It would appear that Henry Francis deemed it good
policy to assume no obligations. So for thirty-three years that honest
debt remained unpaid; while in the meantime Francis, Hintzen and
Haggerty became wealthy, lost their money, and passed on to their
reward. The doctor, long since removed from North Bloomfield, thieves,
and murderers, was finally paid by Palmers of a later generation.
CHAPTER XVI
When Thieves Fall Out
When news of Robert Palmer's death reached his relatives, pity for his
lonesome life of self-denial was swallowed up by pleasant anticipations.
But weeks and months passed by with no word of encouragement from his
executors. Finally, Mrs. Sherwood, thinking the heirs were being
defrauded, wrote East urging that some member of the Palmer family visit
California. So the astronomer nephew, at considerable expense to
himself, was delegated to cross the continent. At the end of August he
found himself in the Sierras once more. On horseback he visited
Sherwood's ranch, and his uncle's house on Fillmore Hill, ran the
gauntlet of rogues at Alleghany, and passed on over the mountains to
Forest City and Downieville.
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