K' % THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY THE WILMER COLLECTION OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS PRESENTED BY j RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. IN SEARCH OF GOLD Tlie Story of a Liberal Life. BY DOK JUAK. NEW YORK : 1884. COPYBiGHT, 1884, By J. E. WHEELOCK ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The Chas. M. Green Printing ( 74 and 76 beekman street, NEW YORK. TO HER WHOM IT IS MY GREATEST PRIDE TO CALL MY FRIEND, AND WHO IS A REAL AMERICAN LADY — A LADY THE SAME, WHETHER ENTERTAINING HER GUESTS IN THE PARLOR OR PERFORMING HER HOUSEHOLD DUTIES IN THE KITCHEN — A TRUE AND NOBLE WOMAN, THE FIFTEEN LETTERS OF WHOSE NAME WILL EVER BE HELD BY MK IN SACRED ESTEEM— THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. 603308 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/insearchofgoldstOOwhee PREFACE. In the spring of the year 1880, business con- nected with the Census caused me to travel through one of the thinly-settled . districts of a far West- ern State. While I was on my way to visit two large houses standing near together, but at a long distance from any others, in order to complete my returns for that district, I saw, when within about one mile of the nearest house, a pair of horses attached to a buggy and coming toward me at such a rapid rate as to convince me that they were running away, or, at least, that the driver had lost control of them. Knowing that my own dilapidated Pegasus would never move without the word of command (and hardly tlien), I quicldy turned him, with the light wagon to which he was attached, exactly across the road, so as to occupy as much space as possible; then hastily seizing a rail from the top of the fence I placed one end on the wagon and held the other in my hand, thus blocking up all 6 PREFACE. the remaining space, and when the running horses came up I was able to stop them. The only difficulty was that one of the reins had given way, and the animals being very high-spirited the driver was wholly unable to control them. The gentleman introduced himself to me as Dr. Train, and living in one of the two houses already mentioned. We went back to his house together, while he continually overwhelmed me with expressions of his obligations for the great service, as he was pleased to call it, that I had rendered him, and strongly urged me to remain with him some days. As my business would then allow of it, I consented. I had not been in the house two days before I noticed that a very strong friendship existed be- tween this family and the one in the other house. I was also struck with the perfect love that reigned supreme in each household. The Doctor had told me sufficient of his neigh- bor to strongly excite my curiosity to know the whole history of his life, and when the Doctor added that his friend had kept a complete record of his eventful career, I felt an intense desire to obtain it for publication. But when I broached the subject to the Doctor he looked very grave, and did not think his friend would consent. But after much urging, and a solemn promise to use only PREFACE. 7 fictitious names, all the MSS. were placed at my disposal, together with such additional information as the Doctor could add. I immediately came east to visit the scenes of this man's childhood, and went everywhere that I could obtain information of him or his career, and I now lay it before my readers with the hope that the reading it will prove as interesting to them as the " looking it up " has to me. Don Juan. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE BoHN AND Bkouoht Up 11 CIIAPTEIl n. Btauts upon His Caueek 34 CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. Tried as a Spy ^'^ Taken Sick.. He Re-enlists. CHAPTER V. 59 73 CHAPTER VI. Life in Conscript Camp ^^ CHAPTER VII. I.iFE IN Conscript Camp— continued. Commits Suicide. The Duel. CHAPTER VITI. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. Home-made "Hash". 97 108 130 138 CHAPTER XI. Fakes a Walk ^'** 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. PAGE Valuable PurriEs 108 CHAPTEPv XIII. The Indian Massacre 172 CHAPTEPv XIV. Appears as a Spirit 180 CHAPTER XV. Shipwrecked 193 CHAPTER XVI. " Life on the Ocean Wave " 210 CHAPTER XVII. Adventures in South America 232 CHAPTER XVIII. Married Life 256 CHAPTER XIX. Death, Burial, and Resurrection 278 CHAPTER XX. Loses His Heart 286 CHAPTER XXI. Will He Dare? 312 CHAPTER XXII. TuE Second Wipe 342 CHAPTER XXIII. The First Wife 3.53 CHAPTER XXIV. The Two Wives 365 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTEE I. BORN AND BEOUGHT UP. Joseph Lockwell, the eccentric individual whose singular career will be narrated in the fol- lowing pages, was ushered into the world upon his father's farm in a secluded locality in one of the finest agricultural districts in the Empire State. As he was their ninth child, and the seventh one then living, and his parents being well advanced in years, it was but natural to suppose that this, their last son, would always be their youngest child. Im- pressed with this fact, and being deeply imbued with a sense of their responsibility, they became alarmed lest they should become derelict in their duty toward him from the natural proneness of par- ents to become over-indulgent toward the youngest member of the family. His brothers and sisters also, of whom he had three each, were not slow to recognize the great and common danger they were all in of making a pet of 12 ' IN 8EABGE OF GOLD. this presumably the last addition to their nnmbers. Whether during the first four or five years of his existence his parents or brothers and sisters were ever guilty of injuring his naturally amiable dispo- sition by over-indulgence, his memory in after years did not enable him to determine. But judg- ing from the vivid recollections he enjoyed of the succeeding ten years of his career, he was fully dis- posed to exonerate them from all suspicion of fail- ure in the rigid requirements of duty during the former period of his life. At five years of age there was not an errand to be run that his little feet were not called upon to patter ; there was not an armful of wood to be car- ried up stairs, or brought into the kitchen, that his little arms were not in requisition. K his diminu- tive legs ached with constant running, and his body and mind both were almost tired of life, and he threw himself upon a seat and wished for a mo- ment's rest, there was sure to be some one of the family to observe him and remark: "It is a pity that boy has not something to do; to create idle habits in him now is to ruin him for life ; beside, 'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,' " and generally in about thirty seconds thereaf- ter sufficient employment was found for him to keep the evil machinations of Satan from having undue influence upon his tender mind. The judi- BORN AND BROUGHT UP. 13 cious parents of our hero were fully aware that not only must his physical habits receive the best for- mation possible, but his mind must be developed, and his religious and mental faculties thoroughly exercised and brought forward under proper influ- ences that would enable him forever after to flee from the Devil and all his works. His elder brothers had all been in the habit of leaving home as soon as they got well able to travel and make their own way in the world, so it was de- termined that this one, the subject of our memoirs, should be brought up with great care, and with a view to have him succeed to the care of the cultiva- tion of the farm in after years. Alas, how often the parents propose one way for their boys to follow, and the latter succeed in adopt- ing quite a different course, and disposing of them- selves in a manner not at all contemplated by those slower representatives of a passing generation. Very fortunately for us the future is always con- cealed from the gaze of even the most anxious, by an impenetrable veil, which not even the mystic rites of heathenism, nor the prayers of Christians — about equally efficacious — can for a moment draw to one side. Ignorance of the future saved many a bitter pang from the hearts of those stern but conscientious parents of Joseph Lockwell, the sub- ject of this present sketch. Could they have fore- 14 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. seen the suffering Ms body was to undergo, or tlie alienation of his mind from those religious precepts which it was their joyful duty to inculcate ; could they have known that it would, in years to come, be his proudest boast that he loved his fellow-man better than he did his God, no more peace of mind nor comfort would they have known, but their gray hairs in sorrow would have sought the grave. Now with them a careful education meant, pri- marily, the inculcation of great habits of industry, and to form these habits was it not necessary to keep him at work nearly all the time, either physi- cally or mentally? ISTothing could be plainer, or their course of duty more clear. There we find him at the age of ten ; a boy of naturally the most sweet and amiable disposition, performing his duties without a murmur, blaming no one, and finding no fault with his rather unenvi- able lot. Of the highest spirits and good humor, which not even his puritanical education could con- trol, he sorely felt the need at times of some youth- ful and congenial companion, for his parents would not allow him to associate intimately with any of the youths of the vicinity, fearing it might be the means of counteracting the beneficial effects of their instructions. A partial description of one summer's day will give a sufficiently clear idea of this portion of his BOBN AND BROUGHT UP. 15 life, which continued until he was about fourteen years of age. At four a.m. the solemn voice of his father would be heard calling, "Joseph, get up," and the command seldom had to be repeated, for obedience to his parents was one of his cardinal virtues. To arise and light the fire in the kitchen was the expeditious work of a few moments, then, with a milk-pail on each arm, he went forth, first to milk the cows, then drive them out to pasture, after which he was at liberty to cut firewood or such other necessary employment as would amuse him until breakfast was ready. A Kght breakfast of the plainest food was mildly but firmly enforced. Gluttony and intemperance of every kind were sins which he was particularly taught to shun. After breakfast a few hours' work of hoeing corn or pota- toes, or weeding in the garden, was succeeded in the way of recreation by an hour or two of hard study, when it was time to pick the peas or dig the pota- toes for dinner. The afternoon was varied in the same way, by plenty of hard work for mental relaxation, and plenty of hard study to give a chance for the re- cuperation of the physical system. In winter there were plenty of chores to do: wood to split; fires to light; apples and potatoes to take care of, as a substitute for the farm duties of the summer. 16 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. "We will devote but a short space to a personal description of this youth, then pass on to the record of his career. Kather above the medium height, brown hair, brown eyes, and sunbrown face ; a frank and open coimtenance revealing a disposition that was generous to a fault, and a heart that warmed to all mankind. A great lover of comfort and pleasure himseK — when he could find them — he could not bear to look upon misery or suffering with any one, not even in animals or beasts of the field. He could never enjoy hunting as a pastime, because, as he often said, the idea that he might have wounded some bird or animal and left it to die in suffering and agony, would have kept him awake all night. High-spirited, and with a keen sense of honor, he was quick to take offence, but never harbored malice toward any one. Accus- tomed even in these youthful years, to turn his mind toward deep and abstruse questions in phi- losophy and metaphysics, he was always ready to meet in argument any of the professors or doctors of divinity who were wilHng to discuss their views. An ardent searcher after truth for its sake alone, he would receive no creeds or theories without a thorough investigation, and then would not allow social or other influences to effect or warp his judg- ment in the least degree either in religion or poli- tics. With an extremely sympathetic nature, the BORN AND BROUGHT UP. 17 troubles and sorrows of his friends he made his own ; invokmtary tears often coming into his eyes at the sight of human suffering which he was pow- erless to alleviate, and he was never happier than while contributing to the pleasure of his friends. Keenly sensitive to both physical and aesthetic pleasures, it was always a mystery to him why everybody did not love everybody else and try to make each other happy. Though his rehgious training had been of the severest and most puritanical order, yet it had failed to crush that spirit of inquiry which was character- istic of him from boyhood to old age. Those who attempted to teach him Sunday lessons from the Bible found it impossible to repress his investigat- ing mind, or stop the flow of pertinent though in- convenient questions which he brought to bear upon every subject. One incident must suffice to illustrate his metaphysical turn of mind even at this early age, and show how deeply he had thought upon religious opinion. In fact, he often remarked in after years that during his hours of arduous toil he scarcely ceased to ponder and try to satisfy his mind in regard to the numberless conflicting religions of the day. One summer Sunday afternoon, after he had walked two miles to church, then back to a cold and frugal dinner, and while the family were aU 18 ZZV SEARCH OF GOLD. engaged in reading alternately a few verses from the Bible and commenting thereon, with questions and explanations from the older members, he came among them just as an older sister was proj)Ound- ing the question, " How long is it since the crea- tion of the world?" and rather startled them by observing, " Authorities are divided, but all agree that it cannot be less than one million years." "But, my dear brother," was the reply, "the Bible teaches us that it is only about six thousand years old, and the Bible cannot err." " But, my dear sister, geology teaches us that it is much older, and science cannot lie. If the Bible is infalhble and cannot err, then certainly the inter- pretation or explanations of the Bible which we get do err, for no two of them agree, and if they differ in small and minor matters, some of them, in fact all but one, must be wrong on those small matters, and if they are wrong on small matters, why may they not also be wrong on great and vital points ? Then it is precisely the same to us as if the Bible itself were fallible, for we have it not as originally written, nor could we read it if we had. So we see it would be useless and consequently foolish to have it originally inspired without also having an in- spired and infallible translation, and then if we could not all understand it alike, also an inspired commentary or notes. Now you all have constant BORN AND BROUOHT UP. 19 recourse to Barnes' Notes or Clark's Commentaries, neither of which do you claim are inspired, but without which you practically admit you cannot make head or tail of the Bil)le." " Oh, my brother, don't you see this is the work- ing of Satan trying to get possession of your soul ? God has placed you here and given you the Bible, and your parents to teach you what it means, and it is your duty to listen to them and obey them, and receive and believe what they say, for he has placed them over you for that purpose." "Well," said Master Joseph, "if he has placed them over me for the purjDose of teaching me what to believe, he must have placed all Catholic parents over their children for the purpose of teaching them what to believe, yet they teach their children very different and opposing doctrines to those which I receive; they are even taught that this book which you reverence and command me to read should not be read by them at all; also that it teaches very different doctrines from those which you believe. ITay, he has placed a large majority of parents over their children to teach them pagan- ism. Now, as all these doctrines cannot be true, does God intend that some should be taught a lie ? If not, which parents are teaching contrary to his wishes ? "We have to come right back to our own reason to decide the question." 20 m SEARCH OF GOLD. He was sent out to see if the cows Lad not broken into the cornfield, and the instruction in the family Sunday-school proceeded. At fourteen years of age he was sent away to a select school, and the first night away from home, on his way to that school, was the first night in his life he had ever slept off of his father's farm. Two years of thorough instruction passed quickly away without any incident of note to vary the monotony of school life (save, perhaps, one or two passages at arms with his Sunday-school teachers, who finally requested him to cease his attendance, as his questions, although always asked in a re- spectful manner, had a tendency to unsettle the faith of the other scholars), and we find him once more back upon the farm continuing his old habits of work and study alternately. But the rigorous moral, mental, and physical course of education to which he had been subjected all his life did not have the desired effect of attach- ing him so strongly to the place of his nativity that. he could not sometimes contemplate the idea of leaving it and seeking his fortune in other locali- ties and amid other scenes. From the day of his birth till, at fourteen, he went away to school, he never had one cent given him by his parents, though he occasionally had per- mission to do light work for the neighbors — such BORN AND BROUOUT UP. 21 as dropping com — for which he received twentj- five cents a day, and this he was allowed to keep. But with only this sum at his disposal he evidently had little opportunity to become very dissipated in his habits. At eighteen years of age he is deeply meditating upon the problem of how to improve his condition, and contemplating the chances in the far "West, especially !h the gold fields of the Pacific coast. He is fully determined to go somewhere, but the first question of vital importance is how? and the second, where? He knows this determination would not be approved by his parents, so it would be useless to ask for any assistance from home. N^o, he saw then, as he did so many times in after- life, that to get what he wanted he must depend upon himself alone. What would have been his course, or how he would have succeeded in reaching the Pacific coast had not the Great Kebellion broken out, it is use- less now to speculate upon. The rebellion did break out, and found him ready to risk all his hopes of future prosperity and happiness for the sake of the principle which he held sacred of national unity. Having fully made up his mind to enlist in the army, he asked permission of his father, for, being under age, that permission was absolutely neces- sary; no minors would be received without it. 22 m SEARCH OF GOLD. His father peremptorily refused. Here was the first difficulty, and it seemed as though it were go- ing to be almost an insurmountable one. However, although he was only nineteen years of age, he had an old look, and would pass anywhere as being at least twenty-one. So, after fully deliberating the matter over, he determined upon the following course of action : He went to his father and said, " Father, I am determined to enlist ; I feel it to be my duty ; but I should much prefer to enlist here where I am known, and start out with the regiment that is now being raised in this vicinity, and if you will give your permission I will do so ; but if not, I ^vill go down to New York to some recruitmg office and there pass myself off as being of age, and if necessary swear that I am over twenty-one. You know very well that I will be readily believed, as my personal appearance con- firms that story." " You cannot," said his father ; " you know very well that you have no money to go with, and be- sides, you know wherever you go I could follow and prove you to be a minor, and bring you home." " In regard to the fact that I have no money to take me to ISTew York, do you for a moment im- agine there is not one of all these enthusiastic pa- triots so liberally contributing money to the cause, who will loan me enough to go to New York for BORN AND BROUGHT UP. 23 the purpose of joining the army ? But if so, you may dismiss the doubt, for I have abeady spoken to one of them, and, without going into particulars, have told him it might be necessary for me to go to l!^ew York to enlist, and then asked him whether he would be willing to advance me the necessary funds to pay my expenses. He speedily and cheerfully assented. So that is settled. And now I have great curiosity to know how you ex- pect to find me when you propose to take me away from the troops. Nearly all the different States have agencies in N'ew York, and I shall enlist in one of them, under a fictitious name, for some far- off town where there is not the slightest possibility of your finding me. ISTow, all this I can and will do if you refuse your consent to my enlisting here, which I should much prefer." 24 m SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTER 11. STARTS UPON HIS CAKEEE., Seeing the young man was fully determined to carry out liis plan of action, his father yielded, and signed the necessary papers consenting to his en- listing in the army. He joined a ]^ew York vol- unteer regiment as a private, but while waiting to be forwarded to the field of action in Virginia he was promoted to a lieutenancy. On his way down to the front with his regiment, he heard that his brother, who had previously en- listed from another State, was badly wounded, and was then lying in a hospital, though what hospital, or how badly wounded, he could not ascertain. Arriving at Baltimore he asked and obtained per- mission to look through all the hospitals and places where the wounded had been brought, but without success. He could see nor hear nothing of his brother; and as he had obtained only the most meagre information about the affair, he was in a state of the greatest anxiety to know how badly his brother might have been wounded. Arriving in STARTS UrON HIS CAREER. 25 "Washington lie there instituted a thorough search again for the wounded man, but with a similar ill- success. He was now in a terribly anxious state of mind, for he loved his brother dearly, and to think that he might at that very moment be dying among strangers, in awful suffering, was agony to his sen- sitive nature ; but do what he would, he could not hear or see anything of that wounded brother. At last, arriving at Frederick City, Maryland, with his regiment, he renewed his search ; and after going through five of the military hospitals in that town, he was almost hopelessly pursuing his way through the different wards of the sixth, when suddenly he was face to face with his brother, who lay on a couch before him. The recognition was mutual and instantaneous. The meeting was one of intense relief to his anxiety, for he could see at once that the sufferer, though very badly wounded, was in no im- mediate danger ; and his mind had dwelt so long in such a fearfully painful state of uncertainty, that he almost expected to find his brother, if he found him at all, either dead or djang. The joy of the meet- ing was felt very deep in the hearts of both. Though the length of time that he could remain with the invalid was necessarily very short, he im- proved every moment in such a way that the fever- ish patient was left well provided with all the 26 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. necessaries and delicacies that could be procured to tempt liis appetite. Tliat older brother had been terribly wounded in the shoidder: a musket-ball had penetrated and shattered the shoulder-blade. As soon as he suflS- ciently recovered he was discharged from the hos- pital and the army at the same time. Within thirty days from the time that the last fragment of bone was taken from his shoulder he was back once more in the army ; this time not as a private again, though he would have preferred to have re-cnlistcd in the ranks, as he was accustomed to say that a private soldier was much more useful and of far greater service to liis country than an officer. Besides, there never was any trouble in getting all the officers necessary, but the difficulty was to get all the privates needed. In the " Pennsylvania Buck- tails," in which he was serving prior to his wound, he had repeatedly refused a commission. But after the battle in which he was stricken down he was no longer able, on account of his wound, to pass the physical examination required of every private. So after he was sufficiently recovered he accepted a commission in a Xew York regiment, which our friend whose history we are relating was enabled to procure for him, as we shall presently describe. TBIED AS A SPY 27 CHAPTEK III. TRIED AS A SPY. At first the regiment containing Lockwell was stationed at Harper's Ferry, and, with the exception of occasional raids up the Shenandoah Yalley, there was very little to relieve the tedium of ordinary camp life. But one incident occurred which was one of those most deeply impressed upon the mind of the many afterward encountered in his check- ered life. One day he was sent out npon " fatigue duty" in charge of a party who were throwing up breast- works a short distance beyond the outskirts of the camp, and while there he frequently turned his gaze upon a farm-house in plain view, but still at some distance beyond our outside picket-lines ; and he looked long and earnestly npon this place, which appeared to have been well kept, and, to some ex- tent, at least, to have escaped the almost imiversal appearance of confiscation and destruction which is so noticeable in the vicinity of a camp of either party. Continued gazing upon the forbidden ground caused his mouth to water for something 28 m SEARCH OF GOLD. nice to eat, or, as he expressed it, lie began awfully to "hanker after a square meal." His besetting weakness was for good living, and all the other harmless pleasures of life. At first he thought he would like to know if they had any eggs o^'cr at this house, and just then he thought he oauglit a glimpse of some poultry in the yard, and this rather confirmed his idea that they had; then ho began to wonder if they would sell those eggs, or cook him a few if he were over there; then what was the chance of his getting there and back without its being known in camp. He concluded he had plenty of time to go over and get a mouth- ful of something good to eat and be back before his squad of laborers should be recalled to camp. Calling his sergeant, he told him to take charge of the men, as he had seen some suspicious signs in the neighborhood which led him to tliink that some of the enemy might be lui-king in the vicinity, and he wished to go out and reconnoitre a little ! Speedily making his way across the fields, he knocked at the door of the house, which was opened to him by an elderly gentleman, plainly dressed, but of very courteous manners, who asked him to enter, and desired to know in what manner he could be of service to him. Our lieutenant replied that he had been attracted l)y the pleasant appearance of the place, and being very tired, not TRIED AS A SPY. 29 to say disgusted witli the plain and monotonous army rations that constituted his camp fai*e, he desired to know if they would provide him with something to eat a little different from this, and if so he would gladly pay them well for what he received, as well as for all trouble he might occa- sion them. His host replied that such as was in the house was at his disposal, but he regretted that it was not such afi he could have set before his guest previous to the war. The proximity of both armies had nearly ruined him, and almost wholly prevented his getting those supplies for his family which heretofore they had been accustomed to, and, notwithstanding he had suffered much less than some of his neighbors, who were utterly desti- tute, still he could only offer extremely poor entertainment to his visitor ; yet if the lieutenant would amuse himself with such books as he might find upon the table, for a little while, he would see wliat could be done in the way of refreshments, and so, bowing himself out, he withdrew to the kitchen. Left to himself, the lieutenant began to realize that he had taken some risks in thus invading the enemy's country, as it were, for he was several miles beyond the nearest Union soldier, and although no enemy was supposed to be in that 30 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. immediate vicinity, yet, for all he knew to the con- trary, they might be. And, althongh he did not expect any harm to result from it, yet he knew it was wrong to have left the fatigue party of which he was in charge. These thoughts, combined with the somewhat protracted absence of his host, did not tend to quiet his fears, and he now really wished he had not come. He wiis ])resontly reassured, however, when liis liost opom-d tlie door, and, with perfect urbanity, asked liim tt) pass into the dining-room and partake of the frugal fare of the house. Entering the dining-room, his olfactory organs were very agreeably titillated by the fragrant aroma of delicious coifee with cream, while fried ham and eggs, with broiled chicken and sundry sweetmeats, were spread in profusion upon the table. At the first glance over this table our hero rejoiced in- wardly at the success which thus attended upon this his first real " struggle for hash," by which uncouth term he was always accustomed to designate his daily bread. His fears for the future, and suspi- cions of his present surroundings, vanished in the deep enjo}Tnent he manifested in subfluing the entire bill of fare arrayed before him. The pleas- ures of the table were in no way lessened by the entrance during the meal of a most charming young lady of some twenty summers, and whom TRIED AS A SPY. 31 the host introduced as his daughter, and who was certainly as perfect a type of Southern beauty as our hero had yet seen, and, being as pleasant as she was handsome, our susceptible and enthusiastic young lieutenant quickly drew her into an enter- tertaining conversation, ^o wonder the delicious food, the beauty of the young lady, the "feast of reason and the flow of soul," all combined to cause the moments to fly fast on gilded wings, till our friend saw ^\^th astonishment that he had scarcely left himself time to get back to the scene of his duties before his squad of laborers must be re- called for the night. Hastily turning to the lady's father he asked him how much he was indebted for this royal feast for the body, and adding as he took out his pocketbook, " I am aware that for the more than royal feast for my mind, and, if that were possible, I would say the still greater feast for my eyes also"— ^vith a glance at the young lady— " I am aware I must always remain in your debt, as no amount of money would be a fair equivalent for these last." The young lady blushed, bowed, and smiled, till our hero thought if he did not leave at once he would never be able to tear himself away. But imagine his astonishment and chagrin when his host arose and proceeded to express himself as follows : " You owe me nothing, sir, not one cent. 32 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. On the contrary, I am only too glad to have an op- portunity to serve my country. I have, I hope, complied with the laws of hospitality by giving you, ^vithout price, the best that our house could afford. I have also endeavored to do my duty to my country, for as a loyal citizen, loyaJ., I mean, to the South, I could do no otherwise than, as soon as you arrived here, to send at once to the nearest pickets of the Confederate cavalry, and notify them that you were here, and that I would en- deavor to keep you here until a detachment could come and take you into custody as a prisoner of war. They arrived about ten minutes ago, coming up by the rear way and entering by the back d(jor. They are now in the adjoining room, but I wc.uld not let them disturb you until you had finished your repast." As he ceased speaking he threw open the door of the next room and exposed to view about a dozen soldiers in the well-known gray of the enemy ! Immediately these rushed upon our friend to secure him. But the lieutenant's coolness never for a second deserted him in any emergency. Quicker than a flash a revolver was out and cocked in his hand, and two or three of his assailants would then and there have bitten the dust, but in an instant the host had sprung in front of him, shouting, " Ilold, Lieutenant. Don't you see resistance is useless I Suppose you killed all of TRIED AS A SPY. 33 these men, whicli is impossible, there are a dozen more outside guarding the house, who would avenge their comrades at once, so your only course is to surrender, as 3^ou can't do otherwise." As the soldiers by this time had brought their carbines to bear upon him, ready for instant discharge if he still resisted, he saw that the only thing for him to do was to submit with as good a grace as possible, but turning to his host he scornfully asked him if this was his boasted hospitality, to betray a guest while receiving his confidence. "Were it not," said he, warming up with the subject, " were it not for that beautiful and innocent daughter of yours now standing there, and who I never will believe was cognizant of this base betrayal, I would drop you dead on the spot where you now stand, l)ut I do not wish to make her an orphan ; therefore look at her, and thank her that you are still alive." He had not yet learned that " all is fair in love and war," "but he had a very high and keen sense of honor that nothing in his whole life could diminish. The daughter first blushed violently, then turned deadly pale as she reahzed the danger through which Jber beloved father had just passed. And she had reason to be alarmed, for our hero spoke the truth, and would undoubtedly have killed her father — after £nding resistance to the others was useless — to repay what he considered the baseness 34 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. of his betrayal. He had the most snpreme con- tempt for everything mean, low, or dishonorable, and as of that nature he looked upon the action of his host, who now regarded his late guest with something of a confused smile, but with evidently a look of admiration upon his countenance for the bold and brave behavior of Lieutenant Lock- well. Meanwliile the soldiers had disarmed and bound him, and after a hurried consultation on one side and among themselves, proceeded to blindfold him. But at this he strongly objected, saying that he liad surrendered as a prisoner of war, and that he de- manded to be treated as such, and they had no right to blindfold him. The way he was bound escape was impossible, and he was willing to go \vith them and would make no resistance, why then should they blind- fold him ? But his protestations were to no pur- pose. Securely and tightly they bound his eyes with a handkerchief, tied his arms behind liis back, and started off at a brisk walk. Imagine the feelings of this man in the predica- ment which he had brought upon himself. When he came to think upon the whole matter he had not a doubt that when they missed him from camp he would be put down as a deserter ! He had left his post of duty without any good cause, and gone TRIED AS A SPY. 35 straight toward the enemy's lines, and had not re- turned. Could anything be plainer? To be treated with all the hardships of a prisoner of war in one camp, and at the same time to be considered a deserter in the other, was a fate scarcely to be envied. The suffering and the hardship he was willing to bear ; he felt somewhat as though he had deserved them, but the idea that his name should be looked upon with contempt by nearly all his acquaintances was extremely gaUing to his proud spirit, and shook his very soul with anguish. He knew, of course, that there were some of his friends — those best acquainted with him — who never for a moment would believe that he had de- serted to the enemy voluntarily. But to most of his acquaintances, and to the world at large, would not the proof of his desertion be indubitable and irrefutable? The thought was anguish. However, he was a thorough philosopher, and after assuring himself that he could at present do nothing toward escape, or to relieve himself in any way, he made up his mind to bear whatever fortune was thrust upon him like a man and a soldier. Yet he could not but think it was hard. He had not been very long in the service of the Union, yet he had won the esteem of his superior officers, the respect of the soldiers, and the strong 36 ZZV SEARCH OF GOLD. friendship of his comrades, and to liave liis name now cut off the m\ister Tolls in disgrace was hor- rible. Was there no remedj ? He could think of none. Torture his mind as he mij^ht, he could think of no way of escape— 710 way, eveti, to make his true position known. "There was but one course he was detennined to pursue, and that was to bear himself with dignity before his captors, and trust to luck to better his