This is often called a story of local color. And it is. It is rich
in the characteristics of California in the gold-seeking days. It
is also classified as a story of setting. And it is. The setting
is a determining factor in the conduct of these outcasts. They are
men and women as inevitably drawn to the mining camp as the ill-
fated ship in "The Arabian Nights" was attracted to the lode-stone
mountain, and with as much certainty of shipwreck. These the
blizzard of the west gathers into its embrace, and compels them to
reveal their better selves. But it is more than a story of local
color and of setting. It is also an illustration of the artistic
blending of plot, character, and setting, and of the magical power
of youth to see life at the time truly enough, but to transform it
later into something fine and noble.