and have a rest."

"Ah! ah! ah!" cried Quong, excitedly, after giving the pinch of sand a
final shake.  "Gole--gole!"

He held out the tin once more to Gunson, pointing now with one thin
yellow finger, and looking triumphantly at both in turn.

"Where?" said Gunson, laughing, as he followed the direction of the
pointing finger, and took the plate in his hand to hold it in different
directions in the sun.  "Ah, I see it.  Here, Gordon, come and have a
look.  He has found the contents of Aladdin's cave all at once."

"I don't see any gold," I said.  "Not see it?  Oh, there it is plain
enough.  My word, what patience these Chinese have!  There it is, lad,
just in the very centre of the plate.  See it?"

"No."

"Now try," he cried, as he tilted the plate sidewise, and this time I
saw a tiny glittering speck, about the twentieth part of a pin's-head in
size, but, small as it was, giving a suggestion of the peculiar yellow
colour of gold.

"Is that all?"  I cried, contemptuously.  "Yes; that's all.  There you
are, heathen.  Take it, and--no, you can't make much of it.  That's no
use, my man.  We must find better places than this, or you'll never go
back to China a rich man and become a Mandarin."

"No good place?"

"No; not worth washing."

"Not good to washum," said Quong.  "Wait till we get higher up."  Quong
nodded, took a little phial bottle from somewhere under his garments,
and after a great deal of trying, contrived to get the tiny scale on the
end of the cork, which he carefully inserted in the bottle once more.

After this he settled himself down to rest till Gunson rose for us to
continue our journey, which for the rest of that day was through pine
forest, with the trees so closely packed that our progress was
exceedingly slow; and evening was coming on fast as we reached a part
where the trees opened out more like those in an English park, and there
was soft grass beneath our feet.

I was in advance with my eyes fixed upon the ground, which had suddenly
become soft and marshy, the reason being plain, for on my left I could
hear the hum of falling water, when I suddenly stopped short, and drew
back so quickly that I came in contact with Esau.

"What's the matter?" he cried, sharply.

"Hush!  Indians," I whispered.

"Indians?  Where?" cried Gunson, eagerly.

"They have gone along here," I whispered.  "Footmarks."

"Well, don't look so tragic, lad.  They will be friendly ones no doubt;
and perhaps there is a settlement near, and we can get some fish.  Oh,
those are their footprints, are they?" he said; and he turned and caught
the rifle from Esau.  "That fellow had a fine broad foot of his own."

"Yes, he must have been a big man," I said, as I gazed down at the
plainly-marked sole and toes in the soft earth.

"Bigger than the one made by Robinson Crusoe's savage," whispered
Gunson.  "There, get out the revolvers, and mind how you handle them.
Be ready to hand me one if I ask after I have fired."

"But you said the Indians were friendly."

"This tribe never is," replied Gunson, cocking the rifle and looking
sharply round.  "They run away generally, but sometimes they show fight,
and we must be ready."

He looked carefully in every direction, and then signed to us to follow.

"He's gone straight on, just in the track we want to follow."

"Is there only one?"  I whispered.  "Only one, and it's very awkward,
for I was just thinking of making camp for the night."

"But we needn't be afraid of one Indian," said Esau, boldly.

"No," replied Gunson; "but we need be of one bear."

"Bear?"  I said.  "Those are a man's footsteps."

"Those are the prints of a very large bear, my lad," said Gunson; "and
judging from their appearance, I should say it's not very long since he
passed.  Now then, what had we better do?"

I did not feel myself capable of advising, and I suppose Esau was no
more of an expert in bear, for he too was silent.

"Don't speak.  Follow me; and as we go, hold your packs loosely so that
you can drop them in a moment and take to a tree."

"But bears climb trees," I whispered.  "Not they," said Gunson.  "Come
along."  And with the shades of evening closing in fast in that wild
valley, we followed our companion as he went cautiously on, scanning
every bush and rock, not knowing how soon the savage beast, whose prints
continued right in the direction we seemed compelled to take, might rush
out and dispute the way.



CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

QUONG TAKES REFUGE.

Our way was the same as the bear's, for the simple reason that it was
the only open level part we could find on that side of the valley.  To
our left, the rocks went up in huge, precipitous steps, and then went
down to the right to where the river foamed along a couple of hundred
feet below.  And there, with the greatest regularity, were the great
footprints which had deceived me, pretty close beside a little stream
which trickled on along the level, till suddenly it turned to the right,
and plunged down towards the river.

"Look!" said Gunson, pointing, and there were the footprints again, but
turning off now to our right, while our way lay straight on.

"Then he's gone!" cried Esau, eagerly.

_Crash!  Rush_!  There was the sound of breaking twigs, as if some
monstrous creature was forcing its way through the undergrowth to the
right, and I heard another rush behind me as I stood there behind
Gunson, too much paralysed to run, as I saw him drop on one knee and
raise the rifle to his shoulder.

The rushing noise continued, but it grew more faint, and Gunson rose to
his feet.

"We've frightened him as much as he has frightened us.  Here, hi!
Hallo! where are you?" he cried, as he caught sight of two bundles lying
on the ground where they had been dropped.

There was no answer.

"Here, Dean, come along," shouted Gunson again; and I shouted too.

"Ahoy!" came back from some distance away, and a good ten minutes
elapsed before Esau reappeared, looking hot and white.

"Did you shoot him?" he said.

"How could I, when you ran away with the ammunition.  Seen the bear?"

"No."

"Well, have you seen Quong?"

"No," said Esau, rather dolefully, and looking as if extremely
dissatisfied with the part he had played.

"The bear can't have seized him?"  I said, looking at Gunson.

"Impossible," he said.  "It went the other way."

Just then I caught sight of something blue, and burst out laughing.

"What is it?" cried Gunson.

I pointed upward to where, about fifty feet from the ground, the little
Chinaman was perched in a great spruce fir, clinging tightly to one of
the horizontal boughs, with his feet on another, and as he peered
anxiously down, looking like a human squirrel on the watch for foes.

"Here, come down," I cried.  "It's all right now.  Come down."

"Yes, come down, you little coward," shouted Esau, who brightened up
directly he found that some one had cut a worse figure than he.  "I
say," he continued, with a forced laugh, "doesn't he look comic up
there?"

"Yes," said Gunson, grimly, as he gazed fixedly at Esau, who turned
uncomfortable directly, and made no remarks about Quong, as he walked to
the foot of the tree, which was about a hundred yards away, and losing
sight of its occupant now he was hidden by the intervening boughs.

"Come, Quong," I said, "get down, or we shall leave you behind."

"Gone?" he said in a weak voice.

"Yes; come along."

He descended slowly, and stood before us shaking the grey moss and dead
fir-needles from his blue cotton garment.

"Big blown beace," he said.  "Quong see him.  Velly frighten."

He followed us to where the pack lay, slung it over his shoulder, and we
once more tramped on, till a suitable spot was found for our camp--a
regular niche in the side of the valley, with a small pine spreading its
boughs overhead for shelter.

Here, in spite of the risk of bears, we decided to halt for the night,
and a good fire was soon blazing; and as if regularly engaged as our
servant, Quong set to work at once, and soon prepared our tea-supper,
which was discussed as enjoyably as if we were in good quarters; and
that night passed away as I lay rolled up in my blanket, just as if I
closed my eyes in the darkness and opened them directly to see the warm
glow of the sun lighting up the east, and Quong busy baking cakes in the
embers, the tea-kettle steaming away close at hand.

The weariness and low spirits had passed away with the darkness, and
after a splash in the stream close by, I felt ready for any amount of
journeying.

As I came back from the stream I met Gunson coming towards me.

"Did you see anything?" he said, quietly.

"See anything?  Only a squirrel."

"Look down there."

He gave his head a nod a little to the left, and I followed the
direction of his eyes.

"Don't start; don't run," he said, quietly.  "If the Chinaman knows of
it he will make a stampede into the forest, and we shall lose him."

"But perhaps there is one close by," I said, nervously.

"Very likely; for there have been two promenading backwards and forwards
about us all night.  Look at their marks.  These prints are a little
smaller than those."

I had not noticed it till he pointed to the fact, and then I saw the
foot-marks of two bears plainly enough.

"I'm beginning to think," continued Gunson, "that we have selected their
lair for our camp; but as they have not interfered with us, I don't
think they will if we leave them alone."

"But I can't eat my breakfast with those things about," I said.

"You have never tried yet, my lad.  Try now.  I will have the rifle and
revolver ready to hand; but take not the slightest notice, and behave as
if nothing was wrong."

"But--"

"Come, Gordon, I thought better of you," he said, smiling.  "Where is
your courage?"

"Come along," I said, making an effort to master the feeling of dread
which had come over me; and I saw him smile as Esau came up with his
arms full of dead wood for the fire, and directly after we were seated
at our meal.

If I had been alone I should have left that spot, beautiful as it was,
directly, and I have no hesitation in confessing that it was the most
uncomfortable meal I ever ate.  But I kept my fears to myself, and only
once was caught by Gunson looking anxiously around at the slope clotted
with tree, bush, and clump of mossy rock, when his smile made me turn to
my tin mug of tea directly.

"I thought you would be the first ready," said Gunson, about half an
hour later, when the sun was shining over the shoulder of one of the
eastern mountains.  "But look at Dean, how slow he is about shouldering
the pack, and--what's the matter with Quong?"

For that little individual suddenly came up smiling, with his hand under
his blouse.

As he came close up, he drew his tin plate from where it had been tucked
up his breast.

"Stop velly little while.  Quong washee--see gole."

"Yes," said Gunson, giving me a meaning look, and then taking a step or
two nearer the stream; "it looks a likely place; but hallo, arn't these
bears' footprints?"

He pointed to the moist earth close to the water's edge, and both Esau
and the little fellow ran to look.

Directly after Quong came trotting back in a quick, comical manner,
tucking his plate up under his blouse, and seizing and shouldering his
pack, an example followed by Esau, who was the quicker of the two, and
he kept a sharp look out all the time.

"Now if you went behind that rock and roared, Gordon, or I was to fire
my piece, there would be a stampede."

I looked so ready to do what he first proposed, that Gunson said
seriously--

"No, no; we have no time to waste;" and we went on up the valley, both
Esau and Quong stepping out famously, while I was not at all sorry to
leave our baiting-place behind, my liking for bears being decidedly in
association with pits, and a pole up which they can climb for buns.

It was a wonderfully beautiful walk that morning, and we determined to
try and arrange our halts better, for at the end of about half an hour
we found that had we known we could have rested under a roof; two men,
who gave us a very friendly welcome, having started a rough kind of
ranch, in a level nook close down by the river.  In fact they were
disposed to be so hospitable that they were half offended because we
went almost directly.

We learned from them though that we should find for days to come
shanties here and there.

"Where we can rest for the night?"  I said to one of the men.

"Of course," he said, with a smile.  "We see anybody so seldom, that
we're glad of a visitor who can speak of the old country."

"You've got a beautiful place here."

"Yes; tidy, tidy," he said; "only we don't feel quite sure about the
river."

"What do you mean?" asked Gunson.

"Why, you see, mate, it's a lively sort of a stream.  Quiet enough in
winter, unless there's been a power of rain; but in the hot weather,
when the snow's melting, it gets so full, that like as not some day t'll
wash all this place away."

"But it's fifty feet down there to the water," I said, smiling.

"What's fifty feet to a river like that, boy?  Why, after what I've seen
I shouldn't jump out of my skin if I saw it rise up a hundred."

"See many bears about?" said Esau, rather anxiously.

"Tidy few, my lad; tidy few; and pretty big uns sometimes," said the
man, with a twinkle of the eye.  "But berries has been rather plentiful
these last two years, and they haven't eat us yet.  I wouldn't interfere
with 'em, though, if you met any."

"Dangerous?" said Gunson, giving me a merry look.

"Well, it's just as it happens," said the man, watching Esau's mouth,
which had slowly opened; "if they takes a fancy to you, they opens their
arms, and just gives you a friendly hug; if they don't, they are a bit
given to scratching and clawing.  Where may you be going, squire?" he
added, turning to me.

"Fort Elk," I said.

"Oh!  Fort Elk, where they collects the skins.  I know.  Well, you won't
get there to-morrow, nor yet next week.  Pleasant journey to you.  Don't
want to buy a bit o' bacon, I suppose?"

But Gunson said he did, and the transfer was made for a handful of
tobacco, Quong grinning with delight at the sight of the red streaks of
lean amongst the pinky-white fat, and apparently pleased with the
prospect of carrying a few more pounds.

That night we slept at a shanty, and for the next two nights we had no
need to camp out; while, what was of great import to us, we found that
we need be under no apprehension about provisions, the people, who had
settled down where they found open patches of grazing land, being
willing enough to sell or barter away flour enough for our wants.



CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

A DIFFICULT PATH.

One day seemed so much like another that we soon lost count of time, as
we followed the windings and turns of the river, the beauty of the deep
ravines that struck into the valley, each with its little fall or
torrent, and the glimpses we kept getting of snow-tipped mountains,
keeping off the weariness we might have felt in some open monotonous
land.

Every now and then Quong settled down to wash the sands and gravel of
the little streams that came tumbling down from the heights; and I saw
that Gunson took a good deal of interest in his proceedings; but in
spite of Quong's patient endeavours his efforts were always barren, or
resulted in the discovery of some tiny speck, which was added to the
others in the phial so slowly that, as Gunson laughingly said, it seemed
likely to take a year to build up enough gold to make a sovereign.

"The gold is nearer the mountains if there is any, Gordon," he said to
me, "and it is impossible to search down here.  We must go higher up
before I begin after Quong has left us, for I expect that as soon as we
get to a spot where he can wash out a scale or two with every pan of
sand, he will bid us good-bye."

But as the days went on that time did not arrive.  The Chinaman did not
seem to think anything about pay for his services, but was delighted to
perform them for the sake of the protection of travelling with us, and a
share of the food we provided.

So far our journey had been glorious.  There had been plenty of hard
work, forcing our way through bushes, climbing fallen trees, some so
rotten that they crumbled to dust with our weight, and threading our way
among rocks; but at every turn there was the grand river foaming and
rushing down toward the sea, and masses of black-green forest with pines
spiring up toward the sky.  One morning as we toiled slowly on, it was
very evident that the river was narrowing, and the sides growing
steeper.  We had often been at some height above it, but always on a
slope, where, with a little scheming, we could have got down to the
water; but now a sheer wall of rock rose up forty or fifty feet on
either side, and below it, looking black and deep, the river swirled and
eddied along.

There was hardly a vestige of a trail here, the ground being too stony
to leave any traces; but the great stream was our guide, and we climbed
and stumbled on, Quong in front bending down under his load, and always
patient, calm, and smiling, as if it was quite natural to him to be
doubled up under a big bundle which went along in front of us like some
curious blanket-clothed creature with thin blue legs.

All at once the rough stony slope of the valley dived down, and Quong,
who had just given his load a hitch up on his shoulders, disappeared.  I
was next, for Gunson had stepped back to take off one of his boots, with
Esau holding his pack; and I had reached the spot where I had seen Quong
last, prepared for a jump down on to a lower part or ledge of the valley
slope, when I found myself face to face with the little fellow, and saw
that he had dropped his bundle, and was hurrying back.

As soon as we met, he made a sign for me to be silent, and turned and
pointed toward a clump of young firs.  I could see no danger, and I
whispered to him the one word "Bear?"

He shook his head, and pointed again, when, to my utter astonishment,
the green boughs were parted, as there was a flash of silver, and a
great salmon fell about a couple of yards away, to begin beating heavily
with its tail, and flapping from side to side.

I knew that these fish leaped, and I had heard that some of their bounds
up cascades were tremendous, but I had never known that a salmon could
spring fifty feet up out of the water over the top of the rocky wall
which formed the river-bank, and away through a screen of young firs.
There, however, was the fact before me, and with delightful visions of
broiled salmon before my eyes, I dropped my pack and ran forward to
secure the prize before it should take it into its head to make another
gymnastic leap into the water.

It was a splendid fellow, a full yard long, its scales silvery blue and
pearly in the morning sunshine, and regardless of wet and slime, I
dropped on my knees.

"Oh, you beauty!"  I exclaimed, and I raised it by the gills, and--
dropped it directly, and remained as if turned to stone, gazing in a
hideous, painted red face, which had been thrust out between the boughs
of the firs, and stared as wildly at me as I at its owner.

For a few moments I forgot that I had friends behind, and rested there
quite still with what seemed to me a terrible silence all around, till
it was broken by the salmon throwing itself over, and giving the stones
upon which it lay a resounding flap.

I fully expected to see the arm belonging to the head thrust out with a
knife in the fist; and when it was darted out from among the bushes, my
own hand went involuntarily to the pistol I carried, but I dropped it
again as I saw that it was only an open palm extended toward me, and I
placed mine therein for a friendly shake, my heart beating less heavily.

Then the hand was withdrawn, the salmon pushed toward me, and the hand
held out again.

"Hallo!" cried a voice, which made me glow with satisfaction.  "Been
fishing, Gordon?"

Gunson strode up to us, and seeing the situation at a glance, he took
out his tobacco-pouch, opened it, pinched out a piece, and pointing to
the salmon, offered the cut-up herb to the Indian, who now stood out in
front of the young pines.  I thought it ridiculous to offer what I
considered a pinch of rubbish for the salmon; but the Indian laughed,
darted back, and returned holding another quivering fish by the tail,
threw it down, and held out his hand for the tobacco, evidently well
pleased with his bargain.

"Fish is cheap out here," said Gunson, laughing.  "Here, Quong, one to
cook and one to dry."

Our Celestial friend literally pounced upon the two salmon as prizes as
soon as he saw that there was no danger, and set to work cleaning and
splitting the fish, lightening them by getting rid of head and tail, and
then cutting some splints of wood to keep one well open for drying in
the sun and for easy carriage.

"There is nothing to mind," said Gunson.  "It is only a fishing party;"
and leading the way through the line of young firs, which acted as a
screen, we came upon a group of Indians, two men and four women, all
busy cleaning and splitting the fish which another man kept hauling up
from the river in a rough net.

It seemed a very primitive way of fishing, and we stood looking on and
examining some of the salmon hung to dry upon several roughly rigged up
poles, before we went to the edge of the shelf upon which all this was
going on, to find straight below us the other Indian standing upon a
rough platform, made by driving a couple of stout poles into the wall of
rock at a fissure, and throwing a few branches across.  This man had a
coarse net on a ring at the end of a long, stout pole, and watching his
opportunity as the fish came rapidly up the rushing water, he plunged
the net down, and brought it up with a gasping, struggling salmon.  This
was transferred to a hanging basket, and hauled up by the Indian at the
edge, and carried to the party who were preparing and drying them in the
sun for their winter store.

It was all ridiculously easy.  The Indian had only to keep on dipping
out fish as fast as they could be prepared, and what I saw quite removed
any ideas of our taking advantage of the man who had let the fish he
carried slip out of his basket, so that it came with a dart to my side
of the screen of firs.

"That's an easy way of getting a living," said Esau, as we parted in a
friendly way from the Indians, who stared at us in a very heavy, stolid
way.  "I think I should like to try that."

"For how long?" cried Gunson, with a laugh.  "Why, my good fellow, you'd
be tired of catching the fish in a week, and more tired of eating them
in a fortnight."

"Tired?--of eating salmon?" said Esau, laughing.  "Oh, you don't know
me.  I had some once, and it was lovely."

"Well, we'll try one of ours when we stop for dinner," said Gunson; "but
we must do a good morning's tramp first."

That good morning's tramp did not seem to progress much, for the way
grew more and more difficult, and it was once taken into consideration
whether we had not better strike in away from the river; and we should
have adopted this course but for the fear of losing ourselves in the
labyrinth of mountains to the north and east, and not being able to
strike the stream again.

"You see, hard as the way is, it is sure," said Gunson; "and as your
goal and mine too are on the upper waters of the river, we had better
keep to it."

It was getting toward midday, and the sun shone forth with such power
that we felt the little air there was come down the valley like the
breath of an oven, and we should have decided to stop at once, cook our
dinner, and rest, but for the fact that there was neither wood nor
shade.  For we had quite left the patches of forest behind at this
point, and were tramping slowly over a bare sterile region of the most
forbidding character, low down by the river.  Higher up where we could
not climb the tall trees again appeared, and every ledge and slope was
crowned with dwarf pine, fern, and moss.

"We had better keep on past that bare slope," said Gunson.  "I can see
trees on beyond it.  It looks green, too, as if there was water."

Of course we agreed, for there was not a sign of water where we stood,
and thirst was beginning to trouble us all.

So we tramped on, Gunson now leading, and the rushing sound of the river
below the wall of rock sounding very tantalising as we grew hotter
still, and the heat began to be reflected from the stones in a most
unpleasant way.  It would have been bad enough for the unladen, but for
people burdened as we were it was hard work indeed.

At the end of half an hour the river, which had been hidden from us save
when we went close to the edge and looked down, came into view again,
for the character of the valley had suddenly changed.  We found now that
there was the steep slope from high up the mountain to the level of the
water, which roared and surged along, and swept away the thin pieces of
slaty stone which formed the slope--a clatter-slide, as west-country
people would call it.  These pieces were all loose and extremely
unpleasant to walk upon, being shaley fragments of all sizes, from that
of a child's hand up to thin fragments a foot or two across.

The heat here was tremendous, and as we walked the stones gave way
beneath our feet, and began setting in motion little stony avalanches,
which kept on gliding down till the whole of the slope seemed to be
running into the river.  No one talked, but strode on, not planting his
feet in the footsteps of him who had gone before, but avoiding them, for
they formed the centres of so much loose stuff ready to give way at a
touch.

We got along over about half a mile of this, and then paused on a bit of
a shelf to rest, for about a quarter of a mile farther we saw our
resting-place; the clatter ceasing, to give way to verdure with plenty
of trees, and in their midst, temptingly beckoning us to fresh
exertions, there was the water we needed--a beautiful filmy veil,
floating down from hundreds of feet up, arched by a hopeful rainbow, and
anon gliding softly like a shower of silver rockets down behind the tall
green firs.

We knew that there would be a beautiful pool of water at the foot of
that cascade, with green, mossy grass, and plenty of pine-boughs for our
fire and to shade us from the scorching sun; and toward this enviable
spot we pressed on, with the slope growing steeper and steeper, till at
last we paused again for Gunson to investigate.

It was time.  For the past five minutes the slide had kept running so
much toward the perpendicular, that at every step we loosened stones
which began to tear down toward the river, and necessitated leaps and
quick plunges to keep us from being carried with them, while a slip
would have meant a headlong fall, increasing in speed till the
unfortunate was plunged into the foaming torrent which poured down, and
would have swept him instantly away.

"Watch how I go," said Gunson.  "Keep cool, and don't think of falling.
I know it is a hard bit to get over, but it is not above a couple of
hundred yards where it is so bad; after that it grows better and better,
till you reach the trees.  Now then, all stand still while I go first."

He tightened his pack over his shoulder, took a good grip of the rifle,
stood for a moment, and then strode forward, going diagonally, as if to
reach the top of the slope.

This seemed for the moment unnecessary, and likely to make the journey
longer, but I soon saw that it was properly calculated, for as the
stones kept on sliding beneath his feet as he struggled upward, he was
constantly being brought down to the level of where we stood, perspiring
profusely, and fascinated by the peril of the task.

It was only now that I fully realised how steep the side of the valley
was, and that a fall must end in the river among the black craggy rocks
which stood up so threateningly amongst the white foam.

He went steadily on, and as I stood there I felt, to use the common
saying, as if my heart was in my mouth.  A dozen terrible thoughts
flashed through my mind:--what should we do if he fell and was swept
away?  It would be impossible to save him; and as to his own powers, I
did not believe that any man could battle with that terrible
torrent-like river, which would sweep him down, dashing him from rock to
rock, till he was carried from our sight, leaving us alone in our
despair to try some other way.

The thoughts were paralysing as they came with lightning-like rapidity,
for now it was dawning upon me, that shocking as it would be to see my
fellow-creature hurled to death like that, somehow Gunson, that rough,
stern, disfigured man, had made a kind of impression upon me--that there
existed a tie between us.  I don't think I liked him, but I felt at that
moment as if I would have given anything to have been by his side, as I
saw him totter, slip, recover himself, slip again, and begin gliding
down fast, but always preserving his perpendicular.

"He's gone," I said aloud; but as the words left my lips he made two or
three bounds, sending the stones rushing down heavily, as he regained
his old level and went on rapidly.  Onward still, but what a length that
seemed!--and now I was learning from his progress that the only chance
of getting across was to keep right on, exercising all the strength of
nerve and muscle one possessed to go forward, for to have stood still
meant to begin gliding rapidly downward, sinking more and more in a
gathering avalanche of stones as others were loosened from above to fill
up the vacancy that was made.

Two-thirds--three-quarters of the way across--and once more he began to
slide, but with desperate energy he went on by leaps and bounds now, and
we set up a hoarse cheer as we saw him reach firm ground--a cheer which
did not reach him, for the whole side of the slide seemed to be in
motion, and as I saw him throw himself down, there was a curious
rushing, rattling roar, as if fragments of ice were formed on the
surface of a torrent and were rushing down into the river.

It was very evident that Gunson was exhausted by his tremendous efforts,
for he lay on the rocks, motioning to us with his hand not to come, and
we stood looking from one to the other, mutely inquiring what was to be
done next.  At last he rose, unfastened his pack, threw it down behind
him, and came close to the edge of the slide, to look up and about with
his eyes sheltered, as if seeking for a better place for us to cross.

I did the same, gazing high up to where the stones grew smaller, and
then right down to where the flat, thin fragments plunged into the
running river, to be swept away; but, like Gunson, I could see no better
place.

By degrees, though, the fluttering, rattling glide ceased, and the slope
looked level once more, and then Gunson put his hands to his mouth and
shouted--

"Can you hear what I say?"

"Yes."

"Take your packs on your heads, and when you start keep right on; never
hesitate; I'll be ready to help."

We heard every word distinctly, and it sounded curiously like a whisper
that ran along the surface of the stones; and when he had ended, Quong
looked at me sharply with his little black eyes.

"Me go long nex'," he said; and as I nodded, he balanced his great pack
deftly on his head, paused for a few moments to get it quite
satisfactory, and then stretching out his arms like one who walks along
a pole, he started off, while so steep was the slope that his extended
fingers nearly touched the stones as he went along.

The little fellow was so light, so steady and clever, that he tripped
forward without dislodging anything like the amount of stones that
Gunson had set running.  But I could see that the effort needed was
terrible as he went on and on, increasing his speed now, slowing then,
and getting more and more over with far less effort, and giving us no
end of encouragement, as he at length reached the rocks, tumbled the
load off his head--the load which had never seemed once to lose its
poise--and finally we could see him seated facing us wiping his hot face
with the front of his blouse.

"He's got over," said Esau, hoarsely.

"Yes," I said, in the same husky tones.

"One of us has got to go next."

"Yes," I said.  "Who shall go?"

"Wish I'd got a good pole with a spike at the end," said Esau.

"So do I."

"Or I wouldn't mind if it was only a clothes-prop."

"But we have neither, Esau."

"Well, don't I know we haven't?  What's the good o' being so
aggravating, and keeping on saying we ain't--we ain't?  Lots o'
beautiful trees behind us to cut clothes-props to last all Camberwell
for life, and there's lots over there in front, but they don't bring us
one.  It's always the way.  There's lots o' money in the Bank o'
England, but we couldn't get it to come out here."

"Don't be unreasonable," I said, and I gave quite a start as a stone
from above came rattling down.

"Who's unreasonable?" grumbled Esau; "I ain't: only a bit wild at having
to go across that precious bit o' solid slide.  What do you think my
mother would say if she saw me coming here and going to start over that
place?  Why, it would kill her."

"It does look dangerous," I said, sadly.

"Look!  Why, it is.  It's horrid."

"But they've got over safely."

"That don't mean I shall.  Oh dear, oh dear!  This comes o' picking up
strange friends, and letting 'em lead us into difficulties.  And not so
much as a walking-stick to help us."

I was in no humour to argue, with the perilous crossing before me, so I
remained silent.

"I said--and not so much as a walking-stick to help us."

"Yes, Esau, I heard you."

"Then why don't you say something?"

"What can I say?  Only be plucky and go."

"There you go again!  Oh, it does aggravate me.  Now you want me to go
off first."

"No; I'll go first if you like; but I should like to see you safe over."

"That's just what I feel about you.  I say--if I fall I shall go head
over heels down, like a ball."

"No, no; you must drop into a sitting position, and slide down."

"If you can," grumbled Esau.  "Oh dear, I wish I hadn't come.  I'd give
all I've got to be sitting down in old Dempster's office, with him
bullying me about a mistake in the copying."

"Come along!" came like an echo over the stones, and even that sound
sent a few stones sliding down as I looked across and saw Gunson with
his hands to his mouth, while just then I saw something which quite
cheered me.  For there was a faint curl of smoke rising up from among
the trees, and I knew that it was Quong making a fire to get us some
tea.

"There, Esau," I said, "Quong's getting ready to cook something.  Come,
you go, and let's have a rest and a good meal."

"Ready to cook indeed!  Why the sun's cooking one side of me now.
There, look at that."

"Yes," I said, as I looked in the direction indicated; "some kind of
eagle."

"Yes; flying away as easily as he likes.  Don't it seem a shame that a
stupid bird should be able to go along like that, and we have to climb
and fall down?"

"Oh, I can't argue about that," I said, desperately, as, somewhat in
doubt whether I could balance my pack on my head, I raised it there and
stood perfectly still.  "I'm going to take a long breath and then
start."

"Here, what yer going to do?" he cried.  "I ain't going to be left all
alone here."

"Well, then, go first."

"But I can't go first and leave you.  S'pose you can't get over after,
or tumble down, what am I to say to that Mr John?"

"What an unreasonable fellow you are, Esau!"  I cried angrily.

"There, you're getting nasty with me.  That's right.  Now I ask you,
ain't a fix like this enough to make any fellow unreasonable?"

"But if we've got it to do, why not do it?"

"Come on!"  Gunson shouted, and I took two steps forward, when, bringing
up his pack, Esau made a desperate plunge and got before me, sending
quite an avalanche of stones down as he shouted--

"Me first!--you wait."

I had no alternative but to step back to the easier slope, and regain my
position, while Esau went on tramp, tramp, balancing himself steadily,
but instead of striking up the slope he kept straight on for a time, and
gradually sinking lower and lower as he went farther away.

"Work upward!"  I shouted.

"Well, ain't I?" came back, faintly heard amidst the rattling of the
stones; and once more I stood there waiting, suffering agonies as I saw
him struggle on, now going down, now fighting his way up, so that his
course was like that of a snake across a dusty road, such as I had many
a time seen down in the country.  Every now and then he tottered, and I
thought he was going to fall, but he recovered himself, and went on with
his feet sinking in the loose stones, and every now and then descending
so far that I thought he would never recover his lost ground.

I did not feel the heat so much now, the perspiration that stood upon my
face was cold, and I gave a start now and then, as I shivered in my
dread, making sure that he was gone.

When at last I saw him get right across, I closed my eyes, feeling so
giddy that I was glad to sit down on my pack for the sensation to pass
off, being quite unequal to the task of going in my turn.

"I wish I were not such a coward," I said to myself, as I looked forward
and saw Esau lying down and resting.  Then I wished I had persevered and
gone on, for I should have been out of my misery by that time.  Lastly,
as I saw Gunson wave his hand, I rose, balanced my pack, and changed the
side till I made it fit well over my head.  I was quite encouraged to
find that it seemed to add to my steadiness, and after taking a last
look round, and ending by fixing my eyes upon a point high above where
Gunson stood, I took two steps and then stopped, saying to myself, "I
shall never do it."

I started again, and from that moment the nervous sensation of dread
left me.  I felt firm and strong, and that all I had to do was to step
boldly, and think of nothing but my pack, taking care that it did not
escape from its resting-place upon my head.  And oddly enough, my
anxiety lest I should let it fall to go bounding down the slope, kept me
from thinking about myself as I tramped on, with stones rattling, my
feet going down with them, and my breath coming shorter and shorter with
the exertion.  But I kept my load well balanced, and went on till I was
about half way across, when the stones seemed to be much smaller and
began to flow like sand.  It appeared as if all the larger ones had been
set in motion by my companions, and that they had gone down, sweeping
the surface clear for me to grow more involved at every step, till I
found that no matter how I struggled to get higher so as to keep near
the horizontal line of the crossing, I kept sinking lower and lower till
I felt that I should glide right into the river before I was across.

With a desperate feeling of determination I kept on bearing up toward
the top, but it was always quite labour in vain, through my want of
skill, as the smaller stones being more fluent, I found myself still
sinking down more and more with every step, till, mingled with the
peculiar rattle of the gliding stones, came the roar of the river
foaming and dashing amongst the rocks, and into which I expected to be
plunged.

Forward still, with a feeling of anger growing within me--a contempt for
my own weakness that still kept back the feeling of dread.  I had lost
sight of Gunson and Esau, and thinking now of nothing but keeping on my
legs, I dragged foot after foot out of the stones, and tried to plant
one on firmer ground, but tried in vain, till at last I had been carried
down so low that though my head was averted, and my eyes were directed
toward the spot I ought to have reached, I knew, as I made my last
desperate effort, that I was only a few yards above the water.

Then, crash!--crash!--crash!--crash!--my feet striking heavily and
sending the stones flying, I fought blindly on.  There was a singing in
my ears, a sense of strangling in my throat, and above all, a dull,
half-stunned sensation, mingled with which were thoughts of the others;
and then as darkness came over me, and I fell forward, there was a sharp
jerk, a few encouraging words were said by some one, and I found myself
lying amongst stones and moss, too much exhausted to speak.

"Better?" said a well-known voice.

"Better?"  I said, faintly; "have I been ill?"

"Ill?  No, my lad; but you've had a narrow escape.  You were nearly down
to the edge of the river when I got hold of your hand."

"And the pack?"  I said, in a husky whisper.

"It lies out yonder on the slope, waiting till the next slide of stones
sweeps it away."

"Then I dropped it?"  I said, wonderingly.

"Yes.  Never mind the pack; you are safe.  Why, you did not manage so
well as we did, Gordon."

"No," I said, feeling very much exhausted and faint; "and yet I thought
I could do it better.  The stones gave way so."

Gunson laughed.

"Yes; we ought to have tried another plan.  The whole slope is quite
rotten, and nothing holds the stones together."

I looked round now, and found that we were at the very bottom of a steep
bit of precipice, down which something blue was coming cautiously, which
we recognised as Quong.

"What is it, my man?" said Gunson.

"Come 'long down get pack," said Quong.  "You velly bad?" he continued
to me.

"No, no, we must leave it," said Gunson; and I looked at where my pack
lay, tightly done up in its blanket, about a score yards away.

"Leave pack?" cried Quong, looking at Gunson as if he thought him mad.
"Leave fo' Indian man come find?  No.  Quong set him."  And going
quickly and delicately over the stones with a step that was almost
cat-like in its lightness, he had reached my bundle almost before Gunson
could protest.  Swinging it up on his head as he turned, he began to
come back as quickly as he went, but now he began to get lower and
lower.

"He'll be swept away!" cried Gunson, excitedly; and, placing one foot at
the extreme verge of the firm ground, he reached out towards the
Chinaman.

"Give me your hand, my lad," he cried, hoarsely; and as I lay there, I
stretched out my hand to have it seized, while I watched Quong coming
nearer, splashing up the water now and sending the spray flying as he
strained forward to get hold of Gunson.

For a few moments we both thought he was gone, for he had glided down
till the water was over his ankles, and still, as he reached out, he was
a few inches from Gunson's grasp, while for him to have moved would have
been fatal; but he made one more effort, hooking his fingers over
Gunson's, and then there was another jerk, the bundle came over on to
me, and as our friend made a violent muscular effort to throw himself
back, the little Chinaman was dragged right over on to firm ground.



CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

HOW WE FOUND OUT A PUZZLE.

"Ah!" said Quong, getting up and shaking his legs; "got velly wet."

"You stupid fellow! you nearly lost your life," said Gunson, angrily.

"Lose life?" said Quong, looking puzzled; "who lose life?  Don't know."

"There, go on up and take the pack.  Can you climb up, my lad?"

I replied that I could, and followed Gunson, who showed me the way he
had descended by the help of the rocks, and projecting roots of the
dwarf firs which began to grow freely as soon as the slaty shale ceased.

Esau was waiting at the top, ready to lend me a hand, smiling
triumphantly as soon as we were alone.

"You should have tried to go up all of a slope as I did," he said, "not
down of a slope as you did."

"I tried my best, Esau," I said, sadly.

"Of course you would.  Well, I hope there isn't going to be much more
like that for us to do.  Once is enough."

By this time Quong was back at his fire, and we soon after partook of
our mid-day meal, with copious draughts of tea for washing it down, and
after an hour's good nap started off again to find no further
difficulties that afternoon, for our journey was through pine forest
once more, where the grey moss hung like strands from the older
branches, and in the more open places the dark, bronze-leaved barberry
grew plentifully, with its purple-bloomed fruit which hung in clusters,
and had won for themselves the name of "Oregon Grapes."

They did not prove to be grapes, though, that we cared to eat, for
Esau's testing of their flavour was quite enough for both.  The report
he gave me was "Horrid"; so I contented myself with the little
bilberries and cranberries we came upon from time to time.

It was on the second day after our struggle across the slope, that we
came to a complete change in the scenery.  The valley had been
contracting and opening out again and again; but now we seemed to come
at once upon a portion of the river where the sides rose up almost
perpendicularly, forming a wild, jagged, picturesque, but terrible
gorge, down which the river came thundering, reduced to narrow limits,
and roaring through at a terrible speed.  The noise, multiplied as it
was by echoes, was deafening, and as we stood gazing at the vast
forbidding chasm, our journey in this direction seemed to have come
suddenly to an end.

I looked up at Gunson, and found he was looking at me, while Esau had
got his hat off scratching his head, and Quong had placed his bundle on
the ground, seated himself, and was calmly resting as if there were no
difficulties before him--nothing troublous in the least.

"Well," said Gunson, looking at Esau, "what do you think of the canon?"

"Don't see that it'll bear thinking about," replied Esau.  "Going back
now, ain't we?"

"Going back?  I thought you were making for Fort Elk."

"Yes, but that ain't the way," said Esau.  "Nobody couldn't go along a
place like that."

"We shall have to climb up the side, and go round somehow, shall we
not?"  I said to Gunson.

"That seems to be the most sensible way, my lad," he replied; "but how
are we to get up the side?  We might perhaps manage if we were across
the river, but this wall of rock is so nearly perpendicular that it
would puzzle an engineer.  We could not scale that without ladders,
ropes, and spikes."

Both Esau and I stared up at the precipice which towered above our
heads, and my companion took off his cap and rubbed his curly hair
again.

"We couldn't get up there?" he said, looking at me.  "I'll try if you
do."

"Oh, impossible," I cried.  "We shall have to go on along the side just
above the river."

"What?  In there!" cried Esau.

"Yes."

"Why, you must be mad," he said.  "Isn't he?  No man couldn't get along
there.  It would want a cat."

"I don't know," said Gunson, thoughtfully.  "Here, let's camp for a
bit."

At these words, Quong, who had been rocking himself quietly to and fro,
jumped off his bundle, looked sharply about him, and then made a run for
a niche in the side of the gorge right up in the entrance, where the
sides literally overhung.

Here he placed his pack, and began to collect wood, descending toward
the river to where a large tree, which had been swept down the gorge
when the river was much higher, now lay beached and stripped, and
thoroughly dry.  He attacked it at once with the axe, and had soon
lopped off enough of the bare branches to make a fire, and these he
piled up in the niche he had selected, and started with a match, the
inflammable wood catching at once; while I took the axe and went on
cutting, as Quong unfastened the kettle and looked around for water.

There was plenty rushing along thirty or forty feet below us, but it was
milky-looking with the stone ground by the glaciers far up somewhere in
the mountain.  That, of course, had to be rejected.

"Make mouth bad," Quong said, and he climbed up to where a tiny spring
trickled down over a moss-grown rock so slowly that it took ten minutes
to fill our kettle.

"This is a bit of a puzzle," said Gunson, as he sat calmly smoking his
pipe and gazing up the terrible gorge; and I was returning from the
fire, where I had been with a fresh armful of wood, leaving Esau
patiently chopping in my place.

"Puzzles can be made out," I said.

"Yes, and we are going to make this one out, Gordon, somehow or another.
What an echo!"

He held up his hand, and we listened as at every stroke of Esau's axe
the sound flow across the river, struck the rock there and was thrown
back to our side, and then over again, so that we counted five distinct
echoes growing fainter as they ran up the terribly dark, jugged rift,
till they died away.

"Can't we find some other way?"  I said, for I felt awe-stricken by the
rushing water, the forbidding nature of the rocks as they towered up,
and the gloom of the place, in which quite a mist arose, but there was
no sun to penetrate the fearful rift, and tint the thin cloud with
rainbow hues.

"I'm afraid not, Gordon," he replied.  "I fancy that there is a track
along there that has been used, and that we might use in turn.  If I can
convince myself that it is so, we English folk must not turn our backs
upon it.  Such a ravine as that cannot be very long.  Will you try?"

I wanted to say _no_, but something within me made me say _yes_, and I
saw Gunson smile.

"Why are you laughing?"  I said, with my cheeks feeling warm.

"Because I was pleased.  I like to see a lad like you master himself."

"Ahoy! wood ho!" shouted Esau from below; and I gladly seized the
opportunity to end a conversation which troubled me.

Half an hour later, we were seated together enjoying a hearty meal,
which had the peculiarity of making the canon seem less terrible to us,
while as to Quong, everything was the same to him, and he was ready to
go anywhere that Gunson indicated as the way.

"Now," said the latter, as we finished, and Quong took our place as a
matter of course, "what do you say?  It must be midday, when we always
have a nap till it grows cooler.  Shall we have one now or start at
once?"

"It will be cool enough in there," I said.

"Have a nap," said Esau; "we're all tired."

"But it may take us a long time to get through, and we don't want to be
caught in a place like that at night."

"Right, Gordon," said Gunson.  "Dean, you are in the minority.  We must
either start as soon as we can or wait till morning."

"That is the best," said Esau, uneasily.  "I don't want to show no white
feathers, but I ask any one--Is that a nice place to tackle after being
walking all the morning with a load?"

"No; I grant that," said Gunson.  "But come along, Gordon, and lot's
explore it a little way."

He led off and I willingly followed him, to descend close to the rushing
waters, and then climb up again, looking in every direction for
something in the way of a track, but without avail.  On every hand were
piled-up rocks, and though we climbed on one after another and stood
looking into the gorge, there was nothing to be seen.  As far as we
could make out the place had never been trodden by the foot of man.

We had penetrated about a hundred yards, and stood upon a flat-topped
rock, looking down at the roaring, swishing water, while before us
everything appeared of a dark forbidding grey, in strange contrast to
the bright slit of mossy green we could see when we looked back, in the
midst of which rose up a column of smoke, and beside it the dark figure
of Esau with his hand over his eyes, evidently peering in after us.

"The puzzle is difficult to make out, my lad," said Gunson.  "It's hard
work making your way through a country that has not been thoroughly
mapped.  Can't get along here, eh?"

"No," I said, rather despondently, and then I started, for Esau hailed
us to come back, and we could see him shouting with his hands to his
mouth, evidently in a great state of excitement.

We waited till the echoes of his voice had died away, and then I shouted
back, and a curious creeping sensation ran through me at the sound of my
voice.

It was impossible to hurry back, for there were too many impediments in
the way, but we made all the haste we could, for there was evidently
something wrong, though what that might be was invisible to us, as we
descended and climbed, and wound our way in and out in places that
Gunson confessed were "ticklish," as he called it, and where he always
paused in his firm, quiet way to offer me his help.

At last we were close to Esau, who was waiting anxiously with the rifle
in his hand, ready to thrust it into Gunson's.

"Indians, eh?" said the latter, as we now saw what had been hidden from
us by the shape of the valley--a group of half a dozen spear-armed
Indians, who drew back a little and stood watching us on seeing the
accession made by our crossing to the group by the fire.

Gunson did not hesitate.  He took the rifle, and felt whether his
revolver was ready to his hand before walking straight up to the group,
making signs intended to be friendly.  They had their effect, for the
men came forward, one of them holding out a freshly-opened salmon as a
token of good-will.

That was enough for Quong, who ran forward smiling, whilst Gunson tried
the men with such Indian words as he could remember.  But it was all in
vain.  They gave up the great fish to the Chinaman quietly enough, and
stood staring at us in a stolid way, till our leader took out his
tobacco-pouch and gave each a good pinch.  They were friends directly;
and now by signs Gunson tried to make them understand that he wanted to
go through the canon, and that he would give them a present if they
would guide us.

"I can't make them understand, my lad," he said at last.

"But I think they do understand," I said.  "Let's shoulder our packs,
and see if they will lead the way."

"Must be going our way," said Esau, "because they overtook us."

"Well, let's try," said Gunson; and in a couple of minutes we were
standing loaded, Gunson pointing up the gorge.

One of the Indians showed his teeth, said a few words to his companions,
and they all faced round, and began to lead the way back.

"No, no," I shouted, and I pointed up the gorge, when the leading Indian
smiled and went on again.

"This will not do," I said to Gunson.  "Stop a few minutes," he said,
thoughtfully.--"Let's see.  I think they understand us."

So we followed them back for a couple of hundred yards or so, when they
stopped short, pointed upwards, and began to ascend the side of the
valley at a spot where it was too stony for any trace of a track to be
seen, but where it was possible to climb up and up, with the way growing
more giddy moment by moment, and the exertion so great that we were soon
glad to shift our packs.

This brought the Indians to a stand, and their leader said something
which was responded to by four of the men taking our packs and bearing
them for us, the chief going first, and the other man taking the spears
of those who carried the loads, and walking last.

In a few minutes we were where the smoke of our fire rose up in faint
blue wreaths right above our heads, and all doubts of there being a way
was at an end, for without the slightest hesitation the Indians went on,
their leader evidently quite at home, though as I looked down I could
only see rugged stones, without a trace of their having been worn by
feet, while above us was the vast wall of rock along whose side we crept
like so many ants, and below there was the river foaming and roaring
along toward the mouth.



CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

ESAU IN DIFFICULTIES.

"Oh dear! oh dear!" whispered Esau, as he came up close behind me.

"What's the matter?"

"'Spose they pitch us head over-heels down here and go off with our
loads, what then?"

"We shouldn't be tired to-night, Esau."

"Oh, I say, don't laugh," he whispered; "it's too dreadful.  What a
place to come along!  Feel giddy?"

"No; don't talk about it," I replied quickly, for the idea was too
horrible.  But I took heart as I glanced at the loaded men, who walked
on as calmly as if there were no danger whatever, while Quong came
behind Esau, quite as coolly.

I am afraid to say at what angle the rocky wall went up above us.  Esau
declared it was quite straight, which was absurd; but I believe I am
right in saying that the part along which the principal Indian led us
was as steep as it was possible for a man to make his way along, while
over and over again the rock curved right above our heads.

It was evident that we were going along a regular track, for the Indian
never hesitated.  Sometimes he led the way down and down till we were
nearly close to the water, then up and up till it looked as if we were
to be led right to the top of the mighty rock wall, and out among the
mountains.  But the track always led down again; and at last in the dim
twilight we found that we were close to a sheer precipice which rose out
of the water, and along which, not six feet above the torrent, the
leader began to make his way sidewise, his face to the rock, his arms
extended, and his feet supported by a ledge formed by the bottom part of
the vast rock projecting a little beyond the upper.

The ledge at its widest was not five inches across, and as I saw first
one Indian and then another hang our packs away from them and begin
creeping along that ledge, clinging by their outstretched hands, I fully
expected to see them fall headlong into the boiling torrent and be swept
away.  My palms grew moist, my eyes dilated, so that there was a painful
aching sensation as if they were strained, and I felt as though I should
like to run away, and at the same time so fascinated that I was obliged
to watch them.

At last I turned shudderingly away, and then caught sight of my
companions, to see that Gunson was holding on to a piece of rock with
one hand, while he reached forward to watch the men, every feature
intent, and his shaggy brows knit, and his upper teeth displayed as he
pressed them on his lower lip.  Esau had his eyes close shut and his
face wrinkled up into a grin, as if he were in pain.  And there just
behind him was Quong, seated on a projecting stone, looking straight
away before him, as if he were gazing at his home in China, blinking,
dreamy, and paying not the least heed to the danger of the men or to
that which was to come for us all.

