"Ye'll have brandy, av coorse?"
"I guess I have; plenty at twenty dollars a bottle."
"Och, morther, it'll brake the bank intirely; but it's little I care.
Hand me wan bottle, plaze."
The bottle of brandy was added to his store, and then the Irishman,
shouldering his bundle of good things, left the shop, and directed his
steps once more towards the ravine in which dwelt Kate Morgan and her
brother Pat.
It was late when the Irishman returned from his mission of kindness, and
he found the fire nearly out, the tent closed, and all his comrades
sound asleep, so, gently lifting the curtain that covered the entrance,
he crept quietly in, lay down beside Bill Jones, whose nasal organ was
performing a trombone solo, and in five minutes was sound asleep.
It seemed to him as if he had barely closed his eyes, when he was roused
by his comrades making preparations to resume work; nevertheless, he had
rested several hours, and the grey hue of early day that streamed in
through the opening of the tent warned him that he must recommence the
effort to realise his golden dreams. The pursuit of gold, however
engrossing it may be, does not prevent men from desiring to lie still in
the morning, or abate one jot of the misery of their condition when they
are rudely roused by _early_ comrades, and told that "it's time to get
up." Larry O'Neil, Tom Collins, and Maxton groaned, on receiving this
information from Ned, turned, and made as if they meant to go to sleep.
But they meant nothing of the sort; it was merely a silent testimony to
the fact of their thorough independence--an expressive way of shewing
that they scorned to rise at the bidding of any man, and that they would
not get up till it pleased themselves to do so. That this was the case
became evident from their groaning again, two minutes afterwards, and
turning round on their backs. Then they stretched themselves, and,
sitting up, stared at each other like owls. A moment after, Maxton
yawned vociferously, and fell back again quite flat, an act which was
instantly imitated by the other two. Such is the force of bad example.
By this time the captain and Jones had left the tent, and Ned Sinton was
buckling on his belt.
"Now, then, get up, and don't be lazy," cried the latter, as he stepped
out, dragging all the blankets off the trio as he took his departure, an
act which disclosed the fact that trousers and flannel shirts were the
sleeping garments of Maxton and Tom, and that Larry had gone to bed in
his boots.
The three sprang up immediately, and, after performing their toilets,
sallied forth to the banks of the stream, where the whole population of
the place was already hard at work.
Having worked out their claims, which proved to be pretty good, they
commenced new diggings close beside the old ones, but these turned out
complete failures, excepting that selected by Captain Bunting, which was
as rich as the first. The gold deposits were in many places very
irregular in their distribution, and it frequently happened that one man
took out thirty or forty dollars a day from his claim, while another
man, working within a few yards of him, was, to use a mining phrase,
unable "to raise the colour;" that is, to find gold enough to repay his
labour.
This uncertainty disgusted many of the impatient gold-hunters, and not a
few returned home, saying that the finding of gold in California was a
mere lottery, who, if they had exercised a little patience and
observation, would soon have come to know the localities in which gold
was most likely to be found. There is no doubt whatever, that the whole
country is impregnated more or less with the precious material. The
quartz veins in the mountains are full of it; and although the largest
quantities are usually obtained in the beds of streams and on their
banks, gold is to be found, in smaller quantities, even on the tops of
the hills.
Hitherto the miners at Little Creek had found the diggings on the banks
of the stream sufficiently remunerative; but the discovery of several
lumps of gold in its bed, induced many of them to search for it in the
shallow water, and they were successful. One old sea-captain was met by
Bill Jones with a nugget the size of a goose-egg in each hand, and
another man found a single lump of almost pure gold that weighed
fourteen pounds. These discoveries induced Ned Sinton to think of
adopting a plan which had been in his thoughts for some time past; so
one day he took up his rifle, intending to wander up the valley, for the
double purpose of thinking out his ideas, and seeing how the diggers
higher up got on.
As he sauntered slowly along, he came to a solitary place where no
miners were at work, in consequence of the rugged nature of the banks of
the stream rendering the labour severe. Here, on a projecting cliff;
which overhung a deep, dark pool or eddy, he observed the tall form of a
naked man, whose brown skin bespoke him the native of a southern clime.
While Ned looked at him, wondering what he could be about, the man
suddenly bent forward, clasped his hands above his head, and dived into
the pool. Ned ran to the margin immediately, and stood for nearly a
minute observing the dark indistinct form of the savage as he groped
along the bottom. Suddenly he rose, and made for the shore with a
nugget of gold in his hand.
