He
actually associated himself with the leading church of the town and was
looked upon by the young men as a Californian who had succeeded.
Honest John Keeler, who was well acquainted with the type, as he
thought, could only remark, as his train sped westward, "There is a
sensible miner! One who has safely transferred his money from saloons
and gambling dens and robbers to the famous blue grass country. Good
luck to him!"
He had well-nigh forgotten the incident when Darcy was arrested three
years later.
A whole year had passed before Keeler returned home, discouraged. In the
meantime, as we shall see, the snows of the Sierras had not chilled the
budding affections of Mat Bailey; but the hot sun of another California
summer had stricken down old man Palmer. Keeler mistrusted that
something was wrong, as he had not heard from his old friend for several
months. Fortunately, his wife and child were well and happy, but they
had impatiently waited for his return. From them he had heard every week
or two.
At length he was safely back across the Sierras. The canon of the
American River had never seemed more terrible as the train hovered over
the brink of it.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96