There was another present--the last Indian, who stood like a bronze
statue, resting upon the sheaf of spears he held, and watching us all
curiously, as if noting our manner, and trying to read our thoughts.

Not a slip, not a moment's hesitation.  The Indians went on, with our
packs threatening to drag them off the ledge into the river; but these
were only threats, and we watched till they had nearly reached the end
of the ledge, where I saw the leader pass round a projection and
disappear.

"I say," whispered Esau, "tell me when they are all safe."

I did not answer, and he opened his eyes and looked round at me.

"I say--look, look!  There are only two there," he cried excitedly.
"Have the others gone in?"

"No, no.  They are safe.  Look!"  For the last two gradually passed on
out of our sight, and Gunson drew a long breath full of relief.

"Hah!" he ejaculated.  "All right.  Well, lads, if those fellows can do
it with the loads hanging from them, it ought to be easy for us.  Who
goes first?"

There was no reply, and Gunson said quickly--

"Now, Quong, on with you."

"Me go 'long nex?  All light."

He stepped down on the ledge, carefully catching hold of the rock, and
edged his way along without a moment's hesitation.

"There, Gordon," said Gunson, "that's the advantage of having a very
small brain.  On with you next, Dean.  I want to see you lads over
safe."

"But I ain't got a small brain," said Esau.  "Won't you go first?"

"No.  I went over the clatter slide first, and regretted it directly I
had started.  I felt as if I ought to have been last.  Now then, don't
hesitate."

"But--"

"Shall I go over, Esau?"  I said.  "Yes, please.  One of my legs is a
bit stiff, and I think I'll take off my boots first."

By this time Quong had nearly reached the part where there was the
projection to go round, and I stepped down with something else to think
about, for I saw Gunson laughing rather contemptuously at Esau, who sat
down at once to remove his boots, his face scarlet with shame and
annoyance, for Gunson said mockingly--

"Don't take off the stiff leg too, my lad; you'll want it."

I glanced back, and caught Esau's eye, and fancied that I heard his
teeth click together as he gave a kind of snap, looking as if he would
like now to take my place for very shame.

But it was too late.  I was already on the ledge, feeling for places to
get a hold, and finding that the rock was so full of cracks that I could
insert my fingers easily enough, and steady myself as I shifted my leg
along.  Gunson had followed down close behind me.

"Well done!" he shouted, so as to be heard above the roar of the water.
"Don't look down at the river, my lad, but keep your eyes on the rock,
and you'll soon be over."

I made no attempt to reply, but kept sidling my way along slowly and
cautiously, and finding the task much easier than I thought it would
prove; in fact, if it had been solid ground below me instead of that
awful torrent, I felt that the task would have been nothing.  It was the
thought that a slip would be fatal which made all the difference, and I
had hard work to resist the magnetic attraction of that writhing water,
which seemed to be trying to make me look at it, so that I might turn
giddy and fall.

Step by step, with a careful hold taken, and making myself determined as
I mastered my feelings of cowardice, I kept on in a fixed stolid way,
till I thought that I must be half-way along the ledge, and that now
every step would bring me nearer to safety, when, to my utter
astonishment, I found myself within a yard of Quong, who was again
seated on a block of stone, blinking thoughtfully, and ready to look up
at me and nod and smile.

A curious feeling of satisfaction came over me--that glow of pleasure
one feels at having conquered a difficulty, and instead of going on I
edged back a little, till I could stand and watch for the others coming.

To my surprise I found that Gunson was half-way across, and he hastened
his pace as he saw me there.

"Here, what is it?" he shouted, so as to make his voice heard.  "Afraid
to go any further?"

"No, no; I stepped back to see Esau come along."

"Oh!  He had not got both his boots off when I started."

There stood Esau plainly enough beside the Indian.  His boots were tied
together by the strings, and hung about his neck, and he was watching
us.

I should have shouted at him, but my words would not have been heard,
and even if I had felt disposed to wave my hand, leaving part of my
hold, Esau could not have seen me, as Gunson was between.  And still the
lad did not move.

We saw the Indian look at him and walk down toward the ledge, and it
seemed to us as if he tried to make him go by saying something, which of
course Esau could not understand in words, but he comprehended his
movements, and we saw him turn upon him angrily.

"Oh," shouted Gunson, "I wish that savage would spur him on with one of
his spears, the miserable coward!"

"He'll come directly," I shouted back.  "He isn't a coward, only it
takes him a long time to make up his mind."

"He and I will have a desperate quarrel one of these days, I know.  Hah!
at last," cried Gunson, for, as if desperate, Esau now stepped on to the
ledge and began to sidle along, the Indian coming close behind him.

But he made very slow progress, stopping every now and then to look down
at the water; and at such times we saw him clinging fast to the rock, as
if afraid to move afterwards.  Then on again for two or three steps,
with the Indian calmly following him up and waiting his pleasure.

This went on till Esau was about half-way, when we saw him look down
again, and then make quite a convulsive clutch at the rock, against
which he now rested motionless, and without making an effort to move.

"Is he resting?"  I shouted.

"No; lost his nerve entirely," said Gunson.  "Stop where you are and
hold my rifle."

He thrust it into my hand, and then went quickly along the ledge back to
where Esau stood motionless, and I saw him go to the poor fellow and
speak to him.

Esau raised his head and looked at him as I thought piteously, and then
once more he began to edge his way along, step by step, with Gunson
close by him, and, as it seemed to me, through the mist which rose from
the water, holding one arm behind him to help him along.

Very soon, though, I saw what had been done.  The Indian had stretched
out one of the spears he carried behind Esau, and Gunson had hold of the
other end, so that as they held it the shaft formed a rail behind Esau's
back, giving him more moral than real support, but sufficient to
encourage him to try, with the result that they soon came so near that I
had to creep back along round the corner; and a few minutes later we
were on better ground, where the Indians raised the packs once more, and
again led the way onward, with Esau and me last.

We trudged on in silence for nearly an hour before Esau spoke.  I had
tried to draw him into conversation several times, but he had preserved
a sulky silence, which annoyed me, and I went on just in front, for of
course we were in single line.  All at once he said loudly--

"'Tain't my fault."

"What is not?"

"That.  I was born and brought up to walk on flag-stones.  I was never
meant to do this sort of thing; if I had been, mother would have paid
for me to learn to walk on tight-ropes."

"There," I said, "you got over it.  Never mind now."

"But I ain't got over it, and I do mind now," he cried angrily.  "How
would you like to be laughed at because you were thought to be a coward?
And I ain't one, I'm sure."

"Of course you are not."

"But of course I am, and you know I am.  I never expected British
Columbia was made like this.  Here's a pretty place!  Why, it's just as
if the world had been split open ever so far, and we was obliged to walk
along the bottom of the crack."

"Yes," I said, as I looked up the side of the canon to where the sky
seemed to be a mere strip above our heads; "but then see how awfully
grand it is."

"Oh, yes, I know it's awfully enough, but I don't see no grand.  I wish
I hadn't come."

"What, because we've had a bit of difficulty?"

"Bit?  Why it's all difficulty.  I couldn't help it.  I wanted to come
along pluckily like you did, but something inside wouldn't let me.  It
was just as if it kept whispering, `Don't go; you'll be sure to fall,
and then what'll your mother say?'"

"But it was a horrible bit to go along."

"You didn't seem to think so," he said, in an ill-used tone.

"But I did feel so, and I was frightened."

"Couldn't ha' been, or you'd have stuck fast same as I did."

"But I was frightened, I tell you, and so was Gunson."

"Then he needn't have been so nasty with me."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing.  That was the worst of it.  Only wish he had, 'stead o'
looking at me as he did.  For I couldn't help it a bit."

"Well, never mind; it's all past now."

"It ain't, I tell you, and never will be past.  Everybody will know that
I am a horrible coward, and it will stick to me as long as I live."

I tried to laugh, at him and pass it off, but it was of no use.  He took
it regularly to heart, harping constantly upon Gunson's manner to him.

"But you are making mountains of mole-hills," I cried at last, angrily.

"Well, that's what they are made out of, isn't it, only plenty of it."

"But you say he looked at you."

"Yes; he looked at me."

"Well, what of that?  There's no harm in his looking at you."

"Oh, ain't there?  You don't know.  He just can look.  It was just as if
he was calling me a miserable cowardly cur, and it cut me horrid.
S'pose I did stick fast in the middle of that path--Bah! it isn't a path
at all--wasn't it likely?  If I hadn't stopped and held on tight, I
should ha' been half-way back to the sea by this time, with my nose
knocked off at the least, and the salmon making a meal of what was left
of me.  'Course I held on as tight as I could, and enough to make me."

"Well, never mind," I said.  "There: I won't hear a word more about it.
Perhaps I shall be a horrible coward next time, and then Gunson will
look at me."

"If he does, I shall hit him, so there."

Esau looked ill-used at me because I laughed, and kept on muttering all
the time we were in that terrible gorge, just as if the gloom of the
place oppressed him.  As for me, I seemed to have enough to do to watch
where I placed my feet as we slowly climbed on for hour after hour,
thinking all the time of the valley I had read of years before in the
_Pilgrim's Progress_, and feeling half ready to see some horrible giant
or monster rise up to stop our way.

It was rapidly growing so dark down between those terrible jagged walls
that I began to think we should have to make camp soon and sleep there
in some one or other of the black hollows, and without fire, for there
was nothing visible but scraps of moss, when, all at once, on turning a
corner which had appeared to block the way, it began to grow lighter,
for the sides of the gorge were not so perpendicular.

Then another corner was turned, and it was lighter still with the warm
soft light of evening, and there in the distance was a glowing spot
which I took at first for the sun, but which I knew directly after to be
the ice-capped top of a mountain glowing in the sun.  Below it was the
pine forest again, looking almost black, while away on high a cascade
came gliding down like golden spray, touched as it was by the setting
sun.

Half an hour's more weary tramp, and the chief of the Indian party
stopped short, and we found that we had suddenly come upon an opening by
the river where about a couple of dozen Indians were standing by the
rows of salmon they had hung up to dry in the sun.

They all stood gazing at us in a stolid way, till the man who had guided
us went up to them, and then one of the party turned back to their
cluster of teepees and came up to us directly after with a friendly
offering in the shape of a couple of freshly-caught still living salmon,
which Quong bore off eagerly to a spot above the camp.

"But the Indians," I said to Gunson.  "Shall we be safe?"

"Safe or in danger, my lad," he replied, "I want food and rest.  This is
the worst day's work we have had.  Ah, I am beginning to believe in
Quong.  Here, let's help the little fellow.  You get some water while I
cut some wood."

As we separated I had to go by Esau, who looked at me suspiciously.

"I say," he whispered, "what has old Gunson been saying about me?"



CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

"LOOK!"

I can't describe my feelings towards Gunson.  One hour he seemed to me
coarse, brutal, and common; at another he was the very reverse, and
spoke in conversation as we tramped along together about books and
languages in a way which made me think that at one time he must have
been a gentleman.  At these moments his voice sounded soft and pleasant,
and he quite won me to him.

On the morning after our perilous passage through the gorge, he quite
took me into his confidence, talking to me and consulting with me as if
I were a man of his own age, while Esau hung aloof looking jealous and
answering in a surly way whenever he was addressed.

"You see," Gunson said, "the matter stands like this: along by the
river, which is getting more and more to assume the character of a
mountain torrent, the way must be difficult.  It winds, too, terribly,
so that we have to travel perhaps twice as far as we should if we made a
straight cut for the Fort."

"That sounds the easiest way," I said.

"Yes; but we do not know the country; we have not the least idea where
Fort Elk lies; we shall be met now and then by other rivers, which may
be very hard to cross, perhaps impossible without making long journeys
to right or left; lastly, we shall get into a wild country where
probably there will be no Indians, or if there are, they may be a fierce
hunting race, who will object to our going through their district.  So
you see that though we may save a good deal of walking if we can get an
idea from some settler where the Fort lies, we may meet with a great
many difficulties such as I have named.  On the other hand, if we keep
tramping on here, we are certain to hit the Fort if we can master the
troubles of the way, while we are among a people who seem to live by
fishing, and are as friendly as can be."

"Yes," I said, thoughtfully, as I glanced at where the Indians were
peaceably catching and drying the fish they speared.

"Well, what do you say?  I am ready to do either--perhaps to break away
from the river would suit me best, for I should be coming across smaller
streams such as I could examine for metals.  You must not forget that
I'm a prospector," he added, laughingly.

"I do not," I said, "and I should like for you to go the way best suited
for yourself.  But surely you could find that way, and reach Fort Elk."

"I am disposed to risk it, and yet we should be turning away from our
supplies."

"Yes," I said, for he looked at me questioningly; "I feel quite in
despair sometimes about getting along this terrible way, but I think we
ought to keep to it, for those people said we should find little
settlements all the way along."

"Yes; and we might find ourselves in a queer position without food
unless we could get a guide, so forward's the word."

He nodded to me and went off to the Indian camp to make the people a
present before we started, and as soon as I was alone, Esau hurried up.

"Has he been saying anything against me?"

"No, of course not, you suspicious fellow," I cried.  "There, come along
and pack up.  We start directly.  I say, Esau, you don't want to go back
now?"

He turned sharply, and glanced at the beginning of the dark canon, and
then said angrily--

"Needn't jump on a fellow because he didn't get along so well as you
did.  Here you, Quong, we're going on."

"Velly nea leady," came back cheerily.

"Don't seem to mind a bit," grumbled Esau.  "I believe he'd go anywhere.
He don't understand what danger is."

"Ready?" said Gunson, coming back.  "I can't make anything out of the
Indians, but I suppose there is a way all along here."

"Those settlers said there was."

"Then let's try it if we can find our way.  We can't come upon a worse
bit to go along than that yesterday, and if we can't get along we must
come back."

We were on our way again directly after, Quong's load made more heavy by
the addition of two goodly fish, an addition which did not trouble him
in the least, for he showed them to me smiling and patting their rounded
silvery sides as if he had an affection for them.

Our way was very difficult, the traces of a trail being very few, and
faintly marked.  But in spite of the difficulties, we kept on steadily
all through that day, and with no worse adventures than a few falls,
with the accompaniments of bruises and scratches, we reached the patch
of wood we selected for our resting-place that night.

It was Quong, when in advance, who suggested it, by stopping suddenly,
lowering his patiently borne load, and pointing out its advantages of
shelter, fire-wood and water, and here we stayed for the night.

The next day passed in a similar way, and the effect on me of our
journey seemed precisely the same as on Esau and the others--for we
reached our resting-place fagged, hungry, faint and low-spirited, with
Esau grumbling horribly and wishing he was back on "old Dempster's"
stool.  Then Quong would prepare his fire, make cakes, boil the kettle,
cook bacon or salmon, make a good cup of tea, and we all ate a
tremendous meal, after which the beds were made in shelter, probably
under the tree which produced what Esau called the feathers, that is the
soft boughs.  Then our blankets were spread ready, and we lay about
watching the last rays of the sunlight on the snowy peaks of the
mountains, or the bright stars, and listened to Gunson while he smoked
his pipe and told us tales about his adventures in the Malay
Archipelago, where he went up the country in search of gold, or in
Australia; and as we sat listening, the weary low-spirited feeling
passed away, we grew deeply interested, and soon after lay down to
sleep, to wake at sunrise full of high spirits, life, and vigour, eager
to continue our journey up the river.

Then came days when we halted at settlers' huts, where we were made very
welcome for the sake of the news we brought; then at Indian camps to be
regaled with fish, and finding these people so friendly that we soon
forgot to feel any fear of them.  Then again we went up a side stream
here and there for a few miles, to enable Gunson to try and discover
metals, and though he was always disappointed, Quong was in ecstasies.

"Why, he must have got enough gold in that bottle of his to make a
wedding-ring as big as mother's old thin one," said Esau, with a
chuckle.  "I say, don't take much to make him happy."

And all this time the weather had been lovely.  We had had a few
showers, after which the sun shone out more brightly than ever, and one
night we had a tremendous thunderstorm, when, from our shelter under a
ledge of rock, we could see the flashes of lightning darting in every
direction, while the thunder rolled echoing along the valley.  But that
soon passed away, the stars came out as the clouds rolled off the sky,
and the next day all was as beautiful as ever.

Three nights after we came to a halt at the mouth of a shallow cave, and
the day having been very hot and wearying we soon dropped off to sleep,
from which I was aroused in the darkness by feeling a touch, and as I
opened my eyes, I heard a curious shuffling noise, and felt hot breath
fan my cheek.

This was so momentary that I thought I must have been dreaming, and
turned softly over to go to sleep again, for the rest after the heavy
day's work was delicious.

I suppose I must have dropped off once more, and must have been dreaming
as I was touched again; then the touch was repeated, and in a drowsy way
I sighed with satisfaction at not having to move myself, but having some
one to move me, for a great hand readied over me, and drew me along a
little way, and I dreamed that I was tumbling out of bed and Esau drew
me back in my place.

I lay perfectly still for a time, and then I was moved a little more,
the big hand drawing me along very gently as if I was not quite in the
right position; finally, after getting me straight, giving me a gentle
thrust before leaving me quite at peace.  All at once I was thoroughly
aroused by a terrific yell, and I started up, but only to be knocked
over.  There was a rush of feet, followed by a rustling, and crackling
of bushes, and this sound grew fainter and fainter till it died away.

"What is it?  Who shouted?" cried Gunson, jumping up.

"It was me," cried Esau.

"What for?  Who was it ran away?  Here; where is Gordon?"

"I'm here," I said.  "What's the matter?"

"That's what I want to know," said Gunson.  "Was it an Indian, Dean?"

"No; it was a great pig as big as a bullock; he'd got one hoof on my
chest, and was smelling me with his wet snout touching my face when I
woke up and shouted, and he ran off."

"Pig, eh?" said Gunson.  "It must have been a bear."

"A bear!  What, touching me like that?" cried Esau, excitedly.

"No doubt about it.  But it does not matter.  You frightened it more
than it frightened you, and it has gone."

"Ugh!" cried Esau, with a shudder.  "Was it going to eat me?"

"Probably," replied Gunson.

"What!"

"Well, it might have been.  You are not bitten?"

"I dunno," cried Esau, excitedly.  "P'r'aps I am."

"Are you scratched or clawed?"

"Can't say, sir; very likely.  Oh dear, oh dear, what a place to come
to!  I can't go to sleep again after this.  But do you really think it
was a pig, sir--I mean a bear?"

"It must have been.  The only other creature possible would be a bison
or a deer, and it is not likely to have been one of them."

Gunson took his rifle, and I heard the click of the lock as he cocked
it, to step out of the shelter, and look round, but he stopped directly.

"Where is Quong?" he cried.

"Me velly safe up here," came in a high-pitched voice from somewhere
over our heads in the darkness.

"Did you see anything?" cried Gunson.  "Was it a bear?"

"Too dalk see anything," he replied.  "Only hear velly much wood
bleaking."

All was quite still now, save Gunson's footsteps as he walked about our
camp, and the roar of the falling waters down toward the river where the
stream near us dropped in a cascade; and he was soon back.

"I shall break my neck in the darkness," he said, as he joined us.  "I
can hear nothing, and I have nearly gone headlong twice."

"Do you think it will come back?"  I said, feeling no little
trepidation.

"No; Dean's yell was enough to scare a whole zoological garden.  But lie
down, lads, and finish your night's rest.  I'll light my pipe and play
sentry for the remainder of the night."

"And I'll sit up with you," I said.

"No; go to sleep," he replied, firmly.  "I am used to this sort of
thing."

"But I want to get used to it," I said.

"Afraid?"

This came with a slightly sarcastic tone, which made me turn away from
him, and go back into the shelter without a word.

"Come, Esau," I said; and I wrapped my blanket round me, and lay down at
once.

"It's all very well to say `Come, Esau,'" grumbled that gentleman.  "You
ain't been half torn to pieces by a bear."

"But you are not hurt, are you?"

"How do I know when it's so dark?" he said, petulantly.

"But you could feel."

"No, I couldn't.  I've heard that people who have been half killed don't
feel any pain at first; and there ain't a doctor nowhere."

"But, Esau," I whispered, seriously, "has the brute hurt you?"

"I keep on telling you I don't know.  He pawed me about and turned me
over, and smelt me and stood on me once.  I say: how dark it is!"

"Lie down," I said, "and try and go to sleep.  I don't think you can be
hurt, or you would feel some pain.  I felt the bear touch me too, but I
am not scratched."

"Must I lie down?"

"Yes; you would be better."

"But suppose he came again?"

"Gunson is watching.  There is no fear."

"But I'm sure I can't sleep.  It's too horrid to be woke up and find
wild beasts swarming all over you."

"Yes, it was startling," I said, as I listened to the noise he made
rolling himself in his blanket, and making the fir-boughs crackle as he
turned about.  "I was horribly scared at first, but I don't think I mind
now."

"I do," said Esau, with a groan, "and I never pretended to be as brave
as you.  It's of no use, I can't go to sleep."

"Why, you haven't tried yet," I said, as I began to feel satisfied that
his injuries were all fancy.

"No use to try," he said, gloomily.  "Fellow can't go to sleep expecting
every moment to be seized by some savage thing and torn to bits."

"Nonsense!"  I said.  "Don't make so much fuss."

"That's right; jump on me.  You don't behave half so well to me as I do
to you, Mayne Gordon."

I made no reply to this reproach, but lay gazing out into the gloom,
where after a few minutes I heard a faint scratch, saw a line of light,
and then the blaze of a match sheltered in Gunson's hands, and a flash
made as he lit his pipe and threw the match away, after which at regular
intervals I saw the dull glow of the tobacco in the bowl as our sentry
kept patient watch over us.

"Esau," I said at last, "do you feel any pain?"

There was no reply.

"Esau, can you feel anything now?"  I said.

Still no reply, and I began to be startled there in that intense
darkness where it took so little to excite one's imagination.  Had he
after all been seriously hurt by the bear, and now sunk into a state of
insensibility?

"Esau!"  I whispered again, but still there was no reply; so half rising
I reached over to touch his face, which was comfortably warm, and I
heard now his regular hard breathing.  For a few minutes I could not
feel satisfied, but by degrees I grew convinced Esau was sleeping
heavily, and at last I lay down too, and dropped off soundly asleep as
he.  How long I had been in the land of dreams I did not know till next
day, when I found from Gunson that it must have been about a couple of
hours, and then I awoke with a start, and the idea that the bear had
come back and seized me, till the voice of our companion bidding me get
up relieved me of that dread.

"What is the matter?"

"Look," he cried.

I was already looking at a blaze of light, and listening to a fierce
crackling noise.  There before me was one of the great pine-trees with
the lower part burning, and clouds of smoke rolling up.  "But how--what
was it set it on fire?"

"Ask Quong," said Gunson gruffly, as he stood by me with the glow from
the fire lighting him up from top to toe, and bringing the trees and
rocks about us into view.

"Me only put fire light when bear go, leady for make water velly hot,"
said the little Chinaman, dolefully; "fire lun along and set alight."

"Yes, you couldn't help it," said Gunson.  "The dry fir-needles must
have caught, and gone on smouldering till they reached a branch which
touched the ground, and then the fire ran along it like a flash."

"But can't we put it out?"  I cried, excitedly, as the boughs of the
huge green pyramid began to catch one after the other.

"Put it out!" he said, with a half laugh.  "Yes; send Dean there for the
nearest fire-engine.  There's plenty of water.  I did try at first while
you were asleep, and burned myself."

"But--"

"Oh, let it burn," he said, carelessly.  "It stands alone, and a tree
more or less does not signify in these regions.  A hundred more will
spring up from the ashes."

I stood silently gazing at the wondrous sight, as the huge fire began
more and more to resemble a cone of flame.  High up above the smoke
which rolled like clouds of gold, and the tongues of fire which kept
leaping up and up to the high branches, there was still a green spire
dark and dimly seen as it rose to some two hundred and fifty feet above
where we stood.  But that upper portion was catching alight fast now,
and the hissing crackle of the burning was accompanied by sharp reports
and flashes, the heat growing so intense that one had to back away,
while quite a sharp current of cold air began to rush past our ears to
sweep out and fan the flames.

"What a pity!"  I said at last, as I turned to Esau, who stood there
with his eyes glowing in the light, Quong being seated on a stone
holding his knees, as he crouched together, his yellow forehead
wrinkled, and little black eyes sparkling the while.

"Yes, I s'pose it's a pity," said Esau, thoughtfully.  "My! how it
burns.  I s'pose there's tar and turpentine and rosin in that big tree?"

"Why, Esau," I said suddenly, as a thought struck me, "how about the
bear?"

"Bear?  Where?" he cried, grasping my arm.  "Not here," I said with a
laugh.  "No wild beast would come near that fire.  I mean how about your
hurts?"

"My hurts?" he said, beginning to feel his arms.  "Oh, I'd forgotten all
about them."

"No fear of its catching any other tree," said Gunson, returning to
where we stood after being away, though I had not missed him.  "I've
been all round it, and there isn't another for twenty yards."

"But it will set light to them when it falls," I said.

"No, my lad.  That tree's enormous at the bottom, but the boughs grow
smaller and smaller till the top is like a point.  Look, the fire is
reaching it now, and it will go on burning till the trunk stands up half
burned down, and then gradually go out, leaving a great pointed stick of
charred wood.  No fear of its falling either upon us.  I should have
been sorry for us to have started a forest fire, that might have burned
for weeks."

He ceased speaking, and we all stood gazing in awe at the magnificent
spectacle as the flames rushed higher and higher, till from top to
bottom there before us was a magnificent cone of roaring fire, which
fluttered and scintillated, and sent up golden clouds of tiny sparks far
away into the air, while a thin canopy of smoke spread over us, and
reflected back the glow till the valley far around looked almost as
light as day, and the green pines stood out gilded, though sombre in
their shades, and the water flashed and sparkled where it rushed along.

It was a wonderful sight, impressing even Quong, and for a long time no
one spoke.

It was Gunson who broke the silence.

"Well, Quong," he cried, "what do you think of your work?"

"Velly solly," said the little fellow, dolefully.

"Ah," said Gunson, "it is a bad job.  All the King of China's horses and
men could not build that up again--eh, Gordon?"

"No," I said, sadly; for there seemed to me to be something pitiful in
that grand forest monarch, at whose feet we had supped the past night,
being destroyed.

"But one of the seeds out of a cone hidden under the ground will produce
another," he said, "in a hundred or two years.  And we shan't wait to
see it, Gordon."

I looked at him wonderingly.

"And that's how the world goes on, boy; fresh growth makes up for the
destruction, and perhaps, after all, we have done some future settler a
good turn by helping to clear the ground for him, ready for his home.
Now then, will you lie down and have another nap?"

"What, with that tree burning?"  I cried; and Esau uttered a grumbling
sound expressing dissent, in which I fancied I detected words which
sounded like fire and bears.

"Well, it is hardly worth while," said Gunson.  "Look sharp, Quong--tea.
We'll get breakfast over, and make a fresh start."

"What, so soon?"  I cried.

"Soon?  Yes--look!"

He pointed upward, and to my astonishment I saw what seemed to be
another huge pine-tree on fire far away in the distance; but realised
directly after that it was the icy point of a mountain touched by the
first rays of the rising sun, long before it illumined the lower earth.
For morning was close at hand, and Quong began piling up sticks on our
little fire, from which soon after we could trace the black path of
burnt needles away to where, as Gunson said, some branch must have
touched the ground, as was the case in many directions near.



CHAPTER THIRTY.

WE MEET A STRANGER.

The pine-tree was still burning as we set off just after sunrise that
morning, but a turn in the valley soon hid it from our sight.  The
weather was glorious again, and we made good progress, stopping that
night at the snuggest settler's house we had yet come upon; but we could
hear very little about Fort Elk.  The man, who was living with his wife
and son in that solitary place, had heard of the Fort that it was
"somewheres up to the norrard."  That was all he knew, but he gave us a
good supper of roast deer flesh, and told us that if we looked out we
could easily get more on our way, and when we were higher up we might
perhaps get a mountain sheep.  He was curious to know our object in
making so long a journey, but saved Gunson from any difficulty in
explanations by supposing that we meant to do something in skins, saying
that he had heard that the company up there did a big trade with the
Indians in furs.

We left him and his son the next morning many miles from his ranch, for
he had insisted upon shouldering a rusty piece and showing us part of
our way by a short cut which saved us from a journey through a canon,
where the path, he said, was "powerful bad," and it did seem a change
when he left us with instructions to keep due north till we struck the
river again, where we should find another ranch.  For in place of being
low down in a gorge, made gloomy by the mighty rock-sides and the
everlasting pines, we were out on open mountain sides, where the wind
blew, and the sun beat down pretty fiercely.

We reached the ranch in due time, obtained shelter for the night, and
went on the next day, finding the country more open.  I was trudging
along side by side with Esau, Quong was behind us, and Gunson out of
sight among the rocks in front, when we were startled by a sharp crash,
followed by an echoing roar.

"What's that?" said Esau, turning pale.  "Here, stop!" he cried.

But I was already running forward, to come up to Gunson, reloading his
rifle, and in answer to my inquiry--

"Don't know yet," he said; "I fired at a sheep up on that rocky slope.
There was one standing alone, and half a dozen behind him, but I only
caught sight of their tails as they disappeared up that little valley.
The smoke kept me from seeing whether I hit one.  Let's leave the packs
here, and go up and see."

It was a hot and difficult climb, for the valley was again steep and
contracted here, and when we reached the shelf where Gunson said the
sheep had stood, there was nothing to be seen but a wild chaos of rocks
and the narrow rift down which a stream bounded, and up by whose bed the
sheep had rushed.

"Bad job," said Gunson, after a full half-hour's weary search.  "That
meat would have tided us on for days, and made us independent when we
reached the next ranch, where the people would have been glad of the
skin."

"Shall we climb up higher?"  I said, in a disappointed tone.

"No; let's get back, and go on.  Those two are having a comfortable
rest," he added, as he pointed to where, far below, Esau and Quong were
lying down by the packs.

"Hurrah!"  I shouted just then, for right away down in a pool of the
rushing stream I had caught sight of something sticking out just above
the water.

"What is it?" cried Gunson, eagerly.

"The sheep under water.  That's a leg sticking out."

"A piece of wood," he said, contemptuously.  "No: you are right.  It is
the sheep."

We had a difficult climb down to the place, but did not heed that, for
in a few minutes we had dragged out the prize, which Gunson soon
lightened in a very business-like way, while I signalled to the others
to come up.

Half an hour after we toiled down again, each bearing a quarter of the
sheep, the beautiful head and skin being left as too heavy.

Our load was lightened at mid-day, and again at night, when we camped,
and the rapid disappearance of that sheep during the next days was
startling, for the fresh pure air and exercise created a tremendous
appetite which it was not always easy to satisfy.

But somehow in our most hungry times we generally managed to get hold of
provisions, either from the Indians or some settler.  Twice over Gunson
shot a deer, but the scarcity of bird and quadruped was very striking.
There were plenty of berries, but they were not very satisfying food to
hungry lads.

Esau proved a great help, though, twice during the many toilsome days
which followed, by his discoveries in two streams, and I helped him to
drive some delicious little trout into shallow water, where they were
captured, to Quong's great delight.

How many days and weeks had passed before we were busy by one of the
small streams which ran down into the river I cannot now remember, for I
have lost count.  It seemed that we had been tramping on for a great
while, and that it might have been last year when we left the sea.

It was long past midday, and the appearance of this little stream had
attracted Gunson so that he determined to camp by it for the night; and
leaving Quong and Esau to get a fire and make cakes with the last of our
flour, he took the gun, and I a light pine pole, to see if we could not
get something in the way of fish or game.  I did not say anything, but I
knew that Gunson meant to try the sands of the stream as well for gold.

After about an hour's walking, and stopping from time to time to wash a
little of the gravel, and pause in likely places, I suddenly drew my
companion's attention to something moving in an open glade dotted with
small pines and bushes, where the stream ran slowly by through quite a
lawn-like stretch.

He threw himself down and I followed his example, watching him as he
crawled forward, taking advantage of every bush and rock, till he
suddenly stopped, aimed, there was a puff of white smoke, and we both
sprang up.

"No miss this time, Mayne," he said, as I reached him.  "Look!"

Not above eighty yards away lay a beautiful little deer, quite
motionless, and I forgot the destruction of the graceful little animal
in the longing for a good supper that night.

"Too much to carry back, eh?" he said, as he finished reloading.

"Oh, no," I cried; "we must carry it somehow."  And after the meat was
dressed, we divided the load, making two packs of it in the halved skin,
and then began to return, when a part of the stream tempted Gunson to
make a fresh trial.

"Disappointing work," he said, as he waded in.  "Sit down and rest, my
lad, for a few minutes.  I'll soon see."

But he found nothing, and I sat down in the little gully watching him,
and thinking that the prize he sought to find ought to be very big to
recompense him for the tremendous labour he went through.  It was very
still and peaceful; and, hot and tired as I was with walking, I was
turning drowsy, when I heard a voice say loudly--

"I saw the smoke rise quite plainly somewhere here;" and, as I started
up, a tall, grey-haired, severe-looking, elderly man, in leather
hunting-shirt and leggings, and wearing a fur cap, stood before me,
rifle in hand, while another man was coming up not a dozen yards away.

"Hallo!" the first exclaimed, as he glanced from me to my companion, saw
the cut-up deer, and took in Gunson's occupation as it seemed to me in a
sharp glance of his clear grey eyes.  "I thought I was right.  You fired
half an hour ago?"

"Yes," said Gunson, quietly, "and hit."

"Who are you, stranger, and where are you for?" said the grey-haired
man, in a firm, stern tone of voice, while his companion stood back
leaning on a rifle too, as if waiting to be told to come up.

"English.  Travelling and shooting," said Gunson, a little distantly.

"And prospecting," said the new-comer sharply.  "Well, have you struck
gold?"

"No," said Gunson.  "Have you?"

"No; nor deer either.  Not your luck to-day."

"Sorry for you, brother sportsman," said Gunson, rather sneeringly, I
thought.  "Well, where's your shanty?  We shall be glad to share our
game."

"Where are you making for?" said the stranger, looking at me.

"Fort Elk," I said; and I saw him raise his eyebrows.  "Is it very much
farther?"

"Not five English miles," he said, looking at me fixedly.

"Do you hear that, Gunson?"  I cried.  "Here, let's get back and tell
Esau."

"Not alone then?" said the stranger.

"No, sir.  I have a companion down by the river, and there is a Chinaman
with us."

"Any more questions?" said Gunson, rather gruffly; "because if not,
perhaps you'll put us on the trail for the nearest cut to the Fort."

"You can't do better than go back to the river," said the stranger.
"I'll set you on your way.  Mike, help him carry the deer-meat."

The man took one of the packages, thrust the barrel of his rifle through
the deerskin thongs, and placed it on his shoulder, while the new-comer
asked me for my pole, thrust it through the other, and Gunson and I took
an end each, for I would not let our guide carry it.

"Where are you from last?" said the stranger.

I waited for Gunson to speak, but as he did not, I said that we had
tramped up by the river.

"All the way from the sea, eh?" said the stranger, looking me over as I
examined him and thought what a strong, keen, clever-looking man he
seemed.

"Yes; all the way from the sea."

"And what are you going to do at Fort Elk, eh?"

Gunson looked round at him sharply.

"Well?" said the stranger, meeting Gunson's look firmly.

"Only going to ask you if you were an American from down coast."

"No, I am an Englishman like yourself.  Why?"

"Because you ask questions like a Yankee commercial traveller--drummers
don't they call them?"

"Yes, I think so," said the stranger, quietly.  "I always do ask
questions when I want to know anything."

"Good way," said Gunson, gruffly; and it was very plain that they two
would not be very good friends.

"Do you know Mr Daniel Raydon at the Fort?"  I asked, to change the
conversation, which was growing ticklish.

"Oh yes, I know him."

"He is the chief officer there, isn't he?"  I continued eagerly, as I
seemed now to see the end of my journey.

"Yes; he's head man, my lad."

"What sort of a person is he?"

"Humph!  Well, how am I to describe him?  What do you mean?  His looks?"

"Yes; and altogether what sort of a man is he?"

"As far as appearance goes, about such a man as I am.  Stern, determined
sort of fellow, my lad; accustomed to deal with the Indians.  Bit of a
hunter--naturally from living in these parts; bit of a gardener, and
botanist, and naturalist; done a little in minerals and metals too," he
continued, turning to Gunson.  "Sort of man to talk to you, sir, as I
see you are prospecting--for gold, I suppose?"

"You can suppose what you like," said Gunson, drily.  "This is a free
country, I believe.  I never heard that Government interfered with
people for looking up the place."

"Oh no; it's free to a certain extent, but we settlers who are fixed
here like to know what perfect strangers are about."

"Look here," said Gunson, "I always make a point of keeping my business
to myself.  Do you want to quarrel with me?"

"By no means," said the stranger, smiling.  "I think the disposition to
be quarrelsome is more on your side.  I merely asked you a few plain
questions, such as you would have asked me if our positions had been
reversed.  Suppose you had marked down a deer, being a resident here,
and came out for it and found a stranger--"

"Poaching," said Gunson, mockingly.

"No; we have no game laws here, sir--had bagged your deer, and when you
came up to him, wishing to be civil, and offer him the hospitality one
Englishman should offer to another in this out-of-the-way corner of the
world, he cut up rough with you, as I think, on consideration, you must
own you have done with me.  What then?"

I glanced from one to the other, ready to appeal to Gunson, for he
seemed to me to be horribly in the wrong.

There was a great difference in them, and it seemed to me to be very
marked just then; the stranger so tall, commanding, and dignified, in
spite of his rough hunting-dress, his eyes keen and flashing, and his
well-cut features seeming noble by comparison with Gunson's, whose
care-lined and disfigured face, joined with his harsh, abrupt way, made
him quite repellent.

But just as I was anticipating quite an explosion of anger, I saw his
face change, and grow less lurid.  He looked frankly in the stranger's
face, took off his hat, and I felt that it was a gentleman speaking, as,
in quite an altered tone, he said simply--

"I beg your pardon.  I was quite in the wrong."

"Hah!" ejaculated the stranger, "that is enough;" and he held out his
hand.  "There's a ring of dear old England and good society in that,
sir.  Welcome to these wilds.  It is a treat to have a visitor who can
talk about the old country.  It's many years since I have seen it.  And
you?"

"Oh, we were there seven or eight months ago," said Gunson, quietly; and
as we walked on, and our new friend plied him with questions about
London, the Government, and the changes that had taken place, always
carefully avoiding any allusions to the object of our visit to the
north-west land, it seemed to me that I was listening to quite a
different man to the rough prospector, and I fancied that the stranger
was noticing that Gunson was not the sort of man he seemed.

It was so pleasant to listen to the converse of these two gentlemanly,
well-informed speakers, that the distance seemed quite short back to
where Esau was lying down idly throwing stones in the river, while Quong
had the kettle boiling, and, as soon as he caught sight of us, came
running up to seize upon one of the packs of deer-meat, and trot off
with it.

"Useful sort of fellow, that," said the stranger, nodding at Quong as he
ran on before us.  "Good cook, I suppose?"

"Excellent," replied Gunson.  "You had better stop and have a bit of
dinner with us.  He'll have a steak ready in a few minutes."

"With all my heart.  Mike, you have some cake in your wallet."

"Yes, sir," said the man respectfully; and I saw Gunson's one eye turn
to him sharply.

"We can easily walk to the Fort in an hour afterwards," said the
stranger.

"And do you live near?"  I said, eagerly.

"Yes, very near," he replied, smiling.

"It's very lucky we met you," I said, "for we had no idea how far we
were off.  Here, hi!  Esau!"  I shouted, as soon as we were within
earshot, for he was coming towards us now in a slow, hesitating way.
"This is my companion who has come with me."

"Friend or brother?"

"Friend," I said; and I was going to say more, but I caught Gunson's
eye, and it seemed to suggest that I was talking too fast.

In less than half an hour we were partaking of the hot juicy steaks
which Quong brought round to us on the point of his knife, and washing
it down with hot tea, while the stranger and Gunson chatted away about
the sport to be had in that part of the country, filling my head with
eager hopes of partaking therein, as I heard of the different kinds of
game and deer, some of which were of huge size--elk and moose as high as
horses, which were shot in the winter.

It soon became evident that our new acquaintance was a keen sportsman,
but he talked in quite an easy modest way of what he had done, and at
last I felt obliged to join in, telling of our adventures with the
bears, and asking if he had seen or shot any.

"Several," he said.  "Many, I may say, but of course spread over a long
stay here.  I can show you their heads and skins.  I generally save
them.  That man Michael Grey is a clever hunter, and an admirable
skin-dresser."

"Are the bears very dangerous?"

"Only under certain circumstances, my lad.  There are several kinds
here, varying very little.  I mean beginning with the smallest; he
strongly resembles the next larger, and he again the one larger still,
and so on, till we get up to the cinnamon, and from him to the great
grizzly, who is a fierce beast best avoided.  As for the others, they
are stupid, inoffensive creatures, whose great aim in life is to get out
of man's way, and who will not interfere with him or fight if they are
left alone.  Now then, what do you say to going on?"

"By all means," said Gunson; and we rose, to my regret, for I had
enjoyed the meal and rest, and the hunting narratives were delightful.

We were all ready for starting, and I shouldered one pack, Quong loading
himself up with the deer-meat, and our new friend and his follower
insisting upon helping to share our burden, while I noticed that Mike,
as he was called, kicked the burning embers about in all directions so
as to extinguish the fire.

"What is that for?" said our new companion, interpreting my looks; "that
is what every hunter or traveller should do.  Never leave a fire.  There
is abundance of wood--huge forests all about, but none that ought to be
destroyed.  The pine-trees burn fiercely."

I nodded, for I knew.

"And, once a forest is set on fire, we never know where it may end."

We walked on, chatting about the beauty of the country, which every
minute grew more open; and I was listening full of interest, when Esau
gave my jacket a tug.

"I say, who is he?" came in a whisper.

"Don't know.  Going to show us the way to the Fort."

"Is it much further?"

"Oh no," I whispered back; "only a mile or two."

"Thank goodness," murmured Esau; "I am getting so tired."

It proved to be only about a mile and a half, or, as I ought to call it
in that country of no roads and many climbs and descents, about
three-quarters of an hour's walk, before we came upon a wide, open spot,
dotted with trees like a park, through which the river ran, making a
sharp elbow, at the corner of which there was what seemed to be a high
fence, with square wooden buildings at two of the corners.  These took
my attention directly, for they looked like strong, square, wooden
towers, trying to be like the sides of a man-of-war, inasmuch as they
were fitted with portholes, out of which projected the muzzles of small
cannon.  I could see that there was a rough trail leading up to a grim
gateway in the square fence, and that the nearer we got to the place,
the bigger and stronger that fence looked, and that inside was quite a
large square with huts and other buildings, and what seemed to be a
garden, beside which there were cultivated fields with corn growing and
potatoes, outside.

"So that's Fort Elk, is it?" said Gunson, thoughtfully.  "Why, I suppose
you could stand quite a siege there from the Indians."

"We could, and have done so before now."

"But what about fire?" continued Gunson.

"That is our worst enemy," said the stranger, as he struck the rough
beaten path.

"But where is your garrison?" said Gunson.  "Oh, busy about in the
stores and garden.  We are not at war with any of the people about, so
there is no occasion to play at soldiers now."

"But where is your ranch?"  I said, as we approached the gate.

"Oh, inside the fence, of course."

"Then you live in the Fort?"  I said, looking at him curiously, for a
suspicion was beginning to rise in my breast, as we came right up to the
great palisade, and I realised how much bigger it all was than it had
seemed.

"Yes," he replied, smiling, "I live in the Fort--the Hudson's Bay
Company's trading store and station; and I bid you all a hearty
welcome."

"May I know whom we have to thank before you show my young friend Gordon
here to the chief's place.  You ought to go to him first, Gordon, my
lad."

"Yes, that is quite right," said our friend, smiling; "but you can do
that without trouble, for my name is Raydon.  I am the chief officer
here."

I stopped short and stared, and Esau's jaw seemed to drop so as to show
the whole interior of his mouth.



CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.

AN AWAKENING.

After the first fit of startling I don't think I was much surprised, for
something seemed to have suggested that this might be Mrs John's
brother.

He smiled at us, as if amused, and led the way to one of the wooden
buildings, where wood was burning in a stone fire-place.

"This is our travellers' hotel," he said, as we entered the bare-looking
room, which was beautifully clean.  "Don't trouble about cooking or
preparing anything, for you are my guests.  There is a sleeping-place
here."

He walked across to a door at one corner, and showed me another
fair-sized place, bare as the first, but beautifully white and clean,
and with some of the boards looking quite ornamental from the fine
grain.  There was a row of sleeping-bunks and plenty of water ready, and
plain and rough as everything was, it seemed princely to the style of
sleeping accommodation we had been accustomed to for so long.

He nodded and left us, and we had to explain to Quong that he was not to
cook and prepare our evening meal, an explanation which for the first
time made the little yellow-faced fellow look discontented.

"You all velly angly?  What Quong been do?"

"Nothing at all.  Mr Raydon's people are going to send us our supper."

"Don't like--don't like," he said, shaking his head.  "All angly.  Quong
no make good blead?"

"Yes; everything has been capital," I said.  "Don't you understand?"

"No; can't undlestan.  Quong velly solly.  Go now?"

"No, no.  Stop."

He shook his head and went and sat doleful-looking and unhappy in one
corner; out of which he had to be almost dragged at last to partake of
the evening meal Mr Raydon sent in for us, absolutely refusing to join
us, and waiting patiently till we had done.

There was capital bread, plenty of tea with milk and sugar, cold ham,
and hot slices of the deer-meat we had brought with us, and when we had
finished and set Quong to his supper, Gunson went to the door to smoke
his pipe, while Esau came to me smiling.

"Rather lonely sort of place," he said, "but it will do, eh?"

"Oh yes, if Mr Raydon is willing for us to stay."

"Eh?  Why, of course he will be, won't he?  I say, though, what lovely
ham!"

"What's the matter with Quong?"  I said, for the little fellow was
muttering and grumbling as he sat on the wooden bench at the
well-scrubbed table.

I went to him, and asked what was wrong.

"Allee dleadful," he said.  "No cookee meat plopelly.  No makee tea
plopelly.  Blead bad."

"Why, I'm sure it isn't," I said, crumbling off a piece to taste.

"Yes; allee bad.  No bake blead to-day.  Blead high."

"High?"  I said; "you mean stale?"

"Yes; stale high.  Keep blead too long.  Not good to eat."

"Why, Quong," I cried; "you're grumbling because somebody else cooked
and baked," and I burst out laughing.

The little fellow jumped up with his yellow forehead all wrinkles and
his eyes flashing and twinkling comically with resentment.  But as I
still laughed at him, the creases began to disappear from his face, and
the angry look to depart, till he too smiled up at me.

"You velly funny," he said.  "Laugh at me."

"Well, you made me by grumbling for nothing."

"Quong cook well--better allee this?  Cookee ploply."

"Yes; everything you have done has been delicious.  Here, go on with
your supper."

"Quong cook bleakfast?"

"Yes; I'll ask Mr Raydon to let you.  Here, go on."

This pacified the little fellow, and he finished his meal quickly.  He
was busy clearing up when Mr Raydon came in, and I saw him glance
sharply at the busy little fellow, whose tail was whisking about in all
directions as he bobbed here and there, just as if he not been walking
all day.

"Had a good supper?" said Mr Raydon.  "That's right.  Now then come to
my office, and let us have a talk."

I followed him with some trepidation, Esau coming on nervously behind;
and as we went outside, and then along to another building, catching
sight of men and women at different places about the enclosure, our host
went on to where I now saw that Gunson was waiting for us by a wooden
house that had some show of comfort.

"Come in," said our host, and he pointed to roughly-made, strong chairs,
while he seated himself behind a deal desk.

The walls were covered with weapons, and heads and horns of the various
animals that I presumed had fallen to his rifle were nailed up here and
there, the white deal floor being nearly covered with skin rugs.  These
various objects of interest kept my eyes busy for a few moments, and
then I was called back to my position by Mr Raydon's voice, as he
addressed Gunson.

"You are quite welcome," he was saying, "and I dare say I could give you
a little shooting if you were disposed to stay."

"No," said Gunson, "I thank you; but I have finished one part of my task
here.  I am not going of course to make any secret of my mission.  I am
a prospector."

"Yes."