condition. Oh, would they never arrive at their destination ! Wherever that was, he wanted to get there and know what was to be done \\\i\\ him. " Well," he thought, " the very worst possible is to send me to Richmond or Andcrsonville prison, and then when the war is over I can explain it all and redeem my «good name. But when will this war be over ? And how many, how very many, will die in the mean- time, and neither their names, fate, nor resting- places will ever be kno\vn. Shall mine be a similar fate? and shall future generations, looking back over our honorable genealogical tree, remark, * There is only one blot upon our escutcheon — when Joseph Lockwell deserted from his country's ranks during the hour of her most pressing need, and joined the anuy of her foes ? ' " All these thoughts and many more passed through his mind while being hurried along as a prisoner. But their desti- nation was reached at last. By the hum and buzz TBIED AS A SPY. 37 of soldiers he knew he was bemg led through a camp, though he could see nothing. Tliey stop at last, and he is roughly thi-ust thi'ough a door into a room which is totally dark, having no windows, but which otherwise is com- fortably arranged. He is scarcely seated when he is visited by an officer in gray, who notifies him to hold himself in readiness for a speedy court-martial. " A court-martial !" he exclaims, " and for what ? Do you court-martial all your prisoners of war V " Oh, no," was the reply ; " only those who, like yourself, are taken within our lines as spies !" Had a thunderbolt fallen at our poor friend's feet it could not have startled him more. It was wholly unex- pected and unthought of. To be tried as a spy within the enemy's camp and perhaps found guilty and shot ! Here was food for reflection. Consid- ered as a deserter in one anny and shot as a spy in the other ! The more he thought of it the better satisfied he was that such indeed would be his fate. And all this because he had only wanted a " square meal." He had but few hours to reflect upon his situa- tion (and no one could envy him those reflections) when an orderly announced that the court-martial was then convened and sitting, about to try his case, and directly after two of the guard who had brou<>;ht him in entered and conducted him into an- 38 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. other apartment, where, around a table, were gath- ered five persons in oflBcers' uniform of the Confed- erate service; one or two were furtlier distinguislicd by the insignia of very high rank. After glancing at the countenances of all these men he felt his doom was sealed. He thought tliat he could plainly read a set determination in the face of each one to ])ring in a verdict of guilty, and in this he was probably correct, as the sequel will show. On entering he was asked to state his name and rank, lie did so. Then — " You are charged with being a spy belonging to the Army of the United States, and captured within the patroling lines of the Confederate oavalry. What have you to sjiy why you should not be treated as such, and be sen- tenced to be shot, as is the custom among the armies of all civilized countries?" Rising to his feet the lieutenant burst forth into an indignant protest against being considered as a spy. lie asked them what line of sentinels he had tried to pass ? Where was he attempting to gain any information in regard to the rebel movements ? Ilere he was interrupted to the effect that his hearers knew noth- ing of any rebels ; that if it was the Confederate army he referred to, he had better speak in a more respectful tone. He was then asked if he did not know that the Confederate cavalry passed between TRIED AS A SPY. 39 that house where he was caught, and the Federal outposts? He replied that it was impossible for him to know anything of the kind, as he had never before been sent out in that direction. To-daj was the first time he had ever seen the house or the ad- joining fields, and that he was sent out there in charge of a party who were — He stopped sudden- ly on getting so far, bethinking that he was about to reveal that which miglit be of service to the enemy. The presiding officer asked him why he stopped, and desired him to continue and tell what he waa doing there in view of that house with the party which he just mentioned as he stopped. " That," repHed our friend, " you will have to send to the commanding officer of the Federal camp to ascer- tain." " But," said the officer, do you not know that the testimony of these soldiers who took you, together with that of the man at whose house you were stop- ping, and also of his daughter, has been taken, and that it is all against you ? Are you not aware that the young lady swore that you questioned her re- peatedly in regard to the strength of the Confeder- ate forces in the vicinity, and also — " " It is false," thundered the lieutenant ; " after stating that lie I don't and won't believe a single statement you have made or may make. I needed but one look at that fair young face to know she would never swear to a 40 m SEARCH OF GOLD. deliberate Ue, and as I never asked her any sucli questions, I am satislied she never so testified ; not but what I would have asked her had I supposed for a moment she was at all acquainted with Con- federate matters ; I should tlien liave tried to get all the information possible that might have bene- fited the Federal, or injured the cause of tlie re- bellion ; ])ut not knowing your lines ever extended beyond that house, I never thought of her possess- ing any information. She is incapable of swearing to a lie, and if a falsehood lies between her and this court, I know right well that s/te is innocent." The court did not appear to get (piitc so indig- nant over this indirect accusation of falsehood as the lieutenant had expected ; but they all rose and re- tired to tlie further end of the room and consulted together in a low tone for several minutes. After- ward, returning to the tiible the spokesman resumed : "The court, after due deli])ei*ation, and fully con- sidering all the evidence, together with your own admissions, are unanimously of the opinion that you be found guilty of the charge of being a Federal spy, and that you be sentenced to be shot at sunset this evening'' (it was already past midnight and he spoke of the sunset of the coming day), '* but," he continued slowly, "military exigencies and the good of the service sometimes require tliat we take every means in our power to secui'e information upon TRIED AS A SPY. 41 every point of interest, and," he hesitatingly pro- ceeded, " it is now in your power, before the ver- dict of this court is rendered, to change it from guilty to not guilty of the charge of being a sj^y. In the former case you will be taken out and shot v^lead at sunset this evening, but in the latter case you will simply be held here as a prisoner of war, and doubtless in a few days you will be exchanged and sent back to your friends." " Speak plainly," replied the prisoner, " and tell me what you witjh of me, and if it is anything I can honorably do rest assured that I will not delay. Life is as sweet to me as it can possibly be to any one. I am young and have long looked foi-ward to a life of happiness and pleasure, and I confess that I do not now wish to relinquish all those hopes. Tell me, then, what I am to do. Do not keep me in suspense." " Simply and only," replied the presiding officer, " to tell us what you were doing with the party you had under your command before you started for the house where you were captured. Tell this, and you change our verdict from guilty to not guilty. Now what say you ?" Rising to his full height and folding his arms, the lieutenant contemplated the party before him for a full minute with most unmistakable scorn and con- tempt in every feature, then replied : " And do you 42 IN SEARCH OF OOLD. for one moment believe that when I took the oath to risk my Hfe for my country, and serve her faith- fully, that I intended to perjure myself ? "Would I be serving her faithfully to betray even her smallest secrets to her most malignant foe^ Do you imagine I considered that oath but an empty form of words, to be disregarded at the first sign of danger? No, I intended then to remain l)y my musket at the post of duty, stand or fall, and I in- tend now to do my duty till I fall at this evening's sunset. Sujjposiiig I accepted your clemency on the terms proposed, and thereby forfeited my honor, do you suppose I could ever hold up my licad again among my friends where the linger of scorn would be constantly pointing me out with the re- mark, ' There goes a man who betrayed his country to save his own pusillanimous life,' and do you suppose I could endure all this and live ? No ! my own hand would then take the worthless life which you had spared, and I should add the crime of self- nmrdcr to that of treason. No, I prefer the guilt of murder shall be upon your shoulders, while I will die innocent of all intended wrong. Order your minions, then, to charge well their guns that my death may be quick and sure. More than this, I have but one favor to ask of you : I do most ear- nestly beseech yon the first time you hold any com- munication with onr forces, send some knowledge TBIED AS A SPY. 43 of my fate to the Federal camp, for there, I do not doubt, I am considered as a deserter, and a knowledge of the fact that I perished here as a spy will remove the only disgrace that ever attached to the name of Lockwell. This is a small favor to ask and I do not believe you will refuse it to a dying man ; for the rest, if this is to be my last day on earth, let me have it all to myself, and bring this wretched farce of a trial to an end." "Yery well, sir, you will now be sent back to your room, and we invite you to consider upon our proposition, and remember it can make no earthly difference to your side if you accept of our offered clemency or not, as we can send out a small scout- ing party, and in an hour or two, at furthest, we will know just what you were doing, and have found out all that you could by any possibility tell us, and we only make you this offer anyway, to save our cavalry that little trouble, and because we would all be glad to have you save your own life, as now you can lionorably do. There should be no question that the services of an able-bodied young officer like yourself would be of far more benefit to your country than would result from your withholding for an hour or two the information which we will get by noon to-morrow at all events. Therefore we will give you till eight o'clock to- morrow morning, or rather till eight o'clock this 44 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. morning, as it is now past midnight, to decide whether you will live or die. The choice is in your own hands, and you can do either honorably, for it cannot be called dishonorable to reveal at eight what you are aware we can easily find out by twelve, and by so doing you save the future services of a fine yoimg ofliccr for his country." And the speaker smiled as though he could not re- press his admiration for the prisoner, though com- pelled to treat him as a spy. The interview was then brought to a close, and our hero was conducted back to the room he had pre^nously occupied, and left to his o^vn meditations. What they were can better be imagined than described. Strive with himself as he would, the words were continually ringing in his ears, " the choice of life or death is in your own hands, and you can save yourself honorably if you choose." Was this so, then ? In the first place, the information that he and his party were engaged in throwing up earth- works in a certain position was of very little im- portance ; it would probably do no harm to have it known. In the second place, there was no earth- ly reason to prevent any of the enemy's cavalry, be they few or many, from riding within plain view of these same earthworks, and easily seeing all he could tell them, at any rate, and they would certainly do so to-morrow. Why not, then, simply TRIED AS A SPY. 45 say that he was engaged in throwing up earthworks, and so save his life ? It was a terrible temptation ! Could any temptation have been greater? Yes, there was one still greater, and he was about to be tried with it. It was not yet break of day when lie received a note signed by all the members of the court-martial officially, stating at some lengtli that lie had awakened a great deal of sympathy among them at his hard fate; but he was well aware that military duty was inexorable ; that they could not be as lenient as they could wish, yet cer- tain discretionary powers were left with them, of which they had taken advantage to make him the offer contained in their previous proposition, and by virtue of which they now extended that offer to the effect that if he would comply with the prop- osition already made, his escape on the ensuing night should be connived at, and he would be al- lowed to rejoin his own forces, and no particulars of the matter should ever transpire. Nothing would ever be known to the world, except that a prisoner of war, through the negligence of the guard, had escaped and rejoined the Federal forces. And they closed by saying that if they had stretched the privilege allowed them, it was on the side of mercy, and in behalf of one whose brave though mistaken sentiments had awakened compassion in the hearts of every member of the coui't-mai'tial. 46 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. But this was their ultimatum; tliey could do no more than make this offer ; it was for liim to accept. As he read this note \y the flickering light of a tallow candle he groaned in spirit. "Ingenious devils," he cried, " well you know that the tempta- tion already was almost more than I could with- stand, and now to the bribe of life, which you offered, you add that of immediate liberty, and the privilege of rejoining my regiment, where I can at once rescue my name from disgrace and ignominy. And nothing will ever be imagined but that, by my own ingenuity and daring, I escaped captivity, and all for making a simple statement that, as far as I can see, could do no harm to the Federal cause." But, then, on the other hand, why did they offer him all this for information which they could so easily obtain themselves ? The more he thought of it the more strange it seemed that they should offer such strong inducements unless they consid- ered that knowledge of Federal matters in that locality was all important. Perhaps they were meditating an attack — a surprise — upon the Union camp, and were then trying to find the weakest and most vulnerable point. If so the very small- est information might work great injury to the cause of his adoption. Still, for many reasons, he did not think they meditated any such attack ; and they had explained their course by saying that, TRIED AS A SPY. 47 though their duty compelled them in accordance with the circumstances and evidence to condemn and sentence him, thej would gladly save his life, and took the only means allowed them as consistent with their duty, to offer him his hfe on the only condition possible, that he should give information, nominally, but really only such information as would be of little or no use to them, and of no injury to the Federal cause. But then why did they take such an interest in him as to offer him such simple conditions of saving his hfe ? Then, too, why had they Hed about the testimony that was given by that young lady ? For he felt cer- tain that she had never sworn falsely in the matter. He wished he could see her just for one second, only to tell her that he never for one moment be- lieved it of her, and to tell her also that he was no spy. If he Hved he would go and see her again. If he lived ? What chance was there for life unless he accepted their conditions? He felt that there was none whatever, and was he really debating in his mind whether to accept those conditions or not ? He hoped not, for try as he might, the question would only present itself to him as a choice be- tween a life of disgrace and dishonor, and a noble, honorable death. And he would not hesitate upon any choice hke that. No, perish the thought of life upon such terms. He would welcome death, 48 m SEARCH OF GOLD. more especially as when known it would wipe out all dishonor from his name in his own camp. For, when they heard that he had been shot as a spy, they would know that he had not deserted. There was great comfort in this thought. But, then, would they hear of it at all ? Alas, he feared lliey might not. His mind was distracted with doubts whether the true story of his death would ever be made known. Soldiers, amid the blood and carnage of war, had enough to occupy their thoughts with- out striving to vindicate the reputation of a dead companion in arms. His mind fully made up as to his decision and course of action, he now turned his thoughts to death itself, and mused long and earnestly upon the subject. In twenty-four hours he would be dead, buried, and lying cold in his grave. There was mucli food for thought on that subject. Well, he would die like a man and a soldier. He had nothing on his conscience to trouble him. There was no person in the wide world, neither man nor woman, boy nor girl, whose forgiveness he would have wished to ask. He beUeved that there was no living creature, not even a beast of the field, that he had knowingly or willingly injured. He had not done as much good in the world as he could have wished. His life had not been of as much benefit to others as it should have been, doubtless. But his sins, if any, TRIED AS A SPY. 49 were those of omission and not of commission. Years before, lie had adopted his only code of mor- als, briefest among the brief, yet he had found it all-sufficient, and to-night, with only a few hours more of life, he could think of no better one, nor wish to make any improvement upon that. Well observed and followed during life, he felt sure that there was no better one to die by. Reader, have you any curiosity to know what this, the simplest of rehgions and most efficient of all codes of morals, is ? We will give you the whole of it and then cordially invite you to compare it with any one or all of the thousand different relig- ions and codes of morals patronized by others, and let it stand or fall by that comparison fairly made. It consists of two parts only : first the command, or injunction, and next the explanation. First : Do that which is right. Second : Wliatever increases, directly or indirect- ly, the sum of happiness in the world, or lessens misery, is right, and its necessary corollary, what- ever increases misery or lessens happiness is wrong and should be avoided. This is all. Too simple to be of much importance, and yet, as he was thinking upon this matter now, with all the intensity of his vigorous mind, rendered preternaturally acute by the near approach of death, he could not fail to realize how vastly better this world would be, if 50 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. every human being would drop all other creeds and live up to this one alone. It seemed to him that all other creeds had been pretty thoroughly tried, and their benefit to mankind proved nil, and now man- kind might do worse than give this little one a fair trial. He beheved it the best to hve and the best to die by. Such were the thoughts that passed rapidly through Lockwell's mind during tliis, what he considered his last night upon earth. In the morning he would ask for pen and ink and write a few letters to relatives and friends; they would probably never be received, yet they might, and it would do no harm to ask to have them kept until opportunity offered to send them across the hues. That was all ; he would have no further prepara- tions to make. He would try to pass the day as composedly as possible. Yet the idea was terri]>le to be shot as a spy in the evening ! The more lie pondered upon the matter the more he detennined to try and find some other means of lea\ang the world. He hoped that during the day he would find some means of taking his own life, and if so, he would certainly improve the opportunity. Any death would be preferable to being shot as a spy. But how to take his own life, that was the question. He pondered long and deeply upon this point, but it was not till near the break of day that an idea oc- curred to him, which, if he could succeed in putting TRIED AS A SPY. 51 into practice, would terminate his life soon after eight o'clock in the morning. Though this plan would prevent him from wiiting letters, yet he resolved to adopt it. He had made many eiiorts to get some sleej), but without success, and now, since he had fully resolved upon his jDlan of action, all thoughts of sleep were banished from his mind. He took his pencil and some letters he had in his pocket and wrote on the backs of them a full ac- count of how he came into his present position, how he was doomed to die, and how he intended to fore- stall that doom by drawing the fire of the guard upon him and die, not as a condemned spy, for the court had not yet passed their verdict upon him, but as an escaping prisoner of war, for such would be the result if his plan succeeded before the judges of the court-martial pronounced that sentence upon him which had been postponed to give him an opportunity to change the verdict. While in the room where the court was sitting he had noticed that the window curtain was drawn tight down so as to hide the view from the outside, but as the weather was warm, and as he had noticed some movements or undulations of the curtain, he not unnaturally concluded that the window outside of or behind it was wide open. He also thought that at the hour appointed to hear his decision (eight o'clock) he would be taken into the same 52 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. room to decide the matter, and he made up his mind to then and there spring through the window and either kill himself in the fall, which, however, was not Hkely, or, continuing his flight, bring down the fire of the guards and sentries upon himself, and so be killed. That was all, and that now being settled and his writing finished, his mind was quiet, and, though nearly six o'clock, he fell into a quiet sleep and slept till a little after seven. He then arose, and calmly regarded his watch as the hands moved quickly around. Five minutes to eight ar- rived, and his door was opened. The same two guards with solemn visage who had conducted him on the preceding evening now requested him to come once more before the court. His heart beat high with the prospect of almost immediate death, but he was outwardly as calm as he had ever been. Ar- rived in the court chamber, he shot a quick glance at the window ; the curtain was down, so that he could not see whether the window was up or not, but from the feeling of the atmosphere he thought it was. Still the doubt produced great anxiety in his mind. All his hopes of a speedy death were centred upon that window. K that was closed his plans had failed. "Well, sir," said the same spokesman as of yesterday, " we hope we may con- gratulate you upon your determination to have a TRIED A8 A SPY. 63 long and prosperous life before you, and that you will now give us the information spoken of." " Gentlemen," replied Lockwell, " the dishon- ored life you offer to me I would not hold as a gift. As I have always lived, so will I die, with- out a stain upon my name. Receive this as my final answer, and cease to persecute me with these offers which are and can be no temptation to a man of honor. But, gentlemen, as I am no spy, I refuse to die as a spy ! I will not stand up in the place of a condemned spy, to be shot at by your traitorous bullets. I prefer to die now, at this mo- ment, before your verdict and sentence are pro- nounced — die as an escaping prisoner of war " (he now felt certain that the window was open, as he could see the curtain move). " You have, perhaps, done what you considered your duty, and I freely forgive you the murder which you are about to perpetrate upon me." And vdth a jump he was at the window, dashed the curtain one side, and like a flash he had sprung through. He had rightly con- cluded that as the room was on the ground floor, the fall on the outside of the window would not be more than two or three feet, and would not delay him one second. Now, as he had entered the camp bhndfolded, and his own room had no windows, he had no idea of the position of anything, or what di- 54 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. rection he should take ; nor did he care. He had not a thought of escape. His only idea was to plunge rapidly forward in any direction, and so draw the fire of the guard upon him, and end his life, for, whatever might happen, he would not be taken alive. Landing uj^on his feet outside the building, he was off like the wind toward the first opening that caught liis eye ; fifty yards are passed like a locomotive, and before a shot was fired ; ten more the same way, and his eye began to take in something of the suiTOundings. Heavens! were not these soldiers scattered here and there all clothed in Union blue? Yes, but what of that? They might have captured a quartermaster's train somewhere filled with clothing, and their own be- ing worn out, had put these on. Twenty yards more, and still not a shot ; he passed close to where several soldiers stood with guns in their hands, and they never raised them ; what did it all mean ? Ah! there must be a high wall, or deep ditch around the camp, over which they knew he could not pass, and they were mocking at his attempt ! He would then speedily be recaptured, and taken back to jail, and his j^lan had failed ! But, no, he would never be taken alive. The first soldier who approached him he would knock down and seize Ms gim, and then compel the next soldier to shoot him in self-defence. All these thoughts passed TRIED A8 A SPY. 55 like lightning through his mind, and now he was passing two officers, who were evidently laughing at him. Officers? but thej, too, were in Federal uniform! What did it all mean? Like a flash he turned and looked up to the top of tlie flag- staff ; there were the stars and stripes floating in the breeze ! Was he going crazy ? He feared so. An officer now approached with a smile, and held out his hand. "Well, Lieutenant Lockwell, you appear confused. Take my arm and we will walk back to the colonel's quarters, where you will find most of the ofificers of your regiment waiting to receive you." " Then what — what," stammered Lockwell, " does all this mean? This is not, it cannot be all a dream ? " " Oh, no ; not at all, but the story is too long and amusing for you to hear just yet ; come first and get a good glass of grog." At headquarters, his astonishment was in no way lessened by seeing all his messmates, who came forth with warm greet, ings to welcome him, and laughingly congratulated him on his narrow escape from the fate of a spy. He was well-nigh overcome by the sudden change from hopelessness to perfect safety; nor could he form the sHghtest idea as to how it all happened. Everything appeared to him to be "confusion worse confounded." But, after a hearty lunch, and 56 m SEARCH OF GOLD. a good stiff grog, he prepared himself to listen to all particulars. It appeared that immediately after leaving his fatigue party on the preceding day, and starting over for the " square meal," the officer of the day rode by, and finding that the lieutenant in charge of the party was absent, he at once reported the fact to his regimental commander, together with his sui-mises as to where, and for what he had gone, and, as it happened, he guessed exactly right. Now, the Heutenant was a favorite with the colo- nel, and he, with the officer of the day, at once de- termined not to report the matter up any higher, but to concoct a plan whereby they would suf- ficiently punish the delinquent, and at the same time secure some amusement for themselves. Quickly letting haK a dozen good men in the se- cret, they sent to the next regiment just over the hill, the quartermaster of which they knew had in his possession about a dozen Confederate uni- forms, including four or five officers'. To acquaint the quartermaster with their plans, and borrow these uniforms was the work of a moment. But here a difficulty occurred to them ; the lieutenant was acquainted with the faces of all the men in the regiment, and would surely recognize them. Therefore, recourse was again had to the quarter- master for advice, and as the regiment to which the TRIED AS A SPY. 57 lieutenant belonged had only very recently been assigned to this brigade, it was thought that he was not much acquainted with either officers or men in tlie other regiment, so it was determined that the quartermaster should take five or six men from his regiment and, dressed in the Confederate uniforms, undertake to carry out the whole programme. With what success this was accomplished the reader already knows. The quartermaster took his men up to the back of the house, previously, however, having sent on a faithful man in Federal uniform to acquaint the gentleman of „ the house, who was a sound Union man, privately, with the whole particulars, so that he would be prepared to receive and admit his visitors by the back way, and also co-operate with them. Everything turned out as expected, though if it had not been for the presence of mind of the host there would have been a tragic termination to the farce when they sjirung their trap on young LockweU. After the capture the affair could no longer be kept secret, and a full explanation of the matter being sent to the brigadier-general commanding, he entered heartily into the spirit of the arrange- ment, and agreed to act as the presiding officer at the court-martial, and did so. Various bets were made as to whether Lieutenant Lockwell would accept the terms proposed in order 58 11^ SEARCH OF GOLD. to save his life. IS^earlj all were of opinion that the temptation would be too strong for any man when he came to consider the slight importance of the revelation he was required to make. The general offered to l)et a basket of cham- pagne he would make him yield. And the colonel of the regiment to which Lockwell belonged promptly accepted the bet, hence the pertinacity with which the general, as presiding officer of the court-martial, tried to induce the lieutenant to ac- cept the conditions. It was with no httle pride of his officer that the colonel afterward drank his champagne. And many a toast was offered in his honor by his brother officers. A few days afterward, when the whole affair came to the knowledge of the general commanding the division, he sent for our friend, and, after reprimanding him for leaving his post of duty, said: "But the punishment which you re- ceived was, at least, eapers that the Western Union time-ball dropped eleven twenty- sevenths of a second slow, but I will guarantee that man was not eleven thousandths of a second slow in dropping back into that hole." And he dropped directly on the head of the next man who was fol- lowing him, and which caused that one to give a most awful yell of pain and terror, and this added 96 JiV SEARCH OF GOLD. still more to the f riglit of the first man, who fully believed he had been wounded, and that unless he quickly retreated under cover of the tunnel which terminated in the outside hole he would surely be killed by the next shot, which he thought would be fired down the hole. But as the limited size of the outside hole did not give him room to turn over he had to go back feet first, and the next man who was following hi 111 already blocked up the tunnel, and could not crawl backward quite as easily as a crab. Then the man in the liole outside, in desiderate fear of a second shot, tried to work his body back so fast that he kept violently kicking the next man in the head, who swore awfully, and pressed the next man behind him, who in turn was impeding his progress, or rather retrogression, and he, in turn, passed the same treatment to the others behind, till the curses, oaths, and yells of bitter disa]> pointment resembled a pandemonium. The scene, or rather the sound, was so ludicrous as to excite the laughter of the lieutenant, who ordered the hole to be filled with stones and dii't, then retired to his quarters. LIFE IN THE CONSCBIPT CAMP. 97 CHAPTER YIL LIFE rsr THE CONSCRIPT CAMP. — (Continued.) Again an interval of quiet for some days. But the class of recruits now enlisting were mostly in- duced to volunteer by the large bounties paid by many townships, and were composed, with many noble, honorable excej^tions, of scallawags and scoundrels, who, enlisting only for the bounty, were determined to run away before going to the field. The camp at this time was nearly full of these men, and guards were doubled, and extra precautions taken to keep the men from deserting. One day Lieutenant Lockwell noticed a great many men scattered through the camp who wore white hand- kerchiefs around their necks. And he further no- ticed that they generally recognized one another when passing near. This excited his susi3icion that some plan was being concocted by these fellows to promote their escape, and he determined to watch them carefully. Some days more went by, and the number of those who wore white handkerchiefs rapidly increased. Fearing that, if left alone, they would increase to such an extent as to make any at- 98 JZV SEARCH OF GOLD. tempt they miglit make to escape very formidable, lie communicated liis susj^icions to tlie commanding officer, wlio at tirst was disposed to make very light of the matter, thinking that previous attempts had been so very unsuccessful, that fact would deter others from attempting the same. But when the lieutenant argued with him that previous attempts had been unsuccessful simply because of the small numbers engaged, and that there would be no more killed out of a large squad than a small one making the attempt, and that the men were fully aware of this, he took the alarm and gave our friend full au- thority to investigate and act as he might think best. The first thing Lockwell did was to go through the camp and ascertain liow many there were who wore white handkerchiefs, and ascertain exactly how they wore them. He found that tliere were nearly fifty wearing this sign, and, further- more, that they all wore them with the knot under the left eai". Making sure of these facts, he also noticed that the frequent private conferences of these handkerchief gentry, whenever three or four were gathered together, were invariably dispersed upon the arrival of an officer in the vicinity, which would not have been the case had the subject of their conversation been legal. From many little sisnis he concluded tliere was no time to lose if ef- fectual measures were to be taken to prevent the LIFE IN THE CONSCRIPT CAMP. 99 success of tlieir plan, whatever it was, for that it was of the nature of an escape he never for a mo- ment doubted. Picking out one of the most intelligent of tlie new recruits, one who appeared to be superior in every way to most of them, he revealed to him all his suspicions and desired his help to go among the men with white handkerchiefs and ascertain the facts. He instructed him to tie a white handker- chief around his neck with the knot under the left ear, just as the others had theirs. Then he gave him full directions how to act, and added that he must be sure not to allow any of them to shake hands with him, as they undoubtedly had secret grips, signs, or tokens, and his failure to give the proper ones would betray him. The young man, who was a youth of quick per- ceptions, entered heartily into the plan. Leaving the barracks, equipped in the regular regalia, he sauntered among the others similarly rigged, and, watching his opportunity, he cautiously spoke to one of them, saying in a whisper : "Do you know I sometimes am afraid this ar- rangement of ours will fail after all ?" "Why should it fail?" quickly responded the other ; " I see no reason for thinkmg so." "Well," said the spy, "I don't think there are enough of us engaged in it to secure success." 