The gold they sought would compensate them at last. These too
had to encounter storms, face probable shipwreck or contend with grim
death. Many who sold all to equip themselves, who turned away from
home and kindred, for a time they thought, to enrich themselves, who
would surely return to their loved ones with untold treasure, never
fulfilled their desire. Some perished in the voyage, others died
in San Francisco, and were laid to rest till the final day in her
cemeteries by the heaving ocean. Such as reached the mines did
not always gain the gold they coveted. There were those who were
fortunate, who made a success of life, who realised their day dreams;
and some of these returned to the old home, to the waiting parents,
to the longing wife and children. Some with their gold settled in San
Francisco and sent for their kindred. And what happy meetings were
those in the years of gold mining, when ships coming from many lands,
from American and foreign ports, brought to the city through the
Golden Gate the beloved ones whose dear faces had ever been an
inspiration to the toilers in darkest hours! Methinks the meetings
of loved ones parted here, on the shores of the crystal sea, will
compensate for all life's labours and trials.
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