"It was my fortune to come out with these lads, and when I heard that
they were journeying up the river, I determined to get up to the higher
waters by the same route as they did for the sake of helping them."

"Then you would not have come this way, Mr Gunson?"  I said.

"No, my lad," he replied, smiling.  "I should have struck up one of the
side rivers sooner."

"Oh!"  I ejaculated.

"For it seemed to me that it was utter madness for two boys like these
to attempt the journey alone in perfect ignorance of what they had
undertaken."

"And you made up your mind to see them through?"

"I did, for they would never have done it alone."

"Indeed we should," I said, quickly.

Gunson laughed, leaned forward, and patted me on the shoulder.

"No, no, Mayne, my lad," he said kindly.  "There's all the pluck--the
English spirit in you; but there was more than you could have done by
yourselves.  You would have struggled on, but Master Dean here would
have broken down long enough ago, and wanted to go back home to his
mother."

"How could I have wanted to go back home to mother when she ain't at
home?" cried Esau, angrily.

"Well, to have gone back," said Gunson.  "There, I am in real earnest,
my lads.  It was more than you could have done."

"But we should have persevered," I said, warmly.

"And failed, as better men have done.  Besides, there were the Indians,
my lad.  They always seemed very peaceable towards us, but you had a
well-armed man with you; and it may have made some difference.  There, I
don't want to rob you of any credit you deserve, and I tell Mr Raydon
here before you that I have derived no little assistance from you both,
and enjoyed my journey all the better for your company.  What do you
say, Mr Raydon--would they have found their way up here alone?"

"In time, perhaps," he replied; "if they had met with other people
making the trip they might have got here.  Certainly not alone, and it
would have been madness to have attempted it.  It has been a mad project
altogether."

Gunson looked at me and smiled.

"But there, you have reached your goal safe and sound, and to-morrow
morning we'll shake hands and say good-bye."

"Please understand, Mr Gunson," said our host, quietly, "that you have
no occasion to hurry."

"I beg your pardon," replied Gunson; "you are wrong.  Time is gliding
on, sir.  I have spent years already in my quest and have no time to
spare."

"The quest of wealth?" said Mr Raydon, rather sarcastically.

"Yes, sir; the quest of wealth to redeem the past.  You do not know my
early life, and I'm not going to tell of it."

"I only know enough to prove to me that Mr Gunson was educated as an
English gentleman."

"And is now the rough prospector you see," replied Gunson.  "There, sir,
one lives for the future, not the past.  To-morrow morning, thanking you
warmly for your hospitality, I start; and I ask you to give my young
friends here what you have offered so generously to me."

"Your Chinese servant going with you, of course.  You said `I start.'"

"My Chinese servant!" said Gunson, laughing.  "I keep no servants.  The
poor fellow attached himself to us, and has worked for us patiently ever
since.  He is one of the poor patient Celestials, hunting for gold, and
if ever he scrapes together fifty pounds' worth he will account himself
rich."

"And you?"

"Ah, my desires are far higher," said Gunson, laughing.  "Now, if you
will excuse me, I'll go outside and enjoy a pipe in this delicious
evening air."

"Let me offer you a cigar, Mr Gunson," said our host.  "I have a few
good ones for my visitors."

"Thanks, no.  I'll keep to my pipe till better times come.  Now, my
lads, it is your turn to have your chat with our host."

He rose.

"One moment, Mr Gunson," said Mr Raydon.  "There is a powder magazine
in the enclosure."

"Yes; I caught sight of it," was the reply.  "I shall not drop any
matches near."

I saw our host watch him very thoughtfully as he went out of the office.
Then turning to us sharply he looked from one to the other, his clear
eyes seeming to search us in a way that was far from encouraging.

"Now, young fellows," he said, "I need not ask your names: Mayne Gordon
and Esau Dean.  I have been expecting you."

"Expecting us, sir?"  I said.

"Of course.  Because you have been six months coming; a letter would not
be all this while.  I have known of your proposed visit for some time,
though I tell you frankly that when I read my thoughtless, inconsistent
brother-in-law's letter, I never expected to see you here.  You have
been very lucky, that's all."

"If you mean Mr John Dempster is thoughtless and inconsistent, sir," I
said warmly, "I must speak.  He is all that is kind, thoughtful, and
gentlemanly, and he is the best--almost the only--friend I have in the
world."

"What, sir?  Isn't it thoughtless and inconsistent of a man to send two
raw boys nearly all round the world on such a mad journey as this?  A
thoughtful man would say the person who planned it was a fool."

"No thoughtful man who knew Mr John Dempster would speak of him like
that, sir," I said, angrily.

"Why you might just as well say so of some one who set him and poor Mrs
John to travel thousands of miles the other way here," cried Esau,
coming to my help.

"Means that I am a fool!" said our host, sharply, as he turned on Esau.
"Here, you hold your tongue, sir, till your turn comes."

I saw Esau shrink, and Mr Raydon went on--

"I sent for my sister to come, because I believed the journey would be
her salvation, as to her health, and because I wanted to end her sad
life of penury.  Your best friend, Mr Gordon, has not behaved well to
her."

"Why they are as happy and affectionate as can be," I said.  "You don't
know."

"I knew that for twenty years he has been a dreamer, growing poorer, and
wearing out her life with anxiety, my lad, and I wanted to get them
here, where I can start them in a new life.  He is a good fellow in his
way, but weak and helpless as to getting on in the world.  If I lead
him, I believe it will be different.  But enough of that.  Here is my
complaint.  As soon as, after long and careful thought, I decided to
bring them here, and send them the funds for the purpose, my thoughtful
brother-in-law writes me word that they are coming, and that he has sent
me two lads, friends of his, to take under my charge, and do the best I
can for them.  Why, sir, it came upon me like a thunderclap."

All the high spirits and hopefulness at our journey being successfully
ended, oozed away, and a despairing sensation came over me that was
horrible.  Then my pride came to my help, and I spoke out.

"I am very sorry, sir," I cried, "and I will not impose on your
kindness.  To-morrow morning Esau Dean and I will make a fresh start."

"What start?" he said, harshly.

"Perhaps go with Mr Gunson, prospecting."

"Out of the question, sir.  More madness."

"Then we'll go to work."

"What at?"

"For some settler.  We are both young, and willing."

"I should just think we are," cried Esau, sharply.

"Silence!  Hold your tongue, please."

Esau subsided.

"Where are you going to find your settler?  Those here have only enough
work for themselves."

"But other people have got on."

"Where you two could not, sir.  You two boys think it all easy enough,
but you are not beasts of the field, to be able to pick up a living in
this wild solitary land.  Do you think you can join some tribe, and
become young Indian chiefs?  Rubbish.  Find gold?  What's the use of it
hundreds of miles away from places where it can be sold.  Play Robinson
Crusoe in the woods?  Bah!  Where is your ship to go to for stores?
Why, you pair of silly ignorant young donkeys, do you know what your
projects would end in?"

"Success, sir; fighting our own way in life," I cried, proudly.

"For the carrion birds," he said, grimly; "good meals for them, and
later on some hunter finding a couple of whitened skeletons, lying
beneath a great sheltering pine."

"Oh, I say!" cried Esau; "don't, don't talk like that."

"I am compelled to, my lads, so as to get some common manly sense in
your heads."

"Here, I say, Mayne Gordon," cried Esau, rising; "let's go back at
once."

I rose too, slowly and thoughtfully, waiting to speak, but unable to
find suitable words.  I was cruelly hurt and surprised at the rough
reception I had met with, for I had at least expected to be made welcome
for Mrs John's sake.  At the same time though, much as it pained me to
hear Mr John spoken of so harshly, I began to see dimly that what Mr
Raydon said was right, and that it had been a wild idea for us two lads
to make such a journey in so speculative a manner.  But before I had
made up my mind what to say, and while I was standing there hesitating,
Mr Raydon began again, in a sharp authoritative tone.

"What have you lads been?" he said.

"Writers--clerks in an office," said Esau, glumly.

"Hah! yes: about the most unsuitable avocation for any one coming out
here.  You did not expect to find a post at a desk, I suppose?"

"No," said Esau, gloomily, "I meant to build myself a house, and start a
farm."

"How?" said Mr Raydon, with a contemptuous laugh.

"Dunno," said Esau.

"Do you understand farming?"

"No, sir, but I'm going to learn."

"Where? at what farm?  What do you know about crops?  Why, I don't
suppose you could grow a potato.  Did you ever do any gardening?"

"Only grown mustard and cress, sir, in a box."

Mr Raydon laughed aloud.

"And you, Mayne Gordon," he said; "do you understand stock-raising and
sheep?"

I shook my head sally.

"Can you ride?"

"Oh yes," I cried, as I recalled the days when I had about as wild a
little Welsh pony as ever boy sat.

"Come, that's something; but you can't ride without a horse."

"No, sir."

"And have you any capital to buy land, and stock it?"

"Only a few pounds left, sir."

"Oh, you have a few pounds.  Well, yours seems a lively position, and I
suppose you both see that you have very little chance of getting on."

"Oh, I don't know, sir," said Esau.  "We've seen lots of places where we
could build a hut to begin with, and get on by degrees."

"Your eyes want opening a little wider, my lad.  Suppose you took up one
of the beautiful patches of land you saw near the river."

"Yes, sir, quite close, where we could catch salmon same as the Indians
do, and dry them.  I don't see if the Indians can live why we couldn't."

"For the simple reason that you are not Indians--savages, my lad.  Do
you know that if you did as you propose, some night you would have to
climb for your life, and cling in the branches of a huge pine, while the
flooded river swept away your hut."

"Don't sweep away your huts," said Esau, sulkily.

"Because they are two hundred feet above the river.  Well, what are you
going to do?"

"Start back again, sir, at once," I replied.

"And then?"

"Try to get work somewhere."

"And what am I to say to my sister and her husband when they come?"

"That we found out we had made a mistake, sir, and had set to work at
once to try and remedy it."

"You will sleep here to-night though, of course?"

I looked at Esau, and his eyes flashed back my opinion.

"No sir," I said.  "We thank you for what you have done, but we shall
start back directly, and sleep where we made our camp in the middle of
the day."

"Don't be hasty, my lad," said our host.  "It's wise sometimes to sleep
on a determination."

"It can't be here, sir," I said bitterly, "so goodbye, and thank you.
Come, Esau, we can get on for a couple of hours before it is quite
dark."

"All right," said Esau, sturdily; "and we can find our way back if we
didn't know it coming."

"Well, perhaps you are right," said Mr Raydon; "but of course you
understand that you are going back alone.  Mr Gunson will be on his way
into the mountains, and I dare say that China boy will follow him."

"I suppose he will, sir," I said.  "Better sleep on it, my lad."

"No, sir," I said, firmly.  "I would rather not."

"Too proud to accept the hospitality of the man who has told you such
home-truths?"

"Yes, sir; but more so to stay where I feel that we are not welcome."

"But you are welcome, my lads, as visitors.  Is not your friend and
leader very unreasonable, young man?" he continued, turning suddenly to
Esau; and I listened eagerly in dread, lest he should be won over to ask
for shelter for the night.

"Not a bit," said Esau, with a scowl.  "He's all right, and knows what's
best, and always did.  If it hadn't been for him I should have been
stupid enough to have gone for a soldier."

"Indeed!"

"Yes, indeed!" cried Esau; "and I tried all I could to get him to go
too, only he knew better.  Now then, Mr Gordon, I'm 'bout tired of
talking.  When you're ready, I am."

He moved toward the door and I followed him, having no words to say for
the moment; but as I reached the door they came, and I faced around to
see Mr Raydon's clear eyes fixed upon me.

"Good-bye, sir," I said, "and thank you.  When Mr John and dear Mrs
John come, don't scold them and talk to them as you have to me.  It
would only upset her, and she is sure to be still very delicate.  Tell
them I have gone to make a start for myself, and as soon as I am doing
well I shall try and write to her.  Good-bye."

"Good-bye," said Esau, defiantly; and he put his hands in his pockets,
began to whistle, and turned to me, to point to the head of a mountain
sheep with enormous curled horns.

"Pretty good load for a thing to carry," he said, as we reached the
door.

"Stop!"

That word seemed to cut its way into our brains, it sounded so fierce
and sharp, and its effect was to make us both face round wonderingly,
and look inquiringly at the speaker.

"I should have thought, sir, that it would have been more decent if you
had offered to shake hands with your host before you went."

"I beg your pardon, sir," I said, holding out my hand.  "Good-night--
good-bye!"

His large firm long fingers closed tightly on mine, and held my hand
prisoned so hardly that he gave me a good deal of pain.

"One minute, my lad," he said.  "Your father and mother were both
English, were they not?"

The mention of them made me wince.

"Both dead, I think my sister said?"

"Yes," I said huskily, and I tried to drag my hand away, but he held it
fast.

"So you are true English?" he said; "and a pretty opinion you have of
your fellow-countryman."

"I--I don't understand you, sir."

"To think after you have struggled up here so pluckily, and in so manly
a way, he would be such an inhuman brute as to let you go."

"Mr Raydon!"  I cried, huskily.

"And your friend, my lad, I hope, for my sister's sake and your own too,
if you justify the impression you have made.  There, you came to me
quite a stranger, and I wanted to see whether you had the manliness and
courage to refuse to stay, and I know that you have both, and would have
gone back.  Come," he said, pressing my hand warmly, "let what has
passed during the past few minutes go.  Sit here for a bit, both of you.
To-morrow we'll have a chat over what is to be done."

He smiled at me, gave Esau a nod, and went out.

We neither of us spoke, but looked across at each other in the softening
light, till suddenly Esau turned sharply round, and went and stood
looking out of the window, while I sank down on a stool, turned my back
to my companion, folded my arms on a desk, and laid my head thereon.



CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

WAS I DREAMING?

Quite an hour must have passed, and it had grown dark in that room,
where the heads of moose, elk, bear, and mountain sheep looked down upon
us from the walls, and the old clock had it all its own way,
_tick-tack_.  For neither of us spoke; I confess that I dared not.
Perhaps it was childish to feel so upset; perhaps it was natural, for I
had been over-wrought, and the pain I had suffered was more than I could
bear.

Esau, too, was overcome, I was sure; but it always after remained a
point of honour with us never to allude to the proceedings of that night
when we remained there back to back without uttering a word, and, till
we heard steps, without moving.  Then we both started round as if guilty
of something of which we were ashamed.  But the steps passed the door,
and they did not sound like those of Mr Raydon; and once more we waited
for his return.

It grew darker and darker, and as I slowly let my eyes wander about the
walls, there on one side was the long, melancholy-looking head of a
moose, with its broad, far-spreading horns, seeming to gaze at me
dolefully, and on the other I could see the open jaws and grinning white
fangs of a grizzly bear, apparently coming out of the gloom to attack
me, while the deer's heads about were looking on to see what would be
the result.  The place was all very strange, and the silence began to be
painful, for only at intervals was there some distant step.

At last, though, there came a loud, fierce barking, and it was quite
inspiriting to hear so familiar a sound.  This made Esau take a long
breath as if he felt relieved, and it unlocked his tongue at once.

"Hah!" he said; "seems quite natural-like to hear a dog bark.  Wonder
what he is?  Bet sixpence he's a collie.  Yes, hark at him.  That's a
collie's bark, I know."

We sat listening to the barking till it ceased, and then Esau said--

"Did seem too hard, didn't it?  But somehow I couldn't help feeling all
the time that he wouldn't serve us so bad as that.  So different like to
Mrs John, eh?"

"Hush!  Here he comes back."  For there was a firm heavy step that was
like a march, and the door was thrown open.

"Ah, my lads, all in the dark?  I had forgotten the light."

He struck a match, and lit a large oil-lamp, and sent a bright pleasant
glow through the place, which, from looking weird and strange, now had a
warm and home-like aspect.

"You'll like to get to bed soon.  Pretty tired, I expect.  I am too.  We
are early people here.  Early to bed and early to rise; you know the
rest of the proverb.  You'll sleep in the strangers' place tonight;
to-morrow we'll see what we can do.  Mine is a bachelor home, but we
have women here.  Some of my men have wives, but they are Indian.
Rather a wild place to bring my sister to--eh, Mayne?"

Then without giving me time to speak--

"Come along," he said.  "I told Mr Gunson that I would fetch you."

We followed him out, and I wanted to thank him; but I could not then,
and he seemed to know it, for he kept on chatting to us as we went along
one side of the enclosed square, pointing out how clear the sky was, and
how full of promise for the next day.  Then, as we reached the long low
building where we had had our meal, he threw open the door, and stood
back for us to enter.

"Good-night, Mayne," he said.

"Good-night, sir," I replied, rather huskily, and I clung to his hand a
little as he held it out.

"Good-night, Dean," he continued, and turning sharply off he sauntered
away back towards his quarters.

"Might ha' shook hands with me too," said Esau, sullenly.  "Didn't
offend him too much, did I?"

"No, no, don't say any more about it," I whispered.

Then we entered, to find Gunson seated on a rough stool by the fire
smoking his pipe, or pretending to, for I saw no smoke, and the red glow
from the embers lit up his face strangely.

"Ah, boys," he said, starting up from his musings; "there you are.
Well, you have dropped into snug quarters.  Bed-time, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," I said sadly.  "Hallo!  Not cheery that!"

"Are you still thinking of going, Mr Gunson?"  I said.

"Yes; at sunrise to-morrow morning, so if you want to see me off, you
must take down your shutters early."

"I am sorry."

"I am glad," he cried--"that you are sorry.  Been a pleasant trip up, my
lad, and I dare say we shall meet again some day.  We will, if I can
manage it."

"I say, where's old Quong?" said Esau, suddenly.  "Asleep this hour, in
the corner there."

"You want Quong--flesh tea--make blead--now?"

"No, no; go to sleep," said Gunson, laughing.  "Allee light.  I get up
and makee fi' keep bun; no let fi' go out."

He coiled up again under his blanket, and we sat some little time in
silence before Gunson rose.

"Good-night, boys," he said; and he went to the rough sleeping-place he
had chosen.

"S'pose we had better go too," said Esau, after we had sat looking at
the fire a few minutes in silence.

"I'm ready," I said quickly, and we went to our places, where I lay
listening to the hard breathing of my companions, for sleep would not
come.  All was so new and strange.  The fire had sunk down into a faint
glow which brightened now and then as a light breeze swept by the house,
and then sank down again, making the fireplace look ruddy, while all the
rest of the place was intensely dark.  Then all grew blacker still, and
I was listening to Mr John Dempster's hopeful words about meeting me at
his brother-in-law's home, and--

I was staring hard at the fire again, awake and fully aware that I had
been fast asleep, and that something was wrong.  The door was wide open.
I was sure of it, for I could see the square opening lit up with
brilliant stars, and to add to my certainty, the embers of the wood
fire, which had sunk lower and lower, were glowing again, as the soft
air from the door swept over them, in a curious phosphorescent way.

I listened, and heard that the others were sleeping heavily, and as I
gazed at the door I saw some of the stars blotted out by something
moving, while almost at the same instant a faint sound made me glance
toward the fire, where for a moment I saw against the faint glow the
shape of some animal.  A panting sound; it was a wolf I was sure, and I
lay there paralysed with dread, as I heard the soft pit-pat of the
animal's feet, and directly after a movement that did not seem to be
that of an animal.

I was right in that; for the fire glowed up, and I could see that it was
a man standing close by now, whose dress indicated that he must be an
Indian, for I just made out the edge of a hunting shirt, and I saw that
he wore leggings.

What ought I to do?  I thought if I shouted to spread the alarm it might
mean a sudden quick attack, perhaps death at once for me, while the
others would be unable to defend themselves in the dark.  The cold
perspiration oozed from my face, and I felt a sensation as if something
was moving the roots of my hair.

At last when the agony grew so intense that I felt I must shout for
help, the soft pit-pat of the animal's feet passed by me again, and was
followed by the sound of the man moving his moccasined feet, hardly
heard upon the boarded floor, and the stars were completely blotted out
by the closing door.

I started again, for there was a quick rustling sound now from my left,
and something passed me and made for the fire.  Then came relief, for
there was no doubt this time--it was Quong softly laying fresh pieces of
wood on the embers to keep the fire going till morning.

I lay back thankfully, determined to speak to him as he came back, and
ask him if he had heard a noise.  But I did not; he was so long in
coming; and when I did speak it was to Gunson, who was getting up, and
the grey light of morning was now filling the room, battling with the
glowing fire.  For I had been asleep after all, and I began to ask
myself whether I had dreamed about the Indian and the wolf.



CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.

LEAVE-TAKING.

A few minutes after I saw how darkness and fancy can combine to startle
one who wakes suddenly from sleep, for the man who had been Mr Raydon's
companion on the previous day suddenly made his appearance silently at
the door and walked in, his deerskin moccasins making no sound as he
came towards us.  He was followed by a great fierce-looking dog, about
whose neck was a formidable ruff of loose hair, and as he trotted
towards me I saw in them the Indian and the wolf of my scare.

"Morning," said the man, quietly; "needn't ask you how you slept.  I
came in late to see if the fire was all right, and you were all fast.
Here, Rough--quiet!  Better make friends with him at once," he
continued, turning to me.

For, after sniffing at Gunson, and Esau, who got out of his way as soon
as possible, the dog turned his attentions to me, smelling me all round,
as if to try whether I was good to eat, and then uttering a low deep
growl, to indicate, I suppose, that he was satisfied that I was a
stranger.

"Well," I said, laying my hand upon his head, feeling nervous though not
showing it, "are we to be friends?"

There was a deeper growl, and two fierce eyes glared up at me, while I
fully expected that my hand would be seized.  Then there was a slight
agitation of the great fluffy tail, which began to swing slowly from
side to side, and before I knew what was about to happen the great beast
rose up, planted its paws upon my shoulders, threw up its muzzle, and
uttered a deep-toned bay.

"That's all right," said the man; "you and he will be good friends now.
Can I do anything for you?  Start this morning, don't you?"

"Yes," said Gunson, "I'm off directly."

"Right; my wife will bring you some breakfast.--Come along."

He went to the door, and the great dog followed him with his muzzle
down; but as soon as he was outside he ran back to me, thrust his great
head against my side, uttered a loud bark, and then trotted off.

A few minutes after an Indian woman, dressed partly in English fashion,
came in with a kettle of tea and some cake and bacon, which she
smilingly placed ready for us, while Quong stood over by the fire
looking very serious and troubled.

Gunson smiled and gave me a cheery look, and we sat down to the early
meal; but I did not feel hungry, and was playing with my breakfast when
Mr Raydon came in, looking quiet and firm as he wished us good morning.

"Quite ready for your start then?" he said; "quite decided to go
to-day?"

"Quite," replied Gunson, shortly.  "If you come back this way I shall be
glad to see you," continued our host.

"Thank you.  I hope to come back safely some day, and," he said, turning
to me, "to see how you are getting on."

"I shall be very glad to see you again," I said warmly; for though I did
not feel that I exactly liked the prospector, there was something beside
gratitude which attracted me to him.

"The Chinaman goes with you, I suppose?" said Mr Raydon, glancing to
where Quong stood, looking troubled and uneasy at being superseded.

"I don't know.  He is free, and not tied to me in any way."

"What are you going to do?" said Mr Raydon, turning sharply on the
little fellow.

"Light n'--make blead--plenty tea hot--stlong.  Cookee, velly much
cookee.  Speak ploper English, allee same Melican man."

"Yes; but are you going on with Mr Gunson here?"

Quong looked at the prospector and then at me and at Esau, his little
black eyes twinkling, and his face as full of lines as a walnut-shell;
but Gunson made no sign, only went on with his breakfast.

"No wantee me," said Quong, shaking his head.  "Go washee washee gole,
no wantee Quong."

"Then if I offered you work, would you like to stay here for a while?"

"Make blead, flesh blead?  Yes, Quong going stop."

He looked at us and laughed.

Then Gunson spoke.

"Yes," he said, "he had better stay.  I can carry my own pack and cook
all I require.  There," he said, rising, "I'm ready for my start now.
Will you lads walk a little way with me?"

"Yes," I cried; and two minutes later we were outside, with Esau
shouldering the pack, while its owner stood for a few minutes talking
earnestly to Mr Raydon.  I could not hear his words, but from his
glancing two or three times in my direction, I guessed the subject of
their conversation.

Gunson would not let us go far, but stopped short at the rise of a steep
slope, at the foot of which the river ran.

"Good-bye, Mayne," he said.  "I shall come and look you up by and by if
the Indians do not kill me, or I am starved to death somewhere up
yonder.  No, no: my nonsense," he continued, as he saw my horrified
look.  "No fear; I shall come back safely.  Good-bye."

He shook hands with us both hurriedly, shouldered his pack, and we stood
there watching him till he disappeared round a curve in the valley.

"He don't like me," said Esau, in a grumbling tone, as we began to walk
back.

"And you never liked him," I said.

"No.  Perhaps it's because he had only got one eye.  Never mind, he's
gone now, and we're going to stay.  Will the old man set us to work?"

There seemed to be no sign of it at first, for when we returned to the
Fort Mr Raydon was away, and when he returned we spent our time in what
Esau called sight-seeing, for Mr Raydon took us round the place, and
showed us the armoury with its array of loaded rifles; took us into the
two corner block-houses, with their carefully-kept cannon, and showed us
how thoroughly he was prepared for danger if the Indians should ever
take it into their heads to attack him.

Then there were the stores, with the gay-coloured blankets and other
goods which were dear to the Indian and his squaw, and for which a
portion of a tribe came from time to time to barter the skins they had
collected by trapping and shooting.

There they were, bales of them--seal, sea-otter, beaver, skunk, marten,
and a few bear, the sight of all raising up in our hearts endless ideas
of sport and adventure possibly never to be fulfilled.

"There," said Mr Raydon, when we had seen all the stores, including
that where an ample supply of provisions was laid up, and we had visited
the homes of his men, all of whom had married Indian wives, "I have not
settled anything about you two lads yet.  I may set you to work perhaps,
but at all events not for a few days, so you can wander about the place.
Don't go away from the streams.  Why?" he added, as he saw my inquiring
look; "because if you wander into the forest there is nothing to guide
you back.  One tree is so like another that you might never find your
way out again.  Easy enough to talk about, but very terrible if you
think of the consequences.  If you ascend one of the streams, you have
only to follow it back to the river.  It is always there as a guide."

Nothing could have gratified us more, and for some days we spent our
time exploring, always finding enough to attract, watching the
inhabitants of the woods, fishing, bathing, climbing the trees, and
going some distance up into the solitudes of one of the mountains.

It was a pleasant time, and neither of us was in a hurry to commence
work, the attractions were so many.

"It's so different to being in streets in London," Esau was always
saying.  "There it's all people, and you can hardly cross the roads for
the 'busses and cabs.  Here it's all so still, and I suppose you might
go on wandering in the woods for ever and never see a soul."

It almost seemed as if that might be the case, and a curious feeling of
awe used to come over me when we wandered up one of the little valleys,
and were seated in the bright sunshine upon some moss-cushioned rock,
listening to the murmur of the wind high up in the tall pines--a sound
that was like the gentle rushing of the sea upon the shore.

Mr Raydon generally asked us where we had been, and laughed at our
appetites.

"There, don't be ashamed, Mayne," he said, as he saw me look abashed;
"it is quite natural at your age.  Eat away, my lad, and grow muscular
and strong.  I shall want your help some day, for we are not always so
quiet and sleepy as you see us now."

I had good reason to remember his words, though I little thought then
what a strange adventure was waiting to fall to my lot.



CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

WE MAKE A DISCOVERY.

We two lads wandered away one day along a valley down which a stream
came gliding here, roaring in a torrent there, or tumbling over a mass
of rock in a beautiful fall, whose spray formed quite a dew on the
leaves of the ferns which clustered amongst the stones and masses of
rock.  To left and right the latter rose up higher and higher crowned
with fir-trees, some of which were rooted wherever there was sufficient
earth, while others seemed to have started as seeds in a crevice at the
top of a block of rock, and not finding enough food had sent down their
roots over the sides lower and lower to where they could plunge into the
earth, where they had grown and strengthened till the mass of rock was
shut in tightly in what looked like a huge basket, whose bars held the
stone fast, while the great fir-tree ran straight up from the top.

These wild places had a constant attraction for us, the greater that we
were always in expectation of hearing a deer rush away, or catching
sight of some fresh bird, while there was always a shivering
anticipation of our coming face to face with a bear.

The sun came down glowing and hot into the ravine, where the strong
aromatic scent of the pines floated to us laden with health as we toiled
on higher and higher, leaping from rock to rock, wading or climbing, and
often making use of a great pine-trunk for a bridge.

"It's so different to the city," Esau used to say.  "The roaring of the
water puts you a bit in mind of Cheapside sometimes; but you can't lie
down there, and listen and think as you can here."

"What do you generally think about, Esau?"  I said.

"Dunno; mostly about getting higher up.  Let's get higher up now.  I
say, look at the trout.  Shall we try and get a few for dinner; the old
man likes them?"

"As we come back," I said.  "Let's go up higher now."

"How far would it be up to where this stream begins?"

"Not very far," I said.  "It cannot come from the ice up yonder."

"Why not?" he said sharply.  "I think it must."

"It cannot, because it is so clear.  We couldn't see the trout if it was
a glacier stream."

"Humph, no, I s'pose not.  Where does it come from then?"

"Oh, from scores of rills away perhaps in the mountains.  How
beautifully clear the water is!--you can see every stone at the bottom--
and, look, it's like a network of gold on the sand."

"What makes that?" said Esau.

"The ripple of the water as it runs.  How beautiful it all is!"

"Yes; I should like to build mother a cottage up there when she comes."

"That's what you always say.  Why don't you set to work and build one
ready when she does come?"

"If you talk like that I will," said Esau, irritably.  "Of course I
always say so--shame if I didn't."

"Well then, select your place and let's begin."

"Shan't! not for you to make fun of me," cried Esau, throwing himself
down.  "Now then, if you want to quarrel again, go it.  I shan't
grumble."

We went on by the side of the little stream for quite half-an-hour
almost in silence, not from Esau being out of temper, but from the
intense satisfaction we felt in being in so beautiful a place, and at
last sat down close by a gravelly-looking shallow, where the beautiful
clear water tempted us to lie flat down, lean over till we could touch
it, and drink.

"That's good water," said Esau, as he wiped his mouth.  "I wish plenty
of fruit grew here too.  What are you doing?  Why, you're not going to
hunt for gold, are you?"

I did not answer, but went on with what I was doing; scooping up the
gravel and sand, and agitating my hand till the light sand was washed
away and only the stones remained.  It was in imitation of what I had
seen Gunson and Quong do scores of times, and in the idlest of moods
that I did this, partly, I think, because the water felt cool and
pleasant to my hands, and the sensation of the sand trickling between my
fingers was agreeable.

"I wonder whether Gunson has found a good place for gold yet?"

"Dunno," replied Esau, with a yawn.  "I wish those people would come
here, so that we could set to work in real earnest, and be making a
house.  Shall you come and live with us, or with Mr and Mrs John?"

"Can't say at present.  All that sort of thing must be left till they
come, and--oh!"

"What's the matter?"

"Nearly slipped in; that's all," I said, selecting a fresh stone for my
seat, the one I had been using at the edge of the stream having turned
slowly over and pitched me forward.

"Only got wet; you would soon get dry again in the sunshine."

"Yes," I said, taking a fresh handful of gravel and beginning to shake
it to and fro in the stream, pausing every now and then to pick out the
big stones and throw them away, and the gravel after them, before taking
another handful.

"Makes your hands nice and clean, doesn't it?" said Esau.  "Nothing like
sand for that.  Found any gold yet?"

"Not yet," I said.

"No, nor you won't.  There's no gold here, only a few little specks like
Quong got."

"Oh, there might be," I said carelessly, as I thrust in my hand a little
deeper, and brought out a good handful of sand from lower down.  "Gunson
said he was sure there was plenty if you could--"

"Well, could what?" said Esau, as he lay back with his hands beneath his
head, his cap over his eyes, and his voice sounding hollow and strange
from having to run round inside his hat.

I did not answer, for I was washing the contents of my hand with a
sudden feeling of eagerness.

"Well?" he said again, "could what?"

"Esau, come and look down here," I whispered very huskily.

"Can't," he said, lazily.  "Too comfortable to move."

"Come here!"  I cried again.

"Shan't.  I'm tired.  I don't want to be roused up to look at a fly, or
some stupid bird in a tree.  You can look at it all to yourself."

"Come here, will you?"  I said so fiercely that he sprang up.

"What's the matter?"

"Come and look here!"

He rose and came to me, looking wonderingly at my hands, which I held
closely clasped together.

"What's the matter?" he said; "cut yourself?  Wait till I tear up my
hank'chief."

"No, no," I panted, and the excitement I felt made me giddy.

"Well, I thought you hadn't," he cried.  "Don't bleed.  Here, what is
it?  What's the matter with you?  You look as silly as a goose."

I stared at him wildly, and no answer came.

"He's going to be ill," I heard Esau mutter, as he shook me angrily.  "I
say, don't, don't have no fevers nor nothink out here in this wild place
where there's no doctors nor chemists' shops, to get so much as an ounce
o' salts.  Oh, don't, don't!"

"I'm not ill," I said at last.  "There's nothing the matter."

"Then what do you mean by frightening a fellow like that?  I say, I like
a game sometimes, but that's too bad."

"I--I didn't want to startle you, Esau," I said, hurriedly, as the giddy
sensation passed away.  "Look--look here."

I held my hands open before him, raising one from the other slowly, as I
felt half afraid that it was partly fancy, and that when my hand was
quite open, that which I believed I held would be gone.

"Well?" said Esau, "what of it?  Wet stones?  Think you'd caught a
little trout?"

"No, no," I cried impatiently.  "Look--look!"

I raised one finger of my right hand, and began to separate the little
water-worn stones with my palm raised in the sunshine, and for a few
moments neither spoke.  Then as Esau suddenly caught sight of some
half-dozen smoothly-ground scales, and a tiny flattened bead with quite
a tail to it, he uttered a shout.

"Hooray!" he cried.  "Gold!  That beats old Quong; he never got as much
as that in his tin plate.  Yah! 'tain't gold.  Don't believe it! it's
what old Gunson called Pyrrymids."

"Pyrites?  No," I said.  "It's gold; I'm sure of it.  Look what a
beautiful yellow colour it is."

"So's lots of things a beautiful yellow colour," said Esau, sneeringly,
as he curled up his lip and looked contemptuously at the contents of my
hand.  "Tell you what it is--it's brass."

"How can it be brass?"  I said, examining the scales, which looked dead
and frosted, but of a beautiful yellow.

"Very easy."

"Don't be absurd," I cried, bringing my school knowledge to bear; "brass
is an artificial product."

"That it ain't," cried Esau, triumphantly; "why, it's strong as strong,
and they use it for all sorts of things."

"I mean, it's made by melting copper and tin or zinc together.  It's an
alloy, not a natural metal."

"Don't tell me," said Esau, excitedly; "think I don't know?  It's brass,
and it's got melted up together somehow."

"Nonsense," I cried; "it's gold; I'm sure of it."

"'Tain't.  Yah! that isn't gold."

"It is; I'm sure."

"It's brass, I tell you."

"Impossible."

"Then it's copper."

"Copper isn't this colour at all, Esau.  It's gold."

"Not it; may be gold outside perhaps.  It's gilt, that's what it is."

"You stupid, obstinate donkey!"  I cried in a pet.

"Oh, I am, am I?  Look here, mister, donkeys kick, so look out."

"You kick me if you dare!"  I cried.

"Don't want to kick you, but don't you be so handy calling people
donkeys."

"Then don't you be so absurd.  How can a piece of metal out here be
gilt?"

"By rubbing up against other pieces, of course, just the same as your
boots get brazed by rubbing 'em on the fender."

"I believe you think it's gold all the time, only you will not own to
it," I cried.

"'Fraid to believe it, lad; too good to be true.  Why, if you can find
bits like that by just wiggling your hand about in the sand, there must
be lots more."

"Yes; enough to make us both rich."

"I say, think it really is gold?" whispered Esau, hoarsely.

"Yes, I feel sure of it."

"Look! there's another bit," he cried, dashing his hand down and sending
the water flying, as he caught sight of a scrap, about as big as a
flattened turnip-seed, in the sand, into which it sank, or was driven
down by Esau's energetic action.

"Gone!" he said, dismally.

"Never mind; we'll come on here with a shovel, and wash for more."

"But, I say, how do you know it's gold?  How can you tell?"

"One way is because it's so soft, you can cut it almost like lead."

"Who says so?"

"Gunson told me."

"Then we'll soon see about that," cried Esau, pulling out and opening
his knife.  "Sit down here on this stone and give me that round bit."

"What are you going to do?"  I said.

"Try if it'll cut.  Split it like you do a shot when you go a-fishing."

He picked the little pear-shaped piece from the sand, laid it on the
stone beside us, and placing the edge of the knife upon it, pressed down
hard, with the result that he cut a nick in the metal, which held on
fast to the blade of the big knife.

"There!"  I cried, triumphantly.

"I don't believe it yet," said Esau, hoarsely.  "Are you sure it ain't
that pyrry stuff?"

"Certain!--that all splinters into dust if you try and cut it.  I am
sure that's gold."

"Ain't much of it," said Esau.  "Take four times as much as that to make
a half-sovereign."

"Well, if we only got four times as much as that a day, it would mean
three pounds a week.  It is gold, and we've made a discovery that Gunson
would have given anything to see."

"And he's gone nobody knows where, and it's all our own," said Esau,
looking cautiously round.  "I say, think anybody has seen us?"

"What, up here?"  I said, laughing.

"Ah, you don't know.  I say, slip it into your pocket."

"Let's pick out the stones first."

"Never mind the stones," cried Esau; "slip it in.  We may be watched all
the time, and our finding it may turn out no good.  I'll look round."

He looked up and ran back a little way, peering in amongst the
tree-trunks and clumps of berries and fern.  Then returning he went
higher up the stream and searched about there before coming back.

"Don't see no one," he said, looking quite pale and excited at me.  "I
say, you're not playing any games are you?" he whispered, looking up.

"Games?"

"Yes; you didn't bring that and put it down there, and then pretend to
find it?"

"Esau!  As if I should!"

"No, of course you wouldn't.  It is all real, ain't it?"

"Yes; all real."

"Then we shall have made our fortune just before they come out to us.
Oh, I say! but--"

"What is it?"

"Shall we find this place again?"

"Yes; we only have to follow up the stream here, and it doesn't matter
about this one place: there must be gold all the way up this little
river right away into the mountains."

"But it will be ours, won't it?"

"I don't know," I said.

"But we found it--leastwise you did.  All this land ought to be yours,
or ours.  I say, how is it going to be?"

"I don't understand you," I said.

"I mean about that.  I s'pose you consider you found it?"

"Well, there isn't much doubt about that," I said.

"Oh, I don't see nothing to laugh at in it.  All right, then.  I don't
grumble, only you can't say as all the country up here is to be yours."

"Of course not.  What do you mean?"

"Oh, only that I don't see no fun in your making a fortune and me being
left nowhere.  I want a fortune too.  I'm going to hunt now for myself."

"Nonsense!"  I cried; "what is the use of your going away?  Isn't there
enough here for both of us?"

"Dunno," said Esau, scratching his head.  "That is what I want to know;
you ain't got much yet."

"Why, Esau," I said, struck by his surly way, "we were the best of
friends when we came out."

"Yes; but we hadn't found gold then--leastwise you hadn't."

"But what difference does that make?"

"Ever so much.  You're going to be rich, and I ain't.  Every one ain't
so lucky as you."

"But, Esau," I cried, "of course you will share with me.  We found it
together."

"Say that again."

"I say that we will share together."

"What, go halves?"

"Of course."

"You mean it?"

"Why, of course I mean it.  You've as good a right to the gold we find
as I have."

"Here, shake hands on it."

I laughingly held out my hand, which he seized and pumped up and down.

"I always thought your father was a gentleman," he cried.  "Now I feel
sure as sure of it.  Halves it is, and we won't tell a soul."

"But we must," I cried.

"What, and let some one come and get it all?"

"I should only tell some one who has a right to know: Mr Raydon."

"What right's he got to know?" cried Esau.  "I say, don't go and throw
it all away."

"I consider that Mr Raydon, who has welcomed us here and treated us as
friends, has a perfect right to know."

"But it's like giving him a share in it."

"Well, why not?"

"But, don't you see, it will be thirds instead of halves, and he'll want
to bring some one else in, and it 'll make it fourths."

"Well, and if he did?  Sometimes a fourth is better than a half.  I mean
with the help of a clever man we should get more for our fourth than we
should if we had half apiece."

"Oh, all right.  I s'pose you know," he cried; "but I wouldn't tell any
one else."

"Of course I'm right," I said, sharply.

"And we couldn't go on getting the gold here without his knowing it.  So
you'd better tell him."

"That's a nice selfish way of looking at it, Master Esau," I said.

"Dessay it is," he replied; "but gold makes you feel selfish.  I dunno
that I feel so glad now that we've found it."

And I don't think I felt quite so excited and pleased as I had a short
time before.

"It ain't my fault," said Dean; "it's your thinking I didn't want to
play fair."

"Don't talk like that," I cried, angrily.  "Who thinks you don't want to
play fair?  No, no; don't say any more about it.  Now then: can we
recollect this spot exactly?"

"Why, you said that there must be gold all along."

"Yes, I know," I cried; "but Mr Raydon may want to see the place, and
we must bring him where we can find some and show him directly."

"Well," said Esau, "there's a clump of fir-trees on this side, and a
clump of fir-trees on that side."

"Oh, you old stupid," I cried, "when there are clumps of fir-trees
everywhere.  That won't do."

"Well then, let's make a cross with our knives on those twisting ones."

"What, to tell people this is the very place?  That wouldn't do."

"Well then," he cried, peevishly, "you find out a better way."

I stood thinking a few minutes, but no better way came.  Then I thought
I had hit out the plan.

"Look here," I said, "we'll make the two crosses on the other side of
the trees.  No one would notice them then."

Esau burst into a hoarse laugh.

"Of course they will not," he said, "nor us neither.  Why, you keep on
coming to trees like these over and over all day long.  We shan't find
'em again."

I felt that he was right, and thought of plan after plan--putting stones
in a heap, cutting off a branch, sticking up a post, and the like, but
they all seemed as if they would attract people to the spot, and then
induce them to search about and at last try the sand as Quong did, and I
said so.

"Yes," said Esau, "that's right enough.  There ain't many people likely
to see 'em but Indians, and I s'pose they won't go gold-washing, nor any
other washing, for fear of taking off their paint."

"Well, what shall we do?"  I cried.  "We mustn't lose the place again
now we have found it, and we shall be sure to if we don't mark it.  I've
seen hundreds of places just like this."

"Well then, why not make a mark?" said Esau.  "Because whoever sees it
will be sure that it means something particular, for some one to stop
and search."

"Make a mark then on that big tree which will tell 'em to go on," said
Esau, grinning.

"But how?"

"I'll show you," he said; and he took out his big knife from its sheath.
"Let's look round again first."

We looked round, but the silence was almost awful, not even a bird's
note fell upon our ears.  Once a faint, whistling sound came from the
far distance, that was all; and Esau went up to the biggest fir-tree
whose trunk was clear of boughs, and he was about to use his knife, when
we both jumped away from the tree.  For from close at hand came a sharp,
clear tap, as if somebody had touched the ground with a light cane.

"What's that?" whispered Esau, with his eyes staring, and his mouth
partly opened.

I shook my head.

"Some one a-watching us," he whispered.  "Here, let's dive right in
among the trees and see."

But I held his arm, and we stood in that beautiful wild ravine,
listening to the rippling of the water, and peering in among the tall
pines, expecting to see the man who had made the sound.

"I say," whispered Esau, "I can't see or hear anything.  Ain't it rather
rum?"

He said "rum," but he looked at me as if he thought it very terrible,
with the consequence that his fear was contagious, and I began to feel
uncomfortable as we kept looking at each other.

"Shall we run?" whispered Esau.

At another time such an idea would not have occurred to him.  The forest
and the streams that run up the valleys were always solitary, but we
felt no particular dread when going about, unless we saw the footmarks
of bears.  But now that we were in possession of the secret of the gold,
the same idea of our being watched impressed us both, and we turned cold
with fear, and all because we had heard that faint blow on the ground.

I don't know whether I looked pale as I stood by Esau, when he asked me
if we should run, but I do know that the next moment I felt utterly
ashamed of myself, and in the reaction--I suppose to conceal my shame
for my cowardice--I struck Esau heavily on the shoulder and made a false
start.

"Run--run--the Fort!"  I cried.  Esau bounded off, and I hung back
watching him till he turned to see me standing there laughing, when he
stopped short, looking at me curiously, and then came slowly to where I
was.

"What did you say run for?" he cried, angrily.

"You asked me if you should," I replied.

"Then there ain't no one coming?"

"No."

"What a shame!" he cried.  "It's too bad."

"Yes, for us to be frightened at nothing.  Do you know what that noise
was?"

"No, I don't know."

"It was a squirrel dropped a nut or a fir-cone.  Why, it's just the same
noise as you hear in the country at home when they drop an acorn."

"Then why didn't you say so?  I've never been in no countries where
squirrels shies nuts and acorns at people.  I've always seen 'em in
cages spinning round and round."

"That's what it was, Esau.  There's nobody watching.  Now then, how are
you going to mark the tree?"

He looked at me rather sulkily, but began to smile directly, as he drew
his keen-edged knife across the trunk of the great tree upon which he
was going to operate before.  Then, making a parallel incision close to
the first, he produced a white streak where he removed the bark.

"Well," I said, "that's as bad as anything."

"No, it ain't: wait a bit," he said; and carving away at the thick bark,
he made four deep incisions at one end so as to form an arrow-head, and
eight at the other end for the feathering of the arrow, so that when he
had ended there was a rough white arrow on the red bark pointing down
the river, and of course in the direction of the Fort.

"There!" he said, triumphantly.  "No brave will think that means gold in
the stream, will he?"

I confessed that it was most unlikely, and we started off home.

"Wouldn't old Quong like to know of that?"  I said.

"Yes; he'd give something--half of what he found I dare say," cried
Esau; "but he isn't going to know, nor anybody else, from me."



CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

"ON MY WORD OF HONOUR."

I felt rather startled when we left the valley, for we came suddenly
upon a large party of Indians who seemed very different to the quiet,
stolid-looking beings we had been accustomed to see with their skin
canoes, or busy fishing along the side of the river.  These were
swarthy, fierce-looking fellows, mounted on sturdy, wiry-looking
ponies--steeds which they sat admirably.

It might be thought that they would be as much surprised and startled as
we were, but they did not make a sign to indicate that they even saw us,
but rode slowly along, well armed, and with their long hair, feathers,
and gaily-coloured blankets, giving them a brightly picturesque look.

"They don't mean mischief, do they?" whispered Esau.

"No, they must be friendly Indians," I said; "and look, they've got
packs on those other horses.  I know: they are taking skins up to the
Fort."

This proved to be the case, for the party kept right on in the same
track as we were taking, halting a short distance from the gate of the
Fort; but, though we were pretty close to them all the time, they never
made the slightest sign of being aware of our presence; and when we
entered, and I glanced back, I could see that they were already
beginning to make their little camp, while others were seeing to the
laden horses.

"What!" said Mr Raydon, when I told him of my discovery.  "Gold?"

"Yes; and I think in large quantities."

"Are you sure it is gold?" he said.  I took out what I had found, and
placed the little scales before him.  He seized them, and examined them
carefully, closing his hand over them afterward, and sitting gazing
straight before him for some moments, while a chill of dread ran through
me.

"It is not gold," I thought; and as I gazed at him intently, he looked
up.  "Well?" he said.

"You think it is not gold, sir?"  I said.  "I am sure it is," he
replied, sadly.  "Tell me whereabouts you found it;" and I described the
place.

"Yes," he said; "one of our most lovely valleys.  Here, are you tired?"

"No."

"Are you?" he said, turning to Esau, who replied that he was not the
least so.

"Stop a moment--to whom have you spoken?"

"Spoken, sir?"

"How many people about the place have you told about the gold?"

"No one, sir."

"Neither of you?" he said, with a sharp look at Esau.

"We came straight to you," I said, "because I felt that you ought to
know about it, and I thought you would give us your advice."

He laid his hand on my shoulder, and gripped it fast, speaking very
firmly, but in a kindlier tone than I had heard from him before.

"That's right," he said, "quite right.  We'll go up there at once, and
see if this is an important discovery, or only one of the little patches
that are found at times."