100 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. "Not enongli ? Why, yon know up to last even- ing there were fifty-tliree of ns altogether. That onglit to be enough as against any means they liave got here for stopping us." "But how do you like our leader?" "Like him if AVTiy of course I like liim, don't youf "Well, I thought we might have chosen another better fitted to conduct this enterprise." "A better man than Latham ? I don't know who you mean, I am sure." Now this was one of the principal things he was to try to ascertain — the name of their leader; it was Latham. Tlie next tiling to find out was just when they were going to make their attempt, so he resumed : " Well, per- haps Latham is as good as any one, I (hjn't know. But I think we ouglit to delay a little longer be- fore the final attempt." "Why in the world should we put it off again ? When it was postponed from last Friday till but, I say, look here, give me your hand," he ex- claimed, a fla.sh of suspicion evidently crossing the speaker's mind that all was not right, and stopped him just as he was about to reveal what the other most desired to know, the time set for the escape. To give his hand, knowing none of their secret grips, would be to betray the fact that he was a spy upon them. So, with ready tact, he said, " Hush ! LIFE IN THE GONSGBIPT CAMP. 101 I see an officer looking this way ; we had better sejD- arate," and walked quietly awaj. But as there was no officer in sight, this only added to the aroused suspicions of the other, who now was very fearful that he had betrayed secrets to one of the uniniti- ated. The spy in the meantime reported what in- formation he had acquired to Lieutenant Lockwell, who concluded the best course to pursue was to bring matters to a climax at once. Delay might be dangerous. Who knew but the very next day was set apart for the attempt ? Looking over the roster of the recruits he found two Lathams, but observ- ing them both, he saw that one only wore the hand- kerchief. This was undoubtedly the man. Seeing that all the extra guard were in readiness, and every man prepared for an emergency, he, with two or three of the guard, arrested Latham and took him to the guard-house. This act caused great conster- nation among the knights of the white handker- chief, many of whom urged an immediate precipi- tation of all their force upon the guard-house, the rescue of their leader, and the immediate execution of their long-cherished scheme for liberty, by rush- ing through the gate, bearing down the guard by force of numbers, and gaining the outer world. Tliis plan was undoubtedly their best one, and was the one which Lockwell very much feared they would adopt, and if they had done so they stood a 102 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. very good cliance to succeed, as the guard were very limited in numbers and very inefficient in disci- pline. But, fortunately, a large number of these fel- lows believed that their leader had been arrested for some trivial offence not connected with their great plot, and their true policy was to await his discharge l)efore making any movement. Thus their different views of the situation ke^jt them from agreeing upon any course of action. In the meanwhile every species of threat or promise had alike failed to induce Latham to confess the particulars of the ])lot. But Lockwell determined to act just as though he had confessed everything, believing that he already knew enough about it to make the oth- ers think that their leader had confessed. He di- rected an orderly to call all the recruits together — there were then between six and seven hundred in cam^i — and going out, he thus addressed them : " I have called you all together, though I wish more particularly to speak to you gentlemen with white handkerchiefs around your necks. I trust you will not be offended with me if I advise you when you organize your next plot to assassinate the loyal soldiers who are doing their duty to their government, as guard in this camp, in order that you may desert from the army with your worthless lives and carry them elsewhere to prey upon peo- ple — to select for your leader one who will not be- LIFE IN THE CONSCBIPT CAMP. 103 tray you as soon as lie himseK is arrested " (a voice iu the crowd : " It is a lie ; lie lias not betrayed us"), " and you men can now take off those white handkerchiefs or continue to wear them, as you jilease. I have the names of each and every one of you, taken from the lists, and I give you notice that you will be most thoroughly watched, and at the first suspicious movement you make you will be sweeping up these grounds with a ball and chain to your leg. Finally, having just come from your leader, I have the honor to add that the great plot for your escape, which was to have taken place last Friday afternoon, but was postponed, is now again postponed, this time sine die. Gentlemen, accept my thanks for your kind attention, and allow me to bid you adieu." He had scarcely finished speaking when one man, who had been gradually working his way through the crowd, and now stood directly in front of him, cried out : " Comrades, now is our time to act. If we are betrayed we will never have an- other chance like the present to pass out yon gate. Follow me all you who wish to escape from this place. As to this lieutenant, who has thwarted so many of these attempts, he will never interfere with another." Saying which, he quickly drew a revolver which was hidden under his coat, already cocked, and before the lieutenant could 104 nf SEARCH OF GOLD. make a motion toward one of tlic two revolvers which he always carried, he had discharged it di- rectly at him. The man was so near at the time of firing that the ball certainly would not have missed its mark, but, at the instant of firing, the arm of the assassin was thrown up ])y someone bcliind, and the ball, instead of passing through tlie heart, passed through the hat of the officer, and in much less time than it takes to relate it, the lieutenant had drawn, cocked, and fired his revolver straight at his assailant. The ball passed through the body of the latter, and he fell a cor2:)se at the feet of the young man who had undoubtedly been the means of saving the ofiicer's life, and who proved to be the same young man that had acted as a spy upon their actions. This young man had noticed the as- sassin when he was striving to get close to the ofii- cer, and judging from his conduct and his looks together that he meditated mischief, had closely fol- lowed, and stood directly behind him when the re- volver was drawn, and so was able to knock up the arm just in time to save the life of Lieutenant Lockwell. The attempt upon the life of our friend aroused all the latent fire of his nature, and stand- ing there with a cocked revolver in each hand, and his eyes ablaze, he cried in a stentorian voice to the dozen or fifteen who had started to join the dead man in his desperate attempt to incite the others : LIFE IN THE CONSCRIPT GAMP. 105 " He called uj)ou you to foUow him, and there he lies. Now, follow him, will you ? There are eleven chambers still loaded in these revolvers, and eleven more of you will surely follow him if you make the slightest motion toward insubordination. If there is a class of men whom I, hold in supreme contempt, and whose lives I do not consider worth the powder it takes to kill them, it is those who have accepted the pay and bounty of the govern- ment and now seek to leave her service by deser- tion. You worthless, contemptible, cowardly ruf- fians, I would have no compunctions of conscience in mowing you down like sheej) if you make a movement that I consider at all suspicious. If there are any more assassins in yom* ranks, whether two or twenty, now is their time to come on, for I am all alone." But no one accepted the invitation. The sight of their comrade, still lying in his heart's blood, and knowing their leader was a prisoner, and the bold and fearless action of Lieutenant Lockwell all combined to discourage them, and they gradually dispersed, and took off their handkerchiefs as they went. Thus ended the last attempt to break loose from that camp with which our fi'iend was connected. He presently acknowledged his gratitude to the soldier who had saved his life, whose name was 106 m SEARCH OF GOLD. Train. And then and there began a deep and last- ing friendship between them. Everything continuing quiet for some weeks, our friend had an opportunity to cultivate the ac<|uaint- ance of the young ladies of New Haven, of whose society he was extremely fond. If it did not sound Hke a solecism we should say, if he had a weakness, it was his strong love for the ladies, or, at leiist, he always appeared to derive great gratification in making love to them, and when remonstrated with because he was making and professing the most de- voted and ardent love to half a dozen different young ladies, he would reply that it did not do him any hurt, and it did them a great deal of good. Young ladies liked better than anything else to be made love to, and he did not see wliy lie should not gratify them. But in all this he was never guilty of any mean or dishonorable action. lie never made any promise of marriage. If he had done so, such was his conscientious sense of honor that nothing would have induced him to break the engagement, although at this time he had an un- conquerable dislike to the bonds of matrimony. He never made love to a lady without first convinc- ing her, by an ingeniously contrived narrative, that it was wholly impossible he could ever marry her. And while he was a great votary at the shrine of pleasure, he woidd sooner have cut off his right LIFE IN THE CONSCRirT GAMP. 107 hand than have brought any girl, no matter how- lowly or humble, any injury. There is no event in his career worth recounting from this time on until a few months afterward, when he was ordered to join his regiment at the front. On his way from New Haven to Virginia he stopped a day in New York, and taking the few hundred dollars he had, he embarked it all in AVall Street, thinking to astonish the financial magnates by the speed with w^liich he would acquire a for- tune, but in place of that he astonished himself by the speed with which he lost all he had. Then he passed on, musingly, to join his regiment. A service of a few uneventful months ensued, then he was discharged for disability (chronic catarrh), and retired to private life. And now we find him living in New York city, debating with himself w^here he shall go, and what he shall do. But, in the meantime, following his favorite pastime of making love to the fair sex indiscrimi- nately, and constantly falling at the feet of beauty. CHAPTER VIII. COMMITS BnCIDE. Among liis intimate friends residing in tlic city of New York were two married ladies for whom Le entertained the strongest possible friendshij) consistent with pnrely Tlatonic principles, though perhaps all the speeches that he was accustomed to deliver while sitting at their feet would not have ]>een unreservedly endorsed l»y that ancient philos- opher of rigid i)rinciples. He never could deter- mine which of them he loved best ; the one he was with for the time being always apjjeared to him to be the superior angel of the two. In fact he " could always be happy with either were t'other dear chaniier away." As their intimacy increased so did their friend- ship grow apace, and none of them being of that straight-laced pharasaical sect of moralists who think that a married woman should never look at a single man, they enjoyed each othei^'s society ; that is, the ladies each, in their turn, received his visits and all his protestations of undying love. But the ladies themselves were only slightly acquainted one COMMITS SUICIDE. 109 with another. When he told one of them that he never for a moment could be happy away from her society, she believed him fully, and he thought at the time that it was true, or at least but very little exaggerated, and when virtually the same speech was made next day to the other, it was de- livered with like sincerity and received with the same faith. This was enjoyed hngely by all three of the parties concerned, and was continued for weeks, but as the best of friends must part, so the time came when our hero determined to seek in the far West for fun, fame, and gold. This determination was an'ived at reluctantly, but from financial necessity. Money was again running short, and he must soon commence his " struggles for hash," as he was wont to exjiress the idea of earning his daily bread ; and the freedom with which he expended his last cent, on many occasions, rendered the expression often very ap-' propriate. Before going away he determined to impress the truth of his devoted love toward each of the above lady friends in such a manner as would convince each one separately, and unknown to the other, of his deep attachment. "With this determination he remained pacing the floor of his bachelor rooms till late at night concocting the following tragical plans : 110 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. His clothes were to be found upon the bank of some stream or pond of water, in such a manner as to suggest the idea of suicide, and in the clothes was to be left a letter which would confirm that idea of suicide, and also convey to each one of the above mentioned ladies the conviction that it was liis hopeless love for her alone which caused liim to commit the rash act, and this letter must be worded in such a way as not to suggest to either one the least suspicion that it could in any way refer to the other, for, although they were but sliglitly ac- quainted, yet they occasionally met in society, and each also knew that the other was an acquaintance of Lockwell ; and there might be also just the least trifle of jealousy existing between them. As the time approached for putting his designs into execution, the visits of Lockwell at the re- spective homes of his channel's became more and more constant. He gradually became sad and even gloomy. Some deep grief seemed to have taken complete possession of him. He would sit for many minutes gazing upon the one he was visiting with looks of unutterable love and deep despair, and wlien the fair eyes were raised to his he would look down in deep dejection and heave a sigh tliat told of unutterable anguish of the heart within. When questioned as to the cause of such deep de- pression of spirits he would evade a direct reply or COMMITS SUICIDE. Ill perhaps just hint at his devouring love, which a most cruel fate had decreed could never be re- quited. He had long talked of going West, and now when asked by one of them if he expected soon to go, he would reply vaguely that he might soon go West or — yes, he might take a much longer journey ; then he would break out passion- ately that lie did not care when or where he went ; then he would rise, seize his hat and hastily depart, and going by a circuitous route to the residence of the other adored one would repeat the scene almost verbatim. This course was kept up, with suitable variations and appropriate intermissions, until both ladies became somewhat alarmed about him. Meanwhile he had been looking up a suitable place for the tragedy and composing the final letter which was to be left in his clothes upon the bank of the lake which he had selected for the deed. Writing the names of each of the ladies fully and carefully many times, then comparing them, he found that by using the usual pet name of the first one with the middle and Jast name in full ; then taking the full first name of the second one, with only the initial letter of the middle name, with her last name in full, and both names would thus contain exactly the same number of letters, viz., seventeen. 112 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. Writing tliem in tliis manner plainly, each on a card, lie started out to pay the final visits. With all the gloom of despair on his counte- nance he entered the presence of the first one, who rose and received him with all the warmth of pure affection untarnished by an unfaithful thought toward her own husband and family. He replied to her questions in such an absent way that she looked at him in surprise, and finally asked him, " What is the matter with you to-day ? are you not feeling well ?" " Matter ? Feeling well ? Oh, yes. Oh, I don't know," he replied very slowly and absently, then added, " But do you know I have come to bid you good bye !" "Indeed, are you then going away so soon? But where are you going V " Ah, indeed," verj' absent-mindedly, " would that I could tell where I shall be this time to- morrow." " Why, are you not going West ?" said she in some surprise. " Oh, yes," as if suddenly recalling himself, " I am going West, of course ; what am I talking about I Do you know," he added, after a long pause, " what number I would choose — well, say if I were going to buy a ticket in a lottery 'i or rather," said he with deep earnestness, "do you know what COMMITS SUICIDE. 113 number would be found engraven upon rnj heart if it could be seen ?" "Why, I have not the slightest idea as to what you mean." " This, then, is the number, seventeen, and this is why that number is engraven upon my heart," and he handed her the card on which her na^ne was written, as before described, so as to make seven- teen letters, and after the name were the figures 17. " Count the letters in that name, as I have done a thousand times, yes, a million in the last few months" (it was only the day before that he had made the discovery that the name could be written with seventeen letters), " and," he added excitedly, " you have seen me wear this plain gold ring for months, have you not, but did you ever see the inside of it ? but I think you have not. When I bought that ring the jeweller asked me if I wished my initials placed upon the inside. I told him no, but that he could place the figures IT there, and he did so," with that he passed the ring to her for examination. But at the same instant he trembled as the thought occurred to him that as those figures had only been placed there half an hour before, they might have a new appearance which she would detect, the ring itself being old and worn. She did not, however, but passed the ring back to him 114 I]^ SEARCH OF GOLD. \Aritli a deci") Mush at tliis new evidence of his in- tense affection for her. "But," he exclaimed, grasping her hand, "I must go now; to stay one moment more would unman me. Wliatcver may happen in the next few hours, think kindly of me, and if people from the other world are allowed to revisit this, rest assured that I will always he with you," saying which he again wrung her hand, and pressing a kiss u]^on her brow, nished from the room. A few hours later a similar pcene was enacted in an almost precisely similar manner M-ith the other dear lady friend. ITaving left each of them \vith the finn con- viction that she alone was the lady for wliom he was almost crazed with love, and that seventeen was considered hy him a sacred number, because that was the number of letters tliat constituted her name, he proceeded to tlic completion of those preparations which were necessary to finish the programme, the final catastrophy of which was to come off that night. He had selected a large lake a few hours ride from New York, which was very deep, and some dozen miles long by about two broad, and as he had repeatedly visited this place, he knew just where a small skiff was kept that would answer his purpose. Arranging all his little affairs in such a manner COMMITS SUICIDE. 115 as to give the impression that he expected to leave permanently, he awaited the coming of night. Immediately after dark he took a train for the nearest station to this lake. On the way he pur- posely talked with the conductor in rather a wild and incoherent manner. Arriving at the station he was particular to attract attention from the men who belonged there, and asked the nearest route to the lake, although he knew it perfectly. At his previous visit to the lake he had gone by another route and taken a carpet bag containing a suit of clothes and all the linen he intended to take West, and this carpet bag he had hidden in the nearest bushes, which were but a few rods from the Ijorders of the lake. After recei\ang his directions from the people at the station, and while they were still looking at him, he started for the water, and was quickly lost in the darkness of the night. Some of the people at the station, thought he ought to be followed, but as what is everybody's business appears to be nobody's business, he was left to follow his own course unmolested. Arriving at the place where he left his valise he found it all right, and going thence to where the boat was fastened he cut the fastenings and 2:>laced the oars in position ; then taking off all his clothes he left them in a pile upon the beach and got into the boat in a perfectly nude state. 116 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. He had left liis valise about a quarter of a mile up the shore from where he was to start out with the boat, so that he would not in any case have to return to that part of the shore. The night was quite dark, and everything was propitious. Kowing out about one third of a mile from land, he stopped, raised up, and placing his foot on the side of the skiff, jumped high in the air, coming down with a splash that must have been heard on shore if any one were listening. Quickly coming to the surface he struck out swiftly and very silently for that part of the shore where he had left his valise. As he was a very expert swimmer he was soon upon the shore once more, and but a few rods from his valise, from which he took his clothes and was soon on the road toward a more distant railroad station, and on an- other route. Before morning ho was back in the city, and just after daylight was again on his way, this time for the far West. He was extremely curious to know what would be thought of the affair by the public, and more especially by the two fair ones for whose especial benefit the whole thing had been performed. As soon as he arrived at his destination, which ■was in Minnesota, he awaited with extreme im- patience the arrival of the mail of the succeeding COMMITS SUICIDE. Ill day, which would bring the New York papers, con- taining, as he rightly conjectured, an account of the affair. Hastily glancing over the papers he was not disappointed, as the following account copied from the Mew York Daily Press will show: SUICIDE! DROWNED IN LAKE BLANK! Love and Despair bring a vert Respectable and Worthy Young Man to take his own Life. A SAD OCCURRENCE. As Mr. Silas Brown, a well-known citizen who resides upon the shores of Lake Blank in this Stale, was sitting last evening, quite late, upon the piazza, about tweuty rods from where his small skiff was tied to a slake in the edge of the water, he thought he indistinctly heard the sound of oars. As there were no other boats in that immediate viciuilj^ it flashed across his mind that someone was borrowing liis own without leave. Then he walked hastily down to where he had left it, and, as he feared, the rope was cut and the bout was gone. Not knowing just what to do he remained some minutes standing there, and was shortly surprised to hear a distant splash, as of somebody or something falling into the water. Wondering what it all meant, he was about to retrace his steps, when his eye caught a dim sight of what appeared to be a small bundle of clothes lying near the water. Examining them as well as he was able by striking a match, he saw that they were the entire suit of clothes and under- wear of a man. This as he thought explained the absence of the boat and the splash also. Some one had undoubtedly gone in swimming there and had taken his boat to dive off from. Thinking he would lecture them u little for their 118 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. freedom with other people's boats, and their impudence besides in cutting the rope, he waited patiently for them to return. But as minute after minute passed and nobody put in an appearance and he lieard no more noise, he concluded that they had caught sight of him on returning, before he could see them, and had put off again, waiting for him to leave. With this idea he resolved to pick up the clothes and carry them off, thus compelling the cliap who owned them to come up to the house for them. So he took them away with him, laughing at what a ridiculous figure he would compel the purloiner of his boat to assume as he sneaked up to the house after his clothes. But as half an hour, and then an hour passed, and still no one came, he began to wonder, and to think perhaps the man had come back and gone home without his clothes, or he might have had a companion who had divided his raiment with him. And again he visited the shore, but no boat was there, nor apparently had any one returned. Returning once more to the house he looked more closely at the clothes and observed the end of a large envelope protruding from the coat pocket. Taking it out he found it addressed to "Any one who finds these clothes." Mystified beyond measure by these words, the gentleman decided that he would not, by himself, open the envelope, which was sealed, but he took it hastily over to the nearest railroad station, where he related the circumstances of his finding it to the ticket agent and one or two others, when the envelope was opened and found to contain the following: " Let whoever shall find these clothes not trouble himself at all to find the owner, for he is deep down on the bottom of this lake. It is as good a sepulchre as he requires or desires. Besides, it will be utterly impossible for you or any one ever to find my remains. I shall row a long way out, then jump COMMITS SUICIDE. 119 overboard with a bag coutaiuiug tea pounds of shot tied to my feet; so tight will it be tied that I am satisfied when I am in the water and find myself sinking, if the desire to live longer returns to me, as I am told it often has to others who have alleiupLed suicide by drowning, I will not be able to sever the fatal bag before the waters shall have put an end to my existence. "I believe my friends all know that the only fear I ever had in connection with death was that of being buried alive, or returning to consciousness under ground in my coffin, with no means of putting an immediate end to my life. This, then, is my favorite means of burial, and here let me remain unsought for. My affairs are all in proper condition. I leave nothing to be quarreled over, and owe no one a dollar in the world. " As to the cause of my desiring to leave this world, that is briefly told. I have loved — devotedly and fondly loved. She whom I have spontaneously and unavoidably though very unwillingly loved is not free to return my love. She is married to another. Whether, if she were free to return my love, it would be reciprocated or not, is a question I have never asked her. She is noble-minded and pure in every thought and action, and I die with a blessing for her upon my lips, and the seventeen letters which compose her name stamped deeply upon my heart. My last thought is of her; my last wish for her welfare. When she of the seventeen letters shall receive the account of my death, then will she know how deeply I have loved her, and if there is any such a thing as a conscious existence after death, then let her be assured that the first thing I will be conscious of in that other world will be my love for her. And if by any means I can there exert any influence over the destinies of mortals, then will she know that there is one always at work in her behalf. And oh! perhaps (may I hope it?) in that other world we may 120 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. be free to love each other, and that my love will be returned; if so, will not that be heaven indeed? Yes, though it were placed in the middle of Hades itself. Till then, I say fare- well. I iiave only one request to ask of the world at large. Do not jironouuce me insane. Suicide is no indication of insanity. "If, after one has carefully looked over everything bearing upon his case, he finds he ha.s more misery than pleasure in life, with no chance for improvement, it is only philosophical to wish to end that existence. It is often the true philoso- I)her who commits suicide, and the lunatics live on. I know that life to me away from the object of my affection would be a lieavy burden. Tlien why carry that burden when I can so ea.<»ily throw it down and find eternal rest? Such is my determination. A few sharp pangs while in the water and grief and sorrow have left me forever. Then why cling to tiiem? This little pain of a minute is the last I shall ever feel. The intense desire for that which might have been, but now cAn never be. will soon have left me forever. Envy me. ye who continue to live on through di-sappointed hopes; through unsatisfied ambition; through unrequited love; through longings never satisfied; through labor without rest, and througli life not worth the living, and tell me which of you would wish to live your whole past lives over again. None. And yet yoti have no reason to think your future lives will be any better. Well, live on. I will find no fault with you for so doing, and do not find fault with me for choosing a different course. I have no one dependent upon me in this world in the slightest manner; then am I not free to do as I choose with my own life? If any one has further curiosity concerning me they may inquire at No. 37 Blank Street, New York, at which house I have boarded for a long time, and am very well known. " J. Lockwell." COMMITS SUICIDE. 121 On reading this strange epistle the men at the station had no doubt whatever that it was the gentleman who inquired the way to the lake in the beginning of the night (it was now nearly morniug), and who they perfectly well remembered had acted in so strange a manner as to excite their suspicion that all was not right with him. But as nothing could be (lone in the night they waited patiently for daylight, and then several boats put off in search of further information. It was not long before the missing skiff was found drifting about, but containing nothing but the pair of oars belonging there- to. How far had it drifted from the suicide's grave? None could tell; it might be rods, and it might be miles. Nothing more could be done than to communicate the facts to the au- thorities and to his friends in the city, which was done. On inquiring at the number indicated in his letter our re- porter found that the suicide was a 3'oung man of more than ordinary abilities, who had served with some distinction in the army, but who appeared not to have been occupied with any tiling recently, and had been talking of going West to push his fortunes in the mines, [Then followed some inci- dents in the life of the supposed suicide with which we are already acquainted, and concluded by saying:] The family at the house have not the slightest idea who the lady is that was the innocent cause of wrecking his mind— for that he was insane his letter gives us abundant evidence, notwithstanding his assertions to the contrary; for who could speak of committing suicide in the manner he does unless they were already insane. He was extremely reserved about all personal matters, and it was owing to this reticence on his part that the family were unable to imagine who the lady might be. In prosecuting his inquiries, however, our reporter was able to discover the name of the lady concerned, but as she belongs to one of the most respectable families in the city, and was in no wise to blame in the matter, we refrain .122 m SEARCH of gold. from publishing it. [This was a piece of professional lying on the part of the paper, for the reporter had not the most distant idea as to who was the lady.] The whole affair is a very sad one, and if a moial can be deduced from the story of the facts it is, perhaps, that married women should not en- courage too much the attention of other men, though we have not the slightest doubt that no harm at all was intended in the case. Our hero smiled audibly as he closed this pa- thetic and prolix account of his own death, and ex- claimed, " Well, I will be hanged if they have not made me insane after all. Now, as poor as I am, I would give eleven cents to know just what those two angels in human form think of this account when they see it. But I wdll come to them as a ghost some day, or else materialize. Hapj^y thought ! materialize will be the very thing. If I keep close while I am out West here not a suspi- cion will be raised of my still living, and when I return East I can get some one to act as a medium, give a Httle seance, and then appear as the materi- alized spirit of the suicide ! It shall be done. I will stay out West here a year or two, and then hurrah for some fun in the spirit line ! And now to business." But before following our friend further let us see how the two ladies received the news of their friend's suicide. The lady who had resided nearest to him when in the city was sitting at the breakfast table on the COMMITS SUICIDE. 123 second morning after the event when her husband suddenly turned toward her, asking, "What was the first name of that Lockwell who has been visit- ing here lately ? " "Oh, by the way," rej^lied his wife, "he was here day before yesterday to say good-bye ; he has gone away— gone West. His first name did you ask ? It was Joseph — Joseph Lockwell." " My dear, I am afraid this news I hold in my hand will be a great blow to you. You evidently thought a great deal of that man, and as he was honorable and upright, I was always glad to have him come and see you. I could not foresee this. I thought that, as I was away so much, it would always be jDleasant to have his calls relieve the monotony of your rather dull life. I am truly sorry to tell you, my darling, that he will never again come to this house, or to any other. He is dead — committed suicide," and he gave her the pa- per to peruse. "Great God!" she exclaimed; "what are you telling me ? Then reading the account she burst into exclamations of sorrow, amazement, and hor- ror, and at the close threw herseK weeping into her husband's arms. " My husband, do you know who is the lady he refers to there ?" " I think I can guess." 124 7iV SEARCIT OF GOLD. " It is I. I am the uuiuteiitioiuil cause of all tliis. I have long known he liked me well — loved me in fact, but, as he was the very soul of houor, I knew you would not object to his coming here, even if you knew all/' " Most certainly I shc^ild not have objected, even had you told me all this before. I had great confidence in him, and perfect confidence in you, and WiLS always glad to have him call upon, or take you out, and knowing all I know to-day I should still be glad to welcome him here exactly upon the same footing a.s of old, if he were alive."' " Oh, my husband. It is this very liberal, gen- erous, noble nature of yours that keeps my love for you as strong and fresh as it was eight years aj'o when I married vou. And now let me confess still further. There is no man I have yet seen whom I liked as well as I did this Ix)ckwell. But you will believe me, I know, when I tell you that never for a moment did my love for him approxi- mate that which I bear for my husband. And let me add that never once in any way did he make the slightest attempt to win my love away from my husband. On the contrary, he always spoke in the highest terms of you, and exalted your char- acter in a way that was intended to increase the love of your \vife for you. Ah I would to God we could undo the work of the last two days." COMMITS SUICIDE. 125 " I fully believe you," replied her husband, " and it is only what I should have exj^ected of you both." Then she told him how Lockwell had written her name, making just seventeen lettei*s in it, and gave him all the history of his last call upon her, wdth every incident, and they together mourned the loss of her friend. "We wish it was as fair a picture of domestic life that we have to recount in the case of the other lady. But alas ! there are not many husbands who take this better way in the treatment of their wives. Many think that it is among the stern requirements of duty to be strict, austere, and unrelenting in their conduct toward their wives, not knowing that such conduct will in time wear out the most de- voted love of any woman so surely as it exists ; and, although they may still remain faithful toward their husbands as the world regards that word, yet it will always be up-hill work, and there will be a constant and natural inclination toward other and more congenial society. Here, too, it was at the table and on the same morning that the news was read first by the hus- band. Turning to his wife he exclaimed, " "Well, this is just what might have been expected. Don't you know, Sarah, I often spoke to you about re- ceiving the calls from that young bachelor Lock- well ? "Well, you persisted against what I told you 126 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. was joiir duty in the case, and now you have mur- dered him." " Great heavens !" said she, " what do you mean ? Is he killed, or what are you talking ahout V " I say he is nmrdered by you," lie replied. " l^ut here, take the paper and read this account, and then you had better seek the privacy of your own room and ask God to forgive you the great sin which your light and frivolous conduct has caused." She read the article, most painfully blushing all the time ; for she knew the stern eyes of her hus- band were watching her countenance to detect evi- dence of guilt, and this fact alone was sufficient to make her appear guilty, though in very truth she was conscious of having done no wrong. Yet she knew the simple fact of- her having received the l)leasant calls of this bachelor friend was a great crime in the eyes of her puritanical and fanatical liusband. It was unavoidable under the circumstances that there should have arisen in her bosom a feeling of the warmest friendship, and followed by love for Lockwell, as fast as the love for her husband was dying out — killed, not by her regard for Lockwell, l)ut simply by the coui*se of her husband himself. It was not sui-prising, then, nor was it wrong, that she should seek in the companionship of another that social pleasure which the fanatical zeal of her COMMITS SUICIDE. 