He seemed a little disconcerted on observing Ned, who addressed him in
English, French, and Spanish, but without eliciting any reply, save a
grunt. This, however, did not surprise our hero, who recognised the man
to be a Sandwich Islander whom he had met before in the village, and
whose powers of diving were well-known to the miners. He ascertained by
signs, however, that there was much gold at the bottom of the stream,
which, doubtless, the diver could not detach from the rocks during the
short period of his immersion, so he hastened back to the tent,
determined to promulgate his plan to his comrades. It was noon when he
arrived, and the miners were straggling from all parts of the diggings
to the huts, tents, and restaurants.
"Ha! Maxton, glad I've found you alone," cried Ned, seating himself on
an empty box before the fire, over which the former was engaged in
culinary operations. "I have been thinking over a plan for turning the
course of the stream, and so getting at a portion of its bed."
"Now that's odd," observed Maxton, "I have been thinking of the very
same thing all morning."
"Indeed! wits jump, they say. I fancied that I had the honour of first
hitting on the plan."
"_First_ hitting on it!" rejoined Maxton, smiling. "My dear fellow, it
has not only been hit upon, but hit off, many months ago, with
considerable success in some parts of the diggings. The only thing that
prevents it being generally practised is, that men require to work in
companies, for the preliminary labour is severe, and miners seem to
prefer working singly, or in twos and threes, as long as there is good
`pay-dirt' on the banks."
"Well, then, the difficulty does not affect us, because we are already a
pretty strong company, although our vaquero has left us, and I have seen
a place this morning which, I think, will do admirably to begin upon; it
is a deep pool, a few miles up the stream, under--"
"I know it," interrupted Maxton, putting a large slice of pork into the
frying-pan, which hissed delightfully in the ears of hungry men. "I
know the place well, but there is a much better spot not a quarter of a
mile higher up, where a Chinaman, named Ah-wow, lives; it will be more
suitable, you'll find, when I shew it you."
"We'll go and have a look at it after dinner," observed Ned; "meanwhile,
here are our comrades, let us hear what they have to say about the
proposal."
As he spoke, Collins, Jones, Larry, and the captain advanced in single
file, and with disconsolate looks, that told of hard toil and little
reward.
"Well, what have you got, comrades?"
"Nothin'," answered Bill Jones, drawing forth his comforter. Bill's
comforter was black and short, and had a bowl, and was at all times
redolent of tobacco.
"Niver a speck," cried Larry O'Neil, setting to with energy to assist in
preparing dinner.
"Well, friends, I've a plan to propose to you, so let us take the edge
off our appetites, and I'll explain."
Ned sat down tailor-fashion on the ground with his companions round him,
and, while they devoted themselves ravenously and silently to tea,
flour-cake, salt-pork, and beans, he explained to them the details of
his plan, which explanation, (if it was not the dinner), had the effect
of raising their spirits greatly. Instead, therefore, of repairing to
their profitless claims after dinner, they went in a body up the stream
to visit the Chinaman's diggings. Captain Bunting alone remained
behind, as his claim was turning out a first-rate one.
"Sure, there's a human!" cried Larry, as they turned a projecting point,
about an hour and a half later, and came in sight of Ah-wow's
"lo-cation," as the Yankees termed it.
"It may be a human," remarked Ned, laughing, "but it's the most inhuman
one I ever saw. I think yonder fellow must be performing a surgical
operation on the Chinaman's head."
Ah-wow was seated on a stone in front of his own log-hut, with his arms
resting on his knees, and an expression of supreme felicity on his
yellow face, while a countryman, in what appeared a night-gown, and an
immense straw hat, dressed his tail for him.
Lest uninformed readers should suppose that Ah-wow belonged to the
monkey-tribe, we may mention that the Chinaman's head was shaved quite
bald all round, with the exception of a _tail_ of hair, about two feet
long, and upwards of an inch thick, which jutted from the top of his
_caput_, and hung down his back. This tail he was in the act of getting
dressed when our party of miners broke in upon the privacy of his
dressing-room.