"Then no one saw you there?" he said, after a few minutes' thought.

"We did not see a soul, sir, till we came out of the little valley, and
found that party of Indians coming here."

He stood with his brows knit, thinking deeply, and then he nodded his
head sharply.

"Yes," he said, "we'll go at once.  Come along."

He led us to his garden, and out of the shed took a shovel and a shallow
wooden basket.

"You lads can carry these," he said, "and I'll take my rifle.  It will
look as if we are going on some pleasure trip.  One minute, though,
while I give orders about those Indians."

He spoke to his second in command, giving him some instructions, whose
import I did not understand then; and afterwards we strolled out through
the gate slowly enough, and wandered away along the track and down by
the lake, Mr Raydon stopping every now and then to pick up some flower
or stone to which he drew my attention.

This went on till we were out of sight of the Fort, when his whole
manner changed.

"Now, boys," he said, sharply, "on as fast as you can.  How far is it
from here?"

"About two hours' walk," I said.

"Then we shall not be back much before dusk; so best leg foremost."

It was quite the two hours before we got to the spot where the tree was
blazed, and Mr Raydon's keen eyes detected the sign long before we were
abreast of it.

"Your mark to show the spot, eh?" he said.  "Very ingenious.  It would
have deceived me.  Now wait a few minutes."

He walked forward for a few hundred yards, and then returned.

"No one has been along here," he said.  "There is not a footmark.  Now
then; to work."

He stood his rifle against a tree, stripped off his boots and stockings,
and signed to me to do the same.

"You, my lad," he said to Esau, "keep watch by my rifle, and at the
slightest sign or sound give me warning.  Now then, Gordon, in with you
and use the shovel."

I stepped into the stream, where it was shallow, and in obedience to his
instructions plied the tool, and threw three or four spadefuls into the
shallow wooden basket, which he held down then in the running water, and
rapidly agitated, giving it a curious circular motion, and letting the
light sand run with the water over the side.  Then he stopped from time
to time to pick out stones.

"Another shovelful," he said, "from that place.  Yes," he continued, as
I obeyed him; "now another from as deep as you can.  In with it."

Thus in the late afternoon, with the sun getting low, and throwing our
shadows far over the stream, he worked the basket about in the water
somewhat after the manner adopted by Quong, but of course on a large
scale, for the basket was heavy with what I had thrown in, and it made
the muscles stand out in knots upon his arms where he had rolled his
sleeves up to his shoulders; and I remember thinking, as I gazed at his
sun-browned face and grey hair, what a fine thing it must be to feel so
big and strong and manly.

Esau stood resting on the rifle, for he could not resist the temptation
of taking hold of it to stand like a sentry, while I, nearly up to my
knees in water, raised one foot and rested it on the blade of the
shovel, as intent as my companion, and, I am afraid, indulging in all
kinds of golden dreams of wealth and position, and of how happy we
should all be.

It did not take long to arrange what I should do for Mrs John Dempster.
I know I had determined upon a carriage and pair, with a very careful
coachman, expressly for her use; though how it was to be got out to that
wilderness, or used there, I did not stop to think.  I only meant her to
grow well and strong, and have every luxury, while Mr John could be a
perfect country gentleman, and study, and be my friend.  That gold was
to be regular Arabian Nights wealth, and I felt already quite a prince.
These ideas floated rapidly through my brain, while Mr Raydon made a
low washing noise with the tiny basket, and discoloured the flowing
water as he let the fine sand pass away.

All at once he stopped, held the dripping basket--every drop which ran
from it turned to ruddy gold by the sinking sun--tightly between his
knees, and again rapidly picked out the larger stones, sending them
flying about, to fall with a splash in the water.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"No, my boy, no," he said.  "I have done this thing before.  One can
manage it best."

Just then I heard a sigh from Esau, who could not refrain in his anxiety
from coming nearer the river.

This made Mr Raydon look up sharply, and he smiled.

"Hullo, sentry," he said, "you're not keeping a good look out.  Mind
what you are about with that rifle."

"Yes, sir, I'll be very careful," said Esau, "and I am looking out
well."

"For the gold," said Mr Raydon, in an undertone, which words I caught,
as he went on picking and throwing out smaller stones, then washing the
basket round again and again, and the more he worked, the more his
countenance seemed to change, till it looked older and more careworn
than I had ever seen it before.

I knew that there were a few scales and beads of gold, for I had seen
them glisten in the sunshine as he rapidly moved the basket but directly
after I felt horribly disappointed, for he set it right down in the
water, the weight of stones within it keeping it at the bottom, and
splashed toward me.

"Here," he said roughly, "give me the shovel."

I gave it into his hand, and he waded half across to where there was an
eddy behind a huge mass of rock, and bending down here, he scraped away
the stones and sand, as if trying to make a hole, discolouring the water
right along the stream.  Then, forcing the shovel down as far as he
could drive it, he brought up a dripping quantity of sand and small
gravel, placed it in the basket, returned for another shovelful, and
placed it with the other before handing the shovel to me.

"If there is much gold," he said, "it would lie at the bottom of that
eddy, where it would be swept when the stream is in flood.  Now, then,
we shall see."

For another ten minutes he went on washing again, while I could see
Esau, as he crept nearer and nearer, perspiring with impatience, and
glancing up and down what in the setting sun now seemed to be a golden
valley, for water, rocks, and the ferns seemed to be tinted of a ruddy
yellow, and the tall fir-trees stood up like spires of gold.

At last I caught a glimpse of something bright again, but I could not be
sure that there was more gold in the basket; it might only be the stones
glistening in the wonderful ruddy light that filled the ravine.

"Hah!" ejaculated Mr Raydon, and he once more set down the basket
beneath the water.  "Hard work.  What trouble men take to get gold!"

"There is some in the basket, isn't there, sir?"  I said anxiously, and
in no wise prepared for the result.

"We'll see directly," he said.  "Let's get out of this.  The water is
bitterly cold."

He waded out now with the basket, from which the golden water dripped as
if the contents were melting.

"Why, there is some," cried Dean, excitedly.

"Some?" cried Mr Raydon, bitterly.  "Unfortunately, yes.  Look!" and he
held the basket sidewise in the full blaze of the glowing sun, giving it
a shake, so that we could see scales, beads, and tiny nuggets dotted
about among the flashing stones, and all looking of that beautiful pure
yellow colour which is possessed alone by native gold.

"Why, there must be pounds," cried Esau, excitedly.

"Pish!" ejaculated Mr Raydon, contemptuously.  "How you boys let your
imagination go wild!  There must be, however, a full ounce--a wonderful
washing for the trial."

"Then you are not disappointed, sir?"  I said, eagerly.

"Yes," he cried, turning upon me fiercely; "horribly."

"But there must be quantities more, sir."

"Yes.  I was in hopes that it was a mere patch, but everything points to
the fact that the stream is rich, and it may be far better higher up."

"But you said you were disappointed, sir?"  I said, as he sat down, and
began to replace his stockings and boots.

"I am boy, horribly."

"With all that wealth before us?"

"Yes.  Do you know what it means?"

"Riches for us all, sir," I said, proudly.

"Hah!  Look here, boy.  I have been out in these glorious valleys many
years now.  The place is a perfect Eden, where nature smiles upon us,
and wealth showers her golden gifts.  You know my home, and that no
troubles come, save some trifle with the Indians now and then.  Do you
know what would happen if it were known that this ravine teems with
gold?"

"We should set to work and make fortunes of it, sir, and not let it be
known."

"Bah!  Impossible, Gordon.  In one month from now the news would have
spread; and as long as the gold lasted, this place would be turned from
a Paradise into a horror.  The scum of the American population would
float here, with all the lawlessness that was in California in its early
days.  Drinking-bars and gambling-saloons would rise like mushrooms; and
where now all is beauty and peace, there would be robbery, violence,
murder, drunkenness, and misery too horrible to contemplate."

"What!"  I cried, incredulously, "because a rich supply of gold is
found?"

"Yes.  I have seen it all, and I know," he cried; "and I have often
hoped and prayed that no gold might be found near here.  Gold can be
made a blessing, but too often it has proved a curse."

I looked at Esau, and in spite of my trouble and disappointment as I saw
my fortune fading away, and with it Mrs John's carriage and my life of
ease and plenty, I could not help smiling, for my companion's face was
comic in the extreme.

"There, let's get back," said Mr Raydon, stamping his feet in his heavy
boots.

"But what--"

"Am I going to do with the gold?" he said, quickly.  "Oh, we'll take it
home with us.  Dig up a root or two of those ferns to put in the basket,
and hide what we have found."

"Then you will not work for the gold with us, sir?"  I said, as Esau
stood holding the rifle, listening eagerly.

"No," said Mr Raydon, sternly.  "And now listen.  I am chief officer of
this fort and station.  I am, so to speak, almost a king here among
these people; and amongst the tribes who come to trade I am their father
and chief of chiefs, and my word is law."

"Yes, sir, I know," I said.

"You two lads were sent out to me by my thoughtless brother-in-law, who
is always meaning well and doing ill.  You were delighted by the
prospect, and did not see what a mad scheme it was.  As it happens, all
has turned out well, though it is almost a miracle to me that you have
both reached me in safety."

I thought of Gunson, and how we could not have done it without his help;
and as I thought of him, I recalled the object of his visit to this
region--prospecting for gold and other metals--and of what he would say
to our discovery.

"Well," said Mr Raydon, "you reached me safe and sound, and though I
was annoyed at your coming and being thrown on my hands as you were, I
think I may say I have not treated you unkindly."

"Indeed you have not," I cried earnestly, as I held out my hand to him.
"You have been very generous to us both, sir, and I am most grateful."

"Then prove it," he cried, gripping my hand.

"How, sir?  What shall I do?"

"Hold your tongue.  Do not say a word of your discovery to a soul.
Above all, that friend of yours, Gunson, the prospector, must never
know."

"Not tell any one, sir?  Not make use of our discovery?"

"No," he said, firmly.  "Promise."

"Oh, I say!" cried Esau.

"And you too, sir!" said Mr Raydon.

I stood looking at him for a few minutes, thinking as he fixed his eyes
on mine, and then I pressed his hand firmly.

"Yes, sir; I promise."

"On your word of honour as a gentleman's son?"

"On my word of honour as a gentleman's son, sir," I said, proudly.

"That will do," he said, releasing my hand, and smiling at me warmly.
"I like that, Mayne, better than any oaths.  Now, Esau Dean, what have
you to say?"

"Oh, I don't like it at all, sir," said Esau, bluntly; "but him and me's
been mates all through, and I won't go back from anything he says.  But
it is disappointing, now ain't it?"

"It seems so to you, my lad," said Mr Raydon, kindly; "but give me your
promise, and it may prove of more value to you than your share of the
gold.  You see I give up my claim, and mine would be a big one if I
liked to exercise it, I dare say."

"Am I to promise, Mr Gordon, sir?" said Esau.

"Yes, just as I have."

"All right, I promise too."

"I look to you both to keep your words."

"I shan't tell nobody unless he does," said Esau, gruffly, as he stood
the rifle against a stone.

"And he will not," said Mr Raydon.  "There, let's get back.  I never
leave the place as a rule when Indians are about."

"Are they dangerous?"  I asked.

"No; and yet not to be trusted.  What savages really are, Gordon?
Thanks, my lad," he said, as I dug up and placed a couple of fern-roots
with their spreading fronds in the basket, so as to completely cover the
fine gravel at the bottom, and the gold.  "We must wash it again when we
get back," he continued, "and then divide it in two equal portions, for
you lads to keep as a memento of to-day's work.  Now, Dean, give me my
rifle."

Esau ran back to where he had stood the rifle, and was coming back, when
he tripped and fell.

At the same moment it seemed to me that some one struck me a violent
blow beneath my left shoulder which drove me partly round, and made me
drop the basket just as there was a sharp report, followed by a peculiar
ringing in my ears, and then all was blank.



CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.

MY DOCTOR AND NURSE.

When I opened my eyes again it was with a horrible sensation of sickness
at my heart, and my eyes swam, but I could dimly make out Mr Raydon's
face, as he leaned over me, and I heard him say, as if he was speaking a
very long way from me in a very small voice--

"That's right; go on.  Keep bathing his face."

Then I heard Esau speak in a faint choking voice.

"Oh, sir! oh, sir!  He won't die, will he?  Tell me he won't die."

"I tell you to keep on bathing his face.  There, take that basket and
throw the wretched gold back into the stream.  The basket will hold a
little water at the bottom.  No, no! squeeze what you have in your
handkerchief first over his face."

There was a cool refreshing sensation on my face directly after, and all
the time I could hear that Esau was in great trouble, for he kept on
softer with a curious moaning voice--

"Oh--oh--oh--oh!"

It seemed very strange, and sounded to me as if it was all occurring
some distance off, and I wanted to shout to him, and ask what was the
matter.  But Mr Raydon was still leaning over me, pulling me about it
seemed, and a sharp pain suddenly shot through me, and made me wince.

"Don't--don't," I said, faintly; but he kept on burning me, so it seemed
to me, with a red-hot iron in the chest; and after doing this for some
time, while Esau kept on after a bit making his low moaning sound and
splashing water over my face, Mr Raydon turned me over, and began
burning me on the back.

I wanted to struggle, and tell him to leave off, but no words would
come; and he kept on hurting me dreadfully, and pushing me about, for
what seemed to be a terribly long time, before he turned me again upon
my back.

"Oh, do tell me, sir, please do tell me, whether he'll die," I heard
Esau say again, and I fancied that I caught sight of him through a thick
cloud.

"I cannot tell you, my lad," I heard Mr Raydon say.  "Please God! no."

"But I shot him, sir; I shot him.  It was me, and I declare to goodness
I'd sooner have shot myself."

"Yes, my lad, I believe you," said Mr Raydon, very faintly, from
further away now.

"Is it--is it right through the heart?"

"No, no, no, not, so bad as that.  The bullet has passed right through
just below the shoulder."

"There--then he'll bleed to death," groaned Esau.

"No; I've stopped that.  Quick! more water; he's going off again."

"He's dying! he's dying!" cried Esau, very close to me now, as it seemed
to me; but his voice died out quickly, beginning as a shrill cry and
ending in a faint whisper, and it all grew dark and silent for a time.
Then once more I seemed to wake up with a shrill-toned bell ringing
loudly in my ears; and I lay with a terrible sensation of deathly
faintness till I heard Esau say, close to me--"I'll carry him, sir."

"No, no, my lad."

"But you don't know how strong I am, sir."

"We must not shake him more than we can help, and he must be in an easy
position.  Have you your knife?  I left mine."

"Yes, sir, here," cried Esau; and then in a low voice, "Oh, poor chap!
poor chap!--what have I done!"

I lay very still then, listening to a hacking noise as if some one were
chopping with a knife, and I listened again for what seemed a long time
to a good deal of rustling and panting, and what sounded like the
tearing up of handkerchiefs.

"There," said Mr Raydon, "if we are careful that will bear him.  Now
then--no, wait a moment.  I must tie the rifle to this pole.  I want
something else."

"Here's my other boot-string, sir," I heard Esau say.

"Yes, capital.  That will do.  Now, are you ready?  Get hold of his legs
quietly; don't hesitate, and when I say _now_, both lift together."

I had some faint, wondering thought as to whom they were talking about,
when a terrible pang shot through me, and I felt myself lifted up and
laid down again on what felt like a bed of fir-branches.  The sickness
did not increase, and I lay there listening to some one moaning as if in
pain, while I became conscious of a curious, swinging motion as I was
being gently borne up and down and carried through the air.

Then I seemed to fall into an uneasy sleep, and to lie and dream about
Mr Raydon burning my chest with red-hot irons, and these changed to
little nuggets of gold which burnt me every time they touched my chest
or back.  At times the pain ceased, and then it began again, always with
the swaying motion, while now and then, when the movement ceased, I
began to dream of cool fresh water moistening my brow, and being
trickled between my burning lips.

That was a long, wearisome, painful dream, which lasted for what felt
like an indefinite time, to be succeeded by other dreams in which the
terrible bear's head from Mr Raydon's office was always pursuing me,
and the great moose's head looking on in a melancholy, pitiful way.

And it did not appear strange to me that as I tried to escape and
started on up and up a ravine where the sun scorched my brains, that the
heads should be following without, any bodies.  There they always were,
the bear's head with the huge teeth waiting to seize me if I only halted
for a minute, and the moose's head hurrying on to be there and pity me
when I was caught.

How I seemed to toil in terrible agony to get away, the sun burning, and
the way up which I climbed growing more and more stony with precipices,
down which I was always about to fall!  Then great rows of the heads of
the mountain sheep came in my way with their large curled horns
threatening to drive me back into the jaws of the grizzly bear, which
was always close behind.  It seemed hidden sometimes behind heaps of
skins, but I always knew it was there, and its great muzzle came out
again.

I tried to run--to climb further, but something held me back, and the
burning on my head grew terrible.  I was thirsty too, and I thought that
the moose pitied me, and would show me the way to water; but it only
looked at me mournfully till I awoke in the darkness, and lay wondering
for a few minutes before I stretched out my hand and felt that I was in
my bed, and as I lay there, I suddenly saw in the darkness the shape of
my door formed by four faint streaks of light which grew brighter, and
directly after there was the sharp point of light where the keyhole was,
near one side.

It seemed very strange, and more so that the door should open directly
after, and Mr Raydon be standing there in his shirt and trousers
carrying a candle.

"What does he want?"  I thought to myself in a confused way, as I saw
him come into our room, and the light fell on Esau, who was not
undressed, but lying on his bed with his mouth wide open.

Suddenly he started up, and Mr Raydon raised his hand, and I heard him
say, "_Sh_!"  The next minute he was holding the candle over my bed,
looking in on my face.

"What's the matter?"  I said; "I'm not asleep;" but it did not sound
like my voice speaking.

It was Mr Raydon's turn now, and he whispered to me--

"Lie quite still, Mayne.  Are you in much pain?"

"No," I said.  "I don't know.  My shoulder aches."

"Don't talk; try and go to sleep again."

I looked up at him in a confused, puzzled way, and as I looked his face
began to grow misty, and the candle to burn more dimly, till both faded
slowly away, and all was dark once more.

I opened my eyes once more, and there was Mr Raydon standing by me with
a candle, and it was so faint that I could not be sure; and so it was
again and again as it seemed to me, and when I opened my eyes at last,
the bedroom window was wide, the sun shining in, and bringing with it
the sweet lemon-scented odour of the pines, and Esau was seated there
watching me.

"Hush!" he said, as I was opening my lips to speak.  "Mustn't talk."

"Nonsense," I said; "I want to know."

I stopped there, for my voice puzzled me, and I lay wondering for a few
moments, till, like a flash of the sunshine coming into my darkened
brain, I recollected the blow, the report of the rifle, and Esau's cry,
and knew that the rifle had gone off when he fell, and I was lying there
badly wounded.

"Mr Raydon said you wasn't to speak a word," said Esau, softly; and he
stole out of the room so quietly that I knew he must be without his
boots.

A few minutes passed, and the door opened again, with Mr Raydon coming
in on tiptoe to advance and take my right hand within his left, and
place a couple of fingers on my wrist.  I smiled as he played the part
of doctor like this, and he smiled back.

"Don't talk," he said; "I'll do that, my lad.  Come, this is better.
Not so feverish as I expected.  Just whisper when I ask a question.
Feel in much pain?"

"My shoulder aches and burns," I said.

"Yes; it will for a time; but that will soon go off.  You remember now
about the accident?  Yes?  That's right.  You were a little delirious
last night, and made me anxious, for we have no doctor hereabouts."

"Don't want one," said Esau, softly.

Mr Raydon asked me a few more questions, cautioned me not to speak
much, and to lie quite still, and then left us together.

Esau sat looking at me for a few minutes with his arms rested upon his
extended knees.

"I say, you're not to talk, you know, but I may.  I say, I am so sorry.
Hush!--no!  You mustn't say you know that, or anything else.  I only
want to tell you it was an accident.  You do know, don't you?"

I nodded, and then lay back with my eyes closed; the pain caused even by
that slight movement being agonising.

Dean saw it, and rose to moisten a sponge with cool water, and apply it
to my temples, with the effect that the faint sensation coming on died
away.

"Don't--please don't try to move again," he whispered, piteously.  "You
don't know how it hurts."

The idea of its hurting Esau sounded so comical to me in my weak state
that I could not help smiling.  "That's right," he said; "laugh again,
and then I shall know I needn't go and fetch him.  I say, do make haste
and get better.  Shall I tell you all about it?  Don't speak; only say
`yes' and `no' with your eyes.  Keep 'em open if you mean _yes_, and
shut 'em for _no_.  Now then, shall I tell you?"

I kept looking at him fixedly.

"That means yes.  Well, I was bringing the gun, when I tripped and fell
and it went off, and I wished it had shot me instead."

Esau gave a gulp here, and got up and began to walk up and down the
room, pressing first one hand and then the other under his arms as if in
pain from a cut at school with the cane; and for some moments the poor
fellow was suffering so from emotion that he could not continue.  At
last he went on in obedience to an eager look from my eyes.

"I run up just as he caught you, and tore off your things.  Oh, it was
horrid.  I felt when I saw what I'd done, and him bandaging you up, as
if I'd killed you.  But you don't feel so bad now.  You ain't going to
die, are you?  Say you ain't."

I kept my eyes fixed on his, forgetting in my excitement what I ought to
have done, when a cry brought me to myself, and I closed my eyes
sharply.

"Ah, that's better," cried Esau, and kneeling down by my bed he went on
telling me how, as soon as I was bandaged, Mr Raydon cut two light
poles and bound short pieces across them.  Then on these he laid
pine-boughs, and I was lifted up, for them to convey me slowly down the
ravine, and back to the Fort.

"I say," whispered Esau, "I thought last night he meant to cheat us, and
get all the gold for himself; but I don't think so now.  Wish he liked
me as much as he likes you.  What?  Do I think he does like you?  Yes;
I'm sure of it.  He was in a taking last night.  And I say--ain't he
quite a doctor too?  He could do anything, I believe.  There, I mustn't
talk to you any more, because you were to be kept quiet."

It must not be imagined that Esau had kept on saying all the above to me
rapidly, for one of these sentences was whispered very slowly now and
then as I lay back feeling not much pain, but hot and feverish, and this
change was noticed soon after by Mr Raydon when he came into the room.

"You have been letting him talk," he said, angrily, as soon as he had
taken my hand.

"That I ain't, sir," cried Esau, indignantly.  "Never let him speak a
word."

"That's right.  He must be kept very still," said our friend, and he
hurriedly left the room.

"Rather hard on a chap when he has been so particular," grumbled Esau.
"Well, it was my doing, so I mustn't mind."

He was still grumbling when our host re-entered with something in a cup
which he gave me a little at a time, so that I should not have to move,
and soon after he had left me my eyelids grew heavy, and I fell into a
deep sleep, which lasted till it was growing dark, and I could only just
make out Esau's head as he sat watching by my bed.



CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.

IN THE SPRING.

Ask anybody what is the most delicious thing in life, and see what he or
she will say.  I do not believe any one will tell you what I do now.  It
is to have been dangerously ill, to be brought down very weak, to be
getting better, and then to be carried or led out to sit in the sunshine
of some bright genial morning.

Ah! that long breath of sweet life-inspiring air--those trees--those
flowers--the blue sky--the bark of that dog--those kindly words of
inquiry--that all-round feeling of joy and delight at being out there
once more; the sensation which will bring the weak tears in your eyes
for the simple reason that you are so happy.  Yes, it is a pleasant
thing to have been very ill, if only for the sake of the thankful
sensation that comes the first time you go out once more in the bright
sunshine.

How delightful it was, and what a long weary dream of misery I had
passed through!  I hardly knew even then how bad I had been.  When I
spoke to Esau he used to screw his face up full of wrinkles, and shake
his head, while Mr Raydon was as reticent.

"Never mind that," he would say; "you are better now."

I learned later though, that for several months he had been in great
doubt of my recovery.  My wound would not heal, consequent upon a ragged
fragment of the rifle-bullet remaining beneath a bone, and when at last
it did come away, I was weak in the extreme, and, as Esau said, "You
couldn't get a doctor when you liked out there."

So there I lay all through the long dark days of the winter, listening
sometimes to the howling of the winds from the mountains, then to the
beat and rush of the rain, and then at my worst time wondering why
everything was so quiet, and learning from Esau that we were snowed up
deeply.

I remember that he used to talk rapturously about the beauty of the
scene around, with the great pine-trees loaded down with snow, and the
sun in the clear blue sky, making the crystals of ice glitter till his
eyes ached.

"And you won't get up and come and have a look," he said.  "You are a
fellow."

"Yes, I am a fellow," I replied.  "Don't bother me, Esau.  I want to go
to sleep."

"But you're always going to sleep," he cried; "and so much sleep can't
be good for you."

All the same I passed through that long winter, and it seemed as if I
never should be strong again.

But, as the old country folk say, "Never's a long day"; and as the earth
began to waken from its lone sleep, so did I, and at last I was dressed
to sit by the bonny log fire Esau kept up as if he meant to roast me.
There came a day when I sat with my window open, listening to the roar
of the river, thinking and ready to ask myself whether it had all been a
dream.  Then another day, when the sun was shining, and the scent of the
pines came to where I sat; and at last in the spring-time I was to go
out for the first time.  I had to lean on patient, constant Esau, and
use a stick to get to where a chair had been set for me at the foot of a
great Douglas pine, where the moss was golden green, and the barberry
leaves bright with a purply bronze.  The river ran foaming and splashing
before me at the bottom of a slope, looking milky and dirty, but down
the rocks close by tumbled and sparkled one of the many tiny streams,
and this was clear as crystal, and the brook flashed like diamonds in
the bright sunshine.

There was a great scarlet blanket thrown over the chair, ready to be
drawn round me as soon as I had taken my seat; and as soon as Esau had
safely piloted me there, looking serious as a judge all the time, he
suddenly seemed to go mad, for he cut a curious caper, threw his cap
high up in the air, and shouted "Hurrah."

"There," he cried, as I lay back smiling and content, "you just say you
ain't getting well, and I'll pitch into you."

"I'm not going to say it," I said.  "Oh, Esau, I do feel so weak, but so
happy and well.  I say though, don't shoot me again."

Esau's countenance changed.  All the pleasure faded out, and he turned
his back, and began walking slowly away.

"Esau," I said, "don't go."

"I must," he said, stopping short, but without trying to face me.  "Got
to fetch your stoo.  He said it was the best physic you could take."

"But, Esau, I don't want it now; I'm sorry I said that."

"So am I; sooner ha' shot myself hundreds o' times.  Wish I had shot
myself dead instead, and then you wouldn't be able to jump on me."

"It was very unkind," I said; "please forgive me."

"All right, I'm going to fetch your stoo."

He did not turn round, but walked away toward the gate of the palisade
just as there was a fierce deep-toned barking, and Rough came bounding
down toward my chair.

"He'll knock me over," I thought, as I saw his gleaming teeth, and the
thick pile of hair about his neck, a natural armour which had protected
him in many an encounter with wolf or bear.  And for the moment it
seemed as if the great animal would send me clean over as he charged
wildly; but just as he was close to me he turned off, dashed away, came
back, up and down, barking furiously, and ended by making a sudden stop,
to stand there with his great muzzle laid in my lap, and his eyes
looking earnestly up in mine.

I placed my hand upon his head, and as I did so I could not help
thinking how thin and white it was; and this made me lie back recalling
how bad I must have been, and how clever Mr Raydon had been to save my
life, tending me as he had just like a doctor.  That made me think too
of every one else--the men's wives, who had waited on me and brought me
flowers; Grey, who shot game; and above all of Quong and Esau, who had
seemed to spend all their time in attending upon one who had been
irritable, and as helpless as a baby.

As I thought, my fingers played about the great head in my lap, pulling
the long ears, stroking the muzzle, and all the time the eyes blinked up
at me, and once there was a long-drawn sigh as of satisfaction, which
made me ready to fancy that even the dog was glad to see me out again
after my long, weary illness.

All at once Rough raised his head and uttered a low, muttering growl,
followed by a couple of short barks; and on looking round there were
Esau and Quong coming, the latter bearing a basin and a plate of bread.

"Velly good soup," said Quong, eagerly.  "Velly stlong.  Quite leady."

He placed the basin on my knees, Rough drawing back a little, and
looking as if it was hard work not to make a snatch at that cake and
bear it off.  But he had been well trained, and sat watching me
patiently, content to catch the pieces thrown to him with a loud snap,
while I partook of what Esau called my "stoo."

It was very good, and "so stlong," as Quong called it, that I felt as if
I ought to feel the strength coming back into my weak arms and legs.

"Dlink um allee up," said Quong; and I persevered and finished the
contents of the basin, which he then took, nodded at me, and then turned
to the dog, who stood now on all fours and barked at him fiercely.

"Hey?" cried Quong.  "You say wantee allee bone left?"

There was a peal of furious barks here.

"Allee light.  You come 'long.  Velly good dog."

Rough uttered another hoarse bay, and went off after the little
Chinaman, looking so big by his side that I could not help thinking of
what the consequences might have been if they had proved enemies instead
of friends.

"Well, Esau," I said, "I'm a long time growing well."

"Oh, I don't know.  You're getting on now fast.  I say, do you ever
think about that gold now?"

"Oh, yes," I replied, with a shudder; "often."

"Well," he said, in an ill-used tone, "you needn't think of the accident
too.  For it was an accident, you know."

"Yes, we've talked about that times enough, all those weary months."

"Yes, it was tiring, and it put a stop to all the hunting and shooting
we might have had.  But it's been good as well as bad.  You missed lots
of bad weather, and cold, and snow."

"What's the day of the month?"  I said.

"Day of the month?  I dunno.  End of March, they say, and it's going to
be fine weather now."

"Has Mr Raydon ever said anything to you about the gold?"

"No, never a word.  But I say, it do seem a pity not to get more of it,
don't it?"

"I don't know," I replied.  "I want strength, not gold.  How long will
it be before Mr and Mrs John get here?"

"Ah, that's what I want to know," cried Esau.  "I was thinking about
that this morning; leastwise I wasn't thinking about them, but about
mother.  Wonder what she'll say to me when she knows?"

"Knows what?"

"'Bout me shooting you.  She will be wild, for she was a deal fonder of
you than she was of me."

"Nonsense, Esau!"  I cried.  "Why, she used to talk to me about you for
hours."

"Dessay she did.  But, I say, do make haste and get well before the
Indians come again.  Grey says they'll be here soon with loads of skins
that they've shot and trapped in the winter."

Our conversation was interrupted by the coming of Mr Raydon.

"Ah, Mayne," he said; "that's better.  You must keep that up every day
when it's fine.  Fresh air and the scent of our pines form the finest
strengthening medicine a sick man can have."

He stopped chatting to me for some time, and at last I ventured upon the
topic which interested both Esau and myself.

"How long do I think it will be before the travellers get across to us?
Hah! that's a poser, my lad.  So much depends upon my sister's health,
and her ability to travel.  Of course they have been resting during the
worst time.  However, I hope they will not be here till you are
thoroughly on your legs again."



CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.

"DO I LOOK FORTUNATE?"

As the time glided on I used to be quite in despair.

"I don't get any stronger, Esau," I used to say, pettishly.

"What?  Why, look at you!" he'd cry.  "On'y t'other day you was walking
with a stick and a crutch."

"I was not," I said, indignantly.  "I never had a crutch."

"That you did, sir," he said, with a chuckle; "and now you've chucked
'em both away and goes alone."

"But my legs feel so weak, and ache so directly."

"Tchah!  What o' that!  Why, only t'other day they used to double up
like an old two-foot rule, or a knife with the spring broke.  You're
coming all right enough.  I say, I want to talk to you."

He gave a sharp look round as we stood beside the stream where it
entered the river--the stream up which we had found the gold, and to
whose bank we had come to catch trout with rods and lines of our own
manufacture, and grasshoppers for bait.

I had been fishing, but after taking three decent trout, I had lain down
wearied out, and now Esau squatted down by me, with his rod across his
knees.

"I say," he whispered, "what about that gold up yonder?"

"Well, what about it?"

"Don't you never think about it a deal?"

"Sometimes.  Do you?"

"Always.  I can't get away from it.  Seems as if something's always
tempting me to go and get it."

"But you cannot," I said, sharply.  "We gave our word to Mr Raydon."

"Yes, that's the worst of it.  I can't think how a fellow can be so
stupid."

"Let it go, and don't think about it."

"That's what I want to do, but I can't help myself, and I'm always
wanting to get lots of it, and be rich."

"Rubbish!"  I cried, testily.

"Gold ain't rubbish," said Esau, gruffly.  "Of course I should give you
half."

"We promised Mr Raydon not to touch that gold any more," I said; "so
don't talk or think about it.  Promise me."

"I'll promise not to talk about it," he replied; "but it's no use to
promise not to think about it, because it will come.  Why, I dream about
it every night."

"Then you must not," I said.  "I was talking to Mr Raydon last night
about what is to be done when Mr John comes."

"Well, what does he say?  Anything about the gold?"

"No," I cried, fiercely.  "Of course you think about it if you are
always talking of it.  He says that he thinks the best thing will be for
Mr John to have some land lower down the river at a place we passed;
that there are twenty or thirty acres of good rich soil, and that as he
will have us with him, we must learn to use axes and help him to clear
the land, and plant it with fruit-trees, and build a house on the
clearing."

"Yes; that's all right enough, only the trees take so long to bear."

"That he will help us with different things till we can manage alone;
and that before many years are gone we can make ourselves quite a good
home."

"Oh!" ejaculated Esau.  "But then that will take a long time, and you
won't be able to work much, and I don't think Mr John Dempster will,
not being strong, and all the time there's enough gold up--"

"Will you hold your tongue?"  I cried, angrily.  "Do you want me to hit
you?"

"If you like," he said, grinning.  "Don't think you could hurt me much."

"You coward!"  I cried.  "Wait till I get strong again."

"I shall be precious glad," said Esau, "for I'd a deal rather you gave
me one or two cracks than kept on saying the things you do sometimes.
My! how you have given it me ever since you have been ill!  It has made
you raspy."

I winced a little at this, for I felt that I had been horribly
irritable.

"I can't help thinking about the gold, but I won't say gold no more as
long as I live."

I could not help laughing at this earnest delivery, and Esau showed his
teeth.

"There, I don't care," he said.  "I'm happy enough here if you'll get
well.  But I do wish old Gunson knew about it."

I looked sharply at Esau, for these words of his impressed me.  I had
often wished that Gunson knew of what we had found, for I thought that
perhaps he was struggling on without a bit of good fortune.  The
thoughts passed from my mind directly, as Esau began to make casts with
his line here and there, as if fishing in the grass.

"Well, I don't mind," he said.  "Turn farmer, eh?--and plant trees, and
cut trees down, and build a house.  All right.  It will be good enough,
and you and me will go and shoot and fish.  I shall like it.  Shall we
have old Quong?"

"I suppose so, if he'll stay.  There, let's go on fishing, and take back
some trout for Mr Raydon's tea.  I do feel so idle and helpless.  Do
you think he ever feels that we are staying too long?"

"Dunno," said Esau.  "I should if I was him."

These words made me feel very low-spirited, and that night I broached
the subject to Mr Raydon, apologising for being there so helpless and
weak, and ending by asking him if I had not better go down to the mouth
of the river again.

He looked at me searchingly.

"Tired of this place?" he said.

"Oh no," I replied.  "I have been very happy here."

"Then why do you talk of going?"

"Because I feel as if I must be a burden to you."

"Indeed!  Well, suppose I say go, and you make your way back along the
river very slowly, for you are in a miserably weak state?"

"Yes, sir; but I am getting better now."

"Yes, I know; but suppose, as soon as you are gone, my sister and her
husband appear, what am I to say to them?"

"I had not thought of that," I replied.

"But you see I had.  But come, Mayne, be frank with me.  You have some
other reason for wanting to go."

He looked at me so searchingly that I coloured, for I could feel my
cheeks burning.

"No, sir," I said; "no other reason."

"Not gold-hunting?"

"No; indeed, no."

"But you and Dean have been talking about your discovery a good deal."

"I--I think not, sir," I said, hesitatingly.  "We have talked about it."

"And what a pity it is for a fortune to be lying there untouched?"

"Dean thought something of the kind, sir.  I did not."

"Ha!" he said, as he again fixed me with his eyes.  "No, Mayne, you must
not think of going away.  You have not exhausted my stock of hospitality
yet."

Perhaps it was fancy, I said to myself, but it certainly seemed to me
during the next few days, whenever I went out for a good long stroll
with Esau, some one seemed to be watching us.

One day it was Grey who encountered us somewhere on the mountain-side;
another day it was one of the men; and again, on another, Mr Raydon
himself, whose presence was announced by the great dog, who came
bounding up, to be followed in a few minutes by his master.

He did not stay long, but as soon as he was gone I found that my
feelings were shared by Esau himself.

"I say," he growled, "are they afraid we are going to lose ourselves?"

"Why?"  I asked.

"Because whenever we come right away into the woods, they send that dog
to scent us out."

"Yes; they generally send somebody," I said, thoughtfully.

"Do you know why?" whispered Esau.

I glanced at him, but did not answer.

"It's because the chief's afraid we shall go up yonder trying for gold."

"And he does not trust us," I said to myself, as I felt that Esau must
be right; and the uncomfortable feeling of being suspected seemed to
increase.

I was thinking about this a good deal, and had made up my mind to ask
Mr Raydon if he thought I could be so dishonourable, when we neared the
Fort, and I was startled back from my musings which were carrying me on
through the interior, when Esau uttered a cheery hail.

"What's the matter?"  I said.

"Can't you see?  Look!" he cried.

"Gunson!"  I exclaimed; and sure enough there he was, coming slowly
towards us, looking very old and careworn, and as if he had gone through
a great deal of trouble since we parted in the autumn.

"Why, my lad," he cried, shaking hands with me warmly, "you look quite
thin and white.  Been ill?"

"Yes," I said, as I grasped his hand warmly.

"Fever?"

"No," I said, hesitatingly; "an accident."

"Why don't you tell him?" said Esau, sturdily.  "I shot him."

"You shot him?"

"Yes," I said, quickly; "he let the rifle slip out of his hand somehow,
and the ball hit me."

"I'm not surprised," cried Gunson, in a tone full of anger and contempt.

"Don't say any more about it," I cried.  "It was an accident, and I'm
getting better fast.  Tell me about what you have been doing."

Gunson laughed.

"Walking, wading in rivers, washing sand, climbing mountains, exposed to
all sorts of weather, half-starved, half-frozen, and all to get the
tempting gold."

"No luck then?" said Esau, eagerly.

"Not a bit, my lad."

"What, ain't you found gold at all?"

"Oh, yes, in scores of places, but always where it would cost thirty
shillings to earn a pound's worth.  Not profitable work, eh?"

Esau glanced at me, and I at Esau, the same thought in both our minds--
that we could, in a couple of hours' walk from where we were, show him--
the wearied-out prospector--an ample supply.

"If I only could tell him," I thought, as I recalled how generous and
kind he had always been to us.  But it was impossible, and I darted a
look at Esau which he understood, for he nodded at me in a curious way,
setting me thinking that I must speak to him seriously again about our
duty to Mr Raydon.  I had hardly thought this when I saw the latter
coming towards us.

"Ah, Mr Gunson," he said, with a sharp, keen glance, "you have kept
your word, then, and come back."

"Yes, I've come back, and shall be glad of a day or two's rest."

"You are welcome," replied Mr Raydon.  "Well, have you been very
fortunate?"

"What a question to ask me!" said Gunson; "the most unlucky man that
ever lived!  Do I look fortunate?"

"No," said Mr Raydon, smiling; "far from it.  There, come up to my
place, and let me hear what you have been doing."

As we approached the strangers' quarters, Quong made his appearance with
his eyes twinkling.

"Plenty flesh tea," he cried.  "Plenty new blead."

"Hullo, my Celestial friend," said Gunson, smiling at the eager-looking
little fellow.  "Did you see me coming?"

"No.  Not see.  Gley tell me Mr Gunson come, and make tea dilectly, and
cook bacon."

"Ready to come on with me now, Quong?" said Gunson.  "I'm going up the
western part."

Quong stared.

"What!  Go away?  No.  Stop allee long here."

"That's right, my lad.  Don't leave good quarters.  Been washing for
gold lately?"

"Eh?  Washee washee gole?  Too much piecy make work.  Cook along big
meat.  No go out at all.  You likee likee flesh blead, not blead high."

"Indeed, it will be a treat," said Gunson, going into the place with Mr
Raydon, while we kept back until he had finished his meal.

"I say," said Esau, as we walked about the enclosure, "can't little
Quong tell fibseys."

"That's what I was thinking," I replied.  "Why, I've met him twice up
the river trying for gold."

"Oh.  I've seen him lots of times.  He gets away when he has done his
work, looking as innocent as you please, and all the time he's hunting
for gold.  I say, you see if Mr Raydon don't keep an eye on us for fear
we should tell old Gunson.  My! wouldn't he like to know of our find.  I
can't understand how it is that he who knows all about it should be so
unlucky, and you--"

"We," I said.

"Well, we, then--should be so lucky, and find so much.  Dunno, though;
it hasn't brought us much luck as yet."



CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.

QUONG IS MISSING.

It was all done in a quiet, unobtrusive way, but it seemed plain to me
that Mr Raydon did try to keep us apart, or under his eye, during
Gunson's stay.

This was not for long.  The man seemed a good deal changed, and as if
dissatisfied at being so very unsuccessful; and during his visit the
temptation was very strong upon me to give him a hint as to where he
might go and find all that he desired.  And about this time I found that
Esau looked strange, and avoided me a good deal, going about as if he
had something on his mind, and I was afraid to ask him what.

"Going to-morrow morning?" said Mr Raydon, as Gunson made the
announcement.  "That is rather soon."

"Well, yes, it is soon," replied Gunson; "but I may be coming back."

"Yes, of course," said Mr Raydon, giving him a quick look.  "You may be
coming back."

These seem trifling words, but they made an impression upon me at the
time, and I thought about them a good deal afterwards.  In fact, I
thought of them that night.

It came on very dark, and I was standing just outside our place, when I
heard a step, and directly after Gunson came up slowly and thoughtfully.

"Who's that?" he cried sharply.

I spoke, and he took my arm.

"Come and have a stroll out here," he said; and he led me out through
the gateway and down toward the river.

It seemed to me as if he were waiting for me to talk to him, for he was
very silent; and at last, as I suggested that it was growing late, he
turned back toward the Fort, whose gates we had just reached, when I
suddenly became aware of a figure standing there.

"Mr Raydon," I said.

"Yes.  Been having a walk?"

"Down as far as the river," replied Gunson.  "By the way," he continued
sharply, "what should you say to my trying your streams about here?"

I saw Mr Raydon start slightly, but his voice sounded quite calm as he
replied--

"That you had better follow out your original plans."

"You would not recommend me to try?"

"Decidedly not."

We all went in, and after sitting for a time, Gunson rose to go to rest.

Quong had a famous breakfast ready next morning, of which I too partook;
and an hour later we saw Gunson once more on his way, Mr Raydon
accompanying us, till with a careless wave of the hand the prospector
went off, and we returned to the Fort.

That visit seemed to do me good.  It was as if I had had a fillip, and
during the next few days I felt a return of my old vigour--a feeling
which made me restless and eager to be out in the sunshine all day long.
I found myself eating, too, almost ravenously, and my sleep at nights,
instead of being broken and feverish, grew to be long and restful.  But
somehow I did not feel happy, for Mr Raydon, though always pleasant and
polite, was less warm, and he looked at me still in a suspicious way
that made me feel uncomfortable.

In other respects everything went on as usual, till one day, about a
fortnight after Gunson's departure, Mr Raydon said to me at breakfast--

"Do you feel strong enough to go for a week's journey?"

"Oh yes," I said eagerly, for I was beginning to long for something in
the way of change.

"It means walking every step of the way," he said, smiling at my
eagerness.

"Oh, I can walk again well now," I said.  "Dean and I were climbing up
the first west mountain yesterday--that one," I said, pointing out of
the window.  "I don't know how many hours we were, but it was dark when
we came back."

"Well then, we'll try.  I shall take Grey to try and lighten our loads a
little, but we shall not go very far down the river."

"You are going down the river?"  I said, as I saw Esau prick up his
ears.

"Yes; I have two or three spots in my mind's eye that would be suitable
for a home for my sister, and I want to see if they will do.  Perhaps
you noticed them as you came--places that you would naturally pick out
for camping as evening came on."

"I can remember several at the mouths of little streams, or below
falls," I said excitedly.  "One or two were quite like bits of parks,
with great sweeping branched pine-trees growing near."

"Good memory, Mayne," he said, smiling.  "Well, I have made my
arrangements.  Your Chinaman shall go with us to cook, and we will
select three or four spots; and afterwards, when these travellers come,
we can take them to see the selection, and they can choose which they
like."

"How soon shall you start, sir?"  I said.

"This morning.  It is a leisure period for me.  No Indians are likely to
come for some time; and I can leave my people to take care of the place
till we return.  You feel that you can manage the walking?"

"Oh yes," I cried.  "I am getting stronger every day."

"That's right.  Dean, my lad, fetch Quong, and let's see what sort of a
load of flour, tea, and sugar we can pack up for him.  I can easily
supply our little camp with meat."

"Then there will be some hunting and shooting too?"  I said, as Esau
hurried out to find Quong.

"Oh yes, for the larder," replied Mr Raydon, speaking more in his old
fashion now.  "Come, you are beginning to look quite yourself, my boy.
I was beginning to be afraid I should have nothing but a broken-down
invalid to show my sister."

"I feel more like I did," I said, with my cheeks flushing.

"Be thankful then, my boy, for you had a very narrow escape.  Let me
see; we must not overload ourselves, but I must have powder and bullets,
as well as my rifle.  A blanket each, of course, and our knives.  That
will be nearly all we need take, unless you lads bring a line or two and
try for some trout."

He began chatting then about Mr John and his sister, and of how great a
change it would be for her from a London life.

"But health is the first consideration," he said, smiling.  "A palace is
little more than an infirmary to a sick person, and out here a snug
cottage such as we can soon run up will become a palace to one who
recovers health.  Isn't Master Dean a long time gone?  Oh, here he is.
Well, where is Quong?"

"Can't find him anywhere, sir, nor his bundle neither."

"What?  Absurd!  He cannot have gone out.  He cooked the breakfast.  Did
any one see him go?"

"I asked several of the men and women, sir, and they had not seen him."

"Asleep somewhere perhaps, as he feels that his work is done.  Here, we
must find him, or he will throw my arrangements all wrong, and we shall
have to wait till another day.  It's a pity I did not speak last night,
but I was not sure then."

"I'll soon find him," I said.

"Yes, do, my lad, while I see to the rifle and ammunition."

"Come along, Esau," I said; and he followed me as I hurried out.

"Well, where are you going?" grumbled Esau.  "I suppose you are very
clever, but I should like to know how you are going to find him!"

"But you have not searched everywhere."

"I've searched everywhere that he was likely to be," replied Esau.

I stopped short, thinking as to which direction we had better take.

"Here, I know where he is," cried Esau excitedly.

"Yes?  Where?"

"Gone up one of the streams to try for gold on the sly.  You see if he
don't find out our bit one of these days."

"Perhaps he has gone for that," I said thoughtfully.

"I feel sure of it.  He has been away lots of times for a bit, and I
shouldn't wonder if he is getting that little physic-bottle of his
pretty full."

"He had better not let Mr Raydon know of it.  He'd be in a towering
rage," I said.  "Here, let's hunt him out, and put a stop to it."

"All right," said Esau.  "Here we are then.  Which way shall we go?--
east, west, north, or south, or half-way between any two of 'em.  I'm
willing; don't make no difference to me."

I stood and stared at him, for now I saw first how absurd my proposal
was, and how unlikely we were to find Quong if we had really gone off on
such a mission.  Esau grinned.

"I say, 'tain't so easy, is it?"

I made no reply, but stood thinking, and trying to find a solution to
the difficulty.

"Seems to me," said Esau, "that about the best way of finding this
little gentleman is to go and sit down by his fire till he comes, for he
goes off so quietly, and he may be anywhere now."

"Let's look round again," I said, "and if we cannot find him we had
better go and tell Mr Raydon."

It was humiliating, but the only thing to do; and after asking at every
cottage in the enclosure without effect, I turned to go back to Mr
Raydon's quarters, just as we saw the man Grey going in that direction.