127 husband prevented her from finding in his com- pany. She yielded to liim the duties of her marriage contract and remained faithful to her vows. More than this, under the circumstances, should not have been required of her. Yet she was actually obliged, by his natural antipathy and opposition, to deceive him whenever she received the calls of Lock well, who was pretty well acquainted with the facts of the case; and although he heartily despised her husband, never in any way spoke disparagingly of him in her presence, but sought in every way in his power to alleviate the misery of her existence, and succeeded in enabHng her to pass many a pleasant hour. And in all this there was no harm. So it was with genuine grief she read of the fate of Lockwell, and yet thene was an under-current of intense joy when she thought she was so beloved ; for she never doubted for a second that she was the lady referred to in the published account. Did not the seventeen letters and the card he had left with her prove that ? When she finished the article she had somewhat recovered from her confusion, and turning toward her husband said : " If I am the one referred to by him, and so have been the innocent cause of his death, I am truly and sincerely sorry ; for there has perished one of nat- ure's noblemen. A man in every way fitted to marry and make his wife ha]i])y. Having no mor- 128 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. bid jealousy, and being the sonl of honor himself, he would not be continually looking for and suspect- ing dishonorable actions upon the part of his \nfe. Being liberal in his opinions, he would be liberal in liis judgments upon his wife's actions. As his views were not cramped by narrow religious dogmas, so he would not allow his wife's conduct to be con- trolled in any such way as are some other wives', and in return he would receive from liis wife per- fect confidence and trust. She would never wish to learn to deceive him. That love which she feels for her husband when she marries him would in- crease and strengthen as the years pass on. To se- cure that society which every person craves and should have, she would not be compelled to resort to clandestine meetings, and thoughts of illicit pleasures would never be entertained by her. In short," said she, waxing indignant, " they would be about as different a couple from some others I could mention as you can well imagine ; and " — breaking dowTi — " they would be about as happy as others are miserable.'' " Well, madam, if these are the tears of repent- ance I am glad to see them, and I will leave you alone with your reflections and your God," saying which he withdrew. " Ab, yes," she murmured, " it is lea\'ing us wives alone with our God that causes all the mis- COMMITS SUICIDE. 120 chief. He is not sociable enough. Or at all events the god of a woman is love, and she must worship it through some tangible shape. Ah well ! how deeply he must have loved me to die for me ! There is comfort in that thought." The statement made public by the clerk of the hardware store where Lockwell purchased the ten pounds of shot (for he had indeed bought the shot and thrown them away, leaving the bill so that it would be found in the room which he vacated), to the effect that Lockwell himself had bought the shot the day before the suicide, effectually dissi- pated all lingering doubts, if any there were, as to the genuineness of the suicide. 130 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTEK IX. THE DUEL. DmECTLT after his amval in Minnesota our friend heard of an expedition soon to start from there across the plains for the gold fields of Mon- tana. As this was in the right direction he resolved to join it. He paid his fare through in advance, to the leader of the party, and awaited patiently for the caravan to start. But he waited in vain. Week after week passed, and for one reason or another the time for starting was postponed. He was kept there, with many others, nntil their patience was exhausted, and, finally, Lockwell demanded the re- turn of the money which he had paid for his fare, as he wished to go to the mines by another route. This was refused. Lockwell became very indignant at this, and expressed his opinion very forcibly that the whole undertaking was a swindle, and gotten up by a rascal, which opinion was shared by all the others, some thirty in number, who had joined the expedition and were in the same predicament as our ex-lieutenant. The language he used was very for- cible, and came to the ears of a brother of the organ- THE DUEL. 131 izer of the party, and who then was in temporary charge of the expedition, the real leader and respon- sible man being away. This brother sent to demand an explanation. Lockwell explained that he had paid his fare upon the representations that the party would start across the plains a long time ago. And as there was still no prospect of starting, he wished to go by another route, and if his money was not returned, then he reiterated and reaffirmed "that whoever kept it was a swindler and a scoundrel." ISTow, as this brother was totally unable to return the money, he felt obliged to resent the language, and accordingly sent a challenge, which was promptly accepted, and the next morning was named as the time, and a neighboring but obscure grove was selected as the site for the hostile meet- ing. That very evening, word having gotten out in some unknown way that tlie affair was to come off, the disappointed members of the party wanted to mob the opponent of Lockwell, believing he was as guilty as his brotlier of embezzling their funds, for they had all paid their fare in advance, and now could not get it back, and it was only at the earnest solicitations of Lockwell, who believed this brother was wholly innocent, that they could be prevented from acts of violence. He told them that if they now broka up this little affair of honor the other party would certainly think that he (Lockwell) had 132 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. instigated tliem thereto for the pm-pose of prevent- ing the meeting. So it was decided not to molest eitlier party. On the evening previous to the duel the medita- tions of our friend were not of the pleasantest kind. He could not get rid of the impression that as he had just ])een playing at death — pretending to com- mit suicide — now death was coming to him in real- ity. He was sorry for the whole affair. He did not believe his opponent was ai all to blame for the acts of his brother, and although he at the time had felt justified in using very strong language against that brother, he could not but ad- mit that if he himself had been situated as was his antagonist he would in all probability have done the same. Let the affair- end as it might, he fully determined not to have the blood of this man on his hands. Yet exactly how to manage he did not see. They were both good shots, and if neither party was hit on the first fire they were to continue firing till one was wounded or they emptied their revolvei*s. So if he fired intentionally missing the other, and he himself was not wounded, his oppo- nent would continue banging away at him until he fell. Not a pleasant jirospect, surely, to stand be- fore a good marksman at fifteen paces and receive his fire till you dropped dead ! But he 'determined to write his letters and not think any more about it THE DUEL. 133 than he could help. He spent most of the night in writing about a dozen letters, including one each to the two married lady friends, in which he described the whole deception of the suicide, and asldng their forgiveness if he had caused them one moment's pain, assuring them that such had not been his in- tention ; a little amusement and final j^leasure for all being his only object, and then gave each a full description of the situation in which he found him- self this evening, and they would know by gettino- these letters that he had fallen on the succeeding day, by the bullet of his adversary. He wrote at great length, for, as the hours ad- vanced, he felt a greater and stronger presentiment that he would fall at the first fire, and that the sun had set for the last time for him. He finished with a note to his adversary, telling him that he fully exonerated him from all blame in his death, and hoping he would be put to no trouble in the matter. These letters sealed and i^laced upon the table with directions to mail only in case of his death and he once more turned his thoughts toward his course of action on the following morning. Yet so strong and certain had become his presentiment that he would be killed on the first shot, he scarcely thought it worth while to trouble himself about what he should do. Yet his usual reason prompted 134 nr SEARCH OF GOLD. liim to provide a course of action in case he -^as missed, for it miglit so liappen. He finally decided to liold Lis revolver down by liis right leg, and at the word fire, if he did not on the instant feel a wound or drop dead, he would, in wheeling and raising his pistol, contrive to shoot himself in the fleshy part of his arm, and, if possible, in such a way as to give the impression that the wound was made by the other party, or, at worst, that he had accidentally shot himself. In either case it would terminate the duel. Taking a revolver in his hand he practiced in his room for many minutes on the proper way to hold it till he thought, if he had a chance, he could put the idea in practice ^vith suc- cess. He never mistnisted his own nerves ; he knew he would be perfectly cool. Then he laid down and fell into a tranquil slum- ber till a])Out one hour jjrevious to tlie time fixed for tlie meeting, when he was aroused by his second. He ate his breakfast as usual, then they proceeded to the ground selected and arrived five minutes ahead of time, but the others were already there. They were soon placed in position by the seconds and everything pronounced correct and in readiness. The arrangements were that they were to be placed back to back at fifteen paces, the seconds should toss up as to who should give the word, and that one should count slowly one, two, three, fire ! TEE DUEL. 135 and at tlie word fire, and not before, tliey should turn and bang away. Our friend's second won the toss ; the time has arrived, there is a hush of anx- ious expectancy as he says, "Gentlemen, are you ready V " Ready," they both respond. " One, two, three — fire !" Almost simultaneously with the last word came the rejjort of the pistol of his foe, and without a perceptible interval of time Lock well completed his wheel and his fire ringing out seemed but a contin- uation of the report of the first pistol. He did not fall : he had been missed ; and his own programme fully carried out, he felt the sharp pain in his arm, from which the blood was flowing. The seconds cried " Enough, enough, one is wounded," and only Just in time, for the pistol of the other was again raised and about to press the fatal trigger for the second shot. The wound from which the blood was flowing was found to be quite severe, more severe than our hero had intended by a great deal, but the surgeon whom they had brought speedily dressed the wound, and told him that the worst he need fear was confinement to his room for a week or two. Lockwell had feared that his shooting himself would be noticed by the seconds and the surgeon, and he was all prepared to attribute it to haste and nervousness. He was sm-prised and pleased, there- 136 Ilf SEARCH OF GOLD. fore, to find tliat tliej all sui:»posed as a matter of course that he liad been hit by his antagonist, and the latter himself never suspected anything else. He let that impression remain with great satisfac- tion. While his wound was being dressed his late enemy was standing by watching the case with deej) interest. Reaching out his hand, Lockwell said : "I suppose we have done all that is necessary to satisfy the code of honor, and now with great willingness I offer you my apologies for the offensive language I used in regard to your brother. The truth is " " Say no more," interrui)ted the other, grasping the outstretched hand and shaking it with great heartiness. " It is I who ought to apologize, and I am truly sorry to have wounded you. To tell the truth I was in hopes, ])y some miraculous inter- position, we both would have escaped." " Then you should be very glad, instead of sorry, for this little scratch, for when I remember what a good reputation you have as a marksman, I think I may well congratulate myself at receiving no more than this. But you will come with me to my room and assist me in burning up the letters which I spent last evening in writing." In good spirits, and as the best of friends, they adjourned to Lockwell's rooms, where the letters then lying on the table caught the eyes of both THE DUEL. 137 gentlemen, and Lockwell said, pointing to the one addressed to his opponent, " Take that and read it, although it was only intended to be read under dif- ferent circumstances." The other read it through and was visibly affected as he exclaimed, "You cannot think how rejoiced I am that this affair has turned out no worse. Had I been so uufortimate as to slay you this letter would have heaped coals of fire uj)on my head !" " Well, we will say no more about it, but if you will oblige me you may throw those other letters, that I spent so many hours over, into the fire. By the way, I had a strong presentiment or premoni- tion that I should be killed this morning, but, like nine out of ten of all premonitions, it did not come true; only those that come true are remembered and the others not noticed or forgotten, and so peo- ple become superstitious." Notwithstanding his making so light of it, Lock- well had received a very painful wound. The ball had passed through the flesh of his left arm below the elbow, and it would be weeks, if not months, before he fully recovered the use of that member. But he was not disposed to complain when he thought of " what might have been." 138 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTER X. HOME-MADE " HASH." Three weeks after receiving his wound and lie was once more traveling; this time with some half a dozen membei*s of the hroken-up expedition, who had determined to go down the river to St. Louis and thence across the plains, with a train of some kind, to Nevada or California. Arriving at 8t. Louis the party concluded, by unanimous vote, to remain there a few days and see all the sights. But as funds were vijry limited with most of the party, it wa.s decided to hire, for a week, a vacant garret on the very top floor of a large five-story warehouse, get a small coal-oil stove and do their own cooking. Hour and molasses were bought, together with yeast-powders, salt, and all the small necessaries of the kitchen. But as no one knew how to make bread, it was decided to have pan- cakes, or flapjacks, as they called them. For a description of their housekeeping perhaps we cannot do better than copy verbatim from the MSS. of Lockwell. He says : You see there was only one fellow among us HOME-MADE "HASH.'' 139 who thonglit he could build flapjacks, and what under the sun ever gave him so erroneous an im- pression I cannot conceive. However, he went to work with flour, water, etc., and you would have thought, to have seen him, that he knew all about it, so calmly he took the yeast-j)owders and put just flour enough in them to season them, and then set the whole in the corner to rise, while he sat down close beside it to watch. We were all looking on hungry and waiting for our dinner. The major suggested to the cook the quicker way to raise it would be with the toe of his boot. Another timidly asked the cook if he had put salt in the mixture ? " No," said that individual with a glance of scorn at the man's ignorance. "You put salt in the mo- lasses you eat on them." Another, still more impatient, went up and un- covered the tin kettle in which they were put to rise, to see, as he expressed it, if they weren't done. " By Jove," he exclaimed, " instead of rising they have gone down an inch. If we wait any longer they will go down through the floor." " Oh," said the cook, " they always fall just be- fore they rise." " Oh, I see, they go down through the floor just to get a good start to go through the roof, eh ?" Five minutes more of patient, silent waiting, then — ' 140 IN SEARCH OF OOLD. " Tliey must l)c all right by this time." "If they have not gone up now they never will." " Come now, cook, yon need not keep us waiting just to show how smart you are," etc., etc. Ten minutes in all had not passed when the cook announced they were ready to be fried, and I tell you I was glad, for I was getting very hungry. Fire was lighted in the ker(»sene stove, the grid- dle ]iut on, and we all watched the cakes its they were put on to fry. Just then some one suggested that as we all ought to practice economy, and \\v would each of us need all the money we possessed before arriving at our destination, that we take a solenm resolution to eat nothing at the restaurants, but only partake of what we ourselves should cook upon the coal-oil stove ; this was solemnly agreed to, and hands were shaken to celebrate the good reso- lution. By this time the cakes were supposed to be done on one side, and an effort was made by the cook 2)ro tern, to turn them ; but alas ! he had forgotten to grease the griddle, and now that and the cakes were more firmly united than if they had been married by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. All efforts to divorce them proved futile, and tlie grid- dle was removed and scrajjed amid the anathemas both loud and deep of the surrounding party, who HOME-MADE "HASH." 141 were beginning to surmise that the cook was not thoroughly conversant with his business. Broad hints were dropped that he might better sell his commission. But that individual, perspiring at every pore, coolly said he would fry those cakes or he would perish in the attempt. The griddle was cleaned and replaced upon the stove, when the discovery was made that there was no grease in the house! The spirits of the party fell ten points. Many began to regret the solemn resolution they had made not to get their meals elsewhere. One of the party volunteered to go for some butter or lard, whichever he could find first, and he started. " For heaven's sake," called out after him one famished individual, "get axle grease if you can save any time by so doing." Twenty long minutes passed. Blank despair was falling upon the party when the messenger re- turned bringing half a pound of tallow and two bottles of whiskey ! " Gentlemen," said he, " I do not approve of drinking as a rule, as you all know, but as an exception I do, and if there ever was an excej)tion, I think the present time will come under that head. While the cook is preparing our frugal rejiast, let us obey the scriptural injunction and take a little wine (or whiskey) for our stomachs' sake, saying which, he broke off the neck of the bottle, and with a tin cup passed it around, saying : 142 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. " Drink, that we iiiaj receive strength to abide by our good resohition to waste no more money in restaurants, for," with a glance at the griddle, "I think we shall need it." " JS'eed what ?" said the major, " the strength, the mone}^, or the flapjacks ?" " All three, my friend, all three, without discrim- ination." In the meantime the cakes had been successfully turned and were now being removed. One for each individual was placed upon a tin plate and handed to him, together with a knife and fork. The molasses cup was also passed around and carv- ing commenced. The cakes were a beautiful brown — in fact they were brown before they were cooked. "Thunder!" said the major, as with the third attemj^t he succeeded in cutting off a very small piece from the gutta-percha-like substance before him. "Cook, get a suitable mould and make that batter into rubber boots and you have got a for- tune." By this time each one had got a piece in his mouth, and the looks they cast, first at one another and then concentrated upon the cook, must have made the hovering angels laugh. I think the cook himself by tliis time began to get a faint idea that he was not a proficient in the culinary art. The cakes had the horribly bitter HOME-MADE ''HASH.'' 143 taste of the yeast-powders of wliicli they were prin- cipally composed. " The bitter taste," said the cook, " I think comes from the molasses, it has not been properly refined ; but the cakes appear to me to be, on the whole, very good." "Then I move," said the major, "that he be compelled to eat a couple of them, and I would not make my worst enemy eat more than that ; besides, they are so heavy that two is all he could possibly carry about with him." This proposition, which was immediately sec- onded, made the cook turn pale, and he hastened to say : " "Well, gentlemen, if you are not fond of cakes I will go out and get some potatoes and we can boil them, and I will also get some bread and l)utter, so we will make out for this meal, and the next man whose turn it is to cook may do better for you." This compromise was effected and recourse was again had to the second bottle of whiskey to assist in passing the time till something better coidd be had to stay their stomachs. At the fourth round of the bottle the major in- sisted that he could dance the hornpipe, and that he felt like doing so. The cook told him he was only drunk! He retorted tliat if he was light- headed it was because those fried yeast-powders 144 m SEARCH OF GOLD. whicli lie bad eaten had at last begun to rise, going up into bis bead and making bim so. As I did not enjoy drinking wbiskey I con- cluded I would take a stroll around tlie block until tbe next attempt at a meal sbould eitber bave suc- ceeded or failed. Some of tbe otbers bad already sauntered out. I walked up balf a dozen blocks till I passed a grocery store and saw exposed for sale, in a tub by tbe door, a large quantity of eggs. A bappy tbougbt struck me ; I quickly bougbt two dozen of tbesc eggs for our dinner. Here, at last, was sometbing tbe acting cook could serve up witbout spoiling. Eggs would ])e good wbetber cooked bard or soft. It was singular none of us bad tbougbt of eggs — tbe very thing we wanted. IListily retracing my steps, I chanced to glance in wliile passing a restaurant and there, in tbe very act of devouring a huge beefsteak surrounded by steaming vegetables, I saw one of our gaiTct party. I moved on without liis seeing me. If that was all bis resolution was worth I pitied his weakness. I was sure tbe rest of us would feel much better eat- ing our nice boiled eggs and remaining firm in our resolutions of economy. Gaining tbe garret, I found aU of us were there patiently waiting tbe motions of tbe cook except the recreant member whom I bad seen through the restaurant window. The eggs were received with debght. Prepara- HOME-MADE " HASR.'^ 145 tions for cooking the potatoes which had arrived were suspended, and the eggs were at once put ui3on the stove in a little water, and the happy party now felt certain of having something good to eat in five minutes at furthest. In about that time the eggs were pronounced done, and as they were served up the major was the first in the attack upon them. " Well, I will be hanged," said he, " if ever I saw eggs cooked as hard as these ai*e," and he tried to cut through one with his knife. " By Jove !" and " Thunder !" and " Oh ! murder !" came in quick succession from all sides. Some of the eggs had chickens in them, and all the balance had evidently received the most strenuous efforts of the old hen to hatch them, for the strong me^Dhitic odor diffused in the atmosphere certainly did not produce a very agreeable sensation upon our nasal organs. In fact, we were aU obliged to leave the room. Without a word being uttered, and straight as an arrow, every man walked rapidly to the nearest restaurant, and soon was oblivious to the j^angs of hunger. The next day there was a coal-oil stove for sale by the party. Not finding any expedition about to cross the plains, the party broke up, and our hero returned 146 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. to New York to take a steamer for the Isthmus of Panama, and thence to San Francisco. Arriving in Xew York he went to a hotel where he was confident that he would see no one whom he knew, registered under an assumed name, and the next day was on his way to 'Frisco. He had fully determined to let the imjjrcssiou of his death remain intact until he should return at some future time prepared to carry out the i)lan for a j^rand spiritual materialization scene. How well lie suc- ceeded in this will be sho^^^l in ly tiresome; the sand would penetrate his shoes and Idister his feet till every step was agony. In this condition he would see the stage with four horses dash past him, and oh ! how he then would TAKES A WALK. 149 wish lie liad some of the money which, at differeut times, he had so foolishly squandered, and could take his seat in that coach. "While he suffered by the heat of the scorching sun by day, he also suf- fered with the cold by night, and often, after lying for two or three hours, he would wake up chilled through ; then he would reach out with his hands and haul the light dry sand over and around him. If this did not answer, he would arise, roll up his blankets and push forward for a few miles until the exercise of walking had warmed him up sufficiently, then lie would repeat the attempt to sleep. In this manner the weary days passed until he reached Salt Lake City in Utah. There he succeeded in selling a small revolver which he had carried with him all the way for protection against robbers. But as his cash had dwindled down to less than two dollars, he concluded that the fear of robbers need not keep him awake nights, even if he had no re- volver. He sold it for eighteen dollars, and then securing cheap board in a humble but very intelli- gent Mormon family, he concluded he would re- main awhile in that beautiful city and study Mor- monism. The Mormon semi-annual conference was in ses- sion, and holding meetings twice daily. These our hero attended regularly. The Mormon ladies in the house where he resided were fully competent to 150 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. discuss religious subjects with Lim, and, as usual with that sex, were earnest advocates of polygamy. " I am surprised," said Lockwell to them one afternoon just after he had returned from confer- ence meeting and as they were all sitting in the cosy little parlor, " I am suq^riscd to find you ladies all in favor of polygamy. I had always 6U})j)osed tliat the advocates of that peculiarity in your religious system were confined to the nuile sex exclusively." " Why should they be ? The objections to more than one wife I do not consider sound, or at least will not hold good until proj)erty is more evenly divided. You have in many parts of tlie East local- ities where the ladies largely i)redominate. Your monugainic laws simi)ly comj>el suiue of these ladies to remain single, for there are not husbands enough to go around" (Lockwell blushed as he thought these husbands were apt to " go around " rather too much as it was, but he made no reply, and the lady con- tinued) ; " but supposing they were exactly equal in numbers, is not a man who is worth one hundred thousand dollars better able to suj^port and protect a dozen ^vives, and bring up and educate fifty chil- dren, than a pauper is to do the same with one wife and two children? Suppose you ask any one of the thousands oi industrious girls who are just eking out a miserable existence sewing shirts at six cents apiece if she would not like to be the second, third, TAKES A WALK. 151 or tenth wife of souie honorable man who Hkes her and is well able to take care of her, and if she would reply in the negative it is only because she has been taught to despise such a position and liold such a person in contem])t. But now let the laws be changed, and the customs of your society changed, so that a second or tenth wife holds just as honora- ble a position in society, and tlien she would gladly accept the position, and would she would not be far better off ? would not the State be gainer ? and who would be harmed thereby ? The dislike to being a man's second or tenth livmg wife is f omided upon an unreasoning prejudice which is the result of their education, and education can also eradicate it. Again, about one half of your population in the great city of New York, for instance, are living in tenement houses, and a very large proportion of them are in cramped circumstances to say the least. Now tell me if you think these children who have little or no care ; running in the streets ; no instruc- tion except what the law compels them to get at the public schools, grow up to be better citizens than if they belonged to fathers who were able to instruct and care for them and to see them well started in life, even though their mothers were second, third, or tenth wives ? We here, both women and men, believe that the misery of your great cities would be immeasurably relieved if your marital laws were so 152 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. changed as to allow tliose who were able to bring up and make good citizens of fifty children tct do so, and those who could only bring \\\) children in the gutter should not be allowed to have any." The blushes on the countenance of our unsojDliis- ticated friend during this hiu*angue were painful to witness, but he stammered out the in(|uiry, " Theu you would not allow a poor man to marry at all f " Not till the State was satisfied that he could make good citizens of his cliildren, A person's character depends almost wholly U])<)n his early education and surroundings, and the infiuences brought to bear ui)on him while liis mind is form- ing ; if all tliese are bad, in nine cases out of ten he will make a bad citizen. If hunger compels a youth to steal against lys inchnation he will soon liecome a voluntary thief. No! no! You must either distribute your property in great cities more evenly, or you must rearrange your marriage laws." "'But," said Lockwell, " if you allow a man to have two wives you must also allow a woman to have two husbands." " That by no means follows. It is generally the man who earns the money and has the property, and he it is who has to furnish the support and protection, and the number of his wives should be regulated just according to the amount of that sup- port and protection. Besides there is a larger num- TAKES A WALK. 153 ber of women tlian men in almost every country. But nature lias settled that question, for a woman can never be mother of more children than one man may well be father of, but one man may well be father of as many children as a dozen or twenty women can have." " Almost thou persuadest me to be a Mormon," replied our hero. The ladies taking part in this conversation were the first and third wives of a Mormon merchant of the city — the chief sj^eaker being the latter. What struck Lockwell very forcibly in this place was the apparent moraUty of the inhabitants. In every other city of similar size in the United States that he had visited, dozens of houses of ill-fame might be seen on every hand — here not one. Less drunkenness was observable here than elsewhere. Modesty, industry, and quietness were the charac- teristics of every class. There were many Gentiles here, most of whom came with the idea that the Mormon women were no better than the thousands of street-walkers that they had left behind them in their own cities, and this very erroneous idea was the cause of the many difficulties occurring between the two classes, and was really the princij^al, if not the only cause, of the antipathy manifested by the Mormons toward foreigners. He noticed invariably that when a 154 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. Gentile resided for any length of time among them, and treated their women with resi)ect, he need have no fear of molestation. It was while Lock well was stopping there that a Gentile by the name of Copi)ei'tield was nnirdered — shot just as he was entering the door of his hotel in the early evening, and instantly killed, undoubtedly hy a Morman, hut it was just after dark and tlie man who tired the shot was not seen. Immediately there was great excitement among tlie (Jentiles, many of whom rushed aronnd the stivets with drawn revolvers, asking if any more of their num- ber had been assassinated, and whether there was not some danger of a general mitssacre, etc. Cor- respondents the next day wrote letters to tlie East- ern press stating the fact, and speaking of it as a cold-blooded and causeless murder — the result of religious fanaticism on the i)art of the Mormons. Now the facts, as our hero fully ascertained, were that the murdered man had grossly insulted a ^lormon woman who was a stranger to him, but whom he knew was the third living wife of her husband. She at once reported the language to her husband, who, of course, res2)ected her as much as his first wife, and felt bound to give her the same protection, and simply did what any Eastern husband would have done to the insulter of his wife — he shot him. TAKES A WALK. 155 After spending three pleasant weeks in Salt Lake City, and his funds running very low, he thought it time to push forward again toward Montana. Greatly refreshed and invigorated by his rest, he resumed liis dried fish and cracker diet upon the road. lie had about four hundred miles to go yet before reaching his objective point, Vir- ginia City, Montana. He had no acquaintances in that country, but had made up his mind to try his fortunes in the gold mines near that place. He met with no incident upon the trip worth recording, and arrived in the streets of Virginia City one evening just after nightfall, a total stranger in a strange laud, and with just seventy- five cents in his pocket, and here all meals were a dollar, and all lodgings the same. He walked slowly up the main street of the town gazing with ever-increasing longing at the good things displayed in the windows of the bakeries and stores. - Footsore and weary, he had no very defi- nite idea as to where he should go or what he should do immediately. Stopping a few minutes to look at some cakes and pies to be seen in the window of a bakery, he felt a decided hankering after a particular pie he saw there. With only seventy-five cents in his pocket, and not acquainted with a soul in the whole Territory, he was not sure 156 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. that it was liis best financial policy to invest any- thing in luxuries. Yet those who liave never been deprived of their regular variety at meals cannot imagine what an intense desire arises for what is called in Western parlance a " square meal " when one has long been confined to any one article of diet alone. lie entered the shop and timidly asked the jirice of that pie, fearing it might be a dollar, everything was so dear. "Seventy-five cents," said the baker. "Hand it out," said our hero. The i)ie eaten, he felt in good spirits, notwithstanding he was in a strange place at night, and not a single cent in his pocket. He walked on till he came where two hotels were located, one on each side of the street. He concluded they would be naturally in opposition, and consequently reasonable, and just now he wanted a vcrij reasonable hotel. lie entered the first, and going up to the proprietor who was behind the bar observed : " AVell, sir, I have come to stop with you." " All right, glad to see you ; let me take your blankets." " Hold on, ray friend, I have not got one cent in the world to pay you with. And now if these terms don't suit you, I will go straight across and patronize the opposition hotel across the road." " "Well," said the hotel keeper, gazing curiously TAKES A WALK 157 upon the newcomer, "please explain yourself a little more fully." "Certainly. I have come to this Territory to work in the mines. I want to stop here all night. I have got no money now, but as soon as I get some I will pay you, if you are willing I should stay in that way." The other looked him over for a few seconds, and then said that although he did not generally do business in that way he guessed he could re- main. The next day Lock well sought and obtained em- ployment in a quartz-mill about twenty-live miles away, and with the first money he earned he re- turned and paid his hotel bill. CHAPTEE XII. Y A T. r A B L E T U T P I E 8. He remained in tliat vicinity Init a few weeks, and tlien t<»(»k another walk of one lmn(lreout as large as iron tilings, or where it is what is known as scale gold, about the size of a pin head and very thin. To separate these different kinds of gold from the sand and gravel through which it is distril> uted is, of course, the object of all the different VALUABLE PUPPIES. 