Ah-wow had a nose which was very flat and remarkably broad, with the
nostrils pointing straight to the front. He also had a mouth which was
extremely large, frightfully thick-lipped, and quite the reverse of
pretty. He had two eyes, also, not placed, like the eyes of ordinary
men, _across_ his face, on either side of his nose, but set in an
angular manner on his visage, so that the outer corners pointed a good
deal upwards, and the inner corners pointed a good deal downwards--
towards the point of his nose, or, rather, towards that vacant space in
front of his nostrils which would have been the point of his nose if
that member had had a point at all. Ah-wow also had cheek bones which
were uncommonly high, and a forehead which was preposterously low, and a
body which was rather squat, and a _tout ensemble_ which was desperately
ugly. Like his hairdresser, he wore a coat somewhat resembling a
night-shirt, with a belt round it, and his feet were thrust into yellow
slippers. These last, when he went to dig for gold, he exchanged for
heavy boots.
When Ned and his friends walked up and stood in a grinning row before
him, Ah-wow opened his little eyes to the uttermost, (which wasn't
much), and said, "How!"
If he had affixed "d'ye do" to it, the sentence would have been complete
and intelligible. His companion attempted to vary the style of address
by exclaiming, "Ho!"
"Can you speak English?" inquired Ned, advancing.
A shake of the head, and a consequent waggle of the tail was the reply.
"Or French?"
(Shake and waggle.)
"Maybe ye can do Irish?" suggested Larry.
The shake and waggle were more vigorous than before but Ah-wow rose,
and, drawing on his boots, made signs to his visitors to follow him,
which they did, through the bushes, round the base of a steep precipice.
A short walk brought them to an open space quite close to the banks of
the stream, which at that place was broken by sundry miniature
waterfalls and cascades, whose puny turmoil fell like woodland music on
the ear. Here was another log-hut of minute dimensions and ruinous
aspect, in front of which sat another Chinaman, eating his dinner. Him
Ah-wow addressed as Ko-sing. After a brief conversation, Ko-sing turned
to the strangers, and said--
"Ho! Kin speek English, me can. What you want?"
"We want to look at your diggings," answered Ned.
"We are going to turn the river here, if we can; and if you and your
companions choose to join us, we will give you good wages."
"Kin speek, but not fery well kin on'erstan'. Work, work you say, an'
pay we?"
"Yes, that's it; you work for us, and we'll pay you."
"How moche?" inquired the cautious Celestial.
"Five dollars a day," replied Ned.
The Chinaman put on a broad grin, and offered to shake hands, which
offer was accepted, not only by Ned, but by the whole party; and the
contract was thus settled on the spot, to the satisfaction of all
parties.
After this they spent some time in examining the bed of the stream, and
having fixed upon a spot on which to commence operations, they prepared,
about sunset, to return for their tent and mining tools, intending to
make a moonlight flitting in order to avoid being questioned by
over-curious neighbours. All their horses and mules, except Ned's
charger, having been sold a few days before to a Yankee who was
returning to Sacramento, they expected to get off without much noise,
with their goods and chattels on their backs.
Before starting on their return, while the rest of the party were
crowding round and questioning Ko-sing, Bill Jones--whose mind since he
arrived in California seemed to be capable of only one sensation, that
of surprise--went up to Ah-wow, and glancing round, in order to make
sure that he was not observed, laid his hand on his shoulder, and looked
inquiringly into the Chinaman's face. The Chinaman returned the
compliment with interest, throwing into his sallow countenance an
expression of, if possible, blanker astonishment.
"O-wow!" said Bill, with solemn gravity, and pausing, as if to give him
time to prepare for what was coming. "O-wow! wot do you dress your
pig-tail with?"
"Ho!" replied the Chinaman.
"Ho!" echoed Bill; "now, that's curious. I thought as how you did it
with grease, for it looks like it. Tell me now, how long did it take
afore it growed that long?" He lifted the end of the tail as he spoke.
"How!" ejaculated the Chinaman.
"Ay, _how_ long?" repeated Bill.
We regret that we cannot give Ah-wow's answer to this question, seeing
that it was never given, in consequence of Bill being suddenly called
away by Ned Sinton, as he and his friends turned to go.
"Come, Bill, let's be off."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered Bill, turning from the Chinaman and following
his comrades with solemn stolidity, or, if you prefer the expression,
with stolid solemnity.
"Don't linger, Larry," shouted Tom Collins.
"Ah! thin, it's cruel to tear me away. Good-night to ye, Bow-wow, we'll
be back before mornin', ye purty creature." With this affectionate
farewell, Larry ran after his friends and followed them down the banks
of the tumbling stream towards the `R'yal Bank o' Calyforny,' which was
destined that night, for a time at least, to close its doors.