"Why, he might know," I said, hurrying my pace so that we entered almost
at the same time, but too late to question him.

"Well," said Mr Raydon, "have you found him?"

"No," I replied; and then turning quickly to Grey, who had not yet
spoken--"Have you seen anything of Quong?"

"Yes; he is at the west valley, I met him going there."

"The west valley?" said Mr Raydon, starting and looking excitedly at
the speaker.  "What was he doing there?"

"Gone to join Mr Gunson and a party of men I suppose," said Grey,
slowly.

"Mr Gunson?  Back?"  I said wonderingly, but with a chill of dread
spreading through me as I spoke.  "What is he doing there?"

"Busy with the others.  They have set up camp, and are washing for
gold."

I glanced at Mr Raydon, whose eyes were fixed on me, and I saw a
furious look of anger gathering in his face, while Esau backed slowly
toward the door.

"This is your doing, sir.  Here, you--stop! don't sneak away like that,
and leave your companion in the lurch."

"Wasn't going to sneak away," said Esau, surlily.  "Go away then, you
miserable coward.  Well, Mayne Gordon, I hope you are satisfied.  Is
this your gratitude?"

I fully expected these words, but I was not prepared to answer him, and
in the rush of his indignant accusation my defence was swept down, and I
could only stammer out--

"You are mistaken, sir."

"No," he cried, "I am not mistaken.  I told you when you made that
unlucky discovery I wished to keep all the wild gold-seeking scoundrels
away from my peaceful happy valley; and in spite of all I have done to
welcome you for my sister's sake, you give me evil for good."

"Indeed you are wrong, sir; I have not told a soul," I cried.

"Bah!" said Mr Raydon, furiously.  "How can I think otherwise, when I
see you holding half-secret meetings with that man Gunson, who returns
in force to destroy this place?  Well, my lad, I wish you joy of your
share, but, mark my words, this gold-seeking is miserable gambling, the
work of men who will not see that the real way to find gold is in
genuine honest work.  Take the gold-seekers all round, and they would
have made more of the precious metal by planting corn than by this
digging and washing in the river-beds."

"Then you will not believe me, sir?"

"I cannot, my lad, after what I have seen," he said.  "Your conduct has
not seemed to me manly and frank."

"I have tried to be, sir," I cried.

"And failed, boy.  The temptation of the gold has proved to be too much
for you."

I stood silent now, for I could not speak.  I wanted to say a great
deal, but there was a swelling in my throat--a hot feeling of
indignation and misery combined kept me tongue-tied, and above all there
was a guilty feeling that he was just.

"As for you," Mr Raydon continued, turning to Esau, "I shall not waste
words upon you.  Of course you agreed with your companion, but you would
both have done better for yourselves as lads, and earned better
positions in life, by being faithful to me, than by letting yourselves
be led away by this miserable temptation."

"I ain't done nothing," said Esau; "I only--"

"That will do," cried Mr Raydon, fiercely, cutting him short.  "Now
go."

"All right, sir," said Esau; and now I found my tongue again.

"Yes, Esau, we had better go," I said, bitterly.  "Mr Raydon will some
day find out how unjust he has been to us."

"That will do," cried Mr Raydon, sternly.  "No hypocrisy, sir.  Once
for all, I know that you gave Gunson either full particulars or hints,
such as enabled him to bring a gang to this peaceful place."

"Well, if you won't let a fellow speak," began Esau.

"Silence, sir!" cried Mr Raydon, as I moved towards the door.  "And
you, Gordon, where are you going?"

"I don't know, sir," I said.

"Then I do.  You are going to join that wild crew up at the
gold-washings."

"I was going to see and tell Mr Gunson of what had happened, sir."

"Exactly.  Then I forbid it.  You shall not go."

"You ain't got no right to keep us here if we want to go," said Esau,
who was now losing: his temper fast.

"Indeed!" said Mr Raydon.

"You won't believe in a fellow--I mean this fellow," continued Esau;
"and you don't believe Mr Gordon, so I'm going straight up to Mr
Gunson to see if he will, and I'll trouble you to hand over that gold we
found that day."

"Esau!"  I cried, angrily.

"Well, you won't speak out, so I must.  Come on.  Much obliged for all
you've done in keeping us, sir, and good-bye."

"Grey," said Mr Raydon, sharply.

"Yes, sir."

"See that those lads do not leave the Fort till I give them permission.
When you go off duty Hanson is to take your post."

"What?" cried Esau, as I felt my cheeks burning with indignation, "ain't
we to be allowed to go out?"

"Am I to put them in the block-house, sir?" said Grey.

"No; they can occupy the strangers' quarters, but they are not to pass
the gates.  That will do.  Go!"



CHAPTER FORTY.

INOPPORTUNE ARRIVALS.

I hardly remember how I left Mr Raydon's office, but I do recollect
seeing the bear's head grinning at me, and that of the moose gazing at
me in its weak, sorrowful way.  My head felt hot, and I was bitterly
angry; so that when Grey went from us without speaking, after leading us
to the strangers' quarters, it only wanted a few words from Esau to make
me turn upon him fiercely.

"Look here," he said, "this ain't England, and there's no police and
madgistrits about, so I'm not going to stand it.  He ain't everybody.
I'm off."

"To the gold-washings?"  I said.  "Don't you think you've done mischief
enough by betraying it to Mr Gunson?"

"Oh, come, I like that," cried Esau.

"That's pleasant, that is.  Say it was me, eh?  Why, you know you told
him."

"I told him?"

"Well, he coaxed it out of you when he had you all by himself."

"Esau!"

"There, don't shout at me.  I don't wonder.  I've been sometimes so that
I couldn't hardly bear myself for wanting to tell somebody; and it was a
pity for all that gold to go begging, and us not get a share."

"Then you believe I told Mr Gunson?"

"Course I do.  I didn't; and there was no one else knew where it was
except the captain, and of course he wouldn't."

"You are saying that to aggravate me.  Esau, once more, do you believe I
told Mr Gunson?"

He looked at me and laughed.

"Why don't you answer?"  I cried, angrily.  "Do you believe I told Mr
Gunson?"

"Why, of course I do.  What's the good of making a fuss over it with me?
Should ha' thought you might ha' trusted me by this time."

I sank back on one of the benches staring at him, feeling weak and
hopeless.

"Don't look like that," cried Esau; "I didn't want to hurt your
feelings.  It was quite natural.  Mr Gunson was our friend before Mr
Raydon was; and it was your duty to do him a good turn if you could.
Who's Mr Raydon that he's to have everything his way?  If he don't want
gold, other folks do.  I do--lots; and I'm going up now to get my
share."

"Then you really believe I told?"

"Why, of course I do.  Why, how could you help it?  Seems queer to Mr
Raydon, because he has been very kind; but it would have seemed queerer
to poor Mr Gunson.  Why, as mother used to say, my heart quite bled for
him when he came back so tired-looking and shabby, after hunting for
months and finding nothing.  I'd ha' told him directly if I hadn't
promised you I wouldn't.  There, don't be in such a fidge about it; you
couldn't act square to both of them."

"Then it's of no use for me to keep on saying I did not tell," I said,
gloomily.

"Not a bit; and I'm precious glad you did tell the poor fellow.  I don't
like him much, and he never liked me much; but he often helped me, and
I'd help him.  Now then, I want to talk about what we're going to do.
What do you say?  Do speak.  I hate to see you sit mumchance, saying
nothing."

"There's nothing to do," I said, sadly, "only wait."

"What, like a prisoner?  I'm going up to that place where the gold is,
to get mine and mother's share, and you're coming too for yours."

"I'm not," I said, through my set teeth.

"What?"

"I wouldn't stir from here now for all the gold in the world."

"Why, you're talking madness.  We come out here to make our fortunes,
and there's our fortunes waiting to be made.  The door's open and the
gate's open; and though Mr Raydon talked big, he dare not try to stop
us.  Come on."

"I tell you nothing should make me stir from here now, till Mr Raydon
knows the truth."

"Yah!  What's the good o' keeping on with all that make-believe?  He
knows the truth now."

I leaped up as if stung.

"That's right.  Come on."

My voice was very husky as I said--

"I've told you what I meant to do, and you keep on insulting me."

"Don't talk stuff.  What's the good of making all that fuss?  You
couldn't help telling Mr Gunson, I know that, and I've told you I know
it.  Of course Mr Raydon don't like it, but he can't help himself.  Now
then.  You're in disgrace here, but you won't be up at the camp; and
when his bit of temper's past, Mr Raydon will be sorry for what he
said, and ask us to come and look at the piece of land after all."

While he kept on speaking, my temper, which had always remained
irritable through my illness, kept on rising, and I stood there trying
to fight it down, but in vain, for it was very rapidly getting the
mastery.  It was as if something hot was rising within me, ready to boil
over if it grew a little hotter, and it soon did.

"There, it's all right," cried Esau, catching me by the arm.  "Never
mind our things; we'll fetch them another time.  Let's be off at once."

"Let go of my arm," I said, hoarsely.

"Shan't.  Don't be stupid.  You ain't been yourself since you were hurt,
and I'm going to think for you, and do what's right.  Come along."

"Let go of my arm!"  I said again, in a low menacing tone.

"No, nor I shan't let go of your arm; and you ain't going to frighten
me, Mayne Gordon, because I'm ever so much the stronger now, so come
along."

"Let--go--of my arm!"  I said, in quite a whisper, as Esau hauled me
towards the door.

"S-h-a-r-n-'t!" cried Esau.  "You're going along with me up to those
gold-washings.  Come along.  It's of no use for you to struggle, I'm too
much for you--Oh!"

In my rage at my inability to reason with him, I suddenly doubled my
fist and struck him full in the face, and as he uttered a cry of pain,
he started back; but it was only for a moment, and then he flew at me
angrily, so that the next minute we two sworn friends, who had suffered
so much together, were fighting hard, giving and taking blows, now down,
now up, and each growing hotter and more vindictive as we fought--Esau
with determination, I with despair, for I felt myself growing weaker and
weaker, and knew that in a few minutes I should be hopelessly beaten.
But still in my blind fury I kept on, and I was just in the act of
delivering a furious blow when I heard voices, and some one uttered a
cry of horror.

The struggle was over, for we two started back from our contest, Esau
ashamed of his rage, and I feeling utterly crushed; for there before me,
as far as I could see them in my half-blinded state, giddy as I was with
weakness and blows, stood Mr Raydon, and with him the people I would
have given the world then not to have met in such a state--the three
travellers, who had ended their long weary journey that unfortunate
morning.

Mrs Dean ran to Esau, and flung her arms about his neck, as Mr Raydon
said angrily--

"What is the meaning of this?"

No one answered, and for a few moments the silence was to me terrible.
Then Mr Raydon spoke again.

"Come back to the house," he said; and I saw him take his sister's hand,
draw it through his arm, and lead her away.

But Mr John, who looked brown and wonderfully changed, hung back, and
held out his hand.

"Oh, Mayne," he said, sadly, "I did not expect to come and find you like
this.  What is the meaning of it all?"

"Don't, mother; do be quiet," cried Esau just then.  "He hit me first."

"Oh, but, Esau, my boy, my boy!"

"Well, what's the good o' crying?  Don't; you're crying all down my
neck.  Be quiet.  How are you?  There.  Now do leave off hanging on me.
I want to go and have a wash."

"Oh, Mr Gordon," cried the poor little woman, as Esau ungraciously
shook himself free, "how could you hit Esau first--and you such
friends?"

"Because he was trying to make me out a blackguard," I cried.

"Well, I couldn't help it," cried Esau; "I thought it was true."

"But you'll shake hands with me, my dear, after I've come all these
hundreds and thousands of miles--shake hands and say you're sorry you
hit Esau first."

"Oh, do be quiet, mother," cried Esau angrily.  "What's the good o'
making such a fuss?  We fell out and had a bit of a fight, and it's all
over, and I'm very sorry, and if he'll shake hands, there's mine."

"Not till you tell me you don't believe I did that," I cried fiercely.

"Well, there then, I don't believe you told him.  I can't now you've
knocked it all out of me.  But I should have won."

"If I had not been so weak from my wound, you would not have won," I
cried.

"Well, no," said Esau thoughtfully, as we shook hands, "for you do hit
precious hard.  There, mother, will that do?"

"Oh yes, my dear," cried Mrs Dean, clinging to my hands now; "and may I
kiss you, my dear?"

I bent down and kissed the little woman, whose face was full of sympathy
for me.

"And you've been dangerously ill and nearly dead, Mr Raydon told us.
Well, that excuses everything.  Esau's temper was horrible after he had
been ill with measles.  You remember, my dear?"

"I don't," said Esau, on being thus appealed to.  "I know you were
always cross with me, and wouldn't let me go out."

"Ah well, ah well," said Mr John Dempster, "never mind about that now.
Mayne, my dear boy, do wash your face, and let's have a long talk.  I am
sorry my dear wife saw you like this, for she has been talking so much
about you.  I am very sorry."

"Sorry, sir!"  I cried passionately; "it is horrible."

"Yes, it is unfortunate, but an accident," he said smilingly, as he laid
his hand upon my shoulder.  "You have not fought much since I saw you
last?"

"Fought?  No," I said, unable to keep back a smile at his question.

"Ah! you laugh, but I have one memory of your prowess in that way.
There, remove those marks."

"That's better," he said, a few minutes later.  "Now I want to know all
about your adventures."

"And I about yours, sir," I said eagerly, for we were alone, Esau having
passed out of the strangers' quarters with his mother.  "Tell me about
Mrs John.  Is she better?"

"Ah, you did not see," he said, with a smile that was quite womanly
lighting up his face.  "For a time she frightened me, but once we were
at sea she began to mend, and for months now the change has been
wonderful."

"I am glad," I cried.

"Yes, wonderful," he continued.  "My brother Raydon was right; but had I
known, enthusiastic as I am, what a terribly long, slow, tedious journey
it was across those vast plains, I should never have dared to venture."

"But she has borne it well?"

"Borne it!  My dear boy, she is no longer the same.  The delightful air,
the freedom from all restraint, the grandeur of the scenery we have come
through, everything has seemed to be giving her back her lost strength,
and it is a new life she is beginning to live."

"I am thankful," I said.

"But tell me, Mayne," he said; "there is some coolness between you and
my brother.  He did not tell me what it was.  Have you not been happy
with him?"

"Yes," I said, "till now."

And then I told him everything, from the discovery of the gold to the
moment of his arrival.  He stood looking thoughtful for a few moments,
and then said--

"And young Dean believes it too?"

"Yes," I said; "and that caused the struggle that you saw."

"Of course--of course.  I see."

"But, Mr John, indeed, indeed I kept my word.  I did not--I would not
tell a soul; and I have carefully avoided going to the place."

He stood with his brows knit in silence, looking straight away.

"You do not believe me?"  I said, piteously.

"Believe you?  Why not?" he said, rousing himself from his musing.  "Of
course I believe you, Mayne, and so will my brother.  He ought not to
have doubted you.  Ah, here he comes back."

I felt a curious shrinking as I saw Mr Raydon coming across the
enclosure; and as he entered there was the stern severe look in his
countenance which he put on when he was angry.

"I came to fetch you back, John," he said quietly.  Then turning to me,
"May I know the cause of the disgraceful scene that was taking place a
little while ago?"

"Yes," cried Mr John, instituting himself as my champion directly.  "It
seems that you have had unjust suspicions of my young friend Mayne, and
that his companion shared them.  Mayne could not turn and thrash you,
but he could young Dean, and he did."

Mr Raydon looked at me sharply.

"You may take his word for it," continued Mr John, "as I do.  There has
been a mistake."

"You have not altered a bit, John," said Mr Raydon drily.  "Come."

"Yes, I'll go back with you, for there is so much to say.  Come, Mayne."

I saw Mr Raydon raise his brows a little, and that was enough.

"Not now, Mr John," I said.

"But my wife, she wants to see you."

"Yes, sir, and I want to see her; but not now."

"He is quite right, John," said Mr Raydon.  "Let him stay for the
present."

Mr John looked from one to the other and then said seriously--"As you
will, Dan.  Good-bye then for the present, Mayne.  There, keep up your
heart.  I'll talk to my brother, and I'll warrant that before long he
will see the truth as I do."

He stopped back to say this, and then went on after Mr Raydon, leaving
me to fling myself on the bench, rest my elbows on the table, and bury
my face in my hands.  For it seemed to me that I had never felt so
miserable before, and as if fate was playing me the most cruel of
tricks.  I felt indignant too with Mr Raydon, who had seemed to look
upon his brother-in-law's faith in me with a cruel kind of contempt,
treating him as if he were an enthusiast easily deceived.

And all this stung me cruelly.  I was touched in my pride, and the worst
part of it seemed to be that Mrs John might have so much faith in her
brother, that she would be ready to believe his word before mine.

As I sat there thinking, I was obliged to own that matters did look
black against me, and that with such terrible evidence in array, there
was some excuse for Mr Raydon.

"But she might believe me," I said, half aloud.  But even as I said
this, I recalled how he had evidently dreaded that I should betray the
secret, and watched me and Gunson at our last meeting, which certainly
did look suspicious when taken into consideration with the object of the
latter's visits to the neighbourhood.

"Gunson shall come here and tell him everything.  He shall make him
believe," I said to myself; and then in a despondent way, I felt that I
could not go up to the camp without making Mr Raydon think worse of me
at once, and then Mrs John would believe in him more and more.  And it
all seemed over, and as if the happy days I had looked forward to when
the travellers came, would never be, and that I was the most unfortunate
fellow that had ever breathed, when a hand was laid gently on my head,
and a voice said--

"Mayne."

I started to my feet, and there was Mrs John gazing at me sadly, but so
changed since I had seen her before my start, that I could only look at
her wonderingly, and when she held out her hand I caught it and was
about to raise it to my lips, but she drew me to her, and the next
moment she was seated on the bench I had left, and I was down upon my
knees gazing up into her sweet face, feeling that while she lived I had
one who would always take for me the part of the mother I had lost so
long.



CHAPTER FORTY ONE.

AN INVASION OF SAVAGES.

It was quite two hours later that, as she rose to go back to Mr
Raydon's quarters, Mrs John said--

"There, I believe in you, Mayne, and so does my husband.  Be satisfied."

"I never shall be till Mr Raydon tells me he was wrong," I said.

"And he will as soon as he feels convinced, so be patient and wait.  My
brother is rather strange in his ways, and always was.  When he becomes
prejudiced through some idea he is very hard to move."

"But I cannot stay here," I said.

"You will not go and leave us now that we have come so far.  We shall
want your help."

"But--"

"Come, Mayne, you will not object to suffering a little, I hope, for our
sake.  I dare say my brother will keep on in his stern, hard way, for a
time; but when he is fully convinced, you will be glad that you bore
with him."

"I shall do exactly as you wish me to," I said quietly; and I again
looked wonderingly at her, she was so changed.

"We shall not lead you wrong, Mayne," she said, smiling; and, at her
wish, I walked back with her to Mr Raydon's place, where Mr John rose
to make room for us, but Mr Raydon hardly glanced at me, and his manner
was so strained during the next hour, as I sat listening to the
conversation about the adventures during the long journey across the
plain, that I was very glad to make an excuse so as to get away to where
Mrs Dean was seated in the strangers' quarters relating her story to
Esau.

"Ah," she cried, as I entered; "and what do you think of Mrs John?"

"I hardly knew her," I said.  "She is indeed better."

"Yes," said Mrs Dean, drawing herself up proudly, "I think I did my
duty there."

"I am sure you did."

"Such a poor, thin, weak creature as she was till I began to nurse her."

"The change worked wonders," I said.

"Yes, of course, it did her good, sir; but no change is of any good
without plenty of nursing."

I saw that I was touching on tender ground, and was trying to think of a
fresh subject, when loud, blustering voices outside made both Esau and
me get up to see, for there was evidently an angry altercation going on
just inside the gate.

"I have told you plainly," Mr Raydon was saying as we drew near.  "This
is neither an hotel nor a liquor-bar, and you cannot have it here."

"Well, you might be civil," said a voice which made me start and feel
puzzled as to where I had heard it before.  "Not going to refuse
travellers a shelter or a glass of liquor, are you?"

Esau gave my arm a jerk, but I did not look at him, for my attention was
taken up by Mr Raydon, who was facing, with Grey and two more of the
men, a party of a dozen roughs.

"You do not want shelter on a fine night like this, and I have no
spirits except to use for medicine."

"That's right," said the familiar voice.  "Medicine--physic--that's what
we want; drop o' spirits for medicine--eh, lads?"

There was a chorus of laughter at this, and the men began to press
forward.

"Then you will not get it here, my lads, so go back to the place from
whence you came," said Mr Raydon, firmly.  "Bread and meat, and butter
or milk, you can have; nothing more."

"But we want a drink," said another man.  "Here, we don't want you to
give it us.  Look here," he cried, taking some gold from, his pocket.
"Now then, I'll give you all this for a bottle of whiskey."

"Ay, and I'll give you this for another bottle," cried a third man.

"Keep your stuff in your pockets, lads," cried the first speaker, and I
felt a kind of thrill run through me now, for I had recognised in him
the big, fierce fellow who had wrestled with Gunson on board the boat,
and threatened mischief next time they met.  "Keep your stuff in your
pockets; the old 'un is going to give us a bottle or two of the liquor
he swaps with the Injuns for the bear-skins.  Now then, old boy."

"I am going to give you nothing, neither food nor drink," said Mr
Raydon, firmly.  "You have only come down from the camp yonder this
evening."

"Well, who said we hadn't?  That's right enough.  We've got claims up
there, and we've come to treat you all and have a drink with you."

"I have told you that you will get no drink here."

"Get out!" said the big fellow, whose voice I had first heard.  "You
don't mean that.  Come, get out the bottles.  Come along, lads; we arn't
going to be served like this."

"No," came angrily in chorus; and the men pressed forward, but Mr
Raydon and his party stood their ground.

"We're going to take it, arn't we, if he don't fetch it out--eh, lads?"

"Ay."

"Stand back!" cried Mr Raydon, authoritatively.  "Grey!"

The latter took half a dozen steps backward, and stood waiting for
orders.

"You, Gordon, and you, Dean, run to my house, and keep there in
shelter."

"Oh," said the big fellow, with a laugh.  "Turning nasty, eh?  Well
then, we'll take it.  Show him your shooting-irons, lads, and let him
see that we can be nasty too."

Half a dozen of the men pulled out revolvers, and there were a few sharp
clicks heard.

"Did you hear me, Gordon?" said Mr Raydon, harshly.  "Run."

"I can't run away, and leave you like this," I said.  "Obey orders, boy.
Both of you back, quick!"

There was a something about him which enforced obedience, and I went
back towards the house wondering why the other men did not come to their
chiefs help, especially now that he was being backed slowly across the
enclosure by the gang of men, each of whom had a revolver in his hand.

"Yes," said Mr Raydon, sharply, and Grey and another man turned and ran
for one of the little block-houses in the corner of the enclosure.

"Hah!  Yah!  Hoo!" roared the fellows, derisively; and one of them fired
a shot, an example followed by two more, not aimed at the retreating
party, but evidently meant to scare them and hasten their retreat.
There was another roar of laughter at this, followed by more derisive
shouts, as Grey and his companions disappeared in the building before
named.

"It's all right, lads; that's where the landlord's cellar is: come on!"

Mr Raydon still backed toward the corner building, and Esau and I
continued our retreat to the chiefs quarters, where I saw Mr and Mrs
John at the door, alarmed by the firing.

"Tell them to keep in," cried Mr Raydon to me; and seeing that there
was danger, I ran to them, half forced them back, and without
instructions I snatched up Mr Raydon's double rifle and cartridge-belt.

"Good heavens, Gordon, what is the matter?" cried Mr John.

"Nothing serious, I hope," I said.  "Orders: stay inside."

I darted out again with the rifle, and ran to where Mr Raydon was
standing his ground still, and he was saying something in a loud voice
to the men, but I only caught the words--"Fair warning."

"Hah!  Good!" he exclaimed, as I ran up with the rifle; and he caught it
and the cartridge-belt, but he did not attempt to load.

"Back to them," said Mr Raydon to me; and I went unwillingly, for it
seemed cowardly to go.

"He's going to fight," said the leader of the gang.  "There, don't
pepper him, mates."

There was another roar of laughter at this.

"I warn you once more, my good fellows.  This is an outrage you are
committing, and if blood is shed the fault will be yours."

"Those bottles o' whiskey."

"You get nothing here.  Go!"

"Rush them, lads."

The miners with their revolvers were about a dozen yards from the corner
block-house, and Mr Raydon and the man with him were half-way to the
door, their backs towards it, when the bully gave his order.

Like an echo of that order, and just as the men were in motion, came one
from Mr Raydon.

"Make ready--present!"

I shrank back startled as I heard the loud military commands, and the
effect was the same upon the gang of rough gold-diggers, who stopped
short, while half of them turned and began to run.

For, as the order rang out, Grey and another man sprang to the door with
presented pieces, and from the openings on the floor above half a dozen
more rifles were thrust out.

"Another step forward and I give the word--Fire!" cried Mr Raydon,
fiercely.  "You see we are prepared for unpleasant visitors here,
whether they are white savages or red.  Now then, have the goodness to
go, and don't trouble us with your presence here again."

"Oh, it was only a joke, mate," cried the big fellow.  "Needn't make
such a fuss about it."

"A joke, to fire on my retiring men?" said Mr Raydon, fiercely.  "Go,
or my men will perpetrate a similar joke on you, you miserable bully and
coward."

"Bully am I?--coward am I?" growled the fellow, menacingly cocking his
revolver.

"Cover this fellow, Grey," said Mr Raydon without turning, and I saw
Grey make a slight movement.

"That man is a dead shot, my good man," said Mr Raydon.  "Once more,
go!"

"Right; we're going, eh, mates?"

"No," said another.  "Let's--"

"Another word, and I order my men to fire," cried Mr Raydon, fiercely.
"We have driven off a hundred Indians before now, and I tell you that we
are well prepared."

"Oh, all right," growled the fellow.  "Come on, mates.  This is English
hospitality, this is.  Well, every dog has his day, and perhaps ours 'll
come next."

They walked slowly toward the gate, and passed out muttering
threateningly; and as they passed out, in obedience to an order, Grey
and another man ran across to the opening with their rifles at the
trail, each seizing one of the swing-back gates which they were about to
close, when half a dozen of the gang reappeared and fired from their
revolvers.  Before they could repeat the shots the gates were banged to
and barred, while Grey sprang up a few steps and applied his eye to a
loop-hole.

"Well?" said Mr Raydon, advancing quietly.

"Running back toward the river, sir.  Shall we fire over their heads?"

"No.  They have gone," said Mr Raydon.

Then turning to me, where I stood just outside the door of his house, he
said sternly--

"You see why I wished to keep this district free of all that is
connected with gold?"

I made no answer, for none would come.

"We have enough enemies among the Indians," he continued.  "These people
add to our cares."

Still I made no answer, for I was thinking of Gunson, who was, as I had
heard, gold-finding up our stream, perhaps quite alone.  These people,
all well-armed, were going up his way, and one of them had sworn to do
him some mischief.  Did he know that Gunson was there?  Did Gunson know
that this man was within a few miles of him, perhaps close at hand?

I shuddered as I thought of the wealth up that stream.  These men could
only be fresh-comers, attracted by rumours of a new find of rich gold.
Perhaps Gunson had already found a good deal; he most likely would have
found a great deal, and this would be an additional inducement for them
to attack him, rob, perhaps kill him out of revenge.

"And this was all due to the discovery of the gold," I thought, and it
was emphasised the next moment, for Mr John came up to his
brother-in-law.

"Who are those men, Daniel?" he said, eagerly.

"Scum of the earth come for the metal whose existence I have kept secret
ever since I came here.  I fought very hard to keep the gold unknown,
but my efforts have been in vain.  You see for yourself the result of
the discovery;" and then, as I saw his lowering brow and anxious face,
he exclaimed--

"Yes, the rich finds are made known, and we do not know the extent of
the mischief yet."

He glanced at me again sharply, and I knew I looked very conscious; but
it was not on account of the stubborn suspicion he persisted in feeling
about me, but because I was excited about Gunson, for I was asking
myself what I ought to do with respect to a man who in his rough way had
done so much for me, and the answer came at once just as if something
had whispered to me--

"Never mind about what people think if your intentions are good and
true.  Warn the poor fellow before it is too late.  Go!"



CHAPTER FORTY TWO.

WE MAKE UP OUR MINDS.

Mr John gave me a troubled look, for in his simple earnest way he was
hurt at seeing the strained situation, and, as he told me afterwards,
there was great excuse for his brother-in-law, as matters did look black
against me, sufficient to make Mr Raydon feel that I had acted a very
unworthy part.

I stood there alone, and otherwise quite unnoticed for a few minutes,
while Mr Raydon gave his people some quick, sharp orders, and then
walked into his quarters with Mr John.

"What shall I do?"  I thought.  "If I go and ask him to let me run and
warn Mr Gunson, he will think I want to join him, and that this is only
an excuse.  I can't go down on my knees and vow and protest again that I
kept my word.  Some one told Gunson, of course.  Could it have been
Esau, and is he playing unfairly?"

I did not like to think it of him, and I was just trying to drive the
thoughts away, when he came out of the strangers' quarters, where I had
seen him go with Mrs Dean.

"Well, it's all over," he said.  "I thought we was going to have some
rare fun."

"Esau!"  I cried, aghast.  "What, with men being shot!"

"Yes; why not, if they tried to shoot us?  But, I say, they'll come back
again; see if they don't, to help themselves to all there is here."

I shook my head.

"No," I said; "they've been too much scared as it is."

"Not they.  Of course they run when they saw the rifles.  I shouldn't
wonder if we have a really big fight like you've read of in books."

"You are talking nonsense," I said.  "But look here, Esau.  About that
gold?"

"Yes," he cried eagerly; "going to have a try for it?"

"No."

"Oh," said Esau, gloomily.  "Thought you were coming to your senses.  I
don't see why other folks should get it all, and us left nowhere."

"Esau!"  I said, as I caught him by the sleeve, "you see how I am being
suspected of all this.  Mr Raydon still thinks I told Mr Gunson."

"Well, so you did, didn't you?" he replied, with a curiously sly look.

"No," I cried, fiercely; "and you know I did not.  But did you?"

Esau looked me full in the face for a few moments, before turning his
eyes away, and beginning to whistle softly.

"Do you hear what I say?"  I cried, angrily.  "Course I do," he replied,
with a mocking laugh.

"Then tell me--at once--the truth.  Did you give Mr Gunson to
understand where this gold was?"

"Let's see: you asked me before, didn't you?" said Esau, coolly.

"You know I did."

"Well, then, don't ask no questions, and nobody won't tell you no lies."

"Then it was you," I cried; "and it was a mean, cowardly, cruel trick to
let me be suspected and treated as I have been here.  I have always been
fair and open with you."

Esau whistled again in a low soft way, giving me a sidelong glance
again, and then taking out his great knife and making a pretence of
cutting his nails, for which task the knife was about as suitable as a
billhook.

"Are you going to own it?"

No answer.

"Are you going to own to it?"  I said, more loudly.

"No, I ain't," he cried, angrily, "and I don't want to be bothered about
it no more.  Wish I'd gone after the gold myself.  I could ha' made
mother rich and comfortable all her life.  What business had he to
interfere and keep it all from us?  Meant to have the place to himself,
and now somebody else has got it, and serve him right."

I turned away from him angrily, but I was too much worried to be able to
do without advice, and I walked back to where he was still chopping at
his nails.

"Esau," I said; "you saw that big fellow with the gang?"

"Easy enough to see," he replied, sulkily.

"You saw who it was?"

"Yes.  Chap Gunson pitched over that day aboard the steamer."

"Yes.  And you remember how he threatened Mr Gunson?"

"Course I do."

"Well, they're going up the little valley to where Mr Gunson is."

"And if old Gunson meets him he'll send him back with a flea in his
ear."

"One man against a party of twelve all well armed, Esau?"  I whispered.
"I'm afraid about Mr Gunson.  Suppose he is up there somewhere alone,
and has found a great deal of gold?"

"What!" cried Esau, excitedly, for my words had moved him now.

"I say, suppose he has collected a lot of gold, and those rough fellows
know of it?"

"Why, they'd kill him, and take every scrap," cried Esau.  "Here, let's
go and tell Mr Raydon."

"He would not stir to help, I am sure.  Mr Raydon does not want Gunson
there, and he would be glad if he was driven away."

"Think old Gunson knows of those chaps coming?"

"I don't know.  I should think not."

"Let's go and see."

"Yes?"

"And if he don't know, tell him."

"Yes; that is what I should like to do," I said.  "We ought to warn
him."

"Course we ought.  He helped us."

"But how can we manage it?"

"Go.  We know the way."

I stood for a few moments thinking, and at last made up my mind.

"You will go with me, Esau?"  I said.

"Yes; soon as it's dark."

"They wouldn't let us go now?"  I said, dubiously.

"You try," said Esau, with a laugh.  "Why, if old Raydon thought we were
going to try and get out, he'd lock us up."

"Don't let's stand here," I said, in a husky voice, for the excitement
was increasing.  "Let's go back to the quarters and talk there."

"Can't.  Mother's in there, and we shouldn't be able to say a word."

"Then as soon as it's dark we'll climb over, and make straight for the
mining camp."

"That's so," said Esau; and we waited patiently for the coming on of
night.

As soon as it was decided, that which had seemed to me so very easy
began to show itself in quite another light, and difficulties sprang up
one after the other of which I had not taken thought before.

First of all I learned that a strict watch was to be kept at night, and
in consequence it would be next to impossible to get over the palisade
without being heard or seen.

Next, when we had escaped--I inadvertently used that word, for it was
like running away, though I meant to return--there would be the
difficulty of hitting the right valley in the darkness.  Then, if we
found the valley, how were we to find out the place where Gunson had
made his camp? and above all, how were we to pass the camp or
resting-place of the gang of men who had been to the Fort that day?  It
was pretty certain that one of their number would be on guard.

"Yes, and pop at us," said Esau, when I told him of this difficulty.
"Never mind; he couldn't hit us in the dark.  See, too, if old Gunson
doesn't shoot at us if we go disturbing him in the night."

"He would not fire at us," I said, contemptuously.

"Oh, we are clever!" cried Esau.  "How's he going to know it's us?"

"Well, we must risk it," I said.

"Oh, yes, we'll risk it.  Way is to crawl up; then if they fire, they're
sure to miss."

That starting-time seemed as if it would never come.  I had my evening
meal with Mr Raydon and Mr Dempster, Esau having his with his mother
at the Greys', but I hardly ate anything, for in spite of Mrs John's
pleasant smiles and words, the constraint seemed to have increased, and
I felt, unjustly enough perhaps, as if my presence was only tolerated on
account of my friends.

I got away as soon as I could, and as I waited for Esau to come, I began
now to think that I was not doing right.  But I drove the thoughts away
in a reckless fashion.  Esau would laugh at me, I thought, and, full of
determination now, I was glad when he came.

"Well," he said; "mean to go?"

"Mean to go?  Of course!"

"'Cause they're going to be on the look-out pretty sharp, so Grey says,
and they've got orders to fire at any one strange."

"To fire?"  I said, feeling rather startled.

"Yes; so if we get fired at when we go, and fired at when we get there,
it's bound to be a lively sort of a time."

I was silent.

"Well, what do you think of it now?" said Esau, as I did not speak.
"Going?"

"Do you want to hang back, Esau?"  I said, huskily.

"No; I'll stick to you, o' course."

"Then we'll go as soon as we can."

"I thought you'd say so," he said.  "You always was so fond of old
Gunson."

"Then you don't want to go?"

"Course I don't, now I've got mother here, safe.  But if you're going,
I'm going, so how soon?"

It was already dark, and feeling if I waited much longer the hesitation
I suffered from might increase, I said excitedly--

"Now."

"All right then; let's get a little way further from the corner, make
straight for that look-out place, where Grey watched the chaps going,
and get over there."

"Yes," I said, thoughtfully; "we can get on the top of the big paling
and drop down from there.  But I say, Esau," I whispered, "how are we to
climb back?"

"Dunno.  Let's do one job first," he whispered back, philosophically.
"Now then, are you ready?"

"Yes," I said, desperately.

"Then down on your hands and knees, and let's creep like dogs.  They
will not see us then."

It is impossible to describe the feeling of excitement which came over
me as I followed Esau's example, and letting him lead, began to crawl
pretty quickly across the enclosure.  I looked back, and there were the
lights in Mr Raydon's quarters, where my friends were seated, and
wondered what they would think when they heard that I had gone, and what
construction Mr Raydon would place upon my departure, for something
seemed to tell me that we should be found out; and it was not likely
that we should be credited with going for so innocent a reason.

"No," I said to myself; "he will think I have gone to join Gunson to
wash for gold, and--"

"Don't!  I say, mind where you are coming."

For my head had come sharply in contact with my companion.

"What's the matter?  Why did you stop?"

"Only to look back at that place where mother is.  My! won't she be in a
taking if they find out we are gone?"

"Go on quickly, then," I whispered, "and let's get back before they know
it."

At that moment there was a loud growl toward one of the block-houses.

"Rough's heard us," whispered Esau.  "Come on."

We crept forward, and then I felt a chill of dread, for there was a
quick rustling sound, a loud bark, and though we could not see him, I
knew that the great dog was coming at us full speed.

My first idea was to get up and run, but before I could put my intention
in force, the dog was upon us, barking furiously; but the next minute,
after knocking me right over, he was whining and fawning upon me, and
giving a share of his attentions to Esau.

"Down!  Quiet!  Get out!" whispered Esau.  "Why don't you wipe your
nose?"

"Here, Rough!  What is it, lad?  Hold him!" came from the direction of
the block-house.

"Oh, it's all up," I whispered, as the dog set up a loud volley of
barking.

"Seize him!" cried the voice, which I knew to be Grey's; but the dog
barked again, as if in remonstrance, and seemed more disposed to play
with us than to seize.

"What is it then?  What have you got?"

There was another burst of barking.

"Let's go back," whispered Esau.

"No, no, go on.  Never mind the dog."

"Let's run for it then," whispered Esau, and catching hold of my hand,
he led the way quickly toward the fence, with Rough leaping and bounding
round us, and every now and then uttering one of the volleys of barking
which sounded terribly loud in the utter silence of that dark night.

We had nearly reached the place, when I heard a familiar voice say--

"What's the matter with that dog?"

"Don't know, sir.  Seems to have found something, or he wouldn't go on
like that.  Here!  Hi!  Rough, Rough, Rough!"

But the dog would not leave us.  We were only friends, and he kept on
his excited bark.

"Here, Rough!" cried Mr Raydon, angrily; and at that moment we reached
the fence, fortunately for us just by the loophole.

"Over with you first," cried Esau, and I climbed rapidly to the top,
threw my legs over, lowered myself to the full extent of my arms, and
dropped lightly.

"Come across and see," came just then from the other side; and now while
I heard the rustling and scrambling noise made by Esau in climbing, as I
stood there listening with my heart beating heavily, the dog began to
bark furiously, then to growl.  There was a struggling noise, and then
Esau's voice came through the crack of the paling.

"He's got hold of me tight.  Run, lad, run!"

But I could not run then and leave my companion in the lurch, and I was
about to climb back when the worrying, growling sound ceased, and Esau
dropped beside me.

"Come on!" he whispered.  "This way.  He's got half the leg of my
trousers."

Catching my hand again we trotted on.

"Jumped at me, and held me so as I shouldn't get over," he whispered.
"Here, this way.  We're right, I know."

The dog's barking was furious now, and I whispered to Esau--

"They're opening the gate."

"Hist!  Don't take no notice."

For there was a shout from behind.

"Halt, there, or we fire!"

"Go on then," muttered Esau.  "Sha'n't halt now.  You couldn't hit us if
you tried."

"Do you hear?  Halt!"

It was Mr Raydon who shouted, but I was desperate now I had gone so
far, and we kept up our trot, with Esau acting as guide.  His eyes were
better than mine in the darkness.

"Fire!" came from behind now, and three flashes of light appeared for an
instant, followed by the reports of the rifles.

"Not killed me," muttered Esau, with a chuckle.  But I did not laugh,
for a thought had struck me.

"Esau," I whispered; "they'll set the dog on our scent, and use him to
run us down.  There, do you hear?"

For the barking of the dog began once more.

"Can we cross the river?"  I said.

"No."

"Then make for the first stream and let's wade along it a little way."

"Never thought of that," muttered Esau.  "Here, let's go along by the
river."

Five minutes later we were splashing along close to the edge, keeping
our feet in the water for a time, with the dog's deep baying behind
coming on so slowly that I knew he must be chained and some one holding
him back.

"He will not track us now," I said breathlessly.  "They'll think we have
crossed."

"Then they'll think we're drowned, and go and tell mother," said Esau,
stopping short.  "Here, let's go back."

"Not now we have gone so far," I said.  "I could not face Mr Raydon
now.  Besides, they will know that we could take care of ourselves."

"Course they would," said Esau.  "Come on."  But before we had gone a
hundred yards he said, "Why they won't know it is us yet."

We tramped on as quickly as we could go for the darkness, and by degrees
the barking of the dog grew more faint in the distance, and finally
ceased.

"There," said Esau; "they'll be clever if they find us now."

"And we shall be clever if we find our way."

"Oh, I'll find my way.  I shall never forget how to get to that place,
after what happened that day."

I shuddered, for his words brought up my long illness, and made me tramp
on down alongside the stream with a curious sensation of awe.

For the darkness was at times intense, and in the blackest parts the
river seemed to dash and roar in a way that was startling, and as we had
never heard it before.

It was all fancy of course, and so it was that the pines rose up so
black that it was hard work to make out the landmarks in the valley
which had grown familiar during our many wanderings.

Twice over we stopped to argue, for Esau was positive and obstinate to a
degree, insisting that we had come to the right ravine, while I was as
sure that we had not.

He gave way sulkily, assuring me that I was going right on past it, and
at last I began to think he must be correct.  For I had lost all count
of time in my excitement, and I stopped short.

"I've taken you right by it, Esau," I said sadly.  "We must go back."

"No, you haven't," he replied, to my great surprise.  "I've thought
since that couldn't be it, because there was no open pool just below the
fall.  Don't you remember, where we saw so many trout?"

"Of course," I cried; "I remember now.  Then it is lower down, and we
ought to hear the noise of falling water."

We listened, but there was only the rumbling roar of the river down on
our left.

"I'm afraid we're wrong," I said despondently.  "If it only were not so
dark!"

"Let's go on a bit further first," said Esau; and I followed him full of
doubts, till we turned a corner where the river made a sudden bend, and
Esau uttered a low cry.

"There it is," he said.  "Hark!"

Sure enough there was the roar of a fall, and we knew that we had
reached the entrance of the little side valley, where the pool lay below
the falls.

Another minute, and we were passing through a clump of little fir-trees,
also familiar to us; and then Esau stopped short, for there was a bright
light just in front--a light which puzzled us for a few moments, before
we understood that it must be the reflection from a fire which we could
not see, shining in the clear waters of the pool.



CHAPTER FORTY THREE.

OUR WARNING.

After a whispered consultation we crept on again through the trees,
until we could see a good-sized fire blazing and sparkling close down by
the side of the pool, and about it--some asleep, some sitting resting,
and others talking--were a group of rough-looking men, whom we had not
much difficulty in making out to be our visitors at the Fort.

It was plain enough.  They had come down after leaving us, and had
camped there for the night, perhaps found gold there; and this was their
station.  If so, Gunson must be higher up and safe.

I whispered my ideas to Esau, who thought for a few minutes before
speaking.

"No," he said, "I don't believe they'd stop here.  But p'r'aps they're
quite new-comers.  What shall we do?"

"Get by them," I said resolutely.  "We must hurry on to Mr Gunson now."

"But how?" he whispered.  "Ain't they stopping up all the road?"

"Not all," I said.  "Let's go down on our hands again, and creep by."

"All right, only you go first, and be careful.  Mind, if they see us
they'll fire."

I don't know whether it was recklessness or desperation.  I had felt
timid, and had shrunk from the task at first; but now that I felt I must
go on, the dread had pretty well passed away.

Going down on my hands and knees, I found to my great satisfaction that
the fire was invisible; and if so, of course we must be out of sight of
the men about it.  I whispered this to Esau, who responded by a grunt,
which, added to his position, made him bear a strong resemblance to an
animal, and for the moment it amused me, and took my attention from the
difficulty of my task.

We had had to leave the track, and our way was amongst blocks of stone
covered with moss, between which short stiff patches of bush grew,
making our passage difficult, and not to be accomplished without noise.

But I kept on with the light on my left, knowing that if I kept it in
that position I must be going in the correct direction; and it was
necessary to keep this in mind, as every now and then a tree or a block
of stone forced me to diverge.

The men were talking loudly, and now and then there arose a rough burst
of laughter, while there was no doubt about who the party were, for I
heard an allusion made to the Fort.

Just then, as we were about level with the fire, a piece of a branch
upon which I pressed my knee gave a loud crack, and the conversation
ceased instantly.

We neither of us moved, but crouched there, listening to our beating
hearts, and expecting to have either a shot sent in our direction, or to
see part of the men come rushing toward us.

At last, after what seemed to be quite ten minutes, a voice said--

"Hear that?"

"Yes," was growled.

"What was it?"

"Don't know."

They began talking again slowly, and by degrees the conversation grew
general and loud.

"Go along," I whispered, after carefully removing the dead branch, and
once more our rustling progress began.

Oh, how slow it was, and how I longed to jump up and run.  But we were
in the opening of the little valley now, and our only chance was to
creep on till we were well beyond the light cast by the fire, and so we
persevered.

At last, after creeping along inch by inch, we paused, for in front of
us the undergrowth ceased, and I saw an open patch of sand faintly lit
by the fire, and across this we must pass to reach the shelter beyond.

"Go on first," whispered Esau, and, drawing a _long_ breath, I started,
going as silently and quickly as I could into the darkness of the
shelter beyond, and turned to look at Esau.

From where I knelt I could see the fire clearly, and as he came across,
I was thinking how animal-like he looked, when I fancied I saw a
movement, and before I could be sure, there was a flash, a loud report,
and a twig dropped from over my head upon one of my hands.

"Bear! bear!" shouted a voice, and the men sprang to their feet.  But by
this time Esau was alongside of me, and rising up we hurried along in a
stooping position, leaving the eager voices more and more behind, the
men being evidently hunting for the bear one of them believed that he
had shot.

"Was he firing at me?" said Esau.

"Yes; he saw you, I suppose."

"But he might have hit me," cried Esau, indignantly.  "Chaps like that
have no business to be trusted with guns."

"Hist!"

"Come on, lads," we heard plainly.  "I'm sure I hit him."

"Don't be a fool," cried another voice.  "Wait till daylight.  Do you
want to be clawed?"

"Shall I roar?" whispered Esau.

"Don't--don't, whatever you do," I whispered back in alarm, for I had
not the slightest faith in my companion's imitation, and felt certain
that we should be found out.

The men too seemed to be coming on, but in a few minutes the rustling
and breaking of wood ceased, and we crept on again for a little way; and
then, with the light of the fire reduced to a faint glow, we stood
upright and began to ascend the little valley at a fairly rapid rate for
the darkness.

"What an escape!"  I said, breathing more freely now.

"That's what I ought to say," grumbled Esau.  "That bullet came close by
me."

"And by me too," I replied.  "I felt a twig that it cut off fall upon
me.  But never mind as we were not hit."

"But I do mind," grumbled Esau.  "I didn't come out here to be shot at."

"Don't talk," I said.  "Perhaps we shall come upon another camp before
long."

I proved to be right, for at the end of an hour we came upon a rough
tent, so dimly seen that we should have passed it where it stood, so
much canvas thrown over a ridge pole, if we had not been warned by a low
snoring sound.

We crept down to the waterside, and slowly edged our way on; but when we
were some fifty yards farther we stopped to consider our position.

"S'pose that's old Gunson," said Esau, "and we're going away from him
now?"

The idea struck me too, but I set it triumphantly aside directly.

"If it were Mr Gunson there would be a fire, and most likely Quong
keeping watch.  Besides, we don't know that he had a tent like that."

"No, he hadn't got a tent," assented Esau; and we went on, to find that
at every quarter of a mile there was a tent or a fire; and it soon
became evident that the solitary little valley we had explored on the
day of my accident was rapidly getting to hold a population of its own.