159 " washings." .Until these later years, when, where practicable, the "hydraulic" has superseded aU other methods, the sluicebox was the most com- mon and satisfactory method of washing the gravel. This consisted of a long narrow box, or succession of boxes, say fifty to one hundred feet long, and twelve to twenty inches wide, and about six inches high. All along the bottom of this box are placed what are called " riffles," and consist of anything presenting sufficient irregularities to catch and hold the gold as the water carried the dirt down and along over the bottom of the box. These riffles very frequently consist of a false bottom full of holes, or else slats placed in either crosswise or lengthwise. When the dirt, gravel, or sand is thrown in these boxes with a head of water passing through, the dirt is dissolved and the gravel and sand are carried along by the water, but the gold being the heaviest clings the closest to the bottom and is the first to be arrested by the " rif- fles." In the evening most of the water is turned off ; the false bottom is raised and the gold care- fully brushed and washed together down to a pan at the bottom. In the mines to which LockweU was now direct- ing his steps the " pay dirt," that is, the only gravel that would pay to wash, was found about eleven feet beneath the surface; eleven feet of the top 160 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. dirt bad to be removed, shoveled out, and wheeled away before they reached this pay dirt, and that was only about three feet thick. So this thin streak of pay dirt under so much that had to be removed must be very rich in order to i)ay ex- penses, and it was very rich ; about twenty millions of dollars were taken out of this one gidch alone. On the ground where Lockwell went to work the manner of conducting operations was about as follows : A piece of the ground some twenty feet square was " stripped." All the top ground to the depth of eleven feet was dug up and carried away in wheelbarrows. After this pit reached a few feet in depth these had to be run up steep planks to the top. When all the dirt was removed, saving only about three feet of hard, compact dirt and gravel at the bottom, the sluiceboxcs were arranged to cross the top of this pit with a decline of about one inch to the foot to give a free flow of the water. A scaffold was then put up half way between the boxes and the gravel, and onto this scaffold was first thrown the gravel, thence into the boxes. Our hero desired to get, first, a thorough knowl- edge of this way of mining, and next to increase the size of his not very plethoric pocketbook, and to accomplish both purposes he was resolved to go to work as an ordinary laborer, the usual wages be- ing about five dollars per day. But here he encoun- VALUABLE PUPPLES. 161 tered a difficulty. The mining district was overrun with men seeking work ; the work was manual la- bor of the most tiresome kind. Only few men who had done no manual labor of any kind could stand it longer than a few hours. Fifty men were at all times standing near waiting for a chance to work, and, as often happened, when one man ceased to work up to the mark, and was told he could leave, a dozen sprang to take his place. Lockwell began to think that his " struggle for hash " in this place was going to be a very difficult one. Many men looking for work were actually suffering for the necessaries of life, and really hungry. Two days he thus spent in looking for something to do, but in vain. The prospect was gloomy. His money was again running very short : something must be done at once. The third morn- ing he went along the gulch until he came to where they were stripping a pit and had got down with it some seven or eight feet, and wheeling the dirt up the steep plank was extremely tiresome. Going into this pit he asked the man in charge if he did not wish to employ another good hand. "Why, no," was the answer. " I have now all the good men I can work to advantage and you don't look like a man who is accustomed to hard work, and if not you had better not try this kind of labor ; you would be compelled to give up before you were at 162 /iV SEARCH OF GOLD. it two hours. We pay high wages, and the season is so short that we are compelled to work our men to the utmost limit of endurance. Besides, there are so many here now looking for work that we can take our pick and have none ])ut the best ; old min- ers, who can stand the hardest kind of labor." " I notice," said Lockwell, " that you have two men with each wheelbarrow ; now there is a wheel- l)arrow with only one man connected with it; you had better put me to work there and give me a trial." "Ko, it would be useless. That man with his wheelbarrow is really more than I can work to ad- vantage, but as he has worked for me a long time, and is a good man, I don't wish to discharge him." " Then I will go there and work with him for nothing ; I want the exercise, and I won't charge you anything for the privilege." The other laughed at an idea so novel as a man working for nothing, but, of course, could not re- fuse his consent, and Lockwell went to work. Two men were working with each barrow ; they would use their pickaxes and shovel to fill a barrow, when one would wheel it out and the other would be con- stantly loosening up the gravel with the pick until the return of the barrow, when both would again load it, and the man who took it out before would I'emain behind to loosen the gravel. In this way VALUABLE PUPPLES. 163 tliere was no chance for rest, not a moment could be snatched for the relief of his constantly strained muscles. The first few hours were gone through with comjDaratively well, but before noon the fa- tigue was so great it seemed impossible to con- tinue, but still he kept at it by mere force of will. Oh, if he could only rest for just five minutes, wliat would he not have given. But his pride and will kept him going till after eleven o'clock ; then he knew by the sun he had less than one hour to keep going till the recess for dinner came — from 12 till 1. lie kept glancing up at the sun, and it seemed as though it would never reach the meridian. Noon came at last, however, and he was soon at the log hut where he was living, and then had to fry his own bacon, which, with some bread and nothing else, constituted his dinner. One o'clock came all too quickly and he was back at his work. The afternoon passed far worse than the morning. The eye of the " Boss " was constantly upon him. Nothing but his excessive pride and determined will kept him up. No work so fatiguing had ever fallen to his lot before. When the time to quit came, at six o'clock, he could only just stand ; his hands were terribly blistered and raw all across his palms. But not one indication of his sufferings would he allow to be seen by any individual — par- ticularly the Boss. And when he passed that iudi- 1G4 ZiY SEARCH OF GOLD. vidua! after quitting work he (Loekwell) remarked to liim, " Do you call this hard work ? "Wliy, man, it is nothing ; scarcely enough work about it for ex- ercise. I used to work harder than this l^efore I was fifteen years old, and when I was on my father's farm." "Well," said the Boss, "young man, you have earned your five dollars to-day, and you will get it, too, and if you wish to continue on the same way each day you can do so." And he did. Sev- eral weeks he kept at it without flinching, though it was fearfully hard. He says in that portion of his MSS. describing these scenes, " The work got a lit- tle easier as I became used to it, aJthough I never got so I hankered after it." Thus he became initiated into the mysteries of placer mining, which was to become his jirofession afterward. A few weeks of this hard life passed and he had secured enough money to justify him in looking about for some ground to work upon his own account. One Sunday, while in a crowded saloon watching the manipulations of a score or more of professional gamblers who were scattered around at as many lit- tle tables, playing their nefarious practices upon all who were foolish enough to risk their money upon these games of chance, and the name of such was legion, he overheard two men talldng as follows : VALUABLE PUPPIES. 165 Said tlie first : " I wish I could remain and work it for it is paying me well, but you see that under the circumstances it is absolutely necessary for me to go East." "Yes, I know it," replied his companion. "I wish I did not have already more ground than I can work I would quickly take it off of your hands, for I know that a man can do well with the ground, and, perhaps, make a small fortune." ^' Well, I will dispose of the ground to-morrow for some price, as I must leave at once for the States" (for so they called going East). Our hero thinking that this might be the very chance for which he was looking, approached the last speaker and asked him what it was he had for sale. The man answered, " Only a very small side- hill claim, but it is very good, averaging me about twenty-five dollars a day over and above all ex- penses. But I have just received word from the States that my wife is very ill, and I must start at once if I wish to see her alive, so I have to sacri- fice this piece of ground and start at once. A week ago a man offered me twelve hundred dollars for the claim, but then I had not got this sad news, and, of course, would not take any such figure for it ; now, when I have got to sell, T can't find that man, he has gone away, and everyone else who has got any money has also got all the ground they cai' work, so I must take just what I can get." 166 m SEARCH OF GOLD. " What will you take for it, then ?" " As I said, stranger, I must sell for pst what I can get to-morrow. Come down in the morning and prospect it, and yon will see just what it is." This was agreed to, and the next morning Lock- well, following the directions of the miner, arrived at the claim just before the other came up ; then they proceeded to "prospect" it. This process consists in taking an iron pan about the size of an ordinary milk pan, and filling it with the pay dirt, carefully wash it down, or " pan it out," as it is called, until only the fine particles of gold are left therein, and by these he can tell about how the dirt will pay to work. Lockwell had pros- pected a great deal where he had been at work, and was a good judge of. such matters. "Here," said the owner, " where you see this strata of gravel is the pay dirt. There is only a small por- tion uncovered, but if you will take this pan and try some of it you can tell something about what the ground is worth." This was done, and a splen- did prospect obtained. The ground yielded a fine result in coarse gold, and must be worth many hundred dollars. Alas! our hero only had about one hundred dollars to offer for it, and he did not think this would be accepted ; but he made the of- fer, at the same time saj-ing it was all he had to give. ""Well, stranger, as I told you before, I VALUABLE PUPPIES. 167 must dispose of it, and now I will tell you what I will do, and it will be almost the same as giving you the property : give me the hundred dollars, and as you look like an honest man, I will give you my address, and if you will promise to pay me the first thousand dollars you take out from the ground over and above all expenses, and send it East to me, the ground is yours, and I am off at once for the East." The offer was quickly taken, the money paid, and the transfer made. Our hero now found himself the owner of a mine which he had calculated would yield him at least twenty-five dollars a day profit, so that in less than two months he would have his mine all paid for, and after that he would have the profits of the ground clear for himself, perhaps for years. He was sat- isfied that his "struggles for hash" had ended, Visions of a brown-stone front in 'New York, with a nice little cottage by the sea, began to flit across his brain ; also a nice little wife, for he began to think that a wife would be a good thing with a brown stone : would set it off to advantage. Then in the summer cottage, too, there she would come in good. That night he lay awake trying to think and decide which of his eligible acquaintances he should select. When he fell asleep he dreamed that he had acquired half a dozen more claims, all paying him enormously. Then he found a 168 11^ SEARCH OF GOLD. quartz ledge containing six inches of solid gold encased in a wall of pure eilver a foot thick on each side. lie married Queen Victoria and built her a palace of solid gold. "When he awoke it was time to fry his bacon and get to work ; the two otlier men whom he iiad hired would be tliere awaiting him. Ihit lie was on time, and they all three set to work witli a will. He liad gone in debt for some tools and other necessary articles, and had only just ten dollar.s with which he was to pay his men their wages at night. That night he cleaned up his little shiiceboxes, expecting to get aboat fifty dolhu-s, and got just seventy-five cents! A dark sus])icion crossed his mind; he seized liis pan ;uul prospected the ground once more. It was as lie ex]K*cted : he could get scarce a color of gold ; the ground was worthless, and had been " salted " on him. lie had been deceived ; his money was gone, and he had a])solutely noth- ing to show for it ! How quickly the brown-stone front and pretty wife visions were dissipated, and in their place rose the stern reality of renewed hard labor with blistered hands in the pit again, if he should be lucky enough to get his place Ijack once more ! The operation of '" salting " consists in sprinkling a little gold dust on the gravel that an intended purchaser would be likely to pan out, and thus deceive him in regard to the worth of the VALUABLE PUPPIES. 169 ground. It is in tlie same way that many a worth- less piece of oil land has been sold in Pennsylvania — by pouring oil down a well in process of sinking, and then claiming to have struck oil. Our friend's "struggle for hash" had recom- menced in earnest. Two days after the discovery of the swindle that had been perpetrated upon him Lockwell saw the same man who had sold him the ground just emerging from a saloon, where he had evidently been spending some of Lockwell's hard-earned dol- lars for rum. When he saw Lockwell he ap- proached him with a grin upon his face, and said: "Well, stranger, don't you think you could make me a small payment on account of that thou- sand dollars from the net profits of what you have taken out of the claim ?" The man's good-humored assurance struck Lock- well in such a ludicrous light that he burst out laughing, and when the man insisted that he should go in and take a drink with him, said : " I will, on condition that you answer me two questions truly." "Forty, stranger, forty, if you like; now fire away ; but first nominate your liquid poison, for it may be dry work." " First, tell me how is that very estimable lady. 170 m SEARCH OF GOLD. your wife, wlio was so sick the otlier day that yon were afraid you would never see her again alive V "Well, you will observe, stranger, that I sud- denly happened to think that before I could iK>ssi- bly get to her she would be either dead or well ; in the latter ca.se she would not need me, and in the former case I would not need her, so what was the use of my going? Queer I never thonght of it be- fore, wasn't it T' "Yes, it was queer you never thought of it till after you sold your claim. But I will not take ad- vantage of you. You may have your claim back for the same price I paid you for it." " Give us your paw, stranger,"' exclaimed the miner enthusiastically, extending his hand ; " tip us your bunch of ^vcs. I would scarcely have ex- pected to find such sentiments from a pilgrim ; they would do honor to the oldest miner in the place. Here, barkeeper, set 'em up once more in honor of the noble sentiments of this 2>ilgi'i"»- But, stranger, I never go back on a bargain ; tlio claim is y GUI's, and you must keep it. I would not go back on a bargain I had once made ; no, not if it cost me a leg," " So I supposed," said Lockwell sadly. ^ The next question I want to ask you is, Where is the man who offered you twelve hundred dollars for that ground i I would like to find him just now." VALUABLE PUPPIES. 171 " Don't know, stranger, don't know ; and if I were you, pard, I wouldn't spend much time a-looking him up. You see the fact was about this way: One day while I was busy on my claim along passes a man with two pups, a-leading one and carrying the other in his arms. When he sees me, says he, ' How much will you take for your claim, pard V Says I, 'How much will you give?' Says he, ' These two pups.' ' How much are they worth ? ' says I. ' Six hundred dollars apiece,' says he. So you sec, stranger, twice six hundred dollars is twelve hundred !" CHAPTEE Xm. THE INDIAN MASSACEE. He resnmed bis old place at hard labor, and re- tained it for many weeks. At last tbe man for wliom be was working took bim into jiartnersbip, and tbey togetber took large contracts for stripping ground in tlie mines, and were very successful, clearing several tbousand dollars apiece. As winter came on — a season in wbicb no work could be done in tbe mines — and be would bave to go somewbere to pass tbe frozen. montbs, be resolved to return to New York and put in practice, if possible, bis long- contemplated plan of baving a great spiritual seance in wbicb be sbould materialize to tbe view of bis two very dear friends in New York city. We find bim late in tbe autumn leaving Montana by way of tbe Missouri River, witb a few tbousand dollars in drafts, and in a flat boat containing about tbirty men. Tbis boat bad been built by tbemselves away up on tbe beadwaters of navigation (Fort Benton), and was simply a flat box witb tbe sides about two feet bigb and tbirty feet long by eigbt feet broad ; in tbis boat tbey started to float down TSE INDIAN MASSACRE. 173 witli the cuiTent, assisted also by oars, a distance of some two thousand miles to Omaha, Nebraska, their final point of debarkation. At that time three fourths of the route was through a total wilderness inhabited by hostile Indians, who already had killed many men attempting the same feat. It was a foolhardy attempt, and bitterly did they rue their boldness and lack of discretion in at least not pro- viding better means of defence ; the sides of the boat being only of one-inch board and only two feet higli left the occupants wholly at the mercy of any enemy who might remain hidden in the bush ujDon the banks of the river, and who might continue concealed while traveling from point to point as they followed the boat, and could pick off one after another till all would be massacred. Lockwell at first sight of the boat observed and commented upon these dangers, but as he was among a class of men who laughed at all kinds of danger, he forbore making any furtlier remarks thereon. They started, and for five hundred miles they had a very pleasant country to pass through. "Well provided with all the necessaries for such a trip, they would land to do their cooking, make their coffee, and boil the potatoes, but all the cooking was done morning and evening to prevent delay. Enough cold cooked victuals were carried aboard in the morning to do for the midday meal. Most always a good sheltered 174 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. spot was found for their camp at niglit, and not un- freqiiently a good supply of game, tliat formed a very acceptable addition to their larder, was secured by means of the arms with which each passenger was well supplied. Taking turns at the oars, of which tliey had two pair, they propelled the un- gainly craft ahead of the current, which flowed about four miles an hour, and altogether they would make about seventy-five miles a day of ten hours. One evening, just after dusk, they were still on the river, not having passed any place which offered a very tempting campground, and the evening was very pleasant, when they heard some splashing in the water directly ahead of them. Instantly the thoughts of all were on the Indians which were known to be in that vicinity, and every man's hand was upon his firearms. But as they drew closer to the object of interest, they quickly saw that it was the head of a buffalo who was trying to cross the river right ahead of them. To turn their unwieldy craft and pursue the monster was now the object of all. A few vigorous strokes of the oars brought it close up to the hairy, matted head of the buffalo, which was the only part visible above water, and which was snorting and blowing at a terrific rate. Al)Out twenty shots from all kinds of anns— rifles, shotguns, revolvers, carbines, and all kinds of pis- tols — were discharged at his devoted head. What THE INDIAN MASSACRE. 175 must have been the poor animal's sensations when this murderous onslaught* was poured into him! Many shots must have hit him and many more missed him. But the matted masses of hair about the heads of these old fellows are almost bullet proof, and no sign of disaster was manifested by the unfortunate brute. The swimming and the snorting still kept up. The shore was reached, the firing was continued ; the animal walked out on the ground, stood still, shook himself, and slowly com- menced sinking. This was not understood by his pursuers. The animal did not tumble down as he would have done if badly wounded, but remaining on all fours kept gradually sinking lower and lower. Lockwell, who was observing him closely, exclaimed, " He is on a hill of quicksand ; if he does not move quickly he will be our meat yet." The next instant the huge beast realized his own position and danger, and madly plunged for liberty^ It was too late ; each struggle only put him deeper in the treacher- ous quicksand. "Now is our time," observed Lockwell; "he is fast, and by stei^j^ing quickly around upon this sand there is no danger; don't fire any more shots, but save your ammunition for copper-colored game, enough of which we may see yet before getting through," saying which he ap- proached the animal with an axe, and hitting him several heavy blows on the head ended his life. It 176 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. was found that the animal had sunk in the quick- sand down to his body, and had not been able to move. A quarter was cut from his body to cook, but it was found so tough and strong as to be use- less. Two days more passed pleasantly, and as they were then entering a bad Indian territory it was considered safer to travel by night and lay by in the daytime, and this course was adopted. At first a strong guard was kept out as pickets all day, but as there were no signs of anything dangerous, all vi^^ orous precautions against danger were relaxed, con- trary to the advice of Lockwell, who strongly in- sisted that by taking every precaution against danger they were doing no possible harm, and might be doing themselves a great deal of good. His advice was unheeded, however, and the result was disas- trous. On the third day after the adventure with the buffalo, and being then about seven hundred miles on their journey, they were traveling at night about one third way across from the southern or right bank of the river, when from the bushes nearest them came a volley of bullets and arrows that killed three of their number and wounded two more. The suddenness of the attack paralyzed the entire crew, and the next instant they were all lying flat in the bottom of the boat, which was left to drift at the mercy of the current. Unf ortmiately the set of the current at this place was toward the THE INDIAN MASSACRE. Ill same side of the river wlience proceeded the deadly shots, and to drift but little closer was to give the Indians certain opportunities to fire on the prostrate forms of the unfortunate travelers. Realizing the danger when he came to take thought, Lockwell sprang to his feet, and in a hurried voice explained the nature of the danger, and grabbing an oar called uj)on the others to assist him in moving the boat toward the other side of the river. Seeing this example before them three others sprang likewise to the relief of the boat, and amid a perfect shower of bullets and arrows pulled with all their might toward the other side of the river. But it was of no use ; the boat was so unwieldy, and the current so strong, that it was steadily moving them all toward certain death. The Indians seeing that the whole boat's load was certainly coming into their hands, stopj)ed firing, in all probability to save their ammunition. Their loud yells of triumph could now be heard by the doomed band in the boat, and they felt their hearts and spirits sink within them as they saw the certainty of their fate staring them in the face. Again the quick wit of Lockwell came to their rehef . Taking his oar he quickly plunged it over the side of the boat into the water till it touched the bottom, and ^dthdrawing it he gave a loud cry of triumph. " Hurrah ! boys," he shouted, " we will beat those savages yet. Jump overboard 178 ZZV SEARCH OF OOLD. every one of you ; the water is not over four feet deep, and we can walk on the bottom and with our hands on the edge of the boat we will tow her along after us." And he set the example by plunging over, and letting himself down by the edge of tlie boat till he struck bottom, he held the boat fast until all the others had done the same, first placing all their arms on the seats near the side of the boat that they were to be on. The movement was a per- fect success : when they had gained the water they foimd they could tow the boat without difficulty ; besides, the boat and the water proved an effectual shield against the bullets of the Indians, who recom- menced their firing with yells of rage and disap- pointment when they saw the success of the last movement. They were now getting rai-)idly to the other side of the river, and also going down some- what with the current in order to get below the projecting point of land. In less than an hour they were out of reach and out of danger of pursuit. This was a terrible place to have wounded men, Ijiit fortunately, although there were three killed out- right, yet the two who were wounded were only slightly so, and by careful treatment with the best that could be given them they were not as badly off as was feared. The dead were buried near the river on the grassy bank. Arrived in Omaha tl^Vty-two days from leaving Fort Benton, they THE INDIAN MASSACRE. 179 were congratulated upon their escape, and the party broke up. Lockwell took the express for New York, pondering upon his anticipated debut as a spirit. He had determined to make this event a success if it were possible to do so. ISO IJS^ SEARCU OF GOLD. CIIAPTEr. XIY. APPEARS AS A SPIEIT. AnRTTED in New York, our friend registered under un assumed niinie, and kept clear of all places where lie would be likely to meet any person who would recoi^nize him. He found that in order to render his plans a success he must necessarily take a few persons into his confidence. Proceeding cau- tiously to the house where he had boarded formerly he appeared to the landlady and almost frightened her to death, and 'it reut five minutes of a quite painful silence, a deep and solemn voice issued from the little apertures in the upper portions of the doors of the cabinet, which served as windows, which sent a startled thrill through every nerve in the frames of those two, as they recognized beyond doubt the very voice of their suicided fricn— ' I would say, if you will all unite in singing that sacred hymn entitled — that is called — " (aside to the medium) " For heaven's sake give me the name of some hymn." The medium whispered, " ' When I can read my title clear.' " The ghost, who could not hear very well, re- peated, "You w-ill all please sing, 'When I can read, my little dear.' " However, it had the desired effect ; the twelve faithful ones, who had so often been through similar scenes, knew about what was wanted, and immediately struck up on the well- known hymn, while the ghost stepped slowly and cautiously out of the cabinet. Though the light was dim, yet the well-known form and features of their lost friend were plainly discernible by the ladies as he stood before them. And here came very near being a denouement which would have been very unpleasant to all con- cerned. On getting a plain view of the person of Lockwell, the two ladies simultaneously fainted 188 m SEARCH OF GOLD. dead awaj, and lie sprang forward to theii* relief, and a second later he would have betrayed his real existence by giving them his support, but for- tunately the medium was close beside him, and, without observation, grabbed him by the wrist in time to save his reputation as a veritable ghost. Seeing the others rushing to the assistance of the two swooning ladies, he retired with ghostly dig- nity from the scene, and re-entered the cabinet. The medium shortly after emerged from the cab- inet in apparently a very exhausted state ; the doors were again thrown open for a minute's inspection of the cabinet if any one so chose, but all were satisfied as to the honesty of everybody and every- thing. The seance now broke up. The ladies wluj had fainted were carefully carried to differ- ent rooms, as it was desirable that neitlier should know of the other having been so effected. They were quickly restored, and without meeting again were sent to their respective homes. The seance had been a success, and Lock well now devoted several days to a complete and elab- orate statement of the whole affair, together with a full statement in regard to the suicide, and sent it to each of the ladies in question, who had a per- fect faith in spiritualizations since the evening of the seance, and who was each convinced that the spirit of her friend was ever hovering near her. APPEARS AS A SPIRIT. 189 Their astonisliment on getting each the explana- tory letter, and learning that Lockwell was still in the flesh, and that the whole thing had been trick- ery and delusion, can better be imagined than de- scribed. At first they were disposed to be rather indignant wlien they considered they were the vic- tims of a practical joke, but when they read the closing paragi-aphs of his letters, in which he stated that all had been done only to add to the amuse- ment of all concerned, and humbly begged their pardon if he had in any way caused them a mo- ment's misery, as such effect had been very far from his intentions, they readily granted him the desired pardon — the more readily as neither knew that the other was also connected with these affairs. Both having swooned simultaneously at the seance, neither supposed that the other was at all affected by the proceedings. He was, therefore, received by them on the same footing as of old, and the incidents and the results of the great suicide foraied the topic of many an hour's conversation. After making himseK known to all his friends, and enjoying their surprise to the i-itmost, time once again began to hang heavy upon his hands. He often remarked that the worst kind of priva- tion and lal3or was not so disagreeable to him as the ennui of idleness. About this time it was with great pleasure that he encountered on Broadway 190 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. one afteraoon Mr. Train, the youn<^ man who, as a recruit in the barracks at Fair Haven, Conn., had saved his life when about to be killed by a bounty-jumper, as narrated in a previous chapter. The meeting. was full of pleasure to both parties, who were really attached to each other, and when our friend found that the other was a medical stu- dent who had just received his diploma but was in very imjK^cunious circumstances, he took him to his boarding-house and made him accept of a room and board there at his (Lockwell's) expense, until he could look around and decide what to do, and ended by sending him out to one of the mining towns in the far AVest, where there was a good opening for the young physician and where he suc- ceeded and prospered. The winter months had nearly passed, and Lock- well decided this season to seek a more southerly field of operations ; a place where, if he felt so inclined, he might remain all winter. Arizona was the objective point. He was off once more en route to the far West, but on passing through Santa Fc he was induced to remain and enter the store of Eetrop & Snibbets, a large wholesale and retail house. Though he was successful here he remained but a short time when he became impressed with the idea that the Northern Pacific Railroad, then in process of construction, would develop a very APPEARS AS A SPIRIT. 191 fine country at its western terminus on Pnget Sound in Washington Territory, and lie deter- mined to go there and locate himself. He went by way of San Francisco and started up the coast in the good bark " Sylphy," bound for Puget Sound. 192 /iV SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTEE XY. SHIP WRECKED. The good bark " Sylpliy " had been on her voy- age but two sliort days wlien slie became becalmed, and remained drifting about, now headed one way and now another, for fifteen days ; days of unutter- able weariness to our hero. There were no other passengers, and he used to pace up and down the deck in his loneliness pray- ing for wind. Day after day passed and only the heavy roll of the ship on the long swells that came in from midocean, causing the sails to flap against the mast, relieved the position from being one of al)Solute inertia. There are few more solitary posi- tions imaginable than a becalmed vessel out of sight of all other sails, and five hundred miles from land. At last their prayers were all answered at once. As is frequently the case the unusually long calm was followed by a severe storm, in fact almost a hurricane. It came upon them with but little warning, yet the captain, ever on the alert, had succeeded in getting everything in the best possible SHIPWRECKED. 193 condition for receiving tlie brant of the attack. Tlie sails had all been furled, except only snch as were necessary to keep the vessel under control. It came upon them first with a deluge of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning. The vivid play of the lightning, as flash after flash succeeded peal upon peal of thunder, caused each man to shrink in ter- ror from the vicinity of the high masts, fearing they would attract the electric messengers of heaven. An hour passed with a constant outpouring of water from the clouds ; then the rain slackened and the wind increased. Violent before, it now became perfectly irresistible. Sail after sail was torn away, replaced, and torn away again. The captain had the helm in his hands, and every sailor was busily engaged working in the rigging about the foremast. Lockwell stood by the side of the captain, viewing with deep awe the majesty of nature when aroused as at present, and thinking more of the beauty of that pyrotechnical display than of the danger by which he was surrounded, when he was aroused by the voice of the captain exclaiming in great alarm, "That topmast will surely give way, or carry the whole mainmast with it if that sail is not cut loose, for the ropes are foul, and I have no one to send up there." Lockwell looked up at the bending topmast, then 194 m SEARCH OF GOLD. at tlie endangering sail, tlie ropes of wliicli were foul and so could not be loosened from the deck, then at the sailors, all of whom were required for- ward, then turning to the captain he said : " Can't I hold the helm while you go up ?" "Never; it is as nnich as our lives are wortli to let the helm go out of my hands now." " Then can't I go up in the rigging and cut that sail loose ?" " You ? "Well, I don't know. Yes, perhaps you might if you are not afraid to go up there. Take this hatchet with you," and he then explained fully just what was to be done. In an instant Lockwell was ascending the rigging. He was forced to hold the handle of a small hatchet between his teeth ; so great was the power of the wind it required both his hands to hold on while ascending. "When just at the top, and about to free the overstrained mast, a gust of wind which seemed to have the concen- trated force of a dozen previous gusts struck the ship. She careened so that he thought the top of the mast would plunge into the water and the bark turn over. Although she turned so far that she ap- peared to be l}"ing on her side, and the mast on which Lockwell was chnging was nearly level, and he was but a few feet above the water, and could have walked back to the ship on the mast if it had remained in that position, yet the next instant the SHIPWRECKED. 195 vessel was recovering herself, bringing her masts with great velocity again up to the perpendicular, but the same moment there was still another blast of wind fully equaling its predecessor in power and velocity ; the return to the perpendicular of the masts being simultaneous with the arrival of this latter blast of wind, doubled the effect and force of the latter upon the sails ; no ordinary masts could stand the pressure, and the one Lockwell was on bent and snapped in an instant close off at the deck and fell with a clashing sound, fearful in his ears, down into the Pacific Ocean, which, on that night, was thoroughly belying its name. Instinctively he clung tight to the mast as it descended to the water. The ropes fastened to it on the windward side somewhat broke the fall, otherwise he might have been rendered unconscious by the concussion on the surface of the water. As the mast struck the water the sails, which were attached to it and descended with it, prevented it from sinking deejD down, and, after a momentary plunge beneath the waters, Lockwell found himself floating on the surface still clinging tightly to the mast. On seeing the fall of the mast the captain had left his wheel and sprang with an axe to cut the ropes still connecting the floating timber with the ship. While this was abso- lutely necessary to prevent the vessel from becom- ing a wreck, it also cut off all hope or chance of 19G IN SEARCH OF GOLD. rescue from the fallen passenger. As these occur- rences Lad all liaj^peued late in the afternoon the dusk of evening was ah-eady falling when Lockwell, rubbing the water from his eyes, saw the vessel fast leaving him to his fate. For those on board to at- temi^t to rescue him in such a tornado he knew would be worse than useless. They would only en- danger their craft and could render him no assist- ance. Situated in the viist expanse of the Pacific Ocean, supported only by a mast, and every moment a towering wave covering him entirely for a second, only to emerge time enough to recover his breath and be prepared for the next, and also to see the fast-receding outlines of his ship while the obscurity of night was coming on apace, altogether was enough to strike dismay to the stoutest heart, more especially as there was no probability of a sail pass- ing in sight that way for many days, if at all. He was well aware, from the captain's daily observa- tions, that during the long calm they had drifted many leagues to the westward of the regular route of coasting vessels, and that, therefore, his chances of rescue were almost 7iil. These were not j^lcas- ant meditations. In the meantime the thunder and rain, which had almost ceased during the theaviest blow, now returned with increased force, and the wind in its turn lulled very materially. Aware that there was a long night Ijefore him, probably 8HIPWBEGEED. 197 the first of many that would find him in nearly the same place, he began to look about him with a view to make his condition as comfortable as possible be- fore it should be utterly dark. He saw that the spars still remained fastened crosswise to the mast. Many ropes had likewise remained attached to the mast and spars, together with a great deal of sail, and in these things Lockwell saw an opportunity offered for arranging quite a comfortable position to remain in until death from hunger or thirst should come to his relief. Every few seconds his glance would turn again toward the less and less distinct vessel pkmging onward into the obscurity of the night. A few minutes passed and his e^^e is caught by a very bright light on the vessel. Yes, it was clear now that as soon as the wind lulled they must have hove too, and were burning fires on the deck to signal him, or to guide him as to their position. But how useless ! he could not move his matted pile of logs, ropes and canvas one inch in any direction. But what an immense fire they were burning to at- tract his attention. How could they do it ? There was not enough combustible material on board to build such an enormous fire, and, see, it grows larger! My God, it cannot be — ah! yes, there is now no earthly doubt in his mind that the ship has taken fire, that she is one mighty blaze. She was undoubtedly struck by Hghtning, and would very 108 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. 80011 be buniGcl to the water's edge. But where were the crew ? Taking to the l)oats, uiidoiil)tecllj, but could the only two small boats that the l)ark possessed live in such a sea as that? He doubted it very much. He even thought that if it \Vas possible for him to leave his ])resent raft and net into one of those boats he would hesitate to do so; his raft could not founder, but if the boats filled with water, and ho thought they must do so, he was far better off on his raft, that is, of course, only for the present time. AVhen the sea went down the boats might be pulled over the five hundred miles intervening between them and the shore, whereas he could not move his craft a foot. So little surface was presented to tli,e action of the wind tliat even with the gale then prevailing they were ch'ifting to the leeward only very, very slowly. But he very much doubted if any who took to the boats would live till the sea went down, and, strange to say, thinking upon the trouble of his companions seemed irreatlv to lifjchten his own. A few minutes before and he would have given three fourths of his life to have been once more upon the deck of that vessel ; now he was saying to himself, ""Well, I am glad I am here and not there." The wind had now de- creased very materially, and the white water no longer broke over his body. Trpng the spar that crossed the mast where he was then sitting, he ^SHIPWRECKED. 199 found it fastened securely and lie could not remove it ; crawling along till he reached the next one, he found that by a little cutting and prying he could loosen it, which he did without much difficulty ; then slowly and carefully towing it back alongside of the first he placed them both together and tied them in that manner with some of the surround- ing rope. He now had a surface on which he could stand without much difficulty, and if he chose walk up and down, although the heavy swell of the ocean made it careen more than was comfortable. Stand- ing upright now he called with all his might, and repeated this at intervals of a few minutes. He had summed up his ideas of the situation about in this way : The captain aud crew had taken to the boats as soon as they had relinquished all hope of saving the vessel. If they could keep their boats at all from being swamped they would, in all probability, have to keep scudding before the wind, that is, in a direction away from him, but there was just the " possibility that they might control their boats suffi- ciently to make headway against the wind, in which case, he had no doubt, they would return to look for him, hence his calls, but, as he expected, there was no response. As near as he could estimate the burning wreck lay from seven to ten miles away and would, he thought, still remain afloat as a drifting hulk. The night was passing, the fire was growing 200 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. diiiiiner, and soon no vestige would remain of the vessel visible to Lis eyes. He Lad given up tlie small Lope Le entertained of meeting tLose in tlie boat and ceased Lis calls. He cLose tLe most com- fortable position Le could tind, and tried to tliink over Lis present p'osition iuid future prospects. To- morrow nigLt, Le tLouglit, Le would be Lungry and suffering still more from tliirst. TLe w^ind and tlie rain still continued, and Le wisLed tLere miglit be some way to catcL tLe latter, as Le sLould certainly need it soon ; Le took off Lis cap and wrung it out ; most of tlie salt water had been waslied out by tlie rains and replaced by fresL, and Le wrung out tLe remainder as dry as Le could and tLen replaced it upon Lis Lead, knowing tLat wLen it sliould be again soaked tlie water would be f resL and Le could tLen wring it out in Lis moutli ; Le did tLe same witli Lis coat. TLinking of fresL water reminded Lini of tlie LogsLeads filled witL water on board tlie bark ; wLat would become of tliem ? tLey would not burn ; a barrel filled witL water would not burn in an ordinary fire ; it would cLar all around but would not burn tlirouffli. TLen tLese Lof?sLeads must still be full of water in tLe bottom of tliat drifting Lulk. H Le could get to tLem Le could prolong life for a few days more. But Low could lie get to tLem ? TLe body of tLe vessel, burned Lollow, if still afloat, would be drifting about tLe SHIPWRECKED. 201 same as his raft, but how to approach one another was the question. The wind was very slowly drifting him toward the wreck, but it must be drifting the wreck fully as fast away from him, so there was nothing being gained. To increase his speed then was evidently his present object. He looked at the sails entangled around him ; if he could get some of those spread before the wind tlie thing might be done. But he had no upright supports on which to fasten them, and no sticks that he could handle and make into Httle masts, that he could see. He went to the other cross-spars and succeeded in getting two more of them loose, and taking them, one at a time, back to where he had tied the two together, he found that by slowly raising one end while the other end sank in the water he could bring it to an upright position, when about half of it would stand upright out of the water. Fastening it in this position with the ropes which he detached from the sails and masts, he brought up the other and placed it in the same way about fifteen feet from the first. It had taken him, he thought, at least two hours of incessant labor to accomplish this much, and he thought it must have been near midnight when he began, making it now about two o'clock in the morning. It was still raining a little, with a fine breeze, and he was exceedingly anxious to get sail 202 IN SEAECn OF GOLD. upon his masts while the wind held. This was very difficult, as the sails were all beneath the masts and spars, all entangled together, and were extremely heavy to move. He saw he would have to go down in the water to accomplish anything, so he took off his coat .and cap and hung them over two ropes which he had stretched across from one spar to the other, in such a way as to catch all the rain possi- ble ; then he went to work at extricating the sail. A long, tedious job he had of it, but at last sufficient sail was landed upon his platform to stretch across his spars, and with almost infinite trouble he placed it in position ; then walking to the fore-part of his curious craft, he had the satisfaction, by getting down and looking closely, to see that he was mov- ing at a greatly increased rate of speed. By putting his hand iu the water he roughly guessed that he was going at the rate of two miles an hour ; then supposing that the hulk was only ten miles off, and was not drifting at the rate of more than one mile an hour, he would overtake her in ten hours. There was a great deal of guesswork about this, but still he thought that the estimate would a2)])rox- imate the true figures. As he was terribly fatigued he concluded he would sit down awhile and enjoy the sail. He had scarcely recovered a little breath when he noticed that liis ungainly vessel was e^adently going at a SHIPWRECKED. 203 miicli slower rate of speed, and altlioiigli the wind had not decreased anj, yet it aj^peared to have changed its direction, for now it was blowing- straight across his craft instead of coming directly from behind, as had been the case when he first set his sail. In his MSS. he thus speaks of this affair : "It was very strange, bnt for some minutes I could not understand it, and the idea that the wind had changed filled me with the deepest gloom, for in that case I must be going away from instead of toward the wreck. I confess this made me awfully down in the mouth. Suddenly it flashed across my mind like a streak of lightning that as I had no rudder the whole caboodle was turning round, and that the wind had not chans^ed at all. This thouo-ht tickled me again, for however hard a job it might be, yet I knew it was easier to put a hehn to my ship than change the wind." This was true, and it was singular that he had never thought of the necessity of a steering ap- paratus, and now it was a matter of extreme difii- culty to think of any plan to remedy the defect. There was still one cross-spar not in use; he had tried to get it disconnected from the main-mast but had failed ; now he must get it without fail. He went to work with the huge jack-knife which he carried in his pocket, and by dint of much turn- ing and twisting he finally got it loose; hastily 204 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. taking it to the stern-end of the main-mast, he fastened two long ropes to one end thereof, and fastened the other end to the main-mast, thus allow- ing it to drag behind. Carrying the other ends of the two long ropes forward to the cross-pieces, he took one out to each end of them and there fast- ened them. It was by these ropes he calculated to move the rudder which he had just contrived, and he believed ever}i;hing would work. But now, unfortunately, the craft having come beam to tlie wind, was lying perfectly still and had no steerage- way. The difficulty was to start it, and he could think of no way except to swim out with all his might and main, with a rope attached to one end of it, and try to tow that end around a little to bring the wind to bear u^wn his sail sufficiently to start it, when with the rudder he could p>ut it before the wind and keep it there. Now came the most fearful struggle of that memorable night ; he was already exhausted by excessive labor; he felt poorly quahfied to battle with the waves and exert all the strength required to get the end of his raft before the wind. But without he made this move- ment a success he could not hope to escape from his most perilous predicament. A slow and linger- ing death seemed almost certain in any case, but he was resolved not to give way to despair, but to do all in his power for his ONvn preservation, and trust SHIPWRECKED. 205 to luck for tlie remainder. With one end of the rope around his waist he j)lunged into the water and swam with all his might ; in a minute the rope around his waist was drawn taut and he strained every muscle to gain headway. The strain upon his muscles was terrific ; at first lie felt sure that he was gaining, then he felt equally sure that all his efforts were perfectly fruitless. He had fastened the rudder in such a way that it would bring the craft around of itself as soon as the wind was brought to bear upon the sails and give it motion. Minute after minute of this awful struggle passed, and he had given up in despair and returned to his craft ; but what was his joy to find that she had just started, and was then very slowly but surely moving, and the wind was perceptibly coming from one or two points abaft the beam. With a thrill of delight he stationed himself at the ropes to guide the vessel and keep her before the wind. As the rudder was already properly arranged he had some minutes in which to regain his strength before it required his attention. At last the raft was once more headed before the wind and moving along be- tween two and three knots an hour. The rudder was drawn straight, and the lonely pilot had only the feeling of the wind to guide him in his at- tempts at steering : when he judged by the feel of the wind that the craft was heading too much on 206 IJH SEARCH OF QOLD. one side, lie would haul on tlie rudder rope on tlie opposite side, and thus bring her into position ; of course he knew if the wind had changed all his efforts were useless. It was tedious work, and every operation had been conducted in the dark. Now it was with something like hope that he wit- nessed the indications of a coming dawn, which appeared close to the horizon. As more and more light came upon the ocean's expanse he strained his eyes more and more to catch a glimpse of the deserted bark. But disajipointmcnt only came with the daylight : no bark was in sight. Alas, he feared she must certainly have gone to the bottom, and with her all hopes of his prolonging his life till succor of some kind • might come that way. But when he thought of all the time lost just before he fixed the rudder, he thought he could reasonably hardly expect to have come within sight of her. Hour after hour passed. The rain had stopped and he had wrung out his coat and sucked all the water he could from botli it and his cap, and the convic- tion began to steal in upon him that that was the last drop of water he should ever taste. But to give up was never a pai-t of his nature. He went to the bow of his pile of sticks and gazed long and earnestly ahead ; it was no use, " sky and ocean, no more." Then he bethought him that it was very unlikely she would be directly ahead, as his own SHIPWREGKED. ' 207 craft had not always sailed directly before the wind, esiDecially before she received her rudder. These thoughts led him to scan the water also well on both sides, and great was his astonishment to plainly discern a black object of some kind immediately abeam of him on the port side— that is, this object was parallel with him on the left side; he was about to pa^s it, leaving it behind, yet it was miles away from him. He had no doubt it was the wreck he was in search of, yet the sight of it in that position confused him terribly ; he could not sail his craft in that direction, not being able to change the shape of his sails. He could only turn it two or three points either way from running directly before the wmd. They were now running on parallel courses, side by side, yet miles apart. He sailing at the rate of two or three miles an hour, and the wreck drifting before the wind at about one. How was he to get to her ? There was but one way ; by changing the course of his raft, by means of his helm, as much as possible toward the left, it would then eventually reach the line on which the wreck was drifting, but miles ahead of that vessel, he could then. haul down his sail and wait for the other vessel to overtake him. This delay was vexatious, for if the wind went down it would render his plans impracticable. However, there was nothing else to be done, and the rudder 208 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. was changed to turn the head of the raft as far as possible toward the left. Hours passed : it was again approaching evening. The day was unusually warm, and our friend began to feel the need of food and water, and he was, moreover, excessively tired and needed sleep and rest, and now he feared that the darkness of night would again come on be- fore he reached the abandoned vessel, and he also began to feel less sure of finding water when he got there. Adverse circumstances were beginning to get the better of his strung will, and he felt exceed- ingly discouraged. Nevertheless he would not say die till he had boarded that other craft. ^Vnd now he was almost directly ahead of her on the line on which she was drifting before the wind ; he hauled down the sail and waited. Xow, if his raft had presented as much surface to the wind as the other they would have drifted equally, and so have kept just as far ajjart ; but his logs lay so low in the water that the wind had very little effect ujion them. So the black spot, supposed to be the wreck, steadily approached and increased in size till he could clearly make out the black hull of the ill-fated bark that only twenty-four hours before had contained himself, all unconscious of im^^ending danger. lie could now distinctly see the unevenly burned edges of her sides — burned down to within a few feet of the water's edge. lie also saw that SHIPWBECKED. 209 one mast was still standing, thougli cliarred and burned off about half way from the top. The drifting mass was plainly distinguishable now, and he saw that it would pass about one fourth of a mile from him : he had crossed its path and gone about that distance beyond. 210 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTEK XYI. His only course now was to let the hulk drift past him, then raise his sail and endeavor to steer straight for the object he had taken so much trouble to find. Everything was in readiness for the next attempt to board her, for he was very fearful that if darkness come on before he had joined the two crafts they might drift so far apart as to be out of view of each other in ,the morning, in which case he would have no idea where to seek the other. When the hulk had gone jiast for a])out the distance of half a mile he thought he would be able to come up with her by jDointing his raft at a spot about half a mile ahead of the other, and on her course, Tliis movement was entirely successful, both the pursuer and pursued arriving at that point about the same time. By a little extra exertion our friend was enabled to caiTy his craft directly in front of the burned, wrecked, and water-logged hulk, when he instantly lowered his sail and awaited the arrival of the other. ^^LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE.^^ 211 The wind having in the last hour declined still further, the hulk was coming very slowly ; in fact, was now only just moving as she struck the left arm of his raft, and he had his arms extended to grasp the chain that was hanging from her how, and a rope ready to securely tie them together. The ship was drifting sideways, or nearly so, at the time she came in contact with the raft, and only a few feet of her bow overlapped the raft. Yet it was sufficient for all practical purposes. The two were securely joined together. By the time that this was accomplished it was as dark as it would be that night ; it was clear and warm, with very little wind. Lockwell had just strength enough left to stand upon his tip-toes and look over the burnt edge of the vessel at the interior. The sight was not encouraging ; she was nothing but a hollow shell, containing several feet of water, on which floated many pieces of wood, burnt and charred, and of every conceivable shape; ends of planks, pieces of spars, etc., etc., and among them he thought he could detect, also floating, but with very little above the water, the charred hogsheads of fresh water. But this fresh water was so very diffi- cult to get at, even now, he having nothing with which to remove the bungs, and no way even then to get out the contents, that, thirsty as he was, he 212 IJ^ SEARCH OF GOLD. concluded to posti^onc aU action until daylight on tlie ensuing morning. Seeing that the two vessels were securely fastened together, he laid down on the narrow l-ad made by the two spars fastened t<> gether, and, being very exhausted and sleej^y, soon was sound asleep. It was near daybreak when he was awakened by a slight jar or shock upon his raft. This surprised him, and as soon as he could collect his scattered senses he raised up and glanced about to see what had caused this unusual motion of his bed. Had he been boarded by some boat's crew ? lie almost hoped so. Yet, on second thought, he re- membered that the chances of being discovered out there were as a thonsaiVl to one against him. Then he looked around, and the first glance filled him with despair. The old hulk had gone ; totally dis- appeared ! She was nowhere in sight ; she had evi dently sunk. A sickening feeling that all was now lost indeed came over him. lie threw himself down again with a moan, and buried his face in his hands and arms. The daylight coming some minutes later, he raised his head again and looked around. He could see for miles in every direction. If the two crafts had sej^arated, which was un- reasonable to suppose, they could not have drifted ^^ LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE.^'' 213 twenty feet aj^art, for there liad been no wind. He could see for certain that she was not within miles ; then he knew that the remains of the old bai-k had gone down, and the shock he felt was when the rope or chain had ^Darted. Again, with his head upon his arms, he pondered long and deejjlj. What chance was there of his being found? None whatever, or so nearly none that it was not worth considering. He was entirely out of the track of coasters, and not in the track of anything else. 'No, his fate was inevitable. He must stay there and suffer all the agonies of hunger and thirst until an awful death came to his relief ! JSTo, there was one way far better than that ; he could escape all the worst agony by committing sui- cide. " This time in earnest," he said to himself, as he thought of the other attempt made in fun. Yes, he would live a few hours more, and then as soon as the cravings for food and water became painful, why, a little resolution on his part and it would all be over. He still remained lying with his face down, al- though the sun was now above the horizon. He began to feel very thirsty ; he thought of the water casks he had seen floating around inside the hulk — floating! the thought passed through his mind that if they were floating then they must be float- 21-4 ly SEARCH OF GOLD. in<5 now! The ship, liaving iio dock, could not carry them do^vn, and they must be still flout ln. I wish the religion of the sj^iritualists was true, and this was the first sphere ; I guess I would soon crawl out of it into the second sphere; it would be cooler there, you bet. I wonder if a fellow should gobble on to the true religion here if they would not cool it do^vn a bit. I'll try it ; but if there is not some one here to give directions there is not one chance in a thousand that I will strike the right religion. Let's see ; if any, it must be the first religion, that is, the oldest one ; all the others are backslidings ; the oldest one is beyond question the Brahmin. Yes, that must be the true one, if any, for it is not only the oldest, but also the largest sect ; but I will be hanged if I know what I must do or believe by that religion in order to be saved." And so he wandered on in these senseless and often incoherent ramblings of a fevered brain. But a small, cool hand now shoved back the hair from his fevered brow. The hard and well-worn bag of straw which served as a pillow was quietly 244 m SEARCH OF GOLD. removed, and a softer one of finer texture substi- tuted in its place. A liandkercliief dampened in cold water was pressed to his temples ; a sootliing and cooling liquid was given him to drink. The patient smiled in his delirium. "Ha! ha!" he laughed, " hv jingo ! I struck the right religion the first pop ! They are already cooling things down, just on my detcnnination to join the Brahminical church. Of course any fool might liave known that the true rehgion would l)e the first one given to mankind — and yet — somehow I always thought that fetichism wms much older than the faith of the Brahmins, in fact the only religion in the world a miUion years ago; but I must not think such things as these, or they may heat up things for me again. Xow it is quite comfortable here, and I must look around sharp ior some venerable Brah- min priest to post me in the true religion." lie opened wide his eyes, and saw bending over him the very plain (we dislike to say intensely homely) form of the young lady who had entered his room, and by administering to the comfort of his suffer- ing body had, unconsciously, thereby made a con- vert of his mind to the Brahminical faith. "Halloa !" said our hero, on opening his eyes. " Sefior ?" she replied. " Halloa I" he repeated. " Senor ?" she inquired again. ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AMERICA. 245 " Sjjauisli, too ! "Well, of all the languages that I ever expected they would choose to speak in heaven this is the last one. I wonder why they did not adopt English ; it was certainly the language of the best people on earth." Again his ro\4ng eye in that darkened room caught the features of his nurse still bending over him. " Halloa !" he said. " Seilor ?" " Well, I'll be hanged," feebly murmured the in- valid, " if they can't scare up a prettier girl than this to give a new and ardent convert in the Brahminical heaven I will change my religion yet. Yes, yes," he went on in his foolish way, his mind being in about the same condition as one who is nearly three thirds drunk. " Yes, yes, if this is a fair specimen of the pretty girls up here I don't think they improve much when they leave the body. Halloa !" he said again as his eye once more caught her features, " you are homely enough to be awful good." " Que dice usted, Seilor ?" Then he fell into a sleep, sounder and more quiet than he had enjoyed for many hours, and almost immediately thereafter two half-breed Indians en- tered the room and stood at a respectable distance from the lady. They were di'essed in the semi- 246 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. civnlized garh of tlie peons or servants of the bet- ter classes. The lady placed fresh handkerchiefs dipi>ed in cold water upon his head, and then, mo- tioning to these peons, they came forward, and care- fully raising the couch on which our hero was now calmly sleeping, passed with it outside the house, the lady following, murmuring in her li(]uid Castil- ian, " Pobrecito, Pobrecito." Outside she gave some directions in Spanish to the peons, then passed across the plaza and up the side-street to her home, about three Idocks distant, and followed by the peons and their burden. Ar- riving at her house, a large, but low and unpreten- tious building, evidently belonging to one in mod- erate circumstances, our sick friend was carried into a large spare room on the first floor, very plainly fur- nished, V)ut clean and comfortable, and laid on a nice bed in one comer, without disturbing his slumbers. He slept all the remaining portion of that after- noon and all the succeeding night, and when he awoke on the morning of the day following no one was in the room. He was in his right mind, but so feeble and utterly prostrate he could not for some minutes recall how he came to be sick ; but, as memory slowly came back to him, he turned to see if the old landlady of his room was anywhere in sight, and was surprised to find him- self in strange quarters. ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AMERICA. 247 The fever had evidently broken, but left him in that very low condition from which he could only rally by the most careful nursing and with the most proper diet. He was deep in wonder as to where he was, and how he got there, when the same young lady entered who liad been with him on the previous day during his ravings, but he did not recognize her, though he had a dim impression he had seen her somewhere. She went straight up to his couch, and, jilacing her hand upon his brow, said in Spanish, of which he could understand enough to gather her meaning: "Oh, you are much better, but you must not talk ; no, not one word. I know very well what you want to know. You want to know how you came here ? Well, I brought you ; you want to know where you are ? — in the house of my father, Sen or Guerrero, and I am his daughter, and here you will stay until you get entirely well, then you will return to your own friends and country. But your companion has gone away — left you; is not tliat strange ? Never mind, he is a bad man, and the Sefior is much better off without him. Now eat a little of this soup with toasted bread in it, and when you feel thirsty drink some of this water which has been prepared by boiling with some herbs, but don't say a word nor attempt to speak ; 'tis not good for you, and, after you have eaten, then go to sleep 248 m SEARCH OF GOLD. again." She placed tlie refresliments close to his bed, said " Adios," and was gone. In his weak, debilitated state he cried hke a child at the great kindness of these people ; then the con- sideration of his own condition did not tend to con- sole him. He had not a cent in the world to recompense these people for their trouljle. lie was always dis- posed to be grateful for the least favors, and never easy till he had returned, when possil^le, every obli- gation he nn'ght receive. With the tears still running down his cheek he turned on liis side and fell asleep. His convalescence was slow, but owing to the constant care he received from this family, his 're- covery was not doubtful. It seems that hearing of the sick stranger in the town, the eldest daughter, who appeared to occupy all her S2)are time in acts of mercy and charity, called to ascertain how he was, and seeing that good care alone would prevent that malignant fever from having a fatal termina- tion, she had returned to her home and persuaded her father to allow her to bring him to the house, which permission she acted upon without loss of time. The days passed wearily for our hero, and his recovery was greatly retarded, no doubt, by the fact that his mind was in a state of greater depres- sion than he had experienced before in his whole ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AMERICA. 249 life. Totally destitute, tlie present condition of the surrounding country rendered it impossible for him to send to his friends in the United States for any assistance, and now the questions kept con- stantly recurring to his mind : how was he to leave the country ? how was he to recompense in any way tlie kind family who had taken him, a stranger, and brought him through the crisis of his fever ? for well he knew that but for the unremitting care and at- tention which he had received just at the critical period of his existence he would not now be alive. The family at whose house he was now domiciled (consisted of the father, mother, and the oldest daughter, with whom we have been made ac- quainted, her two sisters and two l)rothers, all but the two latter of which were at home ; and the two brothers only were married. The care and kindness which he received from the whole family could not have been excelled had he been their own brother instead of a total strans-er, and a foreigner, and of another religion, for though he had not adopted any of the superstitions of the day, he was, of course, considered a Protestant. The unremitting attention to his comfort from the oldest daughter, which had never faltered from the moment she brought him to the house to the pres- ent time, created within him feelings of the utmost gratitude and respect. He knew that the family 250 IN SEARCH OF OOLD. were tlieii not at all wealthy, tliougli they had seen much better days. One of the constantly recurring revolutions had stripped them of most of their property and left them in straightened circum- stances, although not in actual poverty. As soon as he was able to sit up the oldest daugh- ter would bring her work and endeavor to cheer and console him by her sympathy and what little con- versation she could assist him in carrying on. She, like most of the ladies of the place, had never been further than the immediate vicinity of the town, and had never in her life seen another city. The only means of traveling in that vicinity were on horseback. Although' a town of nearly ten thou- sand inhabitants, there was not a four-wheeled vehicle in the place; not a paper was published, nor a bookstore in the place ; not a book could be borrowed, or a newspaper either, except, perhaps, a few old religious books and one or two copies of Don Quixote. Under these circumstances the mind of the lady was not and could not be much developed, and she listened with intense interest as the invalid endeavored to interest her by full de- scriptions of countries which she had scarcely heard of. Alas, he succeeded in interesting her only too well. It was the old play of Desdemona and Othello enacted once more. But it was many days before the convalescent had any idea of the true ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AMERICA. 251 condition of matters. He had striven with all his power to please and interest her, that being the very smallest, and, alas, the only acknowledgment that he was able to make her for all she had done for him. The thought that all this time he was winning the pure and devoted love of this noble and unsophisticated girl never for an instant crossed his mind. Although no thought of love other than fraternal ever would or could be enter- tained by him toward her, yet he reverenced the girl for her pure nobleness of heart, and when at last he could no longer fail to see that she had poured out the rich treasures of her heart upon him and accepted him as her idol, it brought the severest pang of anguish he had ever known in his life. To bring misery upon one to whom he owed his very life ; whose constant strivings to j^romote his comfort had been from the first so purely un- selfish, was torture to his highly honorable and keenly sensitive nature. " Would to God," he ex- claimed in bitterness of spirit, " that she had let me die when she found me raving in the delirium of fever upon the verge of the grave. Far, far better that way than that I should repay her by bringing, however innocently, only misery upon her young life." Then the thought would come to him, why not marry her ? Oh, no ; to take her to live in the States of North America, away from all friends and 252 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. associates to wliicli she has been accustomed, and where the manners and customs are so totally dif- ferent, and where she knows not one word of the language, would only increase her misery, even if the climate, so wholly different from anything she had ever seen, did not kill her out light. Then the still, small voice of conscience, that monitor of his own creation, distinctly said : '' You are now clearly trying to find excuses from doing what is plainly your duty : you know what you ought to do, how- ever disagreeable it may seem. If it has been your proud boast never once to have avoided that path of duty laid out before you by your code of morals, Nvill yt>u shun it now? You know perfectly well, however much you may try to deceive yourself, that youi- duty is as clear as noonday. You must marry this girl and remain hei^e with her to devote the life which she has saved for you to making her happy, for you know that the perfect hajDpiness or utter misery of her whole future life are in your hands to give her which you choose." He turned pale as the full truth and force of these words passed through his mind. Let not the reader, who has never traveled through that country, imagine our friend was making a mountain out of a mole hill, and that to marry such an estimable young lady was a fate rather to be envied than otherwise. Highly refined and sesthetic in his tastes, he had ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AMEBIC A. 258 only managed to endure the privations and unre- fined associations of a sojourn in South Ameiica bj constantly thinking of the happy time when he should return again to the land of civilization, and now to have to remain here all his life, away from everything that is conducive toward making life enjoyable ; married to a lady intensely homely, and with those manners which, however appropriate there, rendered her absolutely repulsive in his for- eign eyes, was to him a fate from which death would be a happy relief. But once before, in the Shenandoah Valley, when he thought death or dishonor were placed before him to choose which he would take, had he not chosen death? And he would be as true to his principles of honor now as then. He had decided, but oh ! how he wished that it only might, now as then, all turn out to be a farce. Alas, there could be no such hope. All this was too real, too true. Well, he would devote the life which was really hers to making her as happy as he could. All was settled in his mind and he felt a sense of relief : something of the kind which a prisoner must feel when the long trial is concluded and he receives his sentence of imprisonment for life. If he could have done so honorably, willingly would Lockwell have exchanged his lot for a life-long imprisonment in the jails of his native State ; there, at least, he 254 m SEARCH OF GOLD. could have food cooked soniewliat after tlie manner that he had always been accustomed to; there he could have something to read and he would see the daily papers; there sympathizing friends would call and see him often. Here, not to meet you, and I am considered de troj> ! "Well, have a little patience, and as soon as possible after my Adonis puts in his appearance I will walk off and leave you the entire field to yourself." The half hour passed, and the time rif the ap- pointment was arrived, and still no expected Adonis put in his appearance. Both the lady and the gentleman .appeai-ed to grow equally impatient. An attentive observer might have noticed that during the half hour that both had been engaged in reading neither had turned over a single leaf, and come to the conclu- sion that the subject-matter of their respective works was very abstruse, and required a great deal of thought to digest it. The neighboring clock struck the half hour at LOSES HIS HEART. 