We had passed several of these busy encampments, and were beginning to
despair of finding Mr Gunson, when, as nearly as we could guess in the
darkness, just about where we washed the gold, we came upon a fire,
whose warm yellow glow lit up a huge pine, and at the scene before us we
stopped to reconnoitre.

"That's where I was cutting the tree," muttered Esau; "and--yes, there's
old Quong.  Look!"

Sure enough there was the yellow-faced, quaint little fellow coming out
of the darkness into the light to bend down and carefully lay some fresh
wood upon the fire, after which he slowly began to walk back.

Mr Gunson must be here, I thought, for Quong would naturally be drawn
to him as a strong man who would protect him.

"Come along," I said; "we are right after all."

"No, no, stop!" he cried, seizing me and holding me back, for Quong
evidently heard our voices, and darted back among the trees.

"Nonsense," I said, struggling.

"Keep back, I tell you.  'Tain't safe.  They don't know it's us, and
somebody may shoot."

It was a foolish thing to do, but I wrested myself free and ran forward.

As I did so I heard the ominous _click click_ of a gun-lock, and stopped
short.

"Halt!  Who's that?  Stand!" cried a deep voice; and the effect was so
great upon me, that I felt like one in a nightmare trying to speak, but
no words came.

Esau was not so impressed, however, for he shouted wildly--

"Hi!  Don't shoot.  It's only us.  Mr Gunson there?"

The boughs were parted, and the familiar figure of the prospector came
out into the light, rifle in hand.

"Why, Gordon!" he cried.  "You?  Glad to see you; you too, Dean.  But
that's risky work, my lad.  Don't you know the old proverb--`Let
sleeping dogs lie'?  I did not know you were friends, and these are
dangerous times; I might have tried to bite."

He shook hands with us both as he spoke, and Quong came cautiously out
from among the trees.

"Ay, ay, ay!" he cried, beginning to caper about.  "You come along?  How
de-do-di-do.  Quong make hot flesh tea."

"No, no; they don't want tea at this time of night."

"Yes, please give me some," I said, for I was hot and faint with
exertion.  "I shall be glad of a mug."

"Hot flesh tea," cried Quong, beginning to rake the fire together.
"Makee cakee dleckly."

"Why, Gordon, what brings you here?" cried Mr Gunson.  "You belong to
the opposite camp.  Raydon hasn't let you come gold-washing?"

"No," I said, hurriedly.  "Have you seen those men?"

"What men?  There are plenty about here."

"I mean those men you quarrelled with on the steamer about Quong."

"Eh?  'Bout Quong?" cried the little Chinaman, looking up sharply.  "Bad
man on puff-boat pullee tail neally off.  No."

"Yes; they have been at the Fort to-day--yesterday--which is it--and
they are down below yonder now."

"What, those fellows?" cried Gunson, excitedly; and he gave vent to a
long low whistle.  "That's awkward."

"I was afraid you did not know," I said, hurriedly.  "I knew you were
here, and I came to warn you.  Mr Raydon--"

"Sent you to warn me?" interrupted Gunson.

"No," I said; "we had to break out of the Fort to-night and come.  Mr
Raydon is not good friends with me."

"Humph!" ejaculated Gunson.  "So you came to let me know?"

"To put you on your guard," I said.  "Yes."

I saw him look at me fixedly for a few moments, and then in a
half-morose way he nodded his head at me, saying--

"Thank you, my lad--thank you too, Dean."

"Warn't me," said Esau, sourly.  "It was him.  I only come too."

"Well, it is awkward," continued Gunson, after a few moments' thought,
"for I have got to the spot now that I have been looking for all these
years."

"Then you're finding lots of gold?" cried Esau, eagerly.

"I am finding a little gold," replied Gunson, quietly; "and Quong is
too."

"Eh?  Me findee gole?" cried Quong, looking up from the half-boiling
kettle, and hastily-made cakes which he had thrust in the embers to
bake.  "Yes; findee lil bit, and put um in littlee bottle."

"But these men--will they attack you?"  I said, anxiously.

"Yes, if they find that I have a good claim.  More than two, you say?"

I told him all about the coming to the Fort, and how we had passed them
down below.  Gunson looked very serious for a while; then with a smile
he said quietly--

"Well, union is strength.  Now you two lads have come, my force is
doubled.  You will stay with me now?"

"No," I said, firmly.  "As soon as it is light I must go back to the
Fort to our friends."

"But you have quarrelled with Mr Raydon, and after this night's
business he will not have you back."

"No," cried Esau, eagerly.  "Let's stop and wash gold."

"And leave your mother," I said, "for the sake of that."

"I wish you wouldn't be so nasty, Mayne Gordon," cried Esau.  "Who's
a-going to leave his mother?  Ain't I trying to get a lot o' money so as
to make her well off?"

"We cannot stay," I said.  "I don't want Mr Raydon and my friends--"

"They have arrived then?"

"Yes," I said.  "What would they think if I ran off like this?"

"Humph! you're a strange lad.  You take French leave, and come to warn
me.  They fire at you, and hunt you with that great hound, and yet you
are going back!"

"Yes," I said, "as soon as it is light; Esau too."

"And suppose old Raydon won't have us back?" cried Esau.

"But he will when he knows why I came."

"I am not so sure," said Gunson.  "Well, I suppose you are right."

"No, no," cried Esau.  "I meant to stop along with you.  I shan't go.
If I do, it'll be to fetch mother."

I told Esau I did not believe him, and Gunson went on--

"It's awkward about those fellows, for at present might is right up
here.  The worst of it is, Quong can't fight."

"No fightee," said Quong, looking up sharply.  "Melican man fightee.
Quong makee flesh tea, talkee ploper English.  Makee flesh blead all
hot.  Hot closs bun."

"I should like to stay with you, Mr Gunson," I said; "and it is very
tempting.  But I must go back."

"And if Mr Raydon refuses to have you, my lads, come back, and I'll
make you as welcome as I can."

"Flesh tea all leady," said Quong; and I was soon after gladly partaking
of the simple meal, close to the spot where I had met with the terrible
accident six months before.

Before we lay down for a few hours' rest, I wanted to tell him more
about my trouble, and how Mr Raydon suspected me.  I wanted to ask him
too how he had found out about this spot.  But Esau was lying close by
me, and I suspected him of playing a double part.  I felt sure just then
that he had been Gunson's informant, so I had to put it all off till a
more favourable opportunity; and while I was thinking this I dropped off
fast asleep.



CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.

GREY'S MESSAGE.

"Flesh tea allee leady," cried a familiar voice in my ear; and I started
up to see the sun peering over the edge of the mountains to light up the
beautiful opalescent mists floating below.  There was the scent of the
bruised pine-boughs where I lay, and a more familiar one wafted from the
fire--that of hot, newly-made bread.

"Yes, all right, I'm getting up," grunted Esau; and directly after we
went down to the stream and had a good wash, finding Gunson waiting by
the fire and watching the frizzling of some slices of bacon on our
return.

"Good morning," he said.  "Come and have your breakfast.  Well," he
continued, as we began, "what's it to be?  Going back?"

"Yes," I said, "directly after breakfast."

"Oh!" cried Esau.

"I can't help it, Esau; we must.  We are in honour bound."

"And we might make our fortunes."

"You leave me, then, to the mercy of those scoundrels down below?" said
Gunson, drily.

"I am only a boy, sir," I said; "how can I fight for you?  I'll beg Mr
Raydon to send help to you though, directly."

"Yes; do, my lad.  I shall be in rather a dangerous position.  Say I beg
of him to try and give me protection, for though I am fighting against
him here, all this was sure to come, and I might as well grow rich as
any one else."

I promised eagerly that I would; and we were hurrying through our
breakfast, when there was the trampling of feet and the breaking of wood
just below.

Gunson looked up and seized his rifle, to stand ready; and directly
after a man strode out of the dense forest and stood before us.

"Grey!"  I exclaimed, wonderingly.

"Yes," he said, stolidly.  "Morning."

"Have some breakfast?" said Gunson.

"Yes.  Bit hungry," said Grey.  Then turning to me and Esau--"Chief says
I'm to tell you both that as you have chosen to throw in your lot with
Mr Gunson here, you are not to come back to the Fort again."

I dropped my knife and sat half stunned, wondering what Mr and Mrs
John would say; and as I recovered myself, it seemed as if when a few
words of explanation would have set everything right, those words were
never to be spoken.

Esau had been as strongly affected as I was; but he recovered himself
first.

"Not to come back to the Fort again?" he cried.

"No," said Grey, with his mouth full.  "Chief said if you were so mad
after gold, you might go mad both of you."

"Hurray!" cried Esau.  "Then I'm going to be mad as a hatter with hats
full."

"Right," said Grey, stolidly, as he munched away at the cake and bacon.
"You're in the right spot."

"But hold hard," cried Esau, as another thought struck him.  "This won't
do.  He ain't going to keep her shut up in the Fort.  I want my mother."

"Right," said Grey, setting down the tin mug out of which he drank his
hot tea.  "I'll tell him you want your mother."

"Yes, do.  I don't mind.  I wanted to come up here."

"Well, Gordon, what have you to say?" cried Mr Gunson.  "Any message to
send back?"

"Yes," I said, flushing and speaking sharply.  "Tell Mr Raydon--no,
tell Mr and Mrs John that I have been cruelly misjudged, and that some
day they will know the whole truth."

"Right," said Grey.  "I won't forget.  Nothing to say to the chief?"

"No," I said; "nothing."

"Yes; a word from me," said Gunson.  "Tell him that something ought to
be done to preserve order here, for the people are collecting fast, and
some of them the roughest of the rough."

"Yes," said Grey.  "I'll tell him; but he knows already; we had a taste
of 'em yesterday.  Anything else?"

"No," said Gunson; "only that perhaps I may want to send to him for
help."

"Best way's to help yourselves," said Grey, at last rising from a hearty
breakfast.  "Good-bye, my lads," he said, "till we run agen each other
later on.  I say," he continued, after shouldering his rifle, "did you
two lads bring away guns?"

"No," I said; "of course not."

"Haven't got any then.  How many have you?" he continued, turning to
Gunson.

"Only my own and a revolver."

"Lend you mine, young Mr Gordon," he said, handing it to me, and then
unstrapping his ammunition-belt, and with it his revolver in its
holster.  "Better buy yourself one first chance, and then you can send
mine back.  Take care of the tackle; it's all good."

"Thank you, Grey," said Gunson, grasping his hand.  "You couldn't have
made him a better loan.  I won't forget it."

"Course you won't.  Nor him neither, I know."

"Ain't got another, have you?" said Esau.

Grey shook his head.

"Good-bye," he said.

"I say, tell mother not to fret, I'm all right," cried Esau.

"And give old Rough a pat on the head for me," I cried.

"I will.  Nice game you had with him last night," said Grey, laughing.
"Too good friends with you to lay hold."

"Oh, was I, sir?" cried Esau; "he's made one of my trousers
knee-breeches.  Look!"

He held up his leg, where the piece had been torn off below the knee,
and Grey laughed as he went and disappeared in the forest that fringed
the banks of the stream.

"Then now we can begin gold-digging in real earnest," cried Esau,
excitedly.  "I say, Mr Gunson, how's it going to be?"

"What, my lad?"

"Each keep all he finds?"

"We'll see about that later on," said Gunson, sternly.  "There will be
no gold-washing yet."

Esau stared.

"There are too many enemies afoot.  I am going to wait and see if those
men come up this way.  If they do, there will be enough work to maintain
our claim, for, setting aside any ill-feeling against me, they may want
to turn us off."

"Well, they are ugly customers," said Esau, rubbing one ear.  "I say, do
you think they'll come to fight?"

"If they think that this is a rich claim, nothing is more likely."

"And I say," cried Esau, "I didn't mean that."

"If you feel afraid you had better go.  I dare say you can overtake that
man."

"But I don't want to go."

"Then stay."

"But I don't want to fight."

"Then go."

"But there ain't nowhere to go, and--Oh, I say, Mayne Gordon, what is a
fellow to do?"

"Do what I do," I said, quickly.

"What's that?"

"Trust to Mr Gunson the same as we have done before."

"Thank you, Mayne Gordon," said Gunson, laying his hand on my shoulder;
"but I hardly like exposing you to risk."

"The danger has not come yet," I said, smiling, though I confess to
feeling uncomfortable.  "Perhaps it never will."

"At any rate we must be prepared," said Gunson.  "Only to think of it!
What a little thing influences our careers!  I little fancied when I
protected that poor little fellow on board the steamer, that in so doing
I was jeopardising my prospects just when I was about to make the
success of my life."

"It is unfortunate," I said.

"Unfortunate, boy?--it is maddening.  But for this I should once more
have been a rich man."

I looked at him curiously, and he saw it.

"Yes," he said, laughingly, "once more a rich man."

"Is one any the happier for being rich?"  I said.

"Not a bit, my lad.  I was rich once, and was a miserable idiot.  Mayne,
I left college to find myself suddenly in possession of a good fortune,"
he continued, pausing excitedly now, and speaking quicker, for Esau had
strolled off to a little distance with Quong.  "Instead of making good
use of it, I listened to a contemptible crew who gathered about me, and
wasted my money rapidly in various kinds of gambling, so that at the end
of a year I was not only penniless, but face to face with half a dozen
heavy debts of honour which I knew I must pay or be disgraced.  Bah! why
am I telling you all this?"

"No, no; don't stop," I said eagerly; "tell me all."

"Well," he said, "I will; for I like you, Mayne, and have from the day
we first met on board the _Albatross_.  It may be a warning to you.  No:
I will not insult you by thinking you could ever grow up as I did.  For
to make up for my losings, I wildly plunged more deeply into the
wretched morass, and then in my desperation went to my sister and mother
for help."

"And they helped you?"  I said, for he paused.

"Of course, for they loved me in spite of my follies.  It was for the
last time, I told them, and they signed away every shilling of their
fortunes, Mayne, to enable me to pay my debts.  And then--"

"And then?"  I said, for he had paused again.

"And then I had the world before me, Mayne," he said, sadly.  "I was
free, but I had set myself the task of making money to restore my mother
and sister to their old position.  I tried first in London, but soon
found out it would be vain to try and save a hundredth part of what I
ought to pay them, so I tried adventure.  There were rumours of gold
being discovered in Australia, then in the Malay Peninsula, and again at
the Cape, so I went to each place in turn and failed.  Other men made
fortunes, but I was always unlucky, till once at the Cape, where I hit
upon a place that promised well, but my luck was always against me.  My
tent was attacked one night, and I was left senseless, to come to myself
next morning, and find that I had been robbed, and so cruelly ill-used
that the sight of one eye was gone for ever, and there was nothing left
for me to do but sell my claim for enough money to take me back to
England amongst my poor people to be nursed back to health.  Then, as I
grew strong again, there came rumours of the gold in British Columbia,
and I started once more, taking passage as a poor man in the steerage,
and meeting on board one Mayne Gordon, with whom I became friends.  Am I
right?"

"Indeed, yes," I cried, giving him my hand.

"That's well," he said, smiling.  "Since then I have worked, as you
know, for the golden prize that, if it does not make those at home
happy, will place them far above want, but always without success,
passing away from Fort Elk, when there was abundance near, and returning
poorer than I went, to find out quite by accident that here was indeed
the golden land.  Mayne, I have gold worth hundreds of pounds already
hidden away safe."

"I am very, very glad," I cried.  "But I want to know--"

"Yes?" he said, for I had stopped.

"Have you--no, not now," for just then Esau came up to us.

"Look here, my lad," said Gunson, quickly, "I sincerely hope that we may
never have cause to use weapons against our fellow-men; but we must be
prepared for emergencies.  Do you know how to handle a revolver?"

Esau shook his head.

"Hit ever so much harder with my fists," he said.

"But that will not do.  The sight of our weapons may keep evil visitors
off.  Let me show you how to load and fire."

"Will it kick?" said Esau.

"Not if you hold it tightly.  Now, look here."

And as I looked on, Mr Gunson showed Esau how to load and fire, and
generally how to handle the weapon, the lesson acting as well for me.

"There," said Mr Gunson at last, "you ought to be a valuable help to me
now; for the beauty of a weapon like this is, that the very sight of its
barrel will keep most men at a distance; and if they come I hope it will
these."

"Did yesterday, didn't it?" said Esau, laughingly, to me.

"Now," said Gunson, "about your rifle, Mayne; can you manage it?"

"I think so," I said; and I handled it in a way which satisfied my
master.

"That's right," he said.  "Never mind about hitting.  To fire is the
thing; the noise will, I hope, scare enemies.  Now if Quong could be of
some use, it would make a show of four defenders; but we know of old his
strong point."

"Getting up a tree," I said, laughing.

"Exactly.  Perhaps he could throw boiling water, but I shall not ask him
to do that.  There, we are all right; every force must have a
commissariat department, and some general once said that an army fights
upon its stomach.  We'll have him to feed us, while we keep guard about
the place."

"And won't you wash for gold at all?" said Esau, in a disappointed tone
of voice.

"No, nor yet mention it," said Gunson, firmly.  "To all intents and
purposes there is no gold here whatever.  We are settlers, and we are
going to hold this spot.  You see, there is our brand on that tree."

As he spoke he pointed to the mark we had cut on the great fir-tree hard
by, and I could not help a shudder as I recollected the events of that
day.

The morning passed, and the afternoon came without our hearing a sound
but those made by the birds and squirrels, and after partaking of a meal
we began to look anxiously for the night as the time of danger; but we
saw the ruddy blaze of light die out on snow-topped peaks, and then the
pale stars begin to appear.

"This place is wonderfully like Switzerland in parts," said Gunson, as
we sat near the fire always on the _qui vive_ for danger; and in a low
voice he chatted to us till it was quite night, and the sky was a blaze
of stars.

"I think we may sleep in peace to-night," said Gunson, and he was a true
prophet, for, though I woke twice with a start of fear, the noise which
had wakened me was only caused by Quong going to throw some wood upon
the fire, which he never suffered to die out, but coaxed on so as to
have a plentiful heap of hot ashes in which to bake.

Two days passed in peace, and then a third, with the inaction telling
upon us all.  For we were constantly on the strain, and the slightest
sound suggested the coming of an enemy.

"You see we cannot stir," Gunson said to me.  "We must keep together.
If one of us played spy and reconnoitred, the chances are that the enemy
would come while we were away."

"But what does Quong say?"  I asked.  "He went down the stream last
night."

"That there are thirty parties between here and the river, and that
means some of them are new-comers, making their way up here before long.
To-morrow we shall have to send him to the Fort to beg for food."

"But there is a store lower down, Quong told me."

"Yes, and to buy off the people at their exorbitant prices, I shall have
to pay with gold, and for the present I wish to avoid showing that there
is any here."

The next day dawned, and was passing as the others had passed, for Mr
Gunson was hesitating still about sending Quong for provisions, that
little gentleman having announced that there would be "plenty bread,
plenty tea, plenty bacon for another day."

"Mayne," said Mr Gunson, as the sun was getting low, "I think I shall
go down the stream to-night, and see if those men are there.  Perhaps,
after all, we are scared about nothing; they may have gone up another of
the valleys instead of this, and found gold in abundance--who knows?
But I must end this suspense some--"

He started, for I was pointing down stream at something moving.

"Is that a deer?"  I whispered; and before he could answer a voice
cried--

"Come on, lads, it's more open up here, and it looks a likely spot."



CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.

GUNSON'S DECISION.

"Sit fast," said Gunson, "both of you.  Don't make any sign, and leave
me to speak.  But mind, if I say `Tent,' run both of you to the tent,
and seize your weapons ready to do what I say."

I gave him a nod, and sat with beating heart watching the moving figure,
which directly after caught sight of us.

"Hullo!" he said; "some one here?"  Then turning, "Look sharp, some of
you."

Both Gunson and I had recognised the man as Quong's principal assailant,
and I glanced sharply toward the Chinaman, to catch sight of the soles
of his shoes as he crept rapidly in amongst the trees, a pretty evident
sign that he too had recognised his enemy.

"Nice evening, mate," said the big fellow, advancing, as Gunson sat by
me, coolly filling his pipe.  "Ah, I just want a light."

He came closer, looking sharply round, while we could hear the trampling
and breaking of the fir-boughs, as others were evidently close at hand.

Gunson drew a burning stick from the fire, and offered it to the man,
who took it, and said quietly, as he lit his own pipe--

"Camping here for the night, mate?"

"Yes: camping here."

"Going on in the morning?"

"No; this is my claim."

The man dropped the burning stick, and stared at Gunson.

"What?" he said.  "Oh no, that won't do.  Me and my mates have chosen
this patch, so you'll have to go higher up or lower down; haven't we,
lads?" he continued, as one by one the rest of the gang came up.

"Eh? all right, yes, whatever it is," said one of them, whom I
recognised as the second of Quong's assailants.

"There, you see," continued the first man; "it's all right, so you'll
have to budge."

"No," said Gunson, quietly; "this is my claim.  I've been here some days
now, and here I stay."

"Oh, we'll see about that," said the fellow, in a bullying tone.  "It's
the place for us, so no nonsense.  Been here some days, have you?"

"Yes, some days now, my lad; and the law gives me a prior right."

"Ah, but there arn't no law up here yet.  Look here," he cried, suddenly
seizing Gunson, and forcing him back.  "What's the pay dirt worth?  How
much gold have you got?  How--Why, hallo! it's you, is it?  Here, old
lad," he cried to the other speaker, "it's our wrastling friend.  I told
you we should run up agen each other again, and--why of course--here's
the boy too.  This is quite jolly."

"Keep your hands off," said Gunson, shaking himself free, and springing
up, an example we followed.  "This part of the country's wide enough, so
go your way.  I tell you again, this claim is mine.  What I make is my
business, so go."

"Hear all this?" said the big fellow, quickly.  "Hear this, mates?  We
arn't inside a fence now, with a lot o' riflemen ready, so just speak
up, some of you.  Isn't this the spot we mean to have--isn't this the
claim Tom Dunn come up and picked?"

"Yes, yes," came in chorus, as the men closed up round us in the
gathering gloom; while I felt sick with apprehension, and stood ready to
spring away as soon as Mr Gunson gave the order to go, while,
fortunately for us, the way was open, being beyond the fire.

"You hear, mate," cried the big fellow, fiercely, "so no more words.
You and your boys can go, and think yourselves lucky we don't slit your
ears.  Do you hear?"

"Yes," said Gunson, smiling.

"There's plenty of other places, so be off.  Where's your traps?  Now
then, cut!"

He took a step forward, and his companions seemed about to rush at us,
when Mr Gunson's voice rang out--

"Tent!"

We sprang across the fire, whose thin smoke half hid us as we rushed in
among the trees, and seized our weapons.

"Scared 'em," roared the big fellow; and there was a chorus of laughter
from his companions, who gathered about the fire, kicking it together to
make a blaze, and get lights for their pipes.

We were in darkness, and they were in full light, the flames flashing
up, and giving a strangely picturesque aspect to the group.

"Soon jobbed that job," said the big fellow.  "How they ran! wonder
whether they got any dust."

"You ought to have searched 'em," said the second.  "I know they had, or
they wouldn't have run."

"_Cock_," whispered Gunson, as there was a momentary pause; and the men
all started, and their hands went to their hips for their pistols, as
the ominous clicking of our pieces was heard.

"Bail up!" roared Gunson, his voice pealing out of the darkness; "you
are covered by rifles, and the man who moves dies."

There was an angry growl, and the men threw up their hands, one of them
holding a pistol.

"Put that iron away," roared Gunson; and the man slowly replaced it, and
then raised his hands like his fellows.

"Now go back the way you came, or strike up further," said Gunson,
firmly.  "Show your faces here again, and it is at your own risk, for I
shoot at sight.  Off!"

There was a low muttering growl at this, and the men walked slowly away
in the direction by which they had come, while we sat listening till
there was not a sound.

"Gone," I said, with the painful beating of my heart calming down.

"Yes, my lad, gone," said Gunson; "and we shall have to follow their
example.  It is a horrible shame, but till we have people sent up by the
governor, those scoundrels take the law in their own hands."

"But they will not dare to come back."

"I don't know.  But I shall not dare to try and hold the place against
such a gang."

"But you weren't afraid of 'em?" said Esau.

"Indeed, but I was," said Gunson, with a bitter laugh, "horribly afraid.
I should have fought to the end though, all the same, and so would
you."

"Dunno," said Esau; "but I was going to try and hit one, for I thought
it a pity to waste a shot, and I can hit without killing; can't I, Mayne
Gordon?"

"Don't talk about it," I said, with a shudder.

"Why not?  Wish we could wound all that lot like I wounded you, and that
they would be as bad for six months."

"Don't talk," said Mr Gunson.  "We will not stir to-night, and the best
way will be not to show ourselves--only one at a time to make up the
fire.  No sleep to-night, lads; or if there is, it must be in turns.
Here, Quong!  What tree has he gone up?"

There was no reply, and we sat listening with the darkness closing in
all around, and the silence growing painful.  It was a weary watch in
the gloom, though outside the fire lit up the valley, and from time to
time I went out and threw on a few sticks, just enough to keep it up.

I don't know what time it was, probably about midnight, when Mr Gunson
said softly.

"Two will be enough to watch.  You, Dean, lie down and take your spell
till you are called."

There was no reply.

"Do you hear?"

Still no answer.

"What!" cried Mr Gunson, "has he forsaken us?"

"No, no," I whispered; "here he is, and fast asleep."

Mr Gunson uttered a low, half-contemptuous laugh.

"Nice fellow to trust with our lives," he said.  "Shall I wake him to
watch while we sleep?"

"Don't be hard upon him," I said.  "He was very tired, and it always was
his weak point--he would go to sleep anywhere."

"And your weak point to defend your friends, eh, Mayne?  There, I will
not be hard upon him.  Talk in whispers, and keep on the _qui vive_; we
must not be surprised.  Are you very tired?"

"Not at all now," I said.  "I don't want to go to sleep."

"Then we'll discuss the position, Mayne.  Hist!"

We listened, but the faint crack we heard was evidently the snapping of
a stick in the fire, and Mr Gunson went on.

"Now, Mayne," he said, "after years of such toil as few men have lived
through, I have found wealth.  No, no, don't you speak.  Let me have the
rostrum for awhile."

He had noted that I was about to ask him a question, for it was on my
lips to say, "How did you get to know of this place?"

"I am not selfish or mad for wealth," he continued.  "I am working for
others, and I have found what I want.  In a few months, or less, I shall
be a rich man again, and you and your friends can take your share in my
prosperity.  That is, if I can hold my own here till law and order are
established.  If I cannot hold my own, I may never have another chance.
In other words, if those scoundrels oust me, long before I can get help
from the settlement they will have cleared out what is evidently a rich
hoard or pocket belonging to old Dame Nature, where the gold has been
swept.  Now then, for myself I am ready to dare everything, but I have
you two boys with me, and I have no right to risk your injury, perhaps
your lives.  What do you think I ought to do?"

"Stand your ground," I said, firmly.  "I would."

I said this, for I had a lively recollection of the cowardice these men
had displayed, both at the Fort and here, as soon as they had been
brought face to face with the rifles.

Gunson grasped my hand and pressed it hard.

"Thank you, my lad," he said, in a low deep whisper.  "I half expected
to hear you say this, but my conscience is hard at work with me as to
whether I am justified in tying your fate up with that of such an
unlucky adventurer as I am."

"I am only an adventurer too," I said; "and it is not such very bad luck
to have found all this gold."

He was silent for a few minutes, as if he were thinking deeply, but at
last he spoke.

"I've been weighing it all in the balance, Mayne," he said, "and God
forgive me if I am going wrong, for I cannot help myself.  The gold is
very heavy in the scale, and bears down the beam.  I cannot, gambler
though I may be, give up now.  Look here, Mayne, my lad, here is my
decision.  I am going to try and get a couple of good fellows from down
below to come in as partners.  So as soon as it is light you had better
get back to the Fort, explain your position, and I know Mr Raydon to be
so straightforward and just a man, that he will forgive you."

"There is nothing to forgive," I said, firmly; "and I'd sooner die than
go back now."

"Nonsense! heroics, boy."

"It is not," I said.  "Mr Gunson, would two strange men, about whom you
know nothing, be more true to you than Esau Dean and I would?"

"No; I am sure they would not," he cried eagerly.  "Then I shall stay
with you, and whatever I do Esau will do.  He will never leave me.
Besides, he is mad to get gold too.  We are only boys, but those men are
afraid of the rifles, and even if they mastered us, they would not dare
to kill us."

"No, my lad, they would not," cried Mr Gunson.  "Then you shall stay."

He turned toward me, and grasped my hand.  "And look here, Mayne, I have
for years now been the rough-looking fellow you met in the steerage of
the ship; but I thank heaven there is still a little of the gentleman
left, and you shall not find me unworthy of the trust you place in--Ah!"

I started back, for there was the sound of a heavy blow, and Mr Gunson
fell forward upon his face, while two strong hands seized me from
behind, and I was thrown heavily, while some one lay across my chest.



CHAPTER FORTY SIX.

THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LAW.

"Right behind him, mate.  Don't be afraid.  Tie his thumbs together
too."  I heard these words as I lay there in the darkness, and knew that
our assailants must be securing Gunson, while directly after Esau's
angry expostulations told what was going on with him.

"Let go, will you!  Oh, I say, it hurts.  What yer doing of?  Here, hi!
Mr Gunson, Mayne Gordon, don't be such cowards as to run away and leave
a fellow.  They're a-killing of me."

"Hold your row, will you," cried a gruff voice that was familiar to me
now.  "There, you won't run away in a hurry.  Have you tied that other
shaver up?"

"No," growled the man, who was lying across me.

"Look sharp then, and let's see what they've got to eat.  Done the job
neatly this time."

"Yes," said another voice, whose words made me shudder; "bit too well,
mate.  This chap's a dead 'un."

"Bah! not he.  Crack on the head with a soft bit o' wood won't kill a
man.  Here, let's see what they've got.  Make up that fire a bit.
Plaguey dark."

While this was being said, I felt hands busy about my hands and legs,
and then a voice by me said--

"There he is, tight as a bull-calf in a butcher's cart."

Soon after the fire blazed up vividly, sending its light in amongst the
trees; and I saw the faces of the two big fellows, our old friends, and
several of the others, who, after making sure of the rifles and
revolvers, hunted out what food there was in Gunson's little tent, and
began to prepare themselves a meal.

"Don't seem to be no whiskey," said the big fellow, who was leader, as
he passed close by me; and there I lay listening, perfectly helpless,
and with my heart beating heavily with dread, as I pondered on the man's
words about Gunson.

I waited till the men were talking round the fire, and then whispered--

"Mr Gunson--Mr Gunson," but there was no reply, and a chill feeling of
horror ran through me, and the cold dew gathered on my forehead.

"Ain't you going to say a word to me, Mayne Gordon?" said Esau, in a
piteous voice.

"Say?  What can I say?"  I replied.

"Dunno, but you might say something.  They've tied me so tight that the
ropes cut right down to the bone."

"So they have me, and it hurts horribly."

"Can't hurt you so much as it does me.  Pretty sort of chap you were to
keep watch, and let them jump on us like that."

"Pretty sort of fellow you were to go to sleep," I returned, bitterly.

"Didn't go to sleep," grumbled Esau.  "Only shut my eyes for a moment."

"There, don't make paltry excuses," I said, angrily.

"Dare say you two was asleep too," he said, sulkily.  "I say, have they
killed poor old Gunson?"

"Don't--don't--don't!"  I whispered, piteously; and in spite of the pain
it gave me, I rolled myself over and struggled along, till at last,
after a terrible struggle, I reached Gunson's side.

"Mr Gunson," I said; "Mr Gunson, pray, pray speak."

He uttered a low groan, and it sent a thrill of joy through me.

"Hurray!" whispered Esau; "he ain't dead.  I say, can't we get untied
and drop on to them now when they don't expect it?"

"Impossible," I said, bitterly, "they've got the rifles too."

"Oh, I say," groaned Esau, "ain't it too bad, Mayne Gordon!  Just as we
was all going to be rich, and now we shall be cheated out of it all.
Only wish I could get my hands undone."

What he would have done I cannot say, for his hands were tied fast, and
we lay there listening to the talking and coarse laughter of the men
about the fire, and a faint groan now and then from Mr Gunson, till the
day began to break; and as the sun lit up the misty valley, and shot its
bright, golden arrows through the trees, the men rose, and two of them
took hold of Mr Gunson's head and heels, and carried him out into the
open.  "Dead?" said one of them.

"Not he.  Take a harder crack to kill him," said the big fellow.  "Bring
out them two boys and lay 'em here.  I'm going to hold a court."

"Here, mind what you're doing," cried Esau, as he was lifted.  "You
hurt."

"Hold your row, warmint," growled one of his hearers; and as Esau kicked
out viciously, they threw him down by Gunson just as if he was a sack of
wheat.

"All right, cowards," exclaimed Esau, viciously.  "I'll serve you out
for this."

I set my teeth hard, so as not to make a sound, though they hurt me
horribly, and I too was thrown down on the grass near the fire, while
the big leader seated himself on a stone, took out and filled his pipe,
lit it with a burning brand, and then began to smoke, while the men
formed a circle round.

"Now then, young 'un," the big ruffian said to me, "speak up, and we
shan't hurt you, but if you don't tell the whole truth, one of my mates
here will take you into the woods there, and use his knife."

"And then you'll be hung," said Esau, sharply.  "For cutting off his
ears, monkey," growled the fellow.  "Well, they wouldn't do it for
cutting off yourn, so we'll try them first."

"Yah! you daren't," cried Esau, viciously.  "Don't, don't," I said.
"It's of no good."

"Not a bit," said the big fellow.  "Now then, boy, where's your mate hid
his pile?"

"I don't know," I said.

"What!  No lies, or--"

He clenched his fist, and held it towards me threateningly.

"I tell you I don't know, and if I did I wouldn't tell you."

"We'll soon see about that.  Now then, you," he said, turning to Esau,
"where's your mate keep his pile?"

"Dunno," said Esau, laughing.  "Find out."

"Oh, we can soon do that.  Won't take long.  Here, you, how much did you
get out of the stream every day?"

"Don't know," I said, "anything about it."

"Ho!  Very good.  I say, mates, who's got the sharpest knife?"

"All on us," said his principal companion--the man who was with him
first.

"Well then, we'll have his ears off, and if that don't make him speak,
his tongue ain't no use, and we'll have off that."

"You dare to touch him," cried Dean, fiercely, "and I'll never rest till
the police catch you."

"Thank ye," said the big ruffian, and one man burst into a roar of
laughter.  "There, it's of no use, boys; tell us where he buried his
pile, and you shall have a handful apiece.  I don't know but what we'll
let you stop in camp and cook for us.  Now then, out with it."

"I told you before," I said firmly, "I don't know, and if I did I would
not tell you."

"Look here," said one of the men, "give him a taste o' Indian.  That'll
make him speak."

"What d'yer mean?"

"Pull off his boots, and put his feet close to the fire to warm."

"Oh!" cried Esau, "I wish my hands were untied."

"And serve him the same," said the man who had made the proposal.
"It'll be a race between 'em who shall speak first."

"There, it's all right.  Ears off last.  But they're going to speak;
arn't you, boys?"

We both remained silent.

"Oh, very well," said the big fellow; "off with their boots then."

"Don't you say a word, Esau," I whispered; "it's only to frighten us."

"No, it arn't," said the big ruffian, fiercely, for he must have guessed
what I said.  "It arn't done to frighten you.  Off with 'em, lads, and
hold their feet close.  That'll make 'em speak--or squeak," he added,
with a grin.

"It will not, you cowardly brute," I cried, desperately, "for we neither
of us know."

"And him as does can't speak," cried Esau, fiercely.  "Call yourselves
men to tie us two lads up, and do this?  Yah! you're afraid."

"Where's he hid his pile, then?" growled the big ruffian.

"Don't answer him," I said; "it's of no use."

"Not a bit, my saucy young whelps.  Now I give you one more chance.
Hold hard a moment," he cried to the men who held us.  "Now then,
where's that there gold?"

"I don't know," I said, furiously, for the pain I suffered made me
reckless; "and I tell you again, if I did know I wouldn't say."

"I say, mates," said the big fellow, with mock seriousness, "arn't it
awful to hear two boys lie like that?  Must teach 'em better, mustn't
us?"

There was a burst of laughter at this, and the men dragged off our boots
and stockings.

"That's the way," he said; "now set 'em down close to the fire, and just
warm their soles a bit; just to let 'em know what it's like."

"Oh, Esau!"  I groaned, as I was seized; but he did not hear me, for as
they took hold of him he began to struggle and writhe with all his
might.  Then for a few moments I began to think that this was all done
to frighten us, till I heard Esau give a shriek of pain.

"Now, will you tell us?" cried the big fellow.  "Give the other a taste
too."

Four men laid hold of me, and they carried me close up to the fire,
whose glow I felt upon my face, as I too made a desperate effort to
escape.  But it was useless, and I was turning faint with horror and
dread combined, for in another moment they would have forced my feet
close to the glowing embers, when I uttered a cry of joy, for Mr
Raydon, rifle in hand, suddenly strode out from among the pines, and I
was dropped, for every man seized his weapon.

"Put up your pistols," cried Mr Raydon, in a voice of thunder, as he
came up to us, his piece in his left hand, while with his right he
struck the man nearest to me a blow full in the eyes which sent him
staggering across the fire, to fall heavily on the other side.

"Stand fast, mates," cried the big ruffian, fiercely; "he's only one.
It's him from the Fort, and we've got my gentleman now."

"Stand back, sir!" roared Mr Raydon, "if you value your life."

"Give up that gun if you value yours," cried the man, and, bowie-knife
in hand, he sprang right at Mr Raydon.

But at that moment there was the sharp crack of a rifle, the ruffian's
legs gave way beneath him, and he fell forward, sticking his knife deep
into the earth.

"Fool!  I warned you," said Mr Raydon, hoarsely.  "Stand! all of you.
You are surrounded and covered by rifles--look!"

He pointed to where a thin film of smoke rose from among the pines,
close by where Esau had blazed the tree.

"It's a lie, mates," groaned the prostrate ruffian; "there's only two of
'em.  Don't let him bully you like that."

"No, mate," cried his chief companion.  "It was a shot from behind.
Come on."

He in turn rushed at Mr Raydon, who merely stepped back as the man
raised his hand to strike, when a second shot rang out from the same
place, and, with a yell of agony, the hand which held a knife dropped,
and the blade fell with a jingling sound upon a block of stone.

"Will you believe me now?" said Mr Raydon.  "I tell you there are men
all round you, and every one is a marksman who can bring you down.  Do
you surrender?"

"No," cried the big ruffian, through his set teeth, as he dragged
himself up on his hands.  "It's the same one fired both shots.  Mates,
you won't cave in and give up a claim like this?"

"No!" came in chorus.  "It's our claim, and we'll fight for it."

"It is Mr Gunson's claim," I cried, angrily; "and it was ours before he
came."

"If any one has a right to the claim, it is I," said Mr Raydon; "and I
give you warning, my men, if one of you is seen in these parts after
to-day, he shall be hunted down and placed in irons till he can be sent
back to the coast for attempted murder and robbery."

"Don't listen," cried the big ruffian, hoarsely; and I could see that he
was ghastly pale.  "He's nobody.  He's trying to scar' you.  Stand up
and fight for your rights."

"Mr Raydon, quick!"  I shouted.  "Take care!"

I was too late, for a revolver-shot rang out, fired by the second man;
but it was with his left hand, and I uttered a cry of joy, for it had
missed.

"Keep to your places," cried Mr Raydon; "I am not hurt.  Grey and
number two advance.  Stop number two and number three advance, and
collect their weapons.  You others cover your men.  Grey, bring down the
next who lifts a hand."

Two of the men from the Fort ran out from the pines, rifle in hand; but
at that moment there was a crackling and rustling of branches, and one
by one at least a dozen gold-finders from below came running up, armed
with rifles and revolvers.

"Ah," cried the big ruffian, from where he lay; "come on, mates.
They're trying to put a stop to the gold-washing, and to rob us of our
claim."

"Gag that scoundrel if he speaks again," cried Mr Raydon, coolly, as
the rough-looking men clustered together, dirt-stained, unkempt, and
drenched with water some of them, and all anxiously handling their
pieces.  There was a low angry murmur from the new-comers, and our
assailants shouted--

"Yes; come to rob us of our claim."

"Silence!" cried Mr Raydon, turning then to the gold-finders.  "I am
Mr Daniel Raydon, chief officer of Fort Elk, the station of the
Hudson's Bay Company."

"Ay, that's right," said one of the new-comers.

"I stand to all here as the magistrate of this district till the
Governor, her Majesty's representative, sends officers to preserve
order, and protect you and your rights and claims in this
newly-discovered goldfield."

"That's right, sir; that's right, sir," said the same man.  "But when
we've chosen claims you're not to take them away."

"Hear, hear!" roared the big ruffian, faintly.

"And shoot him down," cried another of the fresh coiners; and there was
a loud murmur like a chorus of approval.

"Of course not, my men," said Mr Raydon, calmly.

"Don't listen to him.  It's a robbery," cried one of the big ruffian's
gang.  "Fired at us; shot two of our men."

"Yes; we heard the shots," said the first gold-finder.

"And I am glad you have come," said Mr Raydon.  "Now then, you boys.
Has either of you seen a man here and those two lads before?"

"Seen the man," said the first speaker; "not the boys."

"Well, do you know he was working this claim with a Chinaman?"

"Yes," said another; "I saw the Chinaman only yesterday morning."

"Last night the Chinaman came to the Fort to tell me they were attacked
by a gang of ruffians, and I brought my men over the mountains to come
to their help."

"It's all a lie," said the big fellow, in a faint voice.

"Ask the boys, my good fellows," said Mr Raydon.  "Ask them where Mr
Gunson is."

"Lying yonder," cried Esau, "half dead.  They did it."

"These boys are bound too, you see.  Tell them, Mayne Gordon, what they
were about to do when I came to your help."

"Hold our feet in the fire to make us tell where the gold is hidden."

"No, no; a bit of a game," chorussed the gang.

"Look at my feet," cried Esau, piteously; "is that a bit of a game?" and
he tried to hold up his bound legs, which the leader of the new-comers
raised and examined.

"It's true enough," said the chief speaker, indignantly; and a roar of
execration arose.

"It is all true," cried Mr Raydon.  "Where is the Chinaman?"

"Allee light--me come along," cried Quong; and there was a roar of
laughter, for his voice came from high up in a tree.

"Come down, Quong; there is no danger," said Mr Raydon.  "Some of you
cut these poor lads' limbs free.  Stop, fool!" he roared, as one of the
gang began to sidle off.  "Stand, all of you, if you value your lives.
Fire on the first scoundrel who tries to escape.  I have men planted,
and good shots," he said to the leader of the gold-finders.

"You carry it with a high hand, governor," said this man, rather
abruptly.

"Well, sir, I have come to save these people here.  I should have done
the same for you.  This is English ground, where every man's life and
property must be protected by the law.  For the time being I represent
the law, and I'll have myself obeyed.  Now what have you--what have any
of you to say?"

"Three cheers for old England and the law!" cried the man.  "I beg your
pardon, sir: you're right, and I'm wrong.  What shall we do?  Hang this
lot?"

"That's not obeying the law," said Mr Raydon, smiling.  "No; two of
them are wounded.  Their leader has his thigh broken; and his companion
his hand smashed, as he tried to stab me.  They have got their
punishment.  Disarm the rest.  Then four of my men shall go with you to
see these scoundrels well down the valley.  If they show their faces
here again they know the risks."

"Right!" cried the leader; and he snatched the revolver from the nearest
man, and his example was so rapidly followed, that in a few minutes the
utterly cowed gang was huddled together, unarmed, and guarded by four of
the Company's people, who had advanced from the wood at a word from
their chief.

"And now what about our claims along this stream?" said the leader of
the new-comers.

"I am here to help you maintain your just rights, sir," said Mr Raydon,
quietly.  "Now help me to maintain order, and to see to the wounded men.
Bring lint and bandages, Grey."

And as that individual produced the linen from his haversack, Mr Raydon
handed his rifle to one of the gold-finders, and went down on one knee
to examine Mr Gunson's injury, which he carefully washed and bandaged.

"A terrible cut," he said, in answer to my inquiring eyes, "and
concussion of the brain.  I hope not more serious.  Now, my man," he
continued, turning to the big ruffian, "you tried to take my life, and I
have got to try and save yours."

The fellow made no answer, but winced and groaned with pain as his
shattered limb was set and supported by rough splints.

"This fellow will have to be carried," said Mr Raydon, rising; "he will
not walk again for many months.  Now, sir, you."

He bent over the second ruffian and examined his hand, bathed and
bandaged it, and then went to the stream to wash his own.

By this time several more armed men had come up from the lower part of
the stream, and eagerly asked for particulars, while I heard a great
deal, and noted nearly everything, as I sat by Mr Gunson, suffering
agonies, for my arms and legs throbbed with the return of the
circulation.

Mr Raydon had only just finished his task when the chief speaker of the
gold-finders came up with half a dozen more.

"All my mates here, sir," he said, "from down stream ask me to speak,
and say we thank you for what you've done.  We want protection, and law,
and order, and for every man to make his pile in peace.  We see you've
got half a dozen men with you, and you talk of sending four down the
river with this gang."

"Yes," said Mr Raydon.

"Well, sir, we think we can save you that job.  We'll see those chaps
off the premises."

"No violence," said Mr Raydon, sternly.

"Not if they behave themselves, sir, I promise that.  For we think, as
there's no knowing who may come next, we should be glad if you'll keep
your men, so that in case of trouble we can appeal to you."

"Very well," said Mr Raydon; "let it be so then."

"Don't trust him," snarled one of the wounded men; "he'll rob you all of
your claims."

"Not he," said the chief speaker.

"No," said Mr Raydon, "and the first step I shall take will be to leave
two of my men in charge of this claim, which has been taken up by the
wounded prospector, Gunson."

"That's right; that's fair," came in chorus, and after a little more
conversation the men moved off with the prisoners, the wounded fellow
being carried on a litter of poles.

"Edwards," said Mr Raydon, "you and another had better stay here with
the Chinaman.  Gordon, where is the gold?"

"I have not the least idea, sir."

"Oh, then you, Dean."

"Don't know a bit, sir," said Esau, who was nursing his blistered feet.

"Here, Quong, where has Mr Gunson stored the gold he has found?"

"Me no sabbee, sah.  Quong give allee gole Mis Gunson take callee.  No
sabbee.  Hide allee gole ploply."

"Cut poles and lash them together," said Mr Raydon to Grey; "we must
carry him to the Fort.  Gordon, Dean, you had better come and stay till
he is better."

I looked up at him doubtingly.

"Yes," he said; "it will be best."

Half an hour after we were on our way back, with Esau limping painfully.
Two of the miners volunteered to help carry the litter, so as to
relieve the four we had, and the claim was left in charge of the two
others, for whom, as we came away, Quong was making, as he expressed it,
"plenty good flesh tea."

It was dark night again as we reached the gate of the Fort, and heard
the deep-toned baying of the great dog; and a few minutes later Mrs
John was holding my hands, and as she kissed me there was a tear left
upon my cheek.

"So glad, so very glad to see you back, Mayne," said Mr John, warmly.
"I hope all the trouble now is at an end."

I said nothing, only helped to get Mr Gunson in his old quarters, after
Esau had at last extricated himself from his mother's arms.

"Is it all real, Esau?"  I said, after Mr Raydon had gone, telling us
not to be alarmed at Mr Gunson's insensibility, for it might be hours
before he came to.

"I shall come and see him twice in the course of the night," he said, as
he went out.  "You, Esau, you must rest those feet."

"Yes, sir; all right," said Esau; and it was then that I said, "Is it
all real?"

"If your feet smarted like mine do, you wouldn't ask that," he replied,
sulkily.  "I want to know why I wasn't carried back in a litter too?"

"It was impossible," I said.

"Wasn't impossible to have given a fellow a pig-a-back.  Oh, my feet, my
feet!  Oh, yes, it's precious real."

"I never expected to come back here like this," I said.

"Nor I neither," replied Esau.  "I say, you'll keep watch by Mr Gunson,
won't you?"

"Yes, of course," I said.

"That's right.  I'm going to do something for my trotters."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go off to sleep."

In a few minutes I was listening to his hard breathing, and asking
myself whether, after the past night, I could do duty in watching the
wounded man, when there were footsteps, and two of the men's Indian
wives came in.

"To nurse Mr Gunson," they said, in fair English, and a short time
after I too was fast asleep.



CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN.

ALMOST SOLDIERS.