291 3.30, and Lockwell began to think it was a case of the "biter bitten," and that instead of selHng the advertiser he himself had been most egregi- ously sold. At this thought he felt, and had no doubt he looked, extremely sheepish. lie waited fifteen minutes more, and then as no one with the red and white roses appeared he resolved to leave, fully satisfied that he had been sold. As the origi- nal plan of his was to let the Adonis expect his Dulcinea some little time, then pin on his red rose, and carry the other in his hand, all in plain view of the other party, to show him how he had been sold, for this purpose he had brought the two roses carefully concealed in his pocket. Like a flash it crossed the mind of Lockwell just now that the whole thing, advertisement and all, was gotten up by the doctor expressly to sell him. Of course that was it. Fool that he was not to have thought of it before. So he at once de- termined to go home, and he would study up some plan to get even with the doctor if he had to sit up all night for a dozen nights in succession to do it! Probably the doctor was somewhere around looking at and laughing at him now. If he only knew some way to scrape acquaintance with that young lady then it would not be so bad a sell after all. With these thoughts he glanced around at her. She had her back toward him, for she, like himself, 292 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. had evidently become tired of waiting, and liad risen to leave. Slie turned around to walk awaj, and our liero was struck dumbfounded with aston- ishment. Tliere upon lier left breast was pinned a red rose, and in her right hand she carried a white one ! Our hero jumped to liis feet with such energy as to attract her attention, and she looked toward him with surprise. Instantly he took out his roses, and while she was looking at him he pinned the red one on his left breast and took the white one in his riglit hand. She watched his motions at first with amazement, then she blushed as red as the rose she carried. What did it all mean? was the question each one was thinking of. Lockwell walked toward her, and, with a very low bow, said : "Pardon me. Are you not Mr. — ^Miss Gus- tavus Adolphus ? " "Sir," said she, "I do not understand," and turned away in a very dignified manner. Lockwell apologized and resumed his seat. The lady walked slowly away, and he determined to know where she lived, as he had not the slightest doubt that she was in some way connected with the advertisement and the subsequent letters ; the roses proved that to him conclusively. And now he was fully determined to watcli her and see where she went to. But as he kept an eye upon her LOSES HIS EEABT. 293 over the corner of tlie book wliicli lie once more was intently reading, lie observed that she con- stantly turned her head just the least bit to dis- tinguish whether he was following her or not, and he knew that it would be useless to attempt that now, for she would undoubtedly lead him a wild- goose chase, and finally enter the house of some relative or friend, or any house but her own home, and so throw him entirely off the scent. But he Was not to be baifled so easily. Without appear- ing to do so he noticed which street she took as she left the park, then at his swiftest jiace he went to the next parallel street and passed rapidly along until he was certain he was a long way ahead of the lady, then he passed into the street where she was supposed to be, and gave a hurried glance back. There she was just in sight, and coming along as fast as she could walk, and continually looking Ic- hind her to see if she were pursued. She never once thought of looking ahead to see if the per- son whom she feared was watching her. Lockwell walked on, keeping about the same distance ahead of her, but constantly glancing back to see that she did not take any side-street. In this way they passed on until he saw her hail a car on one of the avenues over which he had just crossed and enter it. Hastily retracing his stej)S he took the next car that came along, and sat on 294 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. the inside next to the front window, from which position he conld easily watch the car in front of liim, and see when she might alight. In this way they traveled some five or six blocks up-town until they came to Street, at the lower side of which the lady alighted, and passed quickly away to the i-ight. Lockwell passed the street a few steps, then jumped off of the car, returned back to the upper side of the same street, along which he passed, keeping the lady just in sight until he saw her disappear in a brown-stone house. Fixing the house well in his memory so that he could find it again, he returned ^\^thout going close enough to ascertain the number,' which he was afraid to do lest she might observe him through the window. That evening he went to the house and took down the number in his memorandum-book, and was very glad at the same time to see the name C. A. Brown upon the door, and on the basement window was a sign to the effect that that was Dr. Brown's office. Here, then, would be a certain method of getting acquainted with Dr. Brown ; he had only to get sick and call upon him, and then, after making the acquaintance of the old gentleman, who was probably her father, who could tell what might not follow ? As he entered the doctor's rooms that night the LOSES HIS HEART. 295 latter was impatient to hear the recult of the ren- dezvous. " Well, what luck ? Did the fellow keep his ap- pointment ?" " See here, my friend," said Lockwell, " speak in a more respectful tone of that charming creature or there wiQ be a trifling unpleasantness between us compared to which the late war was a mere baga- telle." " What charming creature are you talking about ? I mean the fellow whom you went to meet in the " There it is again ; twice that lovely girl has been called a fellow ; the third time will precipi- tate the impending catastrophy upon your head, and I \vill change my family physician. Bat I will do that any way ; from to-day Dr. Brown, of 37 Street, is your successor as my pill provider. Know, then, that even as I, who, according to all the preliminaries of this meeting, ought to have been a she am a he, so the other, who, by the same rules, should have been a he is a she. Undoubt- edly many years ago some Buttercup 'has mixed us children up.' " Then he recounted everything in detail just as it happened, and concluded by giving his opinion that this young lady had put in the advertisement intending to have just the same kind of amusement 296 m SEARCH OF OOLD. from it tliat Lockwell had anticijDated when he answered it, that is, the diseoinliture of the other correspondent, whom each one supposed, of course, to be of his or her real sex. In this surmise Lock- well was entirely correct. The young lady, who was a great lover of fun and excitement, had con- cocted the whole plan for her own amusement, and had gone to the meeting simply for the jDur- pose of satisfying her curiosity as to how her cor- respondent would look, and how she would act while waiting in vain for " Gustavus Adolphus," and when no one appeared as expected, she Avaited till the whole thing liad failed, as she su^^posed, then pinned on the roses,^ with no idea that she was thereby betraying herself. The great beauty of the young lady, together with her refined and wimiing manners, had not been without their effect upon Lockwell, and he was determined to see more of her if he could do so. Accordingly, very early the next day he called at the ofiice of Dr. Brown, and when he rang the bell he had not yet decided whether he should have a headache, a toothache, or a pain in the stomach, but, as the door opened, and he was ushered into the presence of Dr. Brown, a severe, austere, and elderly gentleman of rather imposing appearance, and one who looked as though he did not intend to be trilled with, a decision was necessary, and the LOSES ms HEART. 297 pain in the stomach carried the day. He described his imaginary symptoms to the doctor, and re- quested to be prescribed for. The latter prepared a large mixture in a goblet and said : " You will drink this now, then go to your room and remain there quietly for the remainder of the day. It will make you feel very sick for a while, but you must not mind that, for to-morrow you will be all right." But our hero did not like this arrangement, so he said : " Won't you please put it in a bottle so that I can take it with me lo be drank in my room ? for I have several other places to go to first, which visits I cannot possibly postpone." The doctor grumblingly assented. Lockwell pocketed the mixture ; asked the charge — five dol- lars — paid his bill, and was about to try and draw the physician into conversation, with the hope of ascertaining something about his family affairs, when the door of the office opened, another jjatient was announced, and there was nothing for him to do but to take his departure. " Whew !" our friend mused as he left ; " this is rather expensive business. I don't think I got my money's worth there," and he gazed upon the bot- tle of anti-stomachache which he held in his hand. " Jingo ! this is too valuable to throw away. I 298 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. wonder if it will keep. I have a great mind to go and eat about two watermelons with three lob- ster salads just to try the efficacy of this pre])- aration." Two blocks further on he saw a small boy cry- ing. "Little boy," said he, "what is the matter? Have you got the stomachache? because, if you have, I have got a sure specific here that just cost me five dollars, and I will give you a dose free." " Dry up and git out. What for do you want to nag a feller what's just been welted by his ma'am ?" The medicine could do no good here. The great expense attending his first \nsit, to- gether with the unsatisfactory results thereof, de- terred our hero from repeating his attempt for several days, but as he could not devise any other means of acquiring any information in regard to the lady of this little romance, he decided to renew the effort in the same way once more ; then if the expense was still as great and the results as small he would relinquish all thoughts of the matter, and turn his attention to something else. Just a week from the day of his former attemi)t he was passing up Street bound for more medical advice. This time it was to be the tooth- ache in place of the former ailment, as he thought that would be less expensive. " But then," thought LOSES HIS HEART. 299 he, " what shall I do if that pig-headed, obstinate old fool insists upon pulling out one of mj sound teeth, for I have not a bad one in my head !" But he knew this was something that could not be done without his consent, so he went on. As he was about to turn up the steps of the house the door opened and out walked the very lady he was taking so much pains to see. The door had closed behind her before she recognized our hero, or she would undoubtedly have beaten a precij^itate retreat; as it was she could not re-enter without ringing the bell. She turned very red once more as she recognized in Lock well her vis-a-vis of the park, and seemed confused as to whether she had better advance without noticing him, or ring for some one to let her repass into the house. Fearing she would do this latter, Lockwell was ren- dered desperate by the thought that he must either give up all idea of ever speaking to her, or do so now. He jumped up the stej^s to her Side, took off his hat, and in his most respectful manner begged to be allowed to speak to her one moment. " Why, sir, what can you possibly wish to speak- to me about ? And now I believe I recognize you as the same gentleman who spoke to me the other day in the park. I beg you will not intrude your- self in my presence again. Either take your de- parture now or I shall ring to re-enter the house." 300 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. " Very well. If yon wish it I will not offer to speak to you again, bnt yon mnst allow me to pass inside, as I wish to consnlt yonr father profession- ally, and, also, to request his assistance in discover- ing the author of a few letters I hold which are signed Gustavus Adolphus. Jle may hioio the handwriting^'' She turned quite pale as she answered hastily : " Oh, sir, give nie hack those letters, I beg of you. If you are a gentleman I know you will not take advantage of the position which you have so very unfairly and meanly drawn me into," and she looked at him indignantly for a moment, then the thonght of that stern parent inside, to whom he had just tlireatened to show these very letters, caused her to break down entirely and she began to cry as she begged him again to hand her those letters. Now the doctor, who was the most intimate friend of our hero, used frequently to say that he believed any prett}^ girl with a tear in her eye could make him go and stand upon his head in the middle of the street ; therefore when this beautiful girl began to cry he " wilted," to use his own expression, and if he had had th^ letters with him he would have given them up at once, but as he had not he told her that if she would meet him at the same place as before in the park, at three o'clock, he would then have the letters with him. She assented and they LOSES mS HEART. 301 separated, lie going direct to the doctor's rooms to wait with what patience he could master until it was time to go again to the same place where his eyes had first been captivated. At the risk of being called ungallant we will only extract the briefest or most condensed descrip- tion of this lady which his diary contains, and which is therein spread out over many more pages than we think the subject demands. Miss Fannie Thornton was born into the world under ausjDices that gave promise of an unusually happy life. An only child of wealthy parents who moved in the most select circles of society, she was brought up with the most tender care, and her ex- ceedingly buoyant spirits were given full scope, with no more restraint than was considered abso- lutely necessary for her future welfare by the most solicitous love of her parents. At the age of sixteen, while she stood near the head of her class in most of her studies, she was suddenly expelled from the high school which she was attending and sent home in disgrace be- cause she had written a long love-letter, purj^orting to have come from one of the ol(^st male students, and addressed to the female teacher. As the hand- writing had been closely imitated, the letter was for a long time considered genuine and led to very dis- agreeable consequences. Finally, when the whole 302 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. forgery and fraud was discovered, our lieroine was disgracefully sent back to her parents. Before she was sent away to another school her father died, and, as so often happens, when the affairs of the de- ceased were settled up almost notliing remained for that widow and daughter who all their lives had been accustomed to every luxury. Two years of constant striving against absolute poverty had placed the widow in a very proper con- dition to receive the addresses of the wealthy and highly respected Dr. Brown. But it was love for her daughter, and in consideration for her happiness alone, that induced the mother to marry again. Tier friends all adx-ised her not to hesitate in the matter, for Dr. Brown was, beyond doubt, a very respectable man, of irreproachable character, and of high standing both in his profession and in society, and deacon of the church two doors off. Two years of constant striving to sul)mit to and please her stepfather had now placed the daughter in a proper mood to give the attempt up in disgust. The friends of the mother said she was a spoiled, Belf-^villed child to be discontented at the whole- some rules whicliftthe good deacon saw fit to en- force in his household. No cards were ever admit- ted within the precincts of that Christian home, and no member of the household was ever allowed to play them elsewhere. Theaters were never patron- \ LOSES HIS HEART. 303 ized, but cliiirclies and prayer meetings were rather overdone. As the most delicious and delicate mor- sels will finally nauseate if served ad mfinituin at the rate of twenty-one times a week, so the religious precepts of the Rev. Mr. Drawl had long since pro- duced the same effect upon the intellectual appetite of our heroine. She was exceedingly fond of wliist, and at the frequent little whist parties held at Mr. Thornton's hospitable mansion she had become very expert at the game. Now it was very hard to visit at her former friends' houses and refuse to take part in the game. On the other hand, her stepfather had provided her mother and herself with a good home. He never refused them any- thing that he could allow tliem in conformity with his strict religious principles. Their home was lux- urious, and money was given to both without stint. But this did not satisfy the cravings of her light, happy, mischievous, and loving nature for congen- ial society. She craved the pleasures of the whist table, and one evening, after her mother had been married about a year, and while she was at a small gathering at the house of one of her friends, the temptation was too strong for her and she played a few games. Dreading the scene which would en- sue if her stepfather should know of it she took the most natural course in the world — she told an awful naughty story : she said she had not been playing 304 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. wliist when she liad. Although this was prohahly the first direct falsehood she had ever uttered, it was not the last by any means. It did not make her feel half so bad as she thought it would ; it did not keep her awake fifteen minutes that night. After that she played more whist and fibbed about it ; she went to the theater and lied about it. She thought she had found an easy way out of all her troubles: she could have as good a time as she wished by simply l}^ng about it. But as it is the pitcher that goes once too often to the well which breaks the cameFs back, so our young lady, embold- ened by some six or seven months of successful de- ceit, carried the thing too far, and everything was exposed ; a thorough investigation following re- vealed months of constant sin covered up by as con- stant lying. Deacon Bro^vn consulted with the Reverend Drawl. The latter advised severe pun- ishment ; mercy or leniency toward the culprit now would imperil her immortal soul. Amid the tears and beseechings of the motlier the decree went forth : she was to make no more visits anywhere, nor enter any friend's house until she had received permission from her stepfather, and all letters were to be submitted to him for pe- rusal which came to the house ; she must be in the house at all hours except from two to four p.m., when she could walk in the parks for exercise. If LOSES HIS HEART. 305 tliis was hard, she must remember the fearful sins of which she had been guilty, and that it was for her own eternal welfare that she must be called upon to submit to it. But these thoughts did not tend to relieve the monotony of her dreary semi-imprisonment, and she grew very restless. She wanted to write to her lady friends, but fearing that they might answer sometliing back which she would not wish to sub- mit to the perusal of the worthy deacon, she hit upon a manner of corresponding through the " per- sonals" of a daily paper. Then she got a friend to receive her letters for her and smuggle them into her room. She amused herself by bringing about all kinds of scenes in the park by means of her per- sonals, and of which she was a laughing spectator. Her last attempt of the kind happened about one month after her stepfather had issued liis stern de- cree. Lockwell answered it with the result already known to the reader, and this brings us up to the day and the hour of the meeting for the second time in the park. The lady was naturally very much distressed that this man should have found out her residence ; she was sure when she left the park tlie first time that no one had followed her ; how then had he gotten lier address? She could not imagine. She must have those letters back at any cost ; but maybe he 306 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. would ask more money for them than she would be able to raise, and then he would show the letters to her stepfather, who would at once recognize the handwriting, and then heaven defend her; for that rigid old disciplinarian would stop at nothing that he might consider necessary to overcome the perversity of this girl's nature. And then the holder of the letters did not look exactly like a poor man — that is like one who would wish to extort money unjustly ; he was dressed and acted and appeared like a gentleman. Then if he did not demand money he might use his power over her to make other propositions to her to which she could not accede. Oh, what should she do ? She sat do^vn and had a good cry ; then called Deacon Brown an old reprobate several times, both of which performances seemed to do her a world of good ; then she started for the meeting in the park. Lockwell was already in the same seat he had formerly occupied when she arrived. She walked slowly up to him, as he appeared to be so busily engaged in reading as not to notice her. " If you i^lease," said she, " will you now hand me those letters ?" " Oh !" said he, looking up suddenly in surprise. " Miss Adolphus, I was so interested in Dickens's Chuzzle Martinwit that I did not see you coming ;" he had been watching her ever since she LOSES HIS EEAUT. 307 came in view from the side-street, and it was a copy of Byron that he held in his hands, though he did not know that. " Oh, yes, yon have come for those letters. AVell, sit down here and I will state my terms." She trembled, but replied : " No, I prefer to stand. Please say what you have got to say as quickly as possible and let me go." "Well, then, in the first place let me tell you that I know these letters are valuable to you. You have betrayed that from the start, and I shall make my terms accordingly. Ah, now I see by your eyes that you have been crying this afternoon ; this shows me that my letters are even more valuable than I had anticipated, and I will raise my price still more. If you had not been so young and entirely unsophisticated as I fear you are you would have pre- tended utter indifference and so have gotten your letters back at a much lower price. Besides, do you know that I have been at some expense in this matter? That old curmudgeon — I beg your pardon, I mean your respected father — charged me five dollars for some medicine to cure my — my — my — a pain in the toe, and the pain was all im- aginary, gotten up for the occasion. Now, suppose I charge in proportion to their value for these let- ters as that old chap — I beg your pardon, I mean 308 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. as your father cliarged me for that dose of anti — I mean that liniment for mj toe. Why, it would take half of Jay Gould's fortune to buy them." Then seeing she was suffering the tortures of sus- pense he went on in a very different and serious manner : " Young lady, when I answered your advertise- ment I did so seeking only for a little harmless amusement ; I expected a man to meet me just as you expected a lady to meet you. When I followed you to your house that day — " " IIow did you follow me ? I kept looking back and was sure you were not behind." He explained it aH to her and continued : " It was from pure love of adventure that made me enter into it, and a great curiosity to know who you were that made me follow you home and visit the doctor afterward. I am deeply sorry, and offer you my apologies for the few hours' unhappiness which I have occasioned you. I am also sorry that you for one moment should have thought me ca- pable of extorting any conditions from you. I have little to pride myself on, but it is the one boast of my life that I can do no mean or dishonorable action ; bnt I l)lush for my sex to say that if the letters had fallen in other hands you might not have fared as well. Some would have used them to extort money from you ; others would have used LOSES HIS HEART. 309 them for a still more dishonorable purpose ; I give them to you now without condition or promise of any kind. But if you are willing I should like very much to hear all about this affair ; but I make no condition, only this request, and I furthermore promise you on my honor as a gentleman that I will not again go to your house without your per- mission, so you are perfectly safe. Here are the letters ; take them and see that they are all there." He handed her the package, which she eagerly grasped, then replied that they were all there. He lit a match, and holding it toward her advised her to burn the bundle. She did so, holding it in her hand till nearly all were consumed ; then, droj^ping it, she watched the remainder as they slowly turned to ashes. All danger from those letters was for- ever avoided. He asked again, ""Will you not now tell me something about this affair, Miss Brown?" The reply which came in a minute rather sur- prised him. " No, sir, I won't, and my name is not Brown, and I think — I think you have been just as mean as you can be," and with a cool bow she walked off without ever once turning her head. Lockwell gazed after her in astonishment, then muttered : " No, sir, I won't, and my name ain't Brown. 810 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. AVell, wliatever your name may be you are a little ingrate, and I hope that old skinflint of a dad of yours will give you a good spanking when you get home." Lockwell was vexed, which is scarcely to be woiulered at under the circumstances. He had liked tlie girl very much and desired to make her acquaintance, and he thought liis own conduct was deserving of a little better return tlian to be called just as mean as it could be. Now he was pledged and could not go near the house again. In talking the matter over with the doctor that evening the latter noticed that he exhil)ited more displeasure and irnta^ion than he had ever seen in him before, and it was the same thing the next day until the arrival of the postman in the afternoon ; this brought him a letter which quite restored his good humor. The letter was from the lady of the previous day, who now wrote most earnestly begging his pardon for her rudeness, and saying her feelings were so wrought \\]) that she had either to cry or get angry, and she chose the latter ; now she begged that he would forgive her and believe that she fully appre- ciated his honorable and generous conduct about the letters, and she would now cheefully give him the information he had expressed a desire for, and then went on to tell all that the reader already knows, LOSES HIS HEART. 3H and wound up by repeating her thanks for his kind and gentlemanly behavior all through the affair, then signed herself his much-obliged friend, Fannie Thornton. The first exclamation that met the doctor on his return to his rooms that evening was : " Well, that bald-headed old bluebeard keeps her chained uj) like a tiger." " What are you .talking about now?" " Eead that," and he shoved over to him the let- ter which he had received from her. The doctor read it carefully, then laid it down with the re- mark : "Do you know, my friend, I think, though you do not yet know it yourself, that you have quite lost your heart to this fair damsel V^ " JS'onsense, doctor ; don't make a wretched fool of yourself." The irritability of the day previous had re- turned. 312 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTER XXI. ■SVILL HE DAKE? The next day Lockwell \nsitcd the park long be- fore two o'clock, and waited there with great impa- tience until long after four ; then, as he was aware from her full account of the circumstances of her life that she could not be out after that time, he gave her up for that day, at all events, and went home, calUng down anything but blessings upon the heads of all stepfathers in general, and all of them who called themselves Dr. Brown in particular. He did not know the fact that she had come as far as the corner of the street, looked cautiously around, saw him sitting in the seat he had occu- pied on their previous meetings, then walked away. Returning in fifteen minutes by another street she saw liim still in the same place, and during the next two hours she had viewed him from nearly every point of the compass. Then she walked slowly home, muttering to herself in a vexed manner, " The fool ! he had me in his power, and if he wanted to meet me here why did he not WILL RE BABE? 313 make it a condition of tlie surrender of the letters that I should come here to meet him every day ; liowever reluctant I might have been to do so I would have" been compelled to have yielded in order to get back those letters ; then what nice times we might have had ! I know he is good, and smart, and kind, and intelligent, notwithstanding he is such a ' goose ! '" Lockwell displayed so much ill-temper that it quite confirmed the doctor in his surmise that the former was about to lose his lieart, and, as he Avas a sincere friend to him, and had been ever since he saved his Hfe in the l^arracks, he advised him to be- come better acquainted with this girl, and if he liked her, why, marry her and settle down. He was only called a fool for his kind advice, and he dropped the subject. Thinking matters over, Lockwell came to the conclusion that the lady would not come as long as he was in the park, so his true policy was to wait before entering the park until he could see her there. So the following day he was coming up a side- street a few minutes after 2 p.m., anxious to catch a glimpse of the situation. Circumstances seemed to favor him, for directly in front walked a lady whom he just overtook as they reached the comer, ^nd as he was behind her he could get a good view 314 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. over her slioiilder witlioiit clanger of being observed bj Miss Thornton were she in the park. He had decided, when she arrived, to come up behind her before she had a chance to flee, as he began very much to fear she would do if she saw him. As the lady in front of him reached the corner she stopped so suddenly that Lockwell ran against her. He bowed and ai)ologized just as she turned, and each recognized the other as the one they were looking for. Lockwell extended his hand, wliich the other took after a moment's hesitation. Then he said : " So you were looking to see if I were in the park?" " Why in the world should I be looking for you, I would like to know ?" " I regret to say it was because you wished to leave if I were there, as you did yesterday." " How do you know that ?" in surprise. " Come over to our old seats and I will explain all to you." Curiosity and interest determined her to sit down and listen to him for just fifteen mintues — no more. The fifteen minutes extended to the whole two hours, and then was brought to a close with a cor- dial handshaking and a promise from both sides to meet there on the next day. Thus day by day went by, and the young lady, WILL RE DARE? 315 feeling more and more irksome tlie severe restraint under wliicli slie was constantly kept, came to look forward to tliese two hours of liappy converse with Lockwell as the only bright spots in her whole ex- istence, and if it stormed, and they could not meet, they had arranged so that each should spend the time in writing to the other. A sure way was easily found whereby the letters would botli reach their destination. Lockwell had at first persuaded him- self that it was an act of great kindness on Ins part to thus assist the poor lonely girl to pass the time more pleasantly, and he could not but acknowledge that he never had a pleasanter duty to perform. He determined that at the very first sign of either party falling in love he would withdraw from the affair altogether, and give some good and plausible reason to the young lady therefor. When the acquaintance began it was easy to per- suade himself that it was a pleasure to him and to her, and therefore no harm in it. As the acquaintance increased it became easy to persuade himself that the limit of safety was not yet quite reached. And when the fact became pat- ent to both that each loved the other with deep and devoted love it was easy to persuade himself that the harm was already done, and now it was too late to do anything. Let things take their course ; he was miserable. He knew he loved and was beloved, yet 316 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. the tliouglit instead of being a comfort was a tor- ture to liim. Should he get a divorce from his South Ameri- can wife, as he miglit easily do, then niarrj this one ? The very thought was sacrilege to that pure and holy being who was his wife now and for all eternity. Ilis sense of honor prompted liim to go straight to this girl and tell her everytliing of the past, and ask her forgiveness. Yes, this he would do. Again he had decided to obey the mandates of his honor and reveal his whole hfe to her, though it must separate them forever. But not to-day. No, one more meeting of joy to both, then, perhaps, to- morrow, or next day at furtliest, all would be told. The next day came, and still it was to-morrow; and the next, and the next, and yet it was to-morrow. This man, whose honor had passed unscathed through fiery trials : first, when death or life and lib- erty seemed the alternatives, then again when he felt that his honor had compelled him to marry and remain in a country he disliked, and among a peo- ple he despised, and had never flinched, now before this piece of feminine flesh and bones weakened right down in every way. He shut his ears to the dictates of conscience, and would not listen to the promptings of honor. And all because he was in love. He would make desperate efforts to force WILL HE DARE? 317 his resolution up to the sticking point, then firmly determine to reveal all to her and take the conse- quences be they what they might. But as soon as that beautiful figure would advance toward him he would feel all his wonted courage slowly oozing away, and when she sat down and turned that l^eautiful, confiding face toward him, with flashes of passionate love from those brilliant eyes, was it in the power of mortal man to say to her, " You must leave me now and forever ?" Not for a man constituted like our friend. His wife could have done so — had indeed already done so — but for him the thing was simply impossible. That night he paced his room without intermis- sion for hours. For the first time in weeks he had missed calHng upon the doctor for two days in succession. He was in deep thought. He had re- solved to bring reason and philosophy to bear upon every side of his position. He had thought over every possible plan of action under the circum- stances, and all but one seemed fraught with misery to all concerned. Would he dare to adopt that one ? He added up or subtracted the happiness or misery it would produce upon each individual con- cerned, and carefully scrutinized the result. Witli Xhd calm, penetrating light of reason brought to bear things bore a very different aspect. The proper question to be solved was : What course for 318 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. him to pursue would j^roduce tlic most happiness or cause the least misery? The answer to this question was what he must discover this night. Clearl V, to reveal the story of his life and blast Miss Thornton's young life, and make himself miserable without doing good to any one, was not the proper answer. To keej) on as they were now doing was not the answer, because it was impracticable. She would certainly expect a declaration in a few days, and, not receiving it, would first wonder, then doubt his love, then leave and despise him, while still loving him. Tliere remained then but one course to pursue, and this programme, as far as he could see, would not increase the misery of any one, while it would render this young lady haj)py lie really believed, and he knew it would make him- self perfectly happy. This plan was to marry Miss Fannie Thornton, and keep his past life, so far as his jDrevious marri- age was concerned, a secret forever, and his present mariage a secret from liis first wife also forever. As he viewed the matter in every possible way he saw there was but little danger of discovery. The South American inland town where his wife resided had no communication whatever with the United States. The yearly letter of hers was, most likely, the only one that ever left there for tliis country, and that had first to be sent to a friend at WILL HE DARE? 319 a seaport town in order to be forwarded to its des- tination, and his answers were all directed to this same mntual friend. And he conld see no possi- l)le chance for any information concerning him to get to her bnt such as he might choose to send lier. In receiving her letters laj the only possible danger, and was there any danger in that if proper and constant caution was used to have the letters sent to some address away from his home, and as soon as read they would be instantly destroyed ? There certainly was none. His reason taught him that it was in novels and romances, and generally in them alone, where such letters were found by the poor second wife, completely innocent of all crime, yet who had to receive a worse punishment in the cold pity and compassion of her neighbors than was dealt out to the male culprit by the law. Under these circumstances he could not prevent liimself from thinking that if he should marry this girl the only sin, if any, in the action would be in allowing any chance for discovery ; that, in- deed, would bring disgrace and misery. But if never found out, and it need never be, would it not greatly add to the happiness of all parties con- cerned, or at least to that of these two here pres- ent ? and it would in no possible way effect the ab- sent wife if she were kept in ignorance of the event. 