I awoke that next morning sore, miserable, and seeing everything through
the very reverse of rose-coloured spectacles.  For I was back at the
Fort, and it now looked a very different place to the home I had
journeyed so many months to find when I was sanguine and hopeful.

There appeared to be a dead weight upon me; and as I first opened my
eyes, I felt as if the best thing I could do would be to rouse up Esau,
and go right away.  But as I looked round, my eyes lit upon Mr Gunson
lying insensible in his bed, with Mrs Dean seated patiently by his
side, and I felt ashamed of my thoughts, for I could not go away and
leave one who had shown himself so true a friend from our first meeting,
and I at once determined, no matter how painful my position might be, to
stay by his side, and tend him till he grew strong again.

I shivered as I thought this, for I could just see his pale face below
his bandaged head, and the ideas came--suppose he does not recover--
never grow strong again? suppose he dies?  The weak tears rose to my
eyes at the thought, and I lay wistfully gazing at him in the silence of
that bright morning, for I felt that I should be almost alone out there
in that wild, new country.  For Mr and Mrs John would certainly be
more and more influenced by Mr Raydon; and as I could not stay at the
Fort, I should never see them.  The old plans of staying with them, and
building up a new house somewhere in one of the lovely spots by the
river, were gone, and I told myself that I should soon have to say
good-bye to them.

There would be Esau, though;--perhaps not: for Mrs Dean would naturally
want to stay where there were women; and as she had become attached to
Mrs John, the chances were that she would stay at or near the Fort, and
that would influence Esau, who would be forgiven by Mr Raydon, and stay
too, while I should go off into the wilderness all alone.

Taken altogether, I was about as miserable and full of doleful ideas as
a boy of my age could be.  Not one bit of blue sky could I see through
the clouds that shut in my future; and I was growing worse as I lay
there with an indistinct fancy that I had heard Mr Raydon's voice in
the night, when a bright ray of sunshine came through the window, and
made a ruddy golden spot on the pine-wood ceiling.

It was only a ray of light, but it worked wonders, for it changed the
current of my thoughts, setting me thinking that the sun was just
peeping over the edge of the mountain lying to the east, and brightening
the mists that lay in the valleys, and making everything look glorious
as it chased away the shadows from gully and ravine, till it shone full
upon the river, and turned its grey waters into dazzling, rippling, and
splashing silver.

I don't know how it was, but that sunlight began to drive away the mists
and dark vapours in my mind.  I did not feel so miserable, though I was
painfully stiff and sore.  The future was bright, my case not so
hopeless, and I was just making up my mind that Esau would never forsake
me, and that Mr Gunson would not die, when Mrs Dean looked round.

"Ah, my dear," she said; "awake?"

"Yes," I said, springing up, all dressed as I was.  "You have not been
watching here all night?"

"Oh, no; I only came on at daybreak.  He's sleeping very calmly."

"Has he spoken?"

"Oh dear no, and is not likely to for long enough.  Such a pity as it
is, poor man!"

"It is a terrible injury," I said.  "Yes, my dear; and how thankful I am
it wasn't my poor Esau.  What should I have done if it had been he?"

"It would have been terrible," I said.  "Or you, my dear," she whispered
hurriedly, as if in apology for not naming me before.

"Oh, that would have been no consequence," I replied, bitterly.

"Oh, my dear," she cried, with the tears in her eyes; "don't--don't talk
like that.  I know you've been in trouble, but we all have that, and
they say it makes the happiness all the sweeter."

"Yes, they say so," I replied gloomily.

"Ah, it does, my dear.  There, as Mr John said to me about you, `it
will all come right in the end.'"

"Here, what's the matter?" said Esau gruffly, still half asleep.  "Time
to get up?  Hullo, mother!  Oh, oh!  I recollect now.  I was dreaming
about old Quong.  I say!  Oh, my feet--my feet!"

"There, there, there, my dear; they'll soon be better," said Mrs Dean,
bending over him; and the sight of those two, with Esau's pettish
ill-humour, quite drove away the rest of my gloom for the time.  For as
Mrs Dean bent over her son, he pushed her away.

"Don't, mother; I do wish you wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what, my dear?"

"Talk to me, and pull me about like that."

"Hush! not so loud, my dear.  You'll wake Mr Gunson."

"Bother Mr Gunson!  There you go again.  Can't you see I'm growed up
now?"

"Yes, of course, Esau."

"No you can't, or you wouldn't talk to me like that.  You always seem to
treat me as if I was two years old; you'll be wanting to rock me to
sleep some night."

"Esau, my dear, how can you?"

"Well, so you will.  Pet, pet, pet, every time you get near me."

"Esau, my darling," cried Mrs Dean, excitedly.  "What are you going to
do?"

"Get up."

"With your feet like that?"

"Well, they'll be just the same if I lie here, and I'm not going to be
ill."

"But you will be, dear, if you walk about."

"Then I shall be ill.  I'm not going to lie here for you to feed me with
a spoon, and keep on laying your hand on my head."

"Now, Esau, when did I try to feed you with a spoon?"

"I mean mettyphorically," grumbled Esau.  "You always seem to think I'm
a baby.  Ah, if you begin to cry, I'll dance about and make my feet
worse."

Mrs Dean wiped her eyes furtively, and Esau put his arm round her and
gave her a hearty kiss, which made her beam again.

"Well," he said, turning to me with a very grim look, "not much fun in
getting gold, is there?  I say, who'd have thought of our coming back
again like this?  What 'll Mr Raydon say to us this morning?"

I felt half startled at the idea of meeting him again, but my attention
was taken up by a low muttering from Mr Gunson, and I went with Mrs
Dean to his side, and stood watching her bathe his head till he sighed
gently, and seemed to calm down.

"Poor old chap!" said Esau; "he got a nasty one, that he did.  I say,
wonder how much gold him and old teapot had found?"

"Oh, never mind that now."

"But I do," said Esau; "and so would he mind if he could think and talk.
Wonder where he hid it all?  Let's ask Quong, because it oughtn't to be
lost."

I made no answer, but stood watching the injured man, while Esau
preferred sitting down and nursing first one foot and then the other,
but always obstinately refusing to lot his mother touch them.  "I say,"
he said, after a pause.  "Well."

"What's old Raydon going to say to us?  It was very jolly of him to come
and help us as he did, but he looked pickled thunder at me and you here.
He won't let us stay.  We shall have to start off again."

"I suppose so," I said drearily, with my old troubles coming back; and
we relapsed into silence, till there was a soft light step at the door,
and Quong entered and looked sharply at the plain rough bed-place where
Mr Gunson lay.

"Come over see how d'ye do," he said quickly.  "Cap Gunson no go long
die self?"

"No, no," I cried; "he will get well."

"Yes; get well, ploper quite well, and go wash gole.  Makee flesh
blead--flesh tea?"

"No, not yet," said Mrs Dean, who looked askant at the fresh-comer, and
as if she did not approve of him.

"Allee light.  Wait.  Good fi' makee blead cakee."

"I say, Quong," whispered Esau, "did you two find much gold?"

Quong gave him a quaint laughing look.  "You waitee littee bit.  Allee
same ask Mas Gunson.  You sabbee?"

"But he can't tell us.  I say, do you know where he hid what you got?"

"No; no sabbee.  Mas Gunson know allee same.  You wait."

Just then I heard a cough in the enclosure, and drew back a little
uneasily as the door opened, and Mr Raydon entered.

"Good morning, my lads," he said, gravely and coldly.  "Ah, Quong, you
here?  Well, nurse, how is your patient?"

"He seems very nicely, sir, and I don't think there is much fever."

"Does he seem in great pain?"

"Only at times, sir, and then I bathe his temples."

Quong looked sharply from one to the other, and began to fumble about
under his blue cotton blouse till he produced from some hidden pocket a
tiny thin bottle, less than my little finger, and gave it to Mr Raydon.

"Velly good," he said, eagerly.  "You sabbee?  Touch velly little dlop
allee long Cap Gunson head.  No makee hurt then."

"Ah, yes," said Mr Raydon, taking the bottle.  "I have seen this
before;" and as Gunson just then uttered an uneasy moan, the cork was
taken out, and a very tiny drop spread with a finger lightly about his
temples.

"Makee seep," said Quong, smiling.  "Velly good."

The essence certainly produced the required effect, and Quong showed his
yellow teeth.

"Not muchee," he said.  "Velly lit dlop.  Velly ofen?  No, no."

"I understand," said Mr Raydon, handing back the bottle.

"No," said Quong.  "No.  Keep all along.  You sabbee?"

"Very well, I'll keep it," said Mr Raydon; and just then there was a
tap at the door.

"Come in."

Grey entered.

"Want me?"

"Bad news, sir," said Grey, in a sharp whisper.  "That man from the
little valley--Barker he says his name is--"

"Which was Barker?"

"That sensible man you shook hands with."

"What does he want?"

"Wants to see you, sir.  They started that gang down the river with half
a dozen armed miners, and they rose against them in the night."

"Yes," said Mr Raydon, excitedly.  "Well?"

"They killed two, wounded all the rest, and they are all free again."

"And their own wounded men?"

"Took them into the woods with them."

"This is bad news indeed," said Mr Raydon, beginning to pace the room.

"He wants to know what's to be done," said Grey.

"I must think--I must think," said Mr Raydon, hastily.  "Two men away
guarding that claim."

"Yes, sir.  Weakens us."

"Yes," said Mr Raydon; "and we must be weakened more.  Two of our men
must go to strengthen them at the claim.  There must be four there."

"Won't draw them away and give up the claim, sir?"

"No," said Mr Raydon, firmly.  "Go back to this Mr Barker, and say
I'll be with him directly."

"Yes, sir," said Grey; and he went out with all the quiet precision of a
soldier.

"Bad news--bad news indeed," said Mr Raydon, half aloud.  "More trouble
to lay upon your shoulders, Mayne Gordon.  All your fault."

I felt a chill run through me, and I believe a cold hard look must have
come into my face.

"Well, we must make the best of it.  Of course you two lads must stop
here."

"If you wish it, sir," I said, "we will go directly."

"I do not wish it, boy," he replied sternly.  "Do you wish to leave
those who have been your friends in the lurch now you have dragged all
this trouble to their door?"

"No, sir," I said, as I set my teeth hard, determined to be cool, in
spite of the injustice with which I felt that I was being treated.

"No, of course not.  You have some stubborn pluck in you--both of you."

Esau growled in a very low tone, and made his mother look at him in a
startled way, as if she had suddenly awakened to the fact that her son
possessed the nature of a bear's cub.

Mr Raydon took another turn or two up and down the room.

"Mrs Dean," he said, "I can do nothing more for your patient.  No
doctor could; time is the only thing.  I'll come back as soon as I can.
Meantime my sister will come to you, and you can have either of my men's
wives to assist you in nursing.  They are Indians, but well trained in
that way.  Do your best."

"Mother always does," growled Esau.

Mr Raydon gave him a sharp look, but Esau did not flinch.

"Look here, you two," said Mr Raydon, after a pause.  "I am going to
send two more of my men away, for the fellows in that gang are not going
to beat me.  The law-and-order party must and shall prevail.  This will
weaken my little garrison, so you two will have to mount rifles, and
take the places of two of my absent men."

"Yes, sir," I said, eagerly.  "I'll do my best."

"Thank you.  Now, Esau Dean, what do you say?"

"Course I shall do as he does.  I'm ready."

"No, no, Esau, my boy.  Your feet, your feet," cried Mrs Dean.

"Do be quiet, mother.  There you go with the spoon again.  Fellow don't
shoot off a rifle with his foot."

I saw Mr Raydon bite his lips to repress a smile.

"I had forgotten your burnt feet.  Do they feel very bad?"

"Oh, pretty tidy, sir, but I don't mind.  I should like to have a pop at
one of them as held me to that fire."

"Naturally," said Mr Raydon.

"But I'm afraid I can't do much marching."

"You will be posted in one of the block-houses."

"That'll do," cried Esau.  "Come along, Mayne Gordon."

"You have never used a rifle."

"Why, Mr Gunson there showed us all about it.  Don't you be afraid;
I'll try."

"Oh, Esau!" cried Mrs Dean.

"And mother shall nurse me when I'm wounded."

"Oh, my boy--my boy!"

"Silence, sir!  Mrs Dean, he is only tormenting you.  It is not likely
that he will be hurt, but out here in the wilderness we do sometimes
have to fight to protect the women and children.  There, do not be
uneasy; I see your son will do you credit."

Esau gave a gulp, and turned red in the face, while I suffered a twinge
of jealousy on finding that the lad, whom I blamed as the cause of all
the trouble, should be spoken to in this way while I was treated with a
coldness that, in my sensitive state, seemed to freeze all the better
nature within me.

"A pretty mess this, sir," said Barker, as we joined him out in the
enclosure.  "Those stupid donkeys have let loose a nice gang.  They'll
be as savage as possible against everybody, and be coming down upon us
just when we don't expect it."

"But have they arms and ammunition?"

"Plenty, sir.  They stripped our men, and if we don't look out they'll
strip us.  Why, the little valley will never be safe again while they
are about."

"No," said Mr Raydon.  "It's a bad look-out, but we must take every
precaution.  You may rely on my helping you, as I promised, and if I am
the unlucky one attacked first, I look for help from you."

"And you shall have it, sir.  I answer for the lads up the valley.  What
do you propose doing first?"

"Nothing," said Mr Raydon.

The man stared at him aghast, and Mr Raydon smiled.

"But--but hadn't we better get a party together, and hunt them down,
sir?"

"An excellent plan," said Mr Raydon, "but impossible in this wild
country.  They would lead us a terrible dance, weary us out, and perhaps
take advantage of our absence to plunder our places.  The better way
will be to keep a sharp look-out, and punish them if they attack us."

"But if they take us by surprise, sir?"

"They must not," said Mr Raydon, quietly.  "My advice to you is, that
you go back and make arrangements for mutual support, so that all can
hurry at once to the place attacked.  You will make it one man's duty to
act as messenger, and come directly to give warning here, and another to
give notice up the valley at Gunson's claim."

"And the two men there will come and help us?  Yes: that's good."

"There will be four of my men stationed there," said Mr Raydon.  "That
is a very likely place for the first attack, if they can find their way
over the mountains and through the dense forest.  The trouble began by
their trying to seize that claim."

"Why not let them go to it again, and attack them when they are settled
down?" said Barker.

"No, my man, it is not our line to attack; let that come from the enemy.
Besides, I particularly wish Mr Gunson's claim to be reserved for him
till he has recovered.  So if the enemy find their way there you will go
up to my men's help.  If there is anything you want from the Fort here
at your camp, you can send up, and I will supply you if I can."

"Thankye, sir, thankye.  That's very neighbourly," said Barker.  "I
think the more of it because there's a report about that you were dead
against the claims being taken up."

I stared at Mr Raydon wonderingly, for his behaviour was inexplicable
to me; but I had no time given me for thought.  As soon as Barker and
the two men who came up with him had gone, Mr Raydon chose two of his
little garrison, and sent them, well armed, and with as big loads of
supplies as they could carry, by the near cut over the mountains, that
is by the track taken when he and his men came to our help.

Directly after, in a sharp military way, he led us to his little
armoury, and gave us each a rifle and pistol, with a few words of
instruction as to where the weapons were to be kept in readiness for
use; and, in addition, what we were to do in the places of the two men
who had gone.

I was glad of this, for it took up my time, and gave me something else
to think about.  It was pleasant too--the duty of having to help in the
defence of the Fort where my friends were gathered.

"Some day he'll be sorry for it all," I said to myself; and I was
brooding over the past again, when Esau uttered a low chuckle, which
made me turn to him wonderingly.

"Only think of it, Mayne Gordon," he said.  "What a game!"

"What is a game?"

"You always being so dead on to me about going for a soldier, and here
we are both of us good as soldiers after all.  Why, if he'd let us
tackle one of those guns," he continued, pointing to a little cannon
mounted in the block-house, "it would be like joining the Ryle
Artilleree."



CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT.

LOST!

We were not kept in doubt long about the proceedings of the enemy.  I
was in the strangers' quarters next day, talking in a whisper to Mrs
John, while taking her turn at nursing poor Gunson, who still lay
perfectly insensible, and so still that I gazed at him with feelings
akin to terror, when Mr Raydon came in and walked straight to the
bedside.  We watched him as he made a short examination, and then in
answer to Mrs John's inquiring look--

"I can do nothing," he said.  "He is no worse.  There is no fracture;
all this is the result of concussion of the brain, I should say, and we
can only hope that nature is slowly and surely repairing the injury."

"But a doctor, Daniel?" said Mrs John.

"My dear sister, how are we to get a surgeon to come up here?  It is a
terrible journey up from the coast, and I believe I have done and am
doing all that a regular medical man would do."

"But--"

"Yes," he said, smiling gravely, "I know you look upon me as being very
ignorant, but you forget that I have had a good deal of experience since
I have been out here.  I learned all I could before I came, and I have
studied a good deal from books since.  Why, I have attended scores of
cases amongst my own people--sickness, wounds, injuries from wild
beasts, falls and fractures, bites from rattlesnakes, and I might say
hundreds of cases among the Indians, who call me the great medicine
man."

"I know how clever you are, dear," said Mrs John.

"Thank you," he said, kissing her affectionately.  "I wish I were; but I
am proud of one achievement."

"What was that, dear?"

"The prescription by which I cured you."  Then, turning sharply on me,
his face grew hard and stern again.

"Well, Mayne Gordon," he said, "you have heard the news, of course?"

"I have heard nothing, sir," I said, eagerly, for it was pleasant to
find him make the slightest advance towards the old friendly feeling.
But my hopes were dashed the next moment, as I heard his words, and felt
that they were intended as a reproach.

"Your friends made a raid on one of the little camps nearest the river
last night, and carried off all the gold the party had washed."

"Was any one hurt?" said Mrs John, excitedly.

"Happily nothing beyond a few blows and bruises," replied Mr Raydon.
"It was a surprise, and the gold-diggers fled for help.  When they
returned in force the gang had gone.  Taken to the forest, I suppose.
Get back to your duty, Mayne," he said; and I hurried away to find Esau
deep in conversation with Grey about the last night's attack.

"Think they'll come up here?" said Esau.

"Like enough.  If they do--"

"Well?"  I said, for the man stopped.  "If they do?"

"I shall be obliged to fire straight," he said, slowly.  "Men who act
like that become wild beasts, and they must be treated similarly."

I shuddered slightly, as I thought of his skill with the rifle.

"I know what you think," he said, gravely; "that it's horrible to shed
blood.  So it is; but I've got a wife here, and children, and out in a
wild place like this, a man has to be his own soldier and policeman, and
judge and jury too."

"It seems very horrible," I said.  "It is very horrible, my lad, but
it's not our doing.  If these people will leave us alone, we shall not
interfere with them."

"Of course not," said Esau.  "Wonder whether I could hit a man."

"I hope you will not have to try," said Grey.  "It's what the Governor
has been afraid of for years and years."

I winced again, for it was as if everything I saw or heard tended to
accuse me of destroying the peace of the place.

"Wonder whether they'll come here to-night," said Esau.

"We must be ready for them; but I don't think it's likely," said Grey.
"They got a good deal of plunder last night, and plenty of provisions.
I should say that they will do nothing now for a few days.  They'll wait
till they think we are not on the look-out."

It proved as Grey said, and for the next few days there was no alarm.
Communications had been kept up with the mining camps, and one morning,
as I was talking with Mr John about the terribly weak state in which
Mr Gunson lay, partaking of the food and medicine administered, but as
if still asleep, Mr Raydon came up.

"Gordon," he said, "you and Dean have wandered about well, and gone in
nearly every direction, have you not?"

"Yes, sir," I said, wondering what was coming.

"Do you think you could find your way to Gunson's claim?"

"Of course, sir," I said, smiling.

"I do not mean by the valley," he said, testily.  "I want some one to go
by the short cut over the mountains--the way I came to your relief."

"I don't know, sir," I said.  "I have never been there, but I will try."

"Bravo!" said Mr John.  "Mayne, you're like Pat with the fiddle.  He
said he would try if he could play."

"Are you willing to try?" said Mr Raydon.

"With Dean, sir?"

"No; alone.  I cannot spare two."

"Yes," I said, eagerly; "I'll go."

"I do not see what harm could befall you," said Mr Raydon, musingly.
"The direction is well marked, and the trees are blazed through the bit
of forest.  Any beasts you came near would skurry off.  Yes; I think I
will let you go.  By the way, you may as well take your rifle and
pistol."

"Yes," I said, feeling quite excited over my mission.  "Have you
anything for me to take to the men?"

"No; it is only a visit to an outpost, to let them see that they are not
forgotten, and to ask them if they have seen the enemy, or want
anything.  But perhaps you had better go by the valley; it is surer."

"I should like to try the near way, sir," I said.

He gazed at me thoughtfully for a few moments.

"Well," he said, to my great satisfaction, "you shall try it.  You ought
to know every trail round.  Go and make a hearty meal before you start,
and then you need not take any provisions, for you can easily be back
before dark.  Which way shall you go at first?"

"Up through the pines at the back," I said.

"No.  Go down the valley to where that rounded rock stands up like a
dome, and climb up at once, keeping to the left.  Then go right over the
side of the valley, and make straight for the big pine-forest you will
see across the open, striking for the tallest pine at the edge.  That
tree is blazed with a white patch cut out by an axe.  The trees right
through are blazed, and from one you can see the next, and from that the
next, so that you cannot go wrong."

"I see," I said; "I see."

Then he went on and told me what to do when I got through the dense
forest--this being a narrow corner which ran out into the open lands,
and on the other side went right off into the wilds, where it was
impenetrable.  He roughly sketched out points, buttresses, and ravines,
which were to serve me as landmarks to make for; and then I was to go to
right or left, as the case might be; and one way and another, he marked
down for me a series of prominences to make for, so as to gain one and
then see another from it, till I reached to where I could look down into
Golden Valley, as I called it now, right above Gunson's claim.

He made me repeat my instructions, impressing upon me that I was to
treat the landmarks he gave me just as I did the blazed trees in the
forest, making sure of another's position before I left one, and,
satisfied at last, he gave me a nod of the head, and said abruptly--

"Off as soon as you can."

"I should like to go with you, Mayne," said Mr John, eagerly.

"No, no!  Nonsense!" cried Mr Raydon.  "I cannot spare you, John.  I
may want you to shoot down a few hundreds of the enemy."

Mr John took these words so seriously that I could not help laughing,
when he saw them in the right light, came with me to my quarters,
watched me make a good meal, and then walked with me to the slope
beneath the dome, where he shook hands and stood to see me climb.

"Be careful, my boy," he said, at parting.  "It is very steep and
dangerous."

I laughed, and ran up the side feeling like a goat.  There was something
very delightful in the excursion, after the confinement within the
block-house, and in the glorious sunshine and the bright clear air, I
sprang forward, turning from time to time, as I climbed higher, to wave
my hand to him, and look down on Fort and valley, till the inequalities
of the wild, stony side hid him from my view.

I felt in high spirits, for this task made me think that Mr Raydon was
beginning to trust me again; and as I went on I thought about Mrs John
and her gentle words, as she told me all would come right in the end.
Then I began to think about poor Gunson, and wondered whether he would
soon be better, as I hoped and prayed that he would.

This made me feel low-spirited for a while, but the glorious scene
around me chased these gloomy thoughts away, for there before me in the
distance was the great pine towering up above its fellows at the edge of
the forest.

"Oh, it's easy enough to find one's way," I said, and excited by my task
I whistled, sang, and shouted, to have my voice come echoing back.

"I want Esau over here," I said aloud, as I shifted the heavy rifle from
one shoulder to the other.  "How he would enjoy it!"  Then I began
thinking of how attentive Mr Raydon was in his stern, grave way to poor
Gunson, and it struck me that he must feel a great respect for him, or
he would not be so careful, seeing how he disliked it all, in keeping
guard over his gold claim.

Then I had to think of my task, and climb over some rough ground, till I
reached the first trees, which very soon hid the huge pine, and found it
to be not quite at the edge of the forest.  But I soon caught sight of
it again, and on reaching it saw the great mark or blaze in its side,
and from it the next.  From this I could see another, and so found no
difficulty in getting through the solemn groves.

On the other side, as I stood by the last blazed tree, I had no
difficulty in making out a vast mass of rock, for which I at once
stepped out, and all proved to be so clear, there were so many landmarks
in the shape of peculiar stones, falls, and clumps of trees, that I made
my way easily enough, and felt no little pride in being so trusted to
tramp through these vast solitudes with a pistol in my belt and my rifle
over my shoulder.

"How grand! how grand!"  I kept on saying to myself, as I climbed to the
top of some high point and looked around, while at such times a feeling
of awe came over me at the silence and loneliness of the scene.

I found my way at last to the top of a ridge where I could look down
into a green valley, seeing here and there in the distance faint lines
of smoke rising over the tops of the trees, and after a hot, rather
difficult descent through the pines, just as Mr Raydon must have come
to our help that day, I reached the little camp, and was greeted by the
men with a cheery shout.

They had not seen a sign of danger, they said, and as I looked round I
saw no sign of the place having been disturbed.  I heard too that the
gold-washing was going on very busily below, but no party had gone
higher than they were, Barker having urged upon his fellow-miners the
necessity for keeping well together.

After a rest and a mug of tea, which they soon had ready for me, two of
them saw me up to the ridge above the valley, and gave me a hint or two
about my way, with a warning to be careful; and, full of confidence, I
started forward on my return journey.

I soon lost sight of the men and trudged on, keeping a sharp look-out in
the hope that I might see something in the form of game for a shot, and
a change in the fare at the Fort, but the utter absence of animals was
wonderful, and it was only at rare intervals that I heard the cry of a
bird, or caught sight of a squirrel.

I soon found that going back was not so easy, everything looking very
different reversed, and consequently I went astray twice, and had to
tramp back to the spot where I knew I had erred.  Once I was brought up
short by a terrible precipice; a second time by a huge wall of rock,
going up hundreds of feet, ample proof that I was wrong.

Returning to the starting-place was best, and each time I soon realised
where I had strayed from the right track, and went on afresh.

But these wanderings took up time, and evening was setting in as I
reached the great patch of wood where the trees were blazed, and under
the shade of these great pines it was twilight at once, and soon after,
to my dismay, I found that it was quite dark.  Still I knew the
direction in which I ought to go, and pressed on as fast as I could,
trusting to get through the forest; and then the four miles or so out in
the open could soon be got over.  So I thought, but if you try to
realise my position it will be easy to understand how difficult it is to
keep to a certain direction, when one has constantly to turn to right or
left to pass round some big tree.

Not very difficult, you may say.  Trees are not so big as that.  But
they are out there.  Just picture to yourself one of our pines starting
from the ground with a beautiful curve, before growing up straight as an
arrow, and so far round that I have seen them, when lying on the ground
felled by the axe, about ten feet up from the roots, where they would
not be so big, with the butt where it was cut, ten feet across or thirty
feet round, while, down at the level of the ground, it would be a long
way on to double that thickness.

To walk round such trees as that, and avoid the great roots, means
taking a good many steps, and when this is done again and again, in a
place where there is no beaten track, it is very easy to go astray.

It was so with me in the darkness of that forest, and I began to repent
bitterly now of my determination, for I had volunteered to come, feeling
positive of being able to find my way, while the more I tried to see,
the more confused I grew; till, hot, panting, and weary, I came to a
dead stand.

The silence was terrible, for there was not so much as a whisper in the
tops of the pines.  The darkness had increased so that I had to feel my
way, and in a hopeless state of misery I leaned against a tree, fancying
I heard steps; then the heavy breathing of some huge beast; and at last,
asked myself if I was to wander about there till I fell down and died of
exhaustion and want of food.



CHAPTER FORTY NINE.

I MAKE A DISCOVERY.

All this was very cowardly no doubt, but circumstances alter cases, and
it is only those who have lost their way in some wild solitude who can
realise the terrible feeling of bewilderment and dread which comes over
him who feels that he is lost where he may never find his way again,
perhaps never be found.

Fortunately these emotions come as a shock, and soon after there is a
reaction.  Hope revives as it did to me, and getting over the first
horror and excitement, I stood leaning against the tree thinking out my
position.  I was lost, that was certain; and if I went on stumbling
about in the dark I might perhaps be going either farther away from my
destination, or perhaps round and round in a great circle.  Upon
thinking it out coolly there were two courses open: to lie down on a bed
of pine-needles till daylight, or to try and get a glimpse of the stars
through the trees, and guide myself by them.

"If I stay," I thought, "I shall frighten Mrs John horribly, and it
will be very cowardly.  As to being lost altogether, that's all
nonsense; Mr Raydon and his men would soon find me or send Indians to
hunt me out.  I'm going to find the way back."

I drew a long breath, closed my eyes, and knelt down there in the utter
darkness for a few minutes, to spring up again confident and refreshed
to begin peering up through the trees for the stars.  For I wanted to
make out the Great Bear; and I quite laughed as I thought that it was
the shining one I sought, not a grizzly.  If I could see that, I thought
I could shape my course due south-east.  That must lead me out of the
forest, when, even in the darkness, the rest was easy.

It might have been the most cloudy night ever seen, for the blackness
above me was dense, the branches effectually shutting out every star,
and I had to pause and wonder whether there was any other way by which I
could steer my steps.  But I could find no way out of my difficulty, and
I was beginning to think that I should have to stay where I was and wait
for day.

But I could not do that.  I tried sitting down for a short time, but the
darkness and want of action became too oppressive, and leaping up I
began to walk slowly and carefully on, with my free hand extended to
guide myself by the trunks of the trees, of whose proximity I was,
however, generally made aware by my feet coming in contact with their
roots.

My progress was very slow, and so silent that I was able to listen
intently for a signal, the hope having sprung up in my breast that, as
it had grown dark, Mr Raydon might have sent Grey or one of the other
men to meet me, and in all probability they would fire guns to give me
an idea of the direction I ought to take.

I had read of such things, and felt that in all probability this was
what Mr Raydon would do.  But time went on as I slowly crept along from
tree to tree, cautiously picking my way, till I began to feel convinced
that my chance of escaping this night was hopeless, and once more I
stood gazing straight before me, till I fancied I saw a gleam of light
close at hand.  It was so strange and misty-looking, that it was as if a
bit of phosphorus had been rubbed upon the back of a tree.

As I stared at it, the dim light died out, and all was so black once
more that for the moment I thought it must have been fancy, but as I was
coming to this conclusion, there it was again, and now fully convinced
that it must be phosphorescent wood, I stepped forward cautiously to
touch it, when it went out again.  But I stretched out my hand, and
leaning forward touched the trunk of a tree which grew luminous once
more, till as I changed my position there it was out again.  I repeated
my movements, feeling puzzled at its coming and going so strangely, and
then like a flash of mental light the reason came to me, and I turned
sharply round with my heart beating, to look for the gleam of which this
must be the reflection.

I was quite right, and I was ready to shout for joy, for there,
glimmering among the trees, some distance from where I stood, I could
see that there was the blaze of a small fire, which rose and fell, and
flickered, sending flashes of light up among the branches overhead; and
I knew at once that it must be the fire in connection with some camp,
but whether Indian or English it was impossible to say.  But that did
not matter.  The Indians all about were peaceable, and very friendly to
the people of the Fort.  They knew a few words of English too, so that
with an intense feeling of relief, thinking that I could at least get
food and shelter, if I could not obtain a guide, I stepped out more
freely, the light growing now, and enabling me to see dangers in my path
in the shape of the thick-growing trees.

I was not long in finding out as I approached that the party around the
fire were not Indians; and as I grew near enough to see the rough, ruddy
faces of a party of men, I thought it would be better to announce my
coming with a shout, lest my sudden appearance should be taken as that
of an enemy.  Somehow or other, though, I deferred this till I had made
my way close up, when I heard a voice that sounded familiar say--

"Well, it's 'bout time we started.  Be late enough when we get there.
Wonder whether any one 'll be on the look-out."

As I heard these words, a cold perspiration broke out on my cheeks, and
I felt as if something were stirring the hair about my forehead, for I
had just been walking into the lion's den; and if I had had any hope
that my ears were deceiving me, there, plainly enough, in the bright
glow cast by the fire, stood the second of the two men we had
encountered first in the steamer.

It was he plainly enough, and he had one hand in a sling; while, as I
peered forward round one of the trees, I counted eight men about the
fire; and they all seemed to be well armed.

Where were they going?  I asked myself.  Along the track by which I had
just come?  They must be, I thought, and bent on seizing Gunson's claim.
They would surprise the four men; and there would be blood shed, unless
I could warn the poor fellows first.

"I'll go back at once," I thought; and then with a horrible sensation of
depression, I realised that this was impossible, for I did not know in
which direction to go.

I had hardly thought this when I saw the whole party afoot, moving off
in the direction away from me, and quickly making up my mind to follow
them out of the forest, and as soon as I could make out my whereabouts,
to get on somehow in front, and go on ahead, I followed them.  It was no
easy task, for I had to get some distance round, away from the fire, and
I should have lost them if one of them had not laughed aloud at some
remark.  This told me of the direction in which they were, and I crept
on in dread lest I should get too close and be seen, and again in dread
for fear I should be left behind.

To my great satisfaction they kept on talking, as if in not the
slightest fear of being overheard, and I followed as near as I dared go,
till in a few minutes, to my great delight, I found that we were out in
the open, and I could see the stars.

"Now," I thought, "whereabouts are we?  If I could only make out that
large mass of rock that lay off to the left where I passed through the
forest in the morning, I could soon get on before them.  Why I must have
walked right back, and--"

I stopped short, quite startled, for to my great astonishment I found,
instead of going in the direction leading to Gunson's claim, I had come
through the forest on the side I had been seeking for.

"Then they are not going to Golden Valley," I said to myself; and then
it came to me like a flash of light--they were going to attack the Fort!

Of course; and that was what was meant about any one being on the watch.

My heart now beat violently, and I began to hasten my steps to get on
before the party, and warn Mr Raydon of their coming.  But at the end
of a minute I had to check my pace, and follow more cautiously, as I
tried to think where I could get before them; and the more I tried to
think, the more confused and troubled I grew, for, as far as I could
make out, there was no way but the track which they seemed to know; and
to have gone to right or left meant to encounter some place impossible
to climb in the dark, or a precipice down which I might fall.  It was
difficult enough in broad daylight--impossible in the dark; and in spite
of all my thinking, I was at last despairingly compelled to confess that
until the open ground was reached in front of the Fort, I could do
nothing but follow while the enemy led.

I thought of a dozen plans to warn the defenders of the Fort, so as to
put them on the alert, but the only one that seemed possible, was to
wait till we were all pretty near, and then fire my rifle to give the
alarm.

That I knew meant making the ruffians turn on me, but though the risk
was great, I hoped to dash by them in the darkness, and reach the gate.

All this time I had been cautiously creeping along behind the gang, for
at a word from their leader, the men had suddenly become very silent,
and the only sound to be heard was the rattle of a stone kicked to one
side, or a low whisper, evidently an order about the advance.

A curious feeling of despair was creeping over me, and I felt more and
more convinced that I could not get to the front, so that all I should
be able to do would be to wait till they were near the gate, and about
to scale the palisade, for that was what I felt sure they meant to do,
and then fire, let the result be what it might to me.

My difficulties grew greater every minute, as we advanced, and the
strain upon me heavier than I could bear.  In anticipation I saw the
scoundrels creeping up to the Fort, cautiously getting over and
silencing whoever was on guard; and then, with a feeling of horror that
was almost unbearable, I saw in imagination the whole place given up to
pillage and destruction, at a time too when I knew that there were many
bales of valuable furs in the stores.

My progress at last became like a nightmare, in which I was following
the attacking party, and unable to do anything to help my friends; so
that when we were within, as a German would say, half an hour of our
destination, I was in no wise startled or surprised to faintly make out
in the darkness the figures of two men who suddenly rose up on either
side of me; a hand was clapped over my mouth, and I was dragged down,
and a knee placed on my chest.

I divined it all in an instant, and tried to resign myself to my fate,
as I saw that, being well on their guard against surprise, two of the
gang had fallen back and seen me, with the result I have described, so
that I was absolutely stunned after a feeble struggle, when a voice at
my ear said in a harsh whisper--

"What is the meaning of this treachery, Gordon?  Who are those men?"

My hand caught the speaker's, and I uttered a low sob of relief.

"Mr Raydon--the men--going to attack the Fort."

"Ah!" he panted.  "You hear, Grey?"

"Yes."

"But why did you not warn us?"

"They were before me.  I could not get by," I whispered.  "I was going
to fire to alarm you all."

I heard Mr Raydon draw a low hissing breath.

"How did you know this?" he said.

"Lost my way in the forest, and saw the light of their fire."

"And the men at the claim?"

"All right, sir.--I heard these wretches say they were coming on."

"Lost, eh?" said Mr Raydon.

"Yes, sir.  I've been wandering for hours."

"We were in search of you, and drew back to let these men go by.  You
hear his story, Grey?"

"Yes, sir.  Quite right.  He would lose his way in the dark.  What
orders?"

"His plan will be the best," said Mr Raydon.  "Gordon, finding you in
such company made me suspicious."

"You always do suspect me, sir," I said, bitterly.

"Silence, and come along.  Grey, I shall wait till they are close up,
and about to make their attempt; then at the word, fire and load again.
They will be taken by surprise, and think they are between two parties.
The surprise may be sufficient.  If not it will alarm those within."

"And then?"

"Be ready to fire again, or make for the far side.  We must get in
there.  Forward!  I'll lead."

Mr Raydon went on first and I followed, Grey bringing up the rear.  I
was hurt, for it was evident that Mr Raydon's ideas of my character
were poor indeed, and that at the slightest thing he was ready to
suspect me of any enormity.  But as I paced on quickly behind him I grew
more lenient in my judgment, for I was obliged to own that my position
was not a satisfactory one.  I had not returned as I should have done,
and when I was found, it was in company with a gang of men who were
about to attack and pillage the Fort.

I had no farther time for thoughts like these.  We were gaining rapidly
on the gang now, and in a few minutes' time we could hear footsteps, and
then they had suddenly ceased, and a whispering began, as if the leader
of the party were giving orders.

Mr Raydon touched me to make out that I was close up, and I felt Grey
take his position on the other side, while my heart beat so loudly that
I half thought it might be heard.

All at once Mr Raydon pressed on my shoulder, and leaned over me to
whisper to Grey.

"They ought to have heard this approach," he whispered.  "This is not
keeping good watch."

"Dark--very quiet," said Grey, in what sounded to me like a remonstrant
tone; and directly after a loud clear voice rang out from the
block-house at the left-hand corner near the gate.

"Who goes there?  Halt, or I fire."

A low murmur arose in front of us, and Mr Raydon drew a deep breath, as
if relieved.  Then there was a quick advance, the flash of a rifle, and
the sharp clear report.

"Only one," cried a hoarse voice.  "Too dark to see.  Over with you,
boys!"

Bang!  Another shot; and then, as I panted with excitement, Mr Raydon
whispered--

"Now, altogether, fire!"

I had raised my piece at his warning, and drew the trigger; but though
there was a sharp report on either side of me, my piece did not speak,
and suddenly recollecting that I had forgotten to cock it, I lowered it
again.

"Who's that behind?  Who fired there?" cried the hoarse voice of the
leader from the darkness ahead.

It was just as I was ready, and raising my piece, I fired, the butt
seeming to give my shoulder a heavy blow; while directly after came
three flashes from the block-house, as many roars, and, like their
echoes, Mr Raydon and Grey fired again, after a rapid reloading.

This was too much for the attacking party.  They were so thoroughly
taken between two fires, that the next thing we heard was the hurried
rush of feet, and I saw very faintly what appeared to be a shadow hurry
by me, while a couple more shots from Mr Raydon and Grey completed the
enemy's rout.

"Cease firing, there!" roared Mr Raydon.

A loud hail came back from the block-house, and a few minutes later we
were being admitted through the well-barred gate, whose fastenings
dropped with a loud clang.  Then I walked up to the quarters with Mr
Raydon, where the next thing I heard was Mr John's voice.

"Found him?"

"Yes; all right, and the enemy beaten," said Mr Raydon, cheerily.  "Go
and tell them inside."

"No need," said Mr John; "they have heard.  Where are you, Mayne?  Ah,
that's better.  Why, my dear lad, you have scared us terribly."

"I lost my way," I said, hastily.

"But what was the meaning of this firing?"

"The enemy coming in force," said Mr Raydon.  "We have beaten them off
though without bloodshed, and Mayne Gordon here has had another lesson
in the dangers of opening up gold-claims to the scum of the earth."

"That you, Mayne Gordon?" said a familiar voice soon after, as I
approached our quarters.

"Yes," I said.  "Not hurt, are you, Esau?"

"Not a bit; nor you neither?"

"Yes," I said, bitterly; "wounded again."

"Eh? whereabouts?  Here, come on.  Mother's got lots of rag."

"No, no," I said, laughing sadly.  "Not that sort of wound.  It was with
words."

"Go on with you.  Frightening a chap like that," cried Esau.  "I thought
it was real."



CHAPTER FIFTY.

OUR PATIENT AWAKES.

There was no alarm next day, and scouts who were sent out came back to
report that they had tracked the enemy down the river, and then up into
the forest by one of the side streams, the second beyond the Golden
Valley.

"Humph!" ejaculated Mr Raydon, "pleasant that, John.  They have taken
to the lovely wooded vale I had marked down in my own mind for your
future home."

Mr John shrugged his shoulders, and gave his wife and brother-in-law a
half-sad, half-laughing look.

"I am not surprised," he said, "I always was the most unlucky of men."

"Nothing of the kind, sir," retorted Mr Raydon.  "You have had as much
good fortune as other men--quite as much as I have.  My dear John," he
added more gently, "we men have a bad habit of forgetting the good in
our lives, and remembering all the bad.  My dear fellow, half your
troubles have been caused by your want of energy."

"Yes," he said, smiling sadly, "I suppose so.  I have always been too
ready to give up.  But," he added quickly, "I never complain."

Mr Raydon never looked so pleasant in my eyes before as he smiled at
his sister, and then laid his hand on Mr John's shoulder.

"Never, John, never.  You annoy me sometimes by being so easy and
yielding."

"Yes, yes," said Mr John; "but I'm going to turn over a new leaf, and
be stern and energetic as you are."

Mrs John crossed to him and took his hand.

"No," she said quietly, "you are going to turn over no new leaves, dear.
You are best as you always have been.  Daniel is wrong; we cannot have
all men of the same mould."

"Do you hear all this, Mayne Gordon?" said Mr Raydon, laughingly; and
before I could reply, he said quickly, "Go on now, and take your turn as
sentry; I want to think out my plans.  Don't talk about it to the men,
but something must be done.  A combination must be made to capture these
men again, for we shall have no peace or safety till they are cleared
away."

"What are you thinking of doing?" said Mrs John, taking alarm at his
words.

"Trying to end the matter peaceably, and without bloodshed."

Mrs John uttered a sigh of relief, and I went out wondering what would
be done, and thinking that if I had my way, I should collect all the
miners, join forces, and then send one party to the head of the little
vale, and attempt to advance with the others from the bottom by the
river, little thinking what difficulties there would be in such a plan.

As soon as I was outside Mr Raydon's office, I met Grey, who gave me a
grim, dry look.

"Know how many men you shot last night?" he said.

I looked at him in horror.

"Don't--don't say--" I faltered.

"All right!" he replied; "but if you're going to carry a rifle, and you
use it, you must expect to knock some of the enemy over.  There, I was
only joking you, soldier.  I don't think anybody was even scratched by a
ball.  If you're going to stop with us, I shall have to make a marksman
of you, so that you can do as I do--give a man a lesson."

"In shooting?"  I said.

He laughed.

"Yes, but you don't understand me.  I mean give him such a lesson as
will make him behave better.  'Tisn't pleasant, when you have grown cool
after a fight, to think you have dangerously wounded or killed a man;
not even if he tried to kill you.  I felt that years ago, and I
practised up, so that I can hit a man with a rifle just where I like--
that is nearly always."

"It was you who fired at those two wretches then?"  I said eagerly.

"Of course it was, and I hit one in the leg, and the other in the hand.
Did nearly as well as killing 'em, eh?"

"Yes," I said, laughing.  "I must practise too."

"You shall, and I hope you'll have no need to use your rifle afterwards,
except on bears or deer.  Where are you going?"

"Mr Raydon said I was to relieve one of the men."

"So you shall, but the first one's got an hour yet to be on duty.  I'll
call you when you're wanted.  How's Mr Gunson?"

"I'm just going to see," I said; and I went up to the strangers'
quarters and looked in, to find Mrs Dean on duty by the bedside, and
Esau seated by the fire, cutting out something which he informed me was
part of a trap he had invented to catch squirrels.

"How is he?"  I said in a low voice to Mrs Dean.

"Very bad, my dear, and so weak."

"But hasn't he shown any sign of recovering his senses?"

"No, my dear; and it does seem so discouraging."

"Never mind, mother; you'll cure him."

"Hist!"  I said.

"Well, I am whispering, ain't I," said Esau.  "He couldn't hear if I
didn't."

"But he must be kept quiet, Esau, and you have such a big voice.  Your
whispers are as loud as some people's shouts."

"Hush!"  I said, as I heard steps.  "Mr Raydon."

Mrs Dean rose and curtseyed as Mr Raydon entered, followed by Mr and
Mrs John; and he looked surprised on seeing me there.

"Not on duty, Gordon?" he said.

"Mr Grey told me to wait till he was ready for me, sir."

"Oh!--Well, Mrs Dean, how is your patient?"

"Seems to sleep very calmly and gently, sir.  I did think he looked at
me sensibly once, but I'm not sure."

"Poor fellow!" said Mr Raydon gravely, as Mrs Dean left the place,
followed by Esau, while I felt as if I should like to follow them; but I
stayed, knowing that if I did go, Mr Raydon would think I felt guilty
at being found there, when I was only obeying his officer's orders.  So
I remained watching, and waiting to be called.

Mr Raydon bent over the couch, and laid his hand upon his patient's
head.

"Nice and cool.  He must be mending, and sooner or later I believe he
will recover.  It is time, though, that he made some sign of returning
consciousness.  Ah, Mayne, my lad, this is the thirst for gold with a
vengeance.  I dreaded it; I have dreaded it for years.  Poor fellow!  A
thorough gentleman at heart, but his desire for wealth was his ruin."

The words leaped to my lips, but I felt that all Mr Gunson had told me
of his former life was in confidence; and beside, Mr Raydon's treatment
did not encourage mine, so I was silent for a moment or so, gazing sadly
at the thin worn face before me, and wishing that I was a clever doctor
and able to cure him, when I started with surprise and pleasure, for Mr
Gunson's eyes opened, and he lay looking fixedly at me for some time in
the midst of a painful silence.

Then a look of recognition came into his gaze, and he smiled at me
faintly.

"Time to get up?" he said, in a whisper.  "I--"

He looked quickly round then, and his face worked a little.

"Where am I?--what?" he faltered.  "Mayne, where am I?  Ah!  I remember
now," he said, faintly.

Mr Raydon bent over him.

"Don't try to talk, Gunson.  You have been ill, but you are getting
better now."

"Yes," he said, softly; "I remember.  Struck down just now."

I exchanged glances with Mr Raydon.

"No, not just now, because I have been lying here.  Some one nursing
me--yes," he cried, with more energy, as his eyes rested on Mrs John's
sympathetic face, "you."

"We have all nursed you," said Mrs John, quietly.  "But do not try to
talk."

"No," he said, decisively; "but--there is one thing--must say--my
claim--the gold."

I saw Mr Raydon's face pucker up, and a frown gather on his brow, but
it cleared away directly, and he bent down over his patient, and laid
his hand upon his forehead.

"Gunson, you must be quiet," he said.  "Your claim is quite safe.  I
have men protecting it, and no gold has been found or taken away."

"Thank heaven!" sighed Gunson; and giving a grateful look round he
closed his eyes, and seemed to go to sleep.

"Come away now," whispered Mr Raydon.  "You will stay with him?"

Mrs John bowed her head, and softly took the chair by the pillow, while
we all stole gently out of the room.

"His first waking thought, John," said Mr Raydon, bitterly; "gold--
gold--gold.  There, it is of no use to murmur: I must swallow my pet
antipathy, I suppose."

Once more the thought of all Mr Gunson had said to me came as words to
my lips; but though my friend was being wrongly judged, I felt that I
could not speak.

"Some day he will know all the truth," I said, "and I must wait."

Just then Grey came up.

"Your time, Gordon," he said, abruptly.  Then seeing our excited looks,
he glanced towards the strangers' quarters.

"Not worse, sir?" he said, eagerly.

"No, Grey; the turn has come--better," said Mr Raydon.

Grey took off his fur cap, waved it in the air, and then with a
satisfied smile he marched me off.

"That's what I like to hear; he'll be all right soon now.  This place
would set any man up.  But I can't understand the gov'nor.  He was
always mad against any one coming about here hunting for gold, and yet
somehow he seems to have quite taken to your friend, who talks about
nothing else."

"Yes," I said; "I can't help thinking that he likes Mr Gunson."

"Oh, there's no doubt about it, my lad.  We shall have him taking to
gold-hunting himself one of these days."

"Never," I said, decisively, as we reached my post.

"Never's a long day, boy," said Grey, thoughtfully; "but I think you're
right."



CHAPTER FIFTY ONE.

ON ACTIVE SERVICE.

The scouts went out again and again, and though they never saw the
enemy, they always brought back reports that they were still in the
little valley, and trying for gold there.

Mr Barker had been up to the Fort with some of the principal
gold-seekers, and Mr Raydon had been down to the valley, which had
rapidly grown into a busy hive.  But days glided by and no plans were
made, while the enemy made not the slightest sign of their presence; and
Mr Raydon said it was a mystery to him how they obtained provisions.

Then, as no more attacks were made at the camp, the excitement gradually
cooled down, and it was decided to leave the men alone so long as they
remained peaceable, or until such time as the Governor of the colony was
in a position to send up a little force to protect people, and ensure
peace in his increasing settlement.

The days glided on and Mr Gunson rapidly began to mend, while I spent
all the time I could at his side--Mr Raydon quietly letting me see that
I was only a visitor there, the companion of the sick man; and it was
regularly settled that as soon as Mr Gunson was quite well again he was
to return to his claim, and I was to go with him; Esau also having,
after quite a verbal battle with his mother, determined to cast in his
lot with ours.

"And I shall be very glad to get away from this life of inaction,"
Gunson said to me one day.  "They are all wonderfully kind, and I am
most grateful, but I think Raydon will be pleased to see us gone."

"Yes," I said; "I shall be glad to go."

"You mean it, boy?" he said, smiling.

"Yes; there is nothing I am wanted for, and I feel as if I were an
intruder.  It was an unlucky day when we found that gold."

"No," cried Mr Gunson, with fierce energy; "a most fortunate day.  You
forget what it is going to do for me and mine."

"Yes; I spoke selfishly," I said, bitterly.

"Bah! don't look back, boy; look forward," he cried; and he suddenly
became silent, and leaned back in his chair, gazing out through the open
window at the wide prospect of hill, mountain, and dark green forest.
"I am looking forward to being out again in those glorious pine-woods,
breathing the sweet mountain air.  I shall soon be quite strong again
then."

I thought of my own wound, and how I had seemed to drink in health and
strength as soon as I got out.

"It would not be a bad life to settle down here," continued Mr Gunson;
"I should enjoy it.  A beautiful life, far better than hunting for gold.
But what about those scoundrels who made me like this?  Is there any
fresh news of them?"

"None," I said.

"That's bad.  They may be in mischief.  Awkward if they come and attack
us again when we get back to the claim.  Raydon must lend us some of his
men, or else I must join forces with that Barker, though I would far
rather keep the place to myself.  But we cannot risk another such
attack.  You see what a coward weakness has made me."

"You a coward!"  I cried, scornfully.

"Yes, my lad," he said, with a smile.  "I do not feel a bit like a brave
man should.  Well," he cried, with a laugh, "that is strange!"

"What is?"  I cried.

"Look," he said, pointing out of the window to a group of men coming in
at the gate; "the very man I was speaking about--Barker."

"There's something wrong," I said, excitedly, as I sprang from my chair.

"Go and see," he cried; but I was already at the door, and rushed out
just as Mr Raydon and Mr John came from the office, and Grey from one
of the block-houses.

"How are you?" said Barker, coming up with a serious look on his face
that told of bad news before he spoke.

Mr Raydon took the extended hand.

"Well," he said, "what is it?  That gang again?"

"Yes," said Barker, rather huskily; "we were in hopes that we had seen
the last of them, but they made an attack last night.  We did not know
till quite late this morning, when a man from the next claim went down
to the bar nearest the big river."

"Yes, go on--quick!" said Mr Raydon.

"They had been there some time in the night.  There was a party of six
working together, and I suppose they surprised them."

"Well?"

"Two of the poor fellows are lying dead, sir, and the other four badly
wounded.  They have swept the place of everything, and got a good deal
of gold."

As this bad news was told I could not look at Mr Raydon, for fear his
eyes should gaze reproachfully into mine.  I felt that he did glance at
me as if to say--"Your work, Gordon!"

But at that moment the visitor went on speaking--

"I've come up, sir, with my mates, as we agreed to help one another.  We
are peaceable people, and we only ask to be let alone; but after last
night's work it must be war.  This can't go on."

"No," said Mr Raydon, firmly.

"We're right away here from any settlement, and there might be no law at
all for any help it can give us, so we must be our own judges and jury."

"No," said Mr Raydon, firmly; "not that, but we must be our own
soldiers and police."

"Then you will act with us, sir?  You and your people know the country,
and perhaps can lead us to where we can find and surprise them."

"If you all give me your undertaking that there shall be no unnecessary
bloodshed, and that these men shall be merely seized and taken down to
the coast, I will help you to the best of my power."

"Here's my hand upon it," cried Barker.  "You're more of a soldier than
I am, so tell us what to do, and the sooner it's done the better."

"Go back then at once, and get all your men together, and I will join
you with all I can spare from the protection of my place."

"How long will you be, sir?"

"Half an hour after you get back.  But be quiet, and do not let a hint
reach the enemy of what is afoot."

"You may trust us, sir," said Barker.  "Come on back, lads;" and all
looking very stern and serious, the men turned and went steadily off.

"You'll take me, sir?" said Grey, appealingly.

"I wish I could, my man," replied Mr Raydon.  "One of us must stay to
take charge here, and my place is with the men to guard against
excesses."

Grey looked disappointed, but he was soldier-like in his obedience to
orders, and without another word he went with us to the block-house,
where four men were selected and duly armed.

All at once Mr Raydon turned, and found me gazing intently at him.

"Well?" he said.

"You will let me go too, sir?"  I said.

"No; you are too young to fight.  Yes; you shall carry an extra rifle
for me, and my surgical case."

I ran back to where Gunson lay impatiently waiting for news, and told
him.

"Yes," he said, "it is quite right.  This must be put down with a strong
hand.  Oh, if I had only strength to be one of the party!  Mayne Gordon,
I envy you."

Ten minutes later I was saying good-bye to Mrs John, who looked pale
and horrified at the news she had heard, and began to object to my
going, till Mr John whispered a few words to her, when she turned upon
me a piteous look.

"I am only going as the doctor's assistant," I said, lightly, but I felt
as excited as if I were about to form one of a forlorn hope.

"Ready?" said Mr Raydon, coming to the door.  "Get to the men, Gordon.
Good-bye, sister."

"But, Daniel!" she said, clinging to him; "is this necessary?"

"Absolutely," he replied.  "John, I look to you to shoulder a rifle, and
help to defend this place.  Good-bye."

He shook hands hastily to avoid a painful parting, and strode out with
me, so that I only had time to wave my hand to Mrs John, who was
watching us as we tramped out of the gate--the five men by me looking
stern and determined enough to be more than a match for the enemy, if it
was a case of fair fighting, though that was too much to expect from
such men as these.

Hardly a word was spoken as we descended the valley, keeping close down
to the river-side, till we reached the narrow entrance to the little
gorge, whose stream came bubbling and plashing down into the pool, and
we had not gone above a couple of hundred yards up it, when a stern
voice bade us stand, and we found ourselves face to face with the whole
strength of the mining camp.

"That's right, sir," said Barker; "ready for action.  Yes?  Then what's
it to be?"

"My plan is very simple," replied Mr Raydon.  "I propose going up the
valley with my men to Gunson's claim, where I shall, of course, join the
four stationed there."

"That's right," said Barker.  "We asked them to come with us, but they
refused.  Well, sir?"

"You and your men will march down to the river, and descend till you are
opposite the little vale where these people are hiding.  You will find
it very beautiful and park-like for the first half mile, but as the
glade narrows it grows more dense, till it is filled from side to side
with magnificent pines.  You will spread your men out, to guard against
the enemy passing you, and this will grow more and more easy as you go
slowly on."

"I understand; and what are you going to do, sir?" said the man.

"Come over the ridge, and through the forest which separates this valley
from that, so as to get to the head of the little stream.  Then we shall
begin to descend, and, I hope, drive the scoundrels into your hands."

Barker gave his rifle-stock a hearty slap.

"Capital!" he cried.  "And you can get over there?"

"I know every part here for miles round," said Mr Raydon, as I felt
quite startled at his plan being exactly the same as the one I had
thought of.  "I will set over there somehow."

"Then we shall have them between two fires, sir," cried Barker--"good!"

We parted directly after this, it being understood that the miners were
to move slowly, so as to give us ample time to make our arrangements,
get round over the mountain-ridge, and go down to meet them so as to
have the enemy safely between us, Mr Raydon being of opinion that the
sides of the valley in which they were encamped would be too steep to
give them a chance of escape.

We pressed on past the various little claims, with the place looking
untidy and desolate, consequent upon the number of camping-places all
along the beautiful stream; and whenever we came upon the more desolate
places, with the traces of fire and burned trees, I saw Mr Raydon's
brow knit, and more than once he uttered an angry ejaculation.

Gunson's claim was neared at last, just as I was beginning to feel
exhausted with the difficulties of the climb up the rugged rock-strewn
track, and Mr Raydon was looking more severe than ever, when all at
once, from out of the trees there rang out a sharp "Halt!" and there was
the clicking of a rifle-lock.

"Hah!" ejaculated Mr Raydon, brightening up at once at this display of
watchfulness, which proved to him how trustworthy his men were.  Then
stepping to the front he shouted a few words, and the man who had spoken
came from his post, which commanded an approach to the claim.

We were met with an eager welcome, and in spite of the risks they would
have to encounter, the four men were overjoyed at hearing of the
business in hand, clearly showing that they were tired of their
monotonous inactive life.

A brief halt was made, during which our party lay about making a good
meal; and then, at a word from Mr Raydon, they all sprang up together
quite in military fashion, while he explained to the four men the plan.

"We must try and get over here at once," he said, as he glanced up at
the tremendous wall of rock, piled up quite a thousand feet above our
heads, and dotted with patches of trees, wherever there was soil or
crevice in which a pine could take root.

"Better place higher up, sir," said one of the men.  "There's a little
branch of the stream goes off west: I followed it the other day after a
sheep.  I think we could get far enough up the mountain then to cross
over and strike the other stream."

"Right," said Mr Raydon at once; "that will be better.  All ready?
Ammunition?"

"Ready! ready!" rang along the little line.

Mr Raydon nodded.

"No talking, and go as silently as you can; sound travels in these high
parts, and we do not know how high up the scoundrels may be camping.
Now, understand once more--single file till we cross over into the other
valley, then spread out as widely as the place will allow, and keep as
level a line as possible.  The object is to drive these men back to the
mining party, and not one must break through our line now.  You lead.  I
trust to you to get us well over into that valley."

The man who had spoken of the branch from the stream stepped to the
front, rifles were shouldered, the word was given, and with Mr Raydon
next to the leader, and I behind him, carrying a spare rifle and the
surgical case, the advance was begun.



CHAPTER FIFTY TWO.

A NEW ENEMY.

We had not lost more than a quarter of an hour in this halt; but it was
sufficient, as I found when I rose, to have cooled me down and made me
feel fresh and ready for the arduous climb that we now had to make.  Our
path was along by the stream for a time, but more often right in it, for
the valley grew narrower, and was frequently little more than a gigantic
crack in the mountain-side; but so beautiful that I often longed to stop
and gaze at the overhanging ferns and velvety moss by some foaming fall,
where the water came down from above like so much fine misty rain.

But there was no halting, and we kept on till the leader suddenly turned
into a gloomy niche on our left, out of which another stream rushed; and
here for some time we had to climb from rock to rock, and often drag
ourselves on to some shelf by the overhanging roots of trees.  The
ascent was wonderfully steep, and sometimes so narrow that we were in a
dim twilight with the sky far away above us, like a jagged line of
light.  As for the stream in whose bed we were, it was a succession of
tiny falls now, and we were soon dripping from the waist downward.

But no word was spoken, and the men worked together as if trained by
long service to this kind of travelling.  When some awkward rock had
been climbed by the leader, he stopped and held down his hand to Mr
Raydon, who sprang up and offered me the same assistance, while I,
taking it as the proper thing to do, held my hand down to the next.

For full two hours we struggled up this narrow rift before it became
less deep, and the light nearer.  Then the climbing was less difficult,
and drier, and I could see that we were getting up more on to the open
mountain-side, amid the bare rocks and piled-up stones.  All at once the
leader stopped short, and pointed up to where, quite half a mile away, I
could see about a dozen sheep standing clearly defined against the sky,
their heads with the great curled horns plainly visible.  Some were
feeding, but two stood above the rest as if on guard.

Mr Raydon nodded, and the man said--

"I lost sight of my sheep just below where you see those, sir, and I
think if we keep on along for a mile beyond we shall find the stream we
want running down into the other valley."

Mr Raydon stood shading his eyes for a few minutes.

"Yes," he said, at last.  "You are quite right.  I can see the mountain
I have been on before.  Forward!"

The way was less arduous now, and the fresh breeze into which we had
climbed made it cooler; but still it was laborious enough to make me
pant as I followed right in Mr Raydon's steps.  Before we had gone on
much further I saw the sheep take alarm, and go bounding up, diagonally,
what looked like a vast wall of rock, and disappear; and when we had
climbed just below where I had seen them bound, it seemed impossible
that they could have found footing there.

Another half-hour's toilsome ascent, for the most part among loose
stones, and we stood gazing down into a narrow gully similar to that up
which we had climbed, and at the bottom I saw a little rushing stream,
which Mr Raydon said was the one we sought, and I knew that we had but
to follow that to where it joined the big river, after a journey through
the dense mass of forest with which the valley was filled.

Here we halted for a few minutes in a stony solitude, where there was
not the faintest sound to be heard; and then Mr Raydon's deep voice
whispered "Forward!" and we began to descend cautiously, for the way
down to the stream was so perilous that it was only by using the
greatest care that we reached the bottom in safety, and began to follow
the torrent downward.

"No chance for them to escape by us this way," said Mr Raydon to me
with a grim smile, looking back as we descended the chasm in single
file, gradually going as it were into twilight, and then almost into
darkness, with perpendicular walls of rock on either hand, and the moist
air filled with the echoing roar and rush of water.

Here Mr Raydon took the lead, the man who had been in advance letting
us both pass him, and then following behind, me.

"I have been up this stream to this point before," said Mr Raydon to
me.  "You never thought to see such places as this, Gordon," he
continued, "when you left London."

"No," I said eagerly, for it was pleasant to hear him make some advances
towards me; but he said no more, relapsing into complete silence as he
strode on or leaped from rock to rock, till by degrees, and repeating
our morning's experience in the reverse way, we began to find the narrow
gorge widen and grow less dark; then we came to places where the
sunshine gleamed down, and there were ferns; then lower down to more
light, and where bushes were plentiful, but still with the valley so
narrow that we had to keep in single file.

At last, the perpendicular walls were further back, the valley grew
V-shaped, and patches of dwarf forest grew visible high up.  Bigger
trees appeared, and soon after the place became park-like, and a man
stepped out to right and left, so that in front we were three abreast;
and half an hour later we were amongst the thickly-growing pines--a line
of eight men abreast with Mr Raydon in the middle, and I and the other
behind.

"Halt!" said Mr Raydon, in a whisper.  "Join up."

The men from right and left drew in, and he said in quite a whisper--

"The forest grows more and more dense here for miles away to the river.
I propose now going on for another half-hour, to where there is a sudden
narrowing in of the valley to about thirty yards.  If we do not meet the
enemy before this, I shall halt there, and keep that pass, waiting till
they are driven up to us.  But we may have them upon us at any moment
now."

"They could not have got by us, sir?"  I ventured to say.

Mr Raydon looked at me, and smiled.

"Impossible, my lad.  Ready?  Forward!"

Our advance now was slow, as we had to pass in and out among the
thickly-growing trees, and to be careful to keep in line as nearly as
was possible.  Every man was eager and excited, and from time to time,
as I looked to right and left, I kept catching sight of one of our party
pressing forward with rifle ready, and waiting to fire at the first
sight of the enemy, this shot being the appointed signal for all to halt
and stand fast, waiting for further orders.

At last, after what in my excited state seemed to be hours, but which
afterwards proved not to have been one, Mr Raydon said in a whisper--

"There is the gate."

I stared, but could see nothing till we had gone a few yards further,
when I found that two huge shoulders of the mountain had fallen in, and
blocked the valley, which was narrowed here, as Mr Raydon said, to a
sharply-cut passage of about thirty yards wide.  Here we halted, and
were disposed so that a dog could not pass through without being seen,
and for a full hour we remained in utter silence, watching, till, unable
to bear the inaction any longer, Mr Raydon said sharply--

"Forward!  Open out!  I am afraid there is something wrong below.  They
ought to have been up here by this time."

We tramped on again now, still with the same precautions, but making as
much speed as we could after our rest, though our pace was slow on
account of the dense nature of the forest.  I cannot tell how long we
had been going downward, but suddenly, just as I was growing weary of
the whole business, and thinking that the men were after all, perhaps,
not here, or that we had come down the wrong valley, my blood rose to
fever-heat again, for Mr Raydon whispered--

"Halt!" and the word ran along to right and left.  "Be ready," he
whispered again.  And now I heard a faint muttering in front of us,
similar to that which we had made in our progress; and at last, away
among the great tree-trunks dimly seen in the shade, I caught sight of a
man, then of another and another, and now Mr Raydon's voice rang out
hoarsely--

"Halt, or we fire!"

There was a low murmuring from before us, and a bit of a rush, as of men
collecting together, and then a voice roared from among the trees--

"Surrender there, or we will shoot you down to a man."

"Do you hear?" cried Mr Raydon.  "Surrender!  The game's up, you
scoundrels."

"Mr Raydon," I whispered, excitedly, for I had caught sight of the
advancing party, "don't fire; it's Mr Barker and his men."

"What?  Hi!  Barker!  Is that you?"

"Ay--ay!" came back.  "That you, Mr Raydon?"

"Yes, man, yes; where are the enemy?"

"Why, I thought you was them," cried Barker, advancing.

"We thought the same," said Mr Raydon, as he too stepped forward, and
we all stood face to face.  "Then they were not here.  Or have you
passed them?"

"I don't think--" began Barker.

"Why, I told you so," cried one of the men.  "I felt sure I heard
something out to our left among the trees hours ago."

"What?" cried Mr Raydon; "did you not open out your men in line?"

"Far as we could," said Barker, gruffly.  "It's so thick down below we
couldn't get along."

"Man!" cried Mr Raydon, "they've been too sharp for you, and let you
pass.  Why--oh, good heavens! they must have known of our plans.
They'll have stolen out at the mouth of the valley, gone up, and taken
the Fort."

A dead silence reigned for a few minutes, as Mr Raydon stood thinking.
Then suddenly--

"We did not give them credit for being so sharp as they are," he
continued.  "Here, forward all of you, back to the river.  I hope my
fears are wrong."

"Hadn't we better go your way?" said Barker.  "The forest is frightfully
thick below, and it will take us hours."

"The way we came will take twice as long," said Mr Raydon, sternly;
"and it is one fearful climb right up into the mountain.  We must go
this way.  Follow as quickly as possible.  There will be no need to keep
a look-out now."

The men mustered up without a word, and with Mr Raydon and Barker
leading, we tramped on as fast as we could, but making very poor
progress during the next hour, for all were growing hot and exhausted,
and the labour was really terrible.  But they pressed on in silence,
while Mr Raydon and Barker talked together rather bitterly about the
ill success of the expedition.

We must have been walking about two hours when--

"It will be night before we get to the Fort," I heard the former say;
"and who knows what may have happened there!"

"But your men will make a fight for it," said Barker.

"My principal fellow, Grey, will fight to the death," said Mr Raydon;
"but there are not enough to hold the place.  It is ruin and
destruction.  I ought not to have come."

"Hush!"  I said, excitedly.  "What's that?"

Mr Raydon stopped short, and held up his hand, when a low, dull,
roaring sound as of a flood of water rushing up the valley was heard
increasing rapidly.

"Great heavens!" cried Mr Raydon, excitedly; "they have fired the
forest down below."

And as he spoke there was a faint hot puff of air borne toward us, and
with it the unmistakable odour of burning wood.

A thrill of excitement ran through the men at the above words, and they
looked at one another.  The next moment they would have rushed back up
the valley, but Mr Raydon cried sharply--

"No, no, my lads; the fire cannot be right across the valley; let's go
on and try and pass it."

They seemed to be ready to obey the first who gave them orders, and Mr
Raydon led on again, but in less then ten minutes, during which the hot
puffs of air and the roar had increased rapidly, we were face to face
with the fact that the fire was coming up like some terrible tide,
evidently stretching right across from side to side, and already above
our heads there were clouds of pungent smoke; and the crackle, roar, and
hiss of the burning wood was rapidly growing louder.

"Halt!" roared Mr Raydon.  "It is death to go on.  Back at once."

"But the sides," cried Barker; "can't we all climb up here?"

"The fire would be on us before we were half-way up, even if we could
climb, man," said Mr Raydon, "which I doubt.  Back at once!"

"Yes; quick! quick!" shouted one of the men.  "Look, look!"

It did not need his shouts, for we could see the flames rushing up the
higher trees, which seemed to flash with light, as if they had been
strewn with powder; the heat was growing unbearable, and already I felt
faint and giddy.

It was quite time we were in full retreat, for there above our heads was
a pall of black smoke, dotted with flakes of flame, and a horrible panic
now smote the men as they hurried on.

"Keep close to me, Gordon," said Mr Raydon, glancing back.  "Why, it is
coming on like a hurricane of fire."

It was too true, for the hot wind rushed up between the towering walls
of the valley as if through a funnel, and before many minutes had passed
we knew that the forest was on fire where we so lately stood, and that
it was rapidly growing into a race between man's endurance and the wild
rush of the flames.

I looked back twice, to feel the hot glow of the fire on my face, and to
see the lurid glare coming on with the black smoke-clouds wreathing up
at terrific speed.  Then as we tramped on with the roar behind us as of
some vast furnace, there came explosions like the firing of guns; the
crashes of small arms; and from time to time the fall of some tree
sounded like thunder.

The men needed no spurring to get on out of the dense labyrinth of
trees, through which we toiled on hot to suffocation, breathless, and in
mortal dread of being overtaken by the fearful enemy roaring in our
rear.  For, so rapid was the advance of the fire, that for a certainty a
ten minutes' halt would have been enough to have brought the line of
fire up to us.

"Don't stop to look back," cried Mr Raydon.  "Press on, men; press on.
Keep together."

I thought of the consequences of one of our party losing his way ever so
little, and the men knew it only too well as they kept together in a
little crowd which was constantly being broken up and separated by the
trees round which they threaded their way.

"Is there much more of this?" said Barker, suddenly appearing close to
us.

"Yes," replied Mr Raydon; "miles."

"Shall we do it?" he panted.

"With God's help," was Raydon's quiet reply; and I saw Barker set his
teeth hard, and throw his gun further over his shoulder as he bent down
to his task.

The narrow gate of the valley at last; and as we filed through the
opening I wondered whether it would tend to check the advance of the
fire, and began to wonder whether the trees were much thinner on the
higher side.  But I felt that they were not, and that it would be long
enough before we struggled on to a place where we could be in safety;
while what seemed directly after, there was a deafening roar which I
knew to be that of the flames closed up by the narrow way, and leaping
after us now, as if in dread that we should escape.

"Man down!" shouted a voice; and in the horrible selfishness of their
fear the rest were passing on, but at a word from Mr Raydon four of his
men seized the poor exhausted fellow, each taking an arm or leg, and
bearing him on, while a few drops were trickled from a flask between his
lips.

"Man down!" was shouted again; and this time the retreating party seized
the poor fellow, following the example of our men, and bore him on,
while he was submitted to the same treatment.

Ten minutes after the poor fellows were on their feet again, struggling
on with the support of the arms of two of their fellows.

A dozen times over I felt that all was over, and that we might as well
accept our fate.  For we could hardly breathe, and now the sparks and
flakes of fire and burning twigs came showering down upon us, as if sent
forward by the main body of the flame to check us till the advance came
on.

The latter part of that retreat before our merciless enemy became to me
at last like a dream, during which I have some recollection of
staggering along with my arm in Mr Raydon's, and the people about us
tottering and blundering along as if drunk with horror and exhaustion.
Every now and then men went down, but they struggled up again, and
staggered on, a crew of wild, bloodshot-eyed creatures, whose lips were
parched, and white with foam; and then something cool was being splashed
on my face.

"Coming round, sir?" said a familiar voice.

"Yes; he'll be better soon.  A terrible experience, Mr Barker."

"Terrible isn't the word for it, sir.  I gave up a dozen times or so,
and thought the end had come.  Why, it was almost like a horse
galloping.  I never saw anything like it."

"Nor wish to see anything like it again," said Mr Raydon.

By this time I was looking round, to find that we were seated by the
stream, where the water came bubbling and splashing down, while far
below us the smoke and flame went up whirling into the sky.

"Better, my lad?" said Mr Raydon.

"Yes, only giddy," I said; and after drinking heartily and washing my
face in the fresh, cool water, I was ready to continue our journey.



CHAPTER FIFTY THREE.

MR. JOHN'S SCRUPLES.

It was a dreary, toilsome climb up the narrow portion of the valley, and
it was quite dark by the time we had reached the spot where we descended
first that morning, and consequently our task grew more risky and
difficult; but there was no shrinking, and following in each other's
steps, we went on over the bare mountain below where the sheep had been
seen, and with no other light than that of the stars, descended into the
narrow gorge which led down into Golden Valley.

Here we of necessity, on reaching Gunson's claim, made a halt to
refresh; but as soon as possible Mr Raydon gave the word "Forward!"
again, and the men stepped out better, for this was all well-known
ground.

Five-minute halts were made twice on the way down, so as to obtain food
at a couple of tents.  Then it was on again, and the river was reached
at last, and the steady upward trudge commenced for the Fort.

Mr Raydon did not speak, but I felt that his thoughts must have been
the same as mine, as I wondered what had taken place, and whether he was
right in his belief that the enemy had gone up to the Fort after firing
the forest.

All doubt was cleared when we were about half a mile from our
destination, for there suddenly boomed out on the still night air, to
echo and die rumbling away among the mountains, the heavy report of one
of the small cannon of the block-houses, and this sound sent the men
onward at double speed, for it meant not only that the Fort was
attacked, but that Grey and those with him were making a brave defence.

"Steady, steady!" said Mr Raydon, in a low, stern voice.  "We must get
up there ready for a run in.  You are out of breath, my lads."

The men from the Fort, who were in front, slowed down a little at this,
dropping from the double into a sharp, quick walk; but the report of a
second gun, and then the crackle of rifle-firing, started them again
into a steady trot, and I found myself forgetting my weariness, and
running by Mr Raydon step for step.

The firing grew sharper as we neared the palisade, which was dimly seen
in the starlight, and the flashes of the rifles and the lights we saw
going here and there added to the excitement of the scene as Mr Raydon
said aloud--

"They have got in, and are trying to take the west block-house.  Too
late! they have taken it," he cried, as a burst of cheering rose from
within the great fence.  Then in a quick whisper he bade the men halt,
about a dozen yards from the gateway.

"Mr Barker," he said, "keep the gate, and come to our help if we want
it.  Don't let a man pass.  No bloodshed if you can help it--prisoners.
Now, Hudson's Bay boys, ready!"

A fresh burst of cheering arose just then, and directly after the loud
shriek of a woman, and a voice I knew as Esau's roaring out angry words.

"Forward!" said Mr Raydon.  "Open out into line, and use the butts of
your rifles."

I ran with them from the force of example, and carried away by the
excitement, as our men charged rapidly across the enclosure to where, in
happy ignorance of the fact that help was at hand, the gang of
scoundrels were busy binding their prisoners, whom they had just dragged
out of the block-house.  But the next minute there was a yell of rage
and hate, with the sound of heavy blows, pistol-shots, oaths and curses,
and then the pattering of feet, and Mr Raydon's voice rang out.

"Four men your way," he cried; and directly after there was a repetition
of the blows, shots, and yells, followed by a cheer from the gate.

For the last of the gang had been beaten down, and as pine-torches were
lit, the wounded were separated from the uninjured, and these latter
were placed in rows under a strong guard; while explanations followed,
Grey assuring us that the women were safe; that the cry came from Mrs
Dean, who had tried to protect her son; and that we had come just in
time, after a desperate struggle, first at the gate, and lastly at the
block-house, which he had defended as vigorously as his limited means
would allow.  But at last, after being wounded twice, and his two most
helpful men laid low, he had succumbed to a desperate rush.

Day broke on as wild a looking set as can be imagined; jaded, exhausted,
blackened with smoke, our men sat and lay about for the most part
unhurt, though several showed traces of the desperate struggle made by
the surprised gang, whose one-handed leader told Mr Raydon with a
savage oath that he thought our party had been burned in the forest.

"Then it was your doing," said Barker, fiercely.

"Course it was," said the ruffian.  "Give me a chance, and I'll burn
this place too."

Barker raised his fist to strike the fellow, but Mr Raydon seized his
arm.

"Don't do that," he said; "we shall not give him a chance."

And so it proved, for that night, when I rose after a long deep sleep, I
found that a party had started down the valley with the prisoners.

"You came just in time, Mayne Gordon," said Mr John to me.  "I was so
frightened that it made me desperate too.  I'm afraid I hurt one man."

"You did, sir," I said laughing.  "Grey told me how you swung your rifle
round, and struck him down."

"I did, my boy, I did," he said.  "Don't laugh.  I do not feel satisfied
that I did right."

"You did it to defend your wife," said Mr Raydon, who came up; "and I
never felt so proud of you before, John.  There, I must go and see my
injured men."



CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR.

WE MAKE A FRESH START.

The wounded prisoners were not got rid of for quite a fortnight, during
which time matters settled down again into the regular routine, one of
my principal tasks being helping Mr Gunson to take little walks, then
longer and longer ones, after which we used to go and have a chat with
Grey, who made very light of his wounds.

One day I asked leave of Mr Raydon to go and have a look at the valley
where we had had so narrow an escape.  He gave me leave freely enough;
and as Mr Gunson did not care to accompany me, saying he had no taste
for works in charcoal, I asked leave for Esau to come; and in due time
we stood at the mouth of the valley gazing up.

"'Nuff to make a fellow sit down and cry," said Esau, as I recalled our
escape.

"Pitiful!"  I said sadly.

"Ah, that ain't half strong enough," he said, as we tramped on amongst
the ashes and charred wood, with the tall stumps of the great pines
standing burned for the most part to sharp points, and looking like
landmarks to show the terrible devastation in the once lovely wooded
vale.

"I only feel as if I could not use words strong enough," I replied, as
we slowly tramped on, with the charred wood cracking under our feet, and
the only thing that redeemed the burned region being the beautiful
stream which rushed and leaped and sparkled, just as it had been wont
before the fire scorched the whole place into a desert.

"Why, it'll take hundreds of years for the trees to grow up again, if
they ever do, for it strikes me the fire's spoiled even the ground."

"It may," I said sadly.

"Well, it's too hot to go on any further," said Esau.  "Let's go back.
Ugh! see how black we're getting.  I say, look!  I can't see a single
green thing.  Everything's burnt!"

"Yes," I said; "and this was to have been our home."

"What!" cried Esau, giving such a start that he raised a little puff of
black dust.

"This valley, with its pleasant meadows and the park-like entrance, was
to have been our home.  Mr Raydon had chosen it for Mr and Mrs John."

"Well," cried Esau; "then it is too bad.  It was bad enough before for
such a glorious place to be burned up; but as it was to have been ours--
Oh, I hope they'll transport those fellows for life."

We tramped back, having seen enough of the desolation to make our hearts
ache, and stayed for a couple of hours in the lower part catching trout
to take back with us before starting homeward, and passing two parties
of gold-diggers from the coast on their way to the Golden Valley.

They asked us eagerly to direct them, and I showed them the way with a
curious feeling of dissatisfaction.

But that was of little use, for if I had not pointed out the way some
one else would, for the news had spread far and wide, and the
gold-washing was going on more vigorously every day.  Crowds of people
were flocking up the valleys, some to gain fortunes, but the greater
part nothing but ill-health and disappointment.

The constant accessions of strangers made it the more difficult for
Gunson's claim to be held; but, in spite of all opposition and
complaint, this was done, the four men, or others in their place, being
always kept on guard.

At last came the day when, in spite of Mr Raydon's advice to stay
longer, Gunson declared himself quite strong and well.

"I am anxious to get back," he said, "and the more so that I am keeping
your men there."

"I have not complained," said Mr Raydon.

"No; and you puzzle me," replied Gunson.  "I should have thought you
would have tried all you could to keep me back."

"Why should I?  What difference does one make?"

"Then one more or less is of no consequence?" said Gunson, laughing.
"Well, I am not going to repeat all I have said before as to being
grateful."

"I beg you will not," said Mr Raydon.  "We had our duty to do to a sick
man, and we have done it."

"Nobly," said Gunson, warmly.

"And you intend to start?"

"To-morrow morning, eagerly but unwillingly, for I am loth to leave the
society of the tender friends who have nursed me back to life."

He looked at Mrs John and then at Mr John, ending by beckoning to me
to come out with him into the enclosure, where Mr Raydon joined us, to
begin talking about the stores he meant Gunson to have.

"But really, I cannot be putting myself under fresh obligations," said
Gunson.

"Very well then," said Mr Raydon, rather bitterly; "pay me, and be
independent."  Then facing round and looking at me, and at Esau, who was
some little distance away, he said sharply--

"You will take these two lads to help you, of course?"

"Yes," said Gunson, as the blood flushed to my temples, "of course.  I
could not do without them."  I saw Mr Raydon frown, but no more was
said, and we spent the rest of the day making preparations for our
start, Mrs Dean helping, with the tears trickling down her cheeks as
she worked, and bringing forth appeal after appeal from Esau not "to do
that."  Those few hours seemed to run away, so that it was night long
before I expected it, and at last I went to Mr Raydon's quarters to say
good-bye.

"There is no need," said Mr John, sadly.  "The morning will do."

"But we start directly after daylight," I said.  "Yes, I know; but we
shall be up to see you off."  I went away to my own quarters sadly
dispirited; and my feelings were not brightened by the scene going on
between Esau and his mother; and I gladly went out into the cool dark
night to try and grow composed, when a high-pitched voice saluted me.

"Allee leady," it said.  "Plenty tea, plenty flou, plenty bacon.  Quong
velly glad to go."

I could not say the same, and I passed a very poor night, gladly rising
at Gunson's call, and dressing in the half-darkness, so eager was I to
get the painful farewells over and make a start.

Mr and Mrs John had kept their words, and Mrs Dean was waiting to
kiss me and say good-bye, and beg me to take care of Esau.

"For he is so rash," she whimpered.  "Do keep him out of danger, my
dear."

I promised, and it was understood that we all parted the best of
friends, Mr Raydon inviting us all to come over and see them when we
chose, and offering to take charge of any gold Gunson might feel
disposed to bring over to the Fort.

Then we were off, all well laden, and with two of the men and their
Indian wives to carry stores.

The way chosen was through the forest, and away over the mountain ridge,
so as to avoid passing all the little camps; and in due time we reached
the claim, dismissed the bearers, and once more settled down to our
work.

"We must try hard to make up for lost time, my lads," said Gunson.
"Why, Gordon, you don't seem to relish the task."

"Oh, yes," I said, "only I feel a little dull at leaving the Fort."



CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE.

MR. RAYDON QUOTES LATIN.

"Nothing has been touched," said Mr Gunson, the next morning.  "I don't
believe Raydon's men have even washed a pan of gold, and my bank is
quite safe."

I looked at him inquiringly.

"I examined it while you were asleep, Mayne," he said.

"Then you have a good deal stored up here?"

"Yes--somewhere," he said.  "I'll show you one of these days.  Now then;
ready?"

We declared our readiness, and once more we began work, out in the
silence of that beautiful valley, digging, washing, and examining, as we
picked out the soft deadened golden scales, beads, grains, and tiny
smooth nuggets.

We all worked our hardest, Quong being indefatigable, and darting back,
after running off to see to the fire, to dig and wash with the best of
us.

We had very fair success, but nothing dazzling, and the gold we found
was added to the bank on the fourth day, this bank proving to be a
leather bag which Mr Gunson dug up carefully in my presence, while I
stared at him, and burst out laughing at his choice of what I thought so
silly and unsafe a place for his findings.

"Why do you laugh?" he said, quietly.  "Do you think I might have had a
strong box instead of a leather bag?"

"I should have thought that you would have buried it in some
out-of-the-way, deserted corner," I said.  "I could find hundreds
about."

"Yes," he said; "and so could other people, my lad.  Those are the very
spots they would have searched.  I wanted a place where no one would
look."

"And so you hid it here," I said, wonderingly, for I could not quite see
that he was right, and yet he must have been, for the gold was safe.

His hiding-place was down in the sand, right in the beaten track people
walked over on their way up the valley.

We worked on busily for a month after Mr Gunson's coming back to his
claim; and then one day we struck camp and marched back to the Fort,
with a small quantity of gold, the fifth that we had taken up.

"Why, hallo!" cried Mr Raydon as he came in and found us there, with
Mr and Mrs John, and Gunson looking very serious.

"Yes," he said.  "It's all over.  My luck again."

"What do you mean?"

"That was a rich little deposit, and we have gleaned the last grain.
The other people are doing badly too, and going back."

"But there must be plenty more," said Mr Raydon.

"No; I believe we have pretty well cleared the valley."

"Then I am delighted," cried Mr Raydon.  "Gunson, I congratulate you."

"Indeed!" said Gunson, coldly.

"Yes, for now there will be an end to this grasping, avaricious work,
and our pleasant vales will return to the condition that is best."

"The hope of my life is crushed, man, and I must begin my weary hunt
again," said Gunson, bitterly.

"No; your new and happier, more manly life is now about to commence.
Look here, what gold have you got?"

"You know."

"Not I.  I know that I supplied you with a couple of sheep-skins, which
you made into bags, and that those bags are in my strong box.  What have
you?"

"After I have fairly apportioned shares to Mayne, to Dean, and to my
little Chinese friend, I shall have a thousand pounds' worth for
myself."

"Ample, and double what you will require, man," said Mr Raydon.  "Think
where you are, in a country--a virgin country--as beautiful, more
beautiful than dear old England, a place where for almost nothing you
may select land by one of our lovely streams, which, as the writer said,
is waiting to be tickled with a hoe, that it may laugh with a harvest.
Come: England is too narrow for such a man as you.  Take up land, make a
ranch if you like, or farm as they farm at home; sow your grains of gold
in the shape of wheat, and they will come up a hundredfold.  Build your
house, and send for the mother and sister of whom you spoke to me when
you were so weak."

"I spoke!" said Gunson, wonderingly.  "Yes; you were half delirious, but
you spoke of a dear mother and sister in England; bring them to share
your prosperity, for prosperity must come; and it is a life worth
living, after all."

As he spoke I felt my heart swell with hope; the gloomy feelings of
disappointment passed away, and I found myself gazing with astonishment
at Mr Gunson, whose morose, disfigured face seemed to brighten up and
glow, while his eye flashed again, as when Mr Raydon finished speaking
he leaned forward and grasped his hand.

"God bless you for those words," he said; "you have made light shine
into a darkened heart.  I will do this thing.  Heaven helping me, I will
never seek for a grain of gold again."

"I shall register your oath, Gunson," said Mr Raydon, smiling.

"Do.  It will be kept.  Yes: I will fetch them over; and, Mrs John, it
will be one of the delights of my new life, to introduce two ladies most
dear to me to one whom they will venerate and love.  Mayne, you have
never told them all I said to you?"

"No," I said; "it would have been a breach of confidence."

I looked up as I spoke, and saw that Mr Raydon's eyes were fixed upon
me searchingly, and his voice sounded harsh again as he said--

"It was a breach of confidence, Mayne Gordon, to tell Mr Gunson here of
the existence of gold in the little valley.  Do you remember your
promise to me?"

"Yes, sir," I said, boldly, for I felt that at last the truth must come
out, and I should be cleared; for I would speak now if Mr Gunson did
not.  "I remember well."

"Mayne," said Gunson; and my heart seemed to leap--"Mayne tell me about
the gold up yonder?  No, no; it was not he."

"What!" cried Mr Raydon, excitedly.  "It was not Mayne Gordon who told
you?"

"No; it was that little Chinaman confided to me that he had made a big
find.  The little fellow always had confidence in me.  He brought me
quite a hundred pounds' worth to take care of for him when I was here
last, and proposed to put himself under my protection and to work for me
if I allowed him a tenth."

"Then it was not Mayne?" cried Mrs John, excitedly.

"No, madam.  I knew friend Raydon would be angry, but I was obliged to
accept the offer, for I felt that some time or other the people would
come, and I argued that the sooner it was all cleared out the better for
Raydon's peace of mind.  You knew it must be discovered."

"Yes; I always knew that; but I wanted to keep away those who came as
long as possible."

"They are going already, and you will soon have your vales in peace
again."

"Yes, yes, yes," muttered Mr Raydon, beginning to walk up and down the
room, while I felt in such a whirl of excitement, as I saw Mrs John's
beautiful, motherly eyes fixed lovingly on mine, and felt Mr John
snatch my hand and press it, and then give vent to his delight at the
clearing up by slapping me heavily on the shoulder, that I could not see
Mr Raydon's puckered brow.  What I did see was the bear's head looking
down at me, showing its grinning teeth as if it were laughing and
pleased, and the moose staring at me with its mournful aspect less
marked.  All nonsense this, I know, but there was a feeling of joy
within me that filled me with exultation.

The silence was almost painful at last, and the tension grew to such an
extent that I felt at last that I must run out and tell Esau I had
misjudged him, as I had been misjudged, when Mr Raydon stopped before
me and said softly--

"You remember your Latin, Mayne?"

"A little, sir," I said, wondering at his words.

"_Humanum est curare_.  You know that?"

"Yes, sir," I said, huskily; "but please don't say any more."

"I must.  I have erred bitterly.  I was blind to the truth.  Will you
forgive me?"

"Mr Raydon!"  I cried.

"My dear boy," he said, as he grasped my hands; and, to my astonishment,
I saw the tears standing in his eyes, while I could not help thinking as
he stood there softened towards me, how like he seemed to his sister;
"you do not know how I have suffered, hard, cold man as I have grown in
my long residence in these wilds."

"But it's all past now, sir," I said; "and you know the truth."

"Yes; all past," said Gunson, warmly.

"Past; but I shall never forget it, Mayne.  My dear sister's letter
interested me deeply in you, and when you came I felt that she had not
exaggerated, and you at once made your way with me.  Then came this
wretched misunderstanding, blinding me to everything but the fact that I
had received a wound, one which irritated me more than I can say."

"Pray, pray say no more, sir," I cried, excitedly.

"I must, Mayne.  I ought to have known better."

"I am glad, Dan," cried Mr John, exultingly.  "I have always been such
a weak, easily-led-away man, that my life has been a series of mistakes;
and it is a delightful triumph to me to find that my hard-headed, stern
brother-in-law can blunder too."

"Yes; it will take some of the conceit out of me," said Mr Raydon,
smiling.  "There; shake hands, my lad.  I read your forgiveness in your
eyes."

"Why, my dear Raydon," cried Mr Gunson, merrily, "what moles we all
are, and how things shape themselves without our help!  I find that in
my wild thirst for gold I have been acting as your good genii."

"How?" said Mr Raydon.

"By bringing Mayne and you closer together than you would ever have been
without this mistake.  See what I have done for you too, in clearing the
valley of this horrible gold!" he cried, merrily.

"But you've ruined the estate I was to have had," said Mr John.  "My
brother and I went down and had a look at it, and it is one horrible
black desert."

"Pish, man!" cried Gunson; "may work for the best."

"What!" cried Mr John; "are you mad?"

"No, sir.  Never more sane; for the gold mania has gone.  That vale was
grand with its mighty trees, but it was the work of a generation to
clear that forest.  Through me, that place was swept clean in a couple
of days."

"Clean?" said Mr John, dolefully.

"Yes; and the ground covered with the rich, fertilising ashes of the
forest.  Raydon, what will that place be in a year?"

"Green again; and in two years, when the black stumps are demolished,
far more beautiful and suitable for settlement than it was before.  He
is quite right, John; it is a blessing for us in disguise."

"Humph!" ejaculated Mr John; and Mrs John shook her head sadly.

"I do not like disguises," she said; "and I grieve for those lovely
pyramidal trees."

"Trees enough and to spare everywhere," said Mr Raydon.  "Don't be
afraid; you shall have a lovely home--eh, Mayne?  I think we can manage
that.  There, Gunson, the sooner the better.  Let's have a happy
settlement there, and no more gold."



CHAPTER FIFTY SIX.

THE GOLDEN HARVEST.

In a year from that time there was not a single gold-digger left in the
neighbourhood, for the news of fresh discoveries further north had drawn
them all away, and Nature soon hid the untidy spots they had made in
Golden Valley with their camps.  Gunson had no hesitation in selecting
the black valley for his farm, where, in a wonderfully short space of
time, patches of green began to appear; while Mrs John, in perfect
faith that the place would soon recover, herself picked out the spot at
the entrance of the burned valley, close by a waterfall, and was more
contented by the fact that several magnificent pines were left standing
by the fire, which at starting had not extended so far.  Here a
delightful little cottage was built almost in Swiss fashion, the men
from the Fort helping eagerly to prepare a home for one who, by her
gentleness, had quickly won a place in their esteem, without counting
the fact that she was their chief officer's sister.

In a very short time this was surrounded by a garden, in which Mr John
spent the greater part of his time, planting flowers that his wife
loved, while Esau and I had our shares of the gold invested in land
bought by acting under Mr Raydon's advice, ready for our working at
some future time, for then we were busy helping the Dempsters and
Gunson, making plans and improvements.

How we all worked! and what delightful days those were, the more so that
in due time there came to our friend's home a sweet-looking, grey-haired
lady with a patient, rather pinched aspect, and a grave, handsome woman,
whom I knew at once for Gunson's sister; but I was rather puzzled when I
heard that their names were Mrs and Miss Effingham.

"My name, Mayne, my lad," said the prospector, "when I was a gentleman,
and now I take it once again."

Those two ladies looked scared and sad till they saw Mrs John, and then
a change seemed to come over them, such as I had seen in Gunson--I mean
Effingham--as he listened to Mr Raydon's words.

In a week Mrs Effingham was ready for me with a smile, and Miss
Effingham was singing about the place while I helped her plan a garden
for the alpine flowers we collected.

Yes: that soon became a happy valley, where there was always some new
pleasure of a simple kind--the arrival of boxes of seeds, or packages of
fruit-trees from England, implements for the farming--endless things
that civilisation asks for.

Then Esau developed into a wonderful carpenter, after instructions from
Grey at the Fort; and from carpentering blossomed into cabinet-making.
Every one was busy, and as for Quong, he quite settled down as cook in
general, baker, and useful hand, confiding to me that he did not mean to
go back to China till he died.

"This velly nice place, sah.  No sabbee more ploper place.  Quong velly
happy, sah.  You like cup flesh tea?"

He always offered me that whenever I went near him, and I think his
feelings were those of every one there.  For it was a pleasant sight to
see Mr and Mrs John in their garden, which was half Nature-made when
they began, and grew in beauty as the years rolled on, though they had
formidable competitors up at the farm.

"Yes," said Mr Effingham one day as I stood with him and Mr Raydon in
the big barn--that big barn built of Douglas pine planks, cut down by
Esau and me, sawn in our own mill turned by the beautiful stream--a mill
erected with Mr Raydon's help.  "Yes," he said, as he thrust his hand
into a sack, and let the contents trickle back; "that's as good wheat as
they grow in England.  You were right, old fellow.  Do you hear, Mayne?
These are the real golden grains, and the best that man can find."

THE END.





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