320 m SEARCH OF GOLD. It may be asked wliy lie objected so strongly to getting a divorce from his wife before marrying again. Such Wiis his adoration and regard for that wife that he would most certainly have taken his own life before he woidd have committed the smallest act that would have contributed to her unhappiness. A divorce would have to l)e public and would perhaps eventually reach her ears, and he knew would then bring intense sorrow to her when she knew of it. If he could have procured the legal separation from his first wife, and been absolutely sure she would never have heard of it, be would undoubtedly have done so. But that was impossible, so he came, as already explained, to the only feasible plan which should be the best for all parties, to marry Miss Fannie Thornton. In coming to this conclusion he had not given overdue consideration to himself, or his own feel- ings, but had always endeavored to look upon him- self and his own interests as of a third person. lie was not at all selfish, yet he knew it was right that his own hapi^iness should be considered to some ex- tent, and that it required that he should follow this plan. He also thought the same course was req- uisite to complete the happiness of Miss Thorn- ton, and he honestly and sincerely believed that he could make her happy as long as they lived. These meditations kept him deep into the night WILL HE DARE? 321 pacing the floor of his apartments, and when at last he threw himself upon his bed for a few hours' rest, it seemed to him the only question then remaining was, would he dare do it ? About this time the good deacon thought that perhaps he could now, with a clear conscience, allow his stepdaughter her liberty, as she had been suflficiently punished. Extracting a promise from her to play no more cards, and not to go to any theater, he told her that she could now resume her former freedom of action. She readily gave the required promises, and would as readily have broken them five minutes afterward if she could have done so safely, so changed had she become in this respect since she was compelled to leave the home of her childhood, with the free and un- trammeled life she there led, ;id where there was no soil to produce deceit and lies, and come to this other house where the whole course of government was such as to generate every species of deception and falsehood. But she was glad of her liberty, and now Lock- well was invited to the house and introduced to her mother, and became a constant visitor at the man sion. The most subtle subterfuges were planned by their united intellects to meet at whist parties and not have the knowledge thereof come to the good 322 m SEARCH OF GOLD. deacon ; to start for prayer meeting and bring up at a theater ; to go out to visit the parish poor and bring up at a concert, and so -on to an infinity of stratagems emjiloyed to throw the old gentleman on a false scent. At one time Lockwell worked hard for two whole days to write and then learn l)y heart a really beautiful prayer, which he de- hvered at one of the prayer meetings in the good deacon's church. He got stuck in the middle of it, however, and came vei:y near l)reaking do^vn altogether, ])ut luckily recovered after a few mo- ments' hesitation, and the suspension was attributed by the brethren to his deep emotion, so all went off well and the good deajcon was charmed with him. After that, for some time, he was welcomed to the house by all, but he felt some inconvenience from the fact that the deacon supposed, of course, he was going to attend the prayer meetings regulary. But this would have cost him too much time and trouble, especially as he would have been exjjected to take part each time as he had done before, and that would have taken two days' hard work to j)re- pare for each one of the meetings, and this he did not think would pay. Happy was the life they now led, and Lockwell wished to prolong it indefinitely, but he knew the time must soon come when he would be expected by both the girl and her mother to propose for her . WILL HE DARE? 323 hand in marriage. He had a natural reluctance to commit that act, which, however justifiable it might appear to him, he knew would render him amenable to the laws, and, if discovered, would send him to State prison in disgrace for years, and he would postpone the proposal for as long a time as he felt he could. His visits at the house were daily, and his meetings with his intended bride were frequently semi-daily. One evening they had left the house with the expressed purpose of hearing a lecture by a cele- brated divine, and as usual had gone to a theater where was then being played a popular comic opera, intending as they came out to go to the nearest ice cream saloon for refreshments. But as they de- scended the steps of the theater laughing and talk- ing they almost ran right into the arms of her father, who was standing there waiting for another and a very different party — a gentleman friend who had sent him a note that he wished to see him and asked him to come to the theater and to a certain box, where he would find him. The stern old Christian would not go inside the building, but had come expecting to meet the friend as he came out, and instead had met our frends. The good deacon's face clouded in awful anger as he realized the situation. The young lady turned pale, and Lockwell had to support her or she would have 824 m SEARCH OF OOLD. faflen. He was the coolest of the three, jet he felt very much worried and terribly anxious on her account when he thought of the severity of the punishment that would surely follow this the second great fall from grace. The stepfather would reason that this was because he had been so lenient toward her on the former occasion, and had not made her punishment half severe enough, or she would have kept M'ithin the bounds of pro- priety. It was true he had no legal right to enforce any punishment upon her, but neither, on the other hand, had she any claim upon him for any share or part in that beautiful and luxurious home in which he had" placed both her and her mother. If she i)ersi8tently refused to obey his orders he both could and would tell her to leave and seek a home elsewhere ; therefore she never disobeyed him unless she thought she could do so without his finding it out. A moment of surprise having passed the two gentlemen bowed coldly to each other; then the stepfather advanced and said : " Pardon me, sir, but my carriage is at the door and I desire to take my daughter home with me." " Excuse me, but the lady is -^vith me at my own urgent invitation, and I shall take her home even as I brought her here." But the lady at this point hurriedly wliispered to WILL HE BARE? 325 her lover. " Do not, do not, I beseecli you, in- cense liim any more but let me go witli him, and do you find some means to communicate with me if possible in the next few days ; this is the only way. If you oppose him any further, I know that will make it much harder for me." Then Lockwell turned to the deacon, whose brow was as black as midnight, and said : " By the express wish and command of this lady I leave her in your care." " And, sir," said the deacon as he took her arm, " after what has occurred I hope it will not be necessary for me to express my wish that you will not again honor my house with you presence." Lockwell bowed. He dared not trust himseK to sjjeak, for he knew he was getting very angry. He watched their carriage as they drove away and muttered, " Wretched old heathen — Christian, I mean, I would only like to hammer you for about seventeen minutes just to pound some sense into you." Then he went to the doctor's rooms and told the whole story to his friend, and ended by saying that the next opportunity he got to speak to the lady he should ask her to marry him and so take her out of the care of this stern old puritan. The doctor heartily congratulated him upon his determination, and assured him that now having suffi- 32G I/V SEARCH OF GOLD. cient income to support a wife lie ought to marry, and from what lie could learn he had no doubt this was the very lady who would ensure his happiness. Then they discussed the best methods of getting to see her, and it was decided that Lockwell should wait on the street in sight of her house till he saw tlie stepfather leave, then he was to go to the door, and, if refused admittance, try and bribe the ser- vants to give him an interview. If unsuccessful in tliat he was to have a letter written, and try to in- duce the servant with a liberal use of money to at least deliver the letter and promise to hand him an answer the same way next day. He had not long to wait in the distance, On the following day, before he witnessed the departure of the deacon on his round of visits among his patients. Hastening to ring the doorbell, it was opened to him by a new servant whom he had never seen before. He in- cpiired for Miss Thornton. " She is not at home." " See here, my friend, I happen to know better than that, and look here also" — showing a double eagle — " here are twenty dollars for you if you will tell Miss Thornton that I am here and give us twenty minutes together in the parlor." The man looked at the money and hesitated. " I will be frank with you, sir. I know all about this matter, and know that if you knew as much as WILL HE BABE? 327 I do you would not wish to meet her in this house. You cannot do so without its being known by some of the other servants, and then he will quickly know of it, and then it will work greatly to her injury. I would like to make that twenty dollars, but under the circumstances it would be unfair not to tell you these facts." " Then," said Lockwell, " where can I meet her ? Does she never walk out ?" "Yes, she goes out twice a day, morning and evening, but always with an elderly lady, a sister of Dr. Brown, whom you could never influence in any way ; an awful sour old maid." " Well, then, will you find an opportunity to give her this letter and bring one from her to me when I call again at the same time to-morrow ?" and he handed him the letter wrapped in a twenty dollar bill. " I will try. I think I can get the letter to her unobserved. Whether she can get a chance to an- swer it or not is another thing." As Lockwell departed the footman looked at the bill and muttered, " This is not a bad day's work, and I will continue to be faithful to the lovers as long as it pays. But I wish I could make the old chap come down too. I must. It is not right that the lovers should have to pay all the expenses. Yes giree, I will call upon the old codger when he is 328 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. comfortabl)' fixed in liis libraiy after dinner, and if I have put him up right he will come down also, but if I can't turn an honest penny out of him I will devote my whole efforts to the success of the lovers." That same evening, as the damsel and her chap- eron were coming up stairs from dinner, they met the footman coming down. He passed on the side of the young lady, and, just as he got by, trod on the trail of her dress. She turned to see what de- tained her, and saw the letter extended toward her. Quick-witted, she took in the situation at a glance, snatched the letter and placed it in her bosom, then rejoined her companion without exciting suspicion. Then going to her mother's room she fervently kissed that lady, who, from having been an invalid for years, was now seldom able to leave her room,, and the affectionate daughter kejDt these troubles of hers almost wholly from her mother. That night, wdien the dueima had been long asleep, the maiden cautiously arose, turned on the gas, and fixed a screen to shade the eyes of the sleeper ; then, getting the largest book in the room, opened it in her lap and spread out the letter to read. It con- tained but few words, and those were that he most earnestly desired her to become his wife at once, and that as she was really her own mistress, he beg- ged her to grant him permission and he would at WILL HE DARE? 329 once come for her with a carriage, and then drive to the nearest parsonage, where they would be made man and wife without loss of time. Without a blush she read the letter : it was just what she ex- pected ; rising, she went very softly to her escritoir, and taldng thence a sheet of note paper and pencil returned to her book to reply. She dared not use ink, fearing the sleeper might awaken and see the bottle, but now, if seen at all, she would simply ap- pear to be reading, and she was ready with her lit- tle story to say, if asked, that she had been unable to sleep, and so was desirous of reading to pass away the time, etc. But the sleeper did not awaken, and the other finished her letter in peace. She told him that while she would accept him for her husband, she would not consent to the plan he suggested, or any other that would necessarily remove her from her mother, the invalid, who needed her care now more than ever before. If he was willing to wait she would eventually be his wife ; when, she could not say now. But to marry now would be to force a separation between herself and mother, and that she would never consent to. This letter was given the next day to the footman and delivered to Lockwell by him. Our hero asked him if he was acquainted with the rates of postage, " for," said he, " the rate of postage is just five dol- lars on each and every letter delivered to me from 330 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. Miss Thornton, and will be collected by the car- rier." The footman understood, and bowed his thanks as he received the first postage in the shape of a five dollar bill. This footman had certainly " struck oil," for on the evening previous, after having delivered the letter to his young mistress, he went to his master's library and knocked for admission. On being told to enter he went in and closed the door behind him, and walked close up to where the venerable deacon was sitting in his easy-chair. " The gentleman whom you described to me as not wishing to have enter your house again called this day, and, whe'Q 1 refused him, he offered me twenty dollars to allow him to enter the parlor, and tell Miss Thornton to meet him there. Of course I could not accept the bribe, and he departed." " The hypocritical villain ! And the brass to dare enter my house after what has passed ! But, James, you did right not to -admit him. I fully be- lieve he is a wolf in sheep's clothing," and, taking out a two-dollar bill, the old gentleman handed it to his footman. " Oh, sir," said that functionary, looking with ex- treme disgust at the diminutive size of the bill, financially speaking, " Oh, sir, I do not like to take pay for simply doing my duty," at the same time pocketing the bill. WILL HE BABE? 331 " Your sentiments do you credit, and, remember, if he comes again treat liim the same way." "Yes, sir," and the disgusted footman retired muttering, " Two dollars ! indeed. Well, that set- tles your side of the question. I believe the lovers are in the right, and, if so, I ought to assist them anyway." After reading his letter Lockwell did not feel in the best of spirits. Now that he had been accepted, and his marriage determined on, he was very impa- tient to have the ceremony performed, and could ill-brook the indefinite delay determined upon by the lady. He loved her with all the strength of his passion- ate, fiery nature, and he could see no definite time in the future when his love and hopes should meet with full fruition. He grew jealous of her mother. He cursed the stepfather. He snubbed his friend, the doctor. Then he sat down and wrote a long, pas- sionate appeal to her ; he wrote earnestly ; he wrote eloquently, because he wrote as he felt ; he begged ; he implored ; then he threatened and coaxed alter- nately, and finally wound up by saying, " If you loved me but one tenth as much as I love you you would marry me to-morrow, nay, this very hour ; no other considerations would occupy your mind one moment. But if you prefer your mother to me, why, then, you are not worthy of me. No, ] 332 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. don't mean that, but you are not worthy of the in- finite love I feel for you." And when he closed up the letter he turned to the doctor, to whom he kept confiding everything in relation to this girl as fast as it occurred, and called her a " heartless creature, a flirt, one who is only going to marry me anyway for my money." The doctor calmly replied, " I do not think it would be safe for me to call that estimable young lady any such names as you have just done. Nor would I wish to do so. Now, if you can cease be- ing a fool for a few minutes, I will talk to you." " Oh, doctor, I am so miserable !" " There you go again, only worse. Miserable be- cause one of the finest of young ladies has agreed to become your wife, and wants to put it off a very uncertain length of time because her mother is very ill and needs kind care ! Now look at your accusations against her. You say that she only wants to marry you for your money. Which has the more money, you or the stepfather of this girl?" " Oh, the stepfather of course." " And she is the natural heir of this man, and if she obeyed him and refused you she would un- doubtedly inherit all his j^roperty, but by accepting you, contrary to his wishes, she nins the risk of losing all that, and yet, if I correctly understand WILL HE DARE? 333 matters, she does not take these facts into consid- eration at all, but has accepted you to the great det- riment of her own prospects, financially speaking, at least. My friend, I have been greatly mistaken in that girl. I thought at first she was just about good enough for you, and would make you a very suitable wife ; I now see that she is entirely too good for you. Let me tell you plainly that we physicians have rare opportunities for observing character, and become most excellent judges of human nature, and I am perfectly certain that you never could love or he contented cmd hapjpy with a perfectly good wife. If you marry an angel you may venerate and adore her, but you would never be happy with her." Lockwell looked up with a startled expression upon his countenance. It seemed to him for an instant that the doctor must have become aware of his past conjugal experience, his description was so accurate, but on second thought he knew this must be impossible, and the doctor continued : "I*^ow I am very much afraid that this girl is too good for you," then rising he walked across the room to where Lockwell was sitting, and, grasping his hand, said in a very earnest manner, "You know me to be a true friend of yours. Ever since I had the good fortune to be of service to you in Conscript Camp I have taken a deep in- terest in your welfare, and I hope and believe that 834 m SEARCH OF GOLD. the friendship is mutual between us " — Lockwell pressed his hand by way of an affirmative answer — " and I want you to listen to me a few moments while I give you my views and advice. You ought to marry and settle down ; you are eminently fitted to make a wife haj^py, and to be very happy yourself as a husband, and, notwithstanding all I have just said, I believe this girl that we are speak- ing of will make you a very happy husband, and you will make her a very happy wife, and the sooner you marry her the better for you both, but you are impetuous, hot-headed, and high-tempered, and though you deeply love this girl you are liable to do something i^sh which will separate you both permanently, and ruin all the genuine hopes of hap- piness of each. This must not l^e ; therefore I say again, marry this young lady just as soon as you possibly can." " I u-ish I could take your advice and marry her this minute, but she refuses to marry me now, and I can't compel her to do so ; then what am I to do ?" " She refuses to marry you now simply because she believes that that would inevitably separate her from her invalid mother, who now needs her care, and, like the dutiful daughter she is, no consider- ation of self will induce her to forsake that mother ; but write to her fully, and plainly, and coolly, setting forth your deep love for her, and urging WILL EE DABE? 335 a secret marriage^ pledging yourself never to reveal it until she is willing, so that it would make no possible difference in her present life or in her re- lations to her mother or stepfather. Convince her of this, and my word for it she will no longer re- fuse to marry you." " Do you really think so, doctor ? Oh, if she would do so I do most fully believe that would ensure the happiness of all concerned." " I have not a doubt of it. I believe, moreover, that the great mistake both you and she are now making is in not properly appreciating the venera- ble stepfather." " He is a heathen." " No, he is a Christian, and there is the trouble. JS'ot being a Christian yourself you do not under- stand or appreciate the motives by which he is actuated. I know the gentleman very well by reputation, and, unless I am entirely in error in my estimate of his character, he is actuated by a sense of duty only. He does not consider that you are calculated to promote the lady's welfare either temporarily or eternally, and in all his actions to- ward her I have no doubt he only considers what he thinks is for her best good. So, now, if you and she were really married, instead of continuing to act toward you as he does at present, he would reason with himself that he had done his duty in 336 m SEARCH OF GOLD. tlie matter, and now as it could not be hel^^ed he must make the best of the inevitable, and he would welcome jou to his house sadly, but sincerely." " Then if I succeed in persuading her to a secret marriage why not go and tumble down at the old codger's feet, confess all, and ask to be par- doned ?" " Do you wish to do that ?'' " I can't say that I hanker after the position, but I tell you, doctor, that if it would be conducive to her welfare I think I would even consent to sprawl before him." " "Well, you will not have to do anything of the kind. If the lady consents to marry you it will only be when she is fully satisfied that it can be kept a secret from your future stepfather-in-law, and this you will have to promise and guarantee her before she will ever marry you. . She will never risk what she will consider the chances of his unrelenting and unforgiving nature, and so the fear of his forbidding her the house or sei:»arating her in some way from her mother. I fear she is some- what like yourseK, so little of a Christian that she cannot properly appreciate the motives of this exemplary man. No, your only chance is to prom- ise eternal secrecy and everything else she may re- quire, then marry her as soon as possible." " Doctor, I believe you are right ; you most WILL HE BABE? 337 always are ; and joii are a good friend of mine ; now will jon boss this job for me ? I feel inca- pable of doing it myself. One minute I feel like jumping overboard, and the next minute I want to blow out tlie brains of that ' exemplary ' old cuss, as you call him." " As I call him ? You are mistaken ; I never use such expressions as ' old cuss ;' they are not polite. I said he was exemplary and so he is. He is an upright, conscientious man whose every action is regulated by a high sense of Christian duty." " "Well, well, let him slide. Will you manage this business for me? You know everything, and are cool and dispassionate ; I will do ever}i;hing exactly as you say if you will consent to direct me fully in this matter." " Yery well, I will do the best I can ; now get your pen and ink and write as I shall dictate, for you must send this letter off at once before she has time to answer your last idiotic one." A long letter was dictated by the doctor, and written by Lockwell, full of good sound argument going to show why no possible harm could result from a secret marriage, and pledging his honor that not a soul should ever know of it until she gave her consent, and closing by a most urgent appeal to her in the name of their mutual love to give her consent to an immediate secret marriage, and 338 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. showed how the way could be cleared of every pos- sible difficulty. Tliis letter written, sealed, and sent, Lockwell felt comparatively happy. Did no thought of his absent wife occupy his mind all this time ? Not an hour jjassed but what he thought of her; but he fully believed that his present arrangements would conduce to the happiness of all parti*es. His absent vrdc should never know, his present wife should never know, and in that ignorance should consist the greatest happiness of all concerned. He often asked himself what other course he could have pursued witliout rendering either himscK or others miserable, and he colild think of none. Impatiently he awaited the reply to his letter. He was in a fever of anxiety ; now that his course was marked out for him he was anxious to follow it with all the speed possible. He loved this girl with all the ardor of his intensely passionate nature, and absence from her was torture to him. In two days he received his reply ; it was biief but explicit and decided. In about three weeks' time she would marry him, but only upon his assurances that it should be kept absolutely secret from every one. She would not even tell her own mother for fear of distressing her, although Lockwell stood high in her mother's favor. Lockwell was beside himself with joy. He wrung WILL HE DARE? 339 the doctor's hand and called him his savionr, and yet, after the first feelings of perfect happiness which he experienced npon the receipt of her letter, he began for the first time to feel some little misgivings as to the strict propriety of the course he was following. He was no coward, yet when he considered that the having two wives, even though one was in South America, was a crime which, if known, would send him to State prison, he felt somewhat worried, and could not always dissipate his anxious thoughts by assuring himself that dis- covery was impossible. The yearly letter he re- ceived from his wife was answered at once then burned. And now his future arrangements would be such as he knew would preclude the possibility of any discovery from that source. And yet he realized that his happiness was somewhat marred by thoughts of unknown and unexpected dangers which might be encompassing him. And so the days went by and the time for his second nuptials drew near. All the arrangements had been com- pleted under the advice and direction of the doctor. At midnight on the next Tuesday Lockwell was to be one block from her father's residence with a car- riage, and at that hour, when all the inmates at the house of Dr. Brown should be asleep, she would cautiously steal forth, enter the carriage, and be driven rapidly to the residence of a clergyman who 340 m SEARCH OF GOLD. was a friend of Lockwell, and who had consented to officiate in making the twain one at that rather unusual hour. The eventful night arrived. Lockwell was at the appointed place long before midnight. He sat in the carriage till fifteen minutes of twelve, then got out and walked by the house ; everything was dark and still ; he paced softly up and down in front of the door. The clock in the neighboring church tower struck twelve; five minutes past the door was softly opened, the beloved form of her whom he so deeply loved appeared on the outside, and the next instant was pressed to his heart. They hastened to the carriage and were driven swifty to the parson- age, where they found the reverend gentleman awaiting them; ten minutes more and they were passing out of that door as man and wife ! On their way back the driver of the carriage, who was well paid and had had his instructions, went by a very circuitous route and very slowly, so that they were over an hour in returning, whereas they had only been about fifteen minutes in going. He saw his bride safely enter the door of her dwell- ing, and then drove to his own rooms. That night, when he retired to his own couch, he fully realized that he was a criminal and the hus- band of two wives — one of whom he venerated and WILL HE DARE? 341 adored, and the other he loved with all the concen- trated intensity of an extremely passionate nature — and yet he fell asleep with no compunctions of con- science. 342 ZZy^ SEARCH OF GOLD. CHAPTER XXII. THE SECOND -WIFE. LocKWELL moved his quarters up to the next street, and within two blocks of his second -tv^fe's residence, and here she was able to visit him fre- quently without exciting any suspicion on the part of her stepfather or of his sister. They had been married about one month when Lockwell received a hote from his friend, the doc- tor, asking him to call and see him that evening upon business of importance. Since the wedding the friends had not met so frequently as formerly, owing to the increasing business of the doctor and also to the fact that Lockwell's time was much more taken up now than formerly, so that when he re- ceived this note he had not seen his friend for a week. Wondering what it could mean he hastened to the doctor's rooms, and was surjDrised when the latter informed him that he (the doctor) had been three times to see Dr. Brown. " "What under the sun took you to see that old scalliwag — I mean that old exemplar?" " Well, sit down and I will tell you. You re- THE SECOND WIFE. 343 member I told you that I fully believed when be should come to know that you two were married he would accept the inevitable with a good grace. Well, my first visit to him was to see if a personal interview would confirm or remove my impressions in regard to him, and, having a patient in his vicinity who was very ill, I took the opportunity to have him called in to consult with me. The interview caused me to feel that I had made a correct estimate in re- gard to his character. This was before I saw you the last time, but I did not tell you anything about it for obvious reasons. The next interview was at my own request for a private one at his own house. There I stated to him plainly that I was a friend of yours ; that I had known you for a long time, and, in short, passed a very high eulogium upon your general character (may the Lord forgive me !), and then told him that I knew you were deeply attached to his daughter, and desired to know why he objected to your visiting her. I admit he frowned savagely when I asked this question, and wanted to know if I spoke by your authority. I replied in the afiirmative, for you remember you gave me carte hlanclie to manage your matrimonial business, and I did not consider it finished by any means when you were married. Then he said that a man who would go into a prayer meeting and make a prayer for the sole purpose of deceiving 344 ZzY SEARCH OF GOLD him never would make a good husband for a good girl, and his duty to the young lady whom Pro^d- dence had placed under his care would compel him to use every means in liis power to prevent her from ruining all her future life by marrying such a man. So you see, my friend, that that prayer of yours has been answered jnst as it deserved it be." " But I never prayed for this old — old — " " Exemplary Christian." "Exemplary Christian to get his back up this way, and try to ruin the happiness of everyone around him. Well, I have prayed a great many times since that the devil will soon gobble him up, and I hope these prayers will speedily be answered too." " There, subside, I have got the floor this even- ing ; besides I did not send for you to talk, but only to listen. To resume, I talked with him a long, long time, trying to persuade him that a marriage between you two was the only means of securing her happiness as well as your own. I reasoned with him for full an hour, but all to no purpose. He said as I was leaving that he believed it would be far bet- ter for the lady if she were laid in her grave rather than given to you in marriage." " Didn't I tell you he was an old — " " Exemplary Christian, and he is now doing his duty just as an exemplary Christian should. But THE SECOND WIFE. 345 even such men are not infallible, and I tliink tlie only mistake lie has made, if any, is in misjudging your social and conjugal qualities, and tliis, on sec- ond thought, you must admit, is not to be wondered at ; in fact, from what he has seen of you it would Ije very surprising if he could form any other estimate of your character than such as he has. Well, so ended my second interview, and I came away with about half a mind that at my third or next interview, which took place to-day, I would tell him plainly that you and she were married." " Great heavens ! I hope you have not done so ; she will never forgive me if you have." The doctor continued without heeding the inter- ruption : " To-day I went again to see him and resumed the same subject. I also took with me a letter to your wife, of which this is a copy ; listen while I read it to you : " My Dear Mes. Lockwell : — When you re- .ceive this letter I shall have communicated the fact of your marriage to Dr. Brown, deeming it best for all concerned so to do. All you have to do is to throw yourself into his arms and tell him that your happiness depended upon this marriage, etc., then gradually use your woman's tact to show hini that now it is past and cannot be 346 ' IN SEARCH OF GOLD. undone. It becomes his Christian duty to try to convert your husband from the error of his ways, and this cannot be done by any harsh measures, and, my word for it, he will soon see it in that light and welcome you both. The trouble is that, as neither you nor your husband are typical Christians, you cannot properly apj^reciate this ex- emplary Christian gentleman. Your husband has not the slightest idea of what I have done, nor would he permit it if he knew. As this is written before the interview I cannot tell you anything further. "I am always your and your husband's best fidend, " The Doctor." " This letter I took \vith me to be left only in case I concluded to inform the worthy jDhysician of the true state of affairs. I will not keep you in suspense by detailing our long conversation, but come at once to the point. Before leaving his house I told him point blank that you had been married to his stepdaughter for a month! It stai'tled him at first, and he was not disposed to believe it, but I soon convinced him of the fact, and then, instead of being as angry as I expected, he became very sad. He deeply loves his wife, and is also greatly attached to his daughter, and I could not help feeling very sorry for the old gentleman THE SECOND WIFE. 347 to see his deep grief at tlie thought that this young lady had thrown herself away upon you." " He is an old fool !" " I consoled him as well as I knew how by telling him that perhaps you were something like a singed cat — much better than you appeared. He finally ex])rcssed a desire to see you, and I told him you would call upon him at an early hour to-morrow morning." " I will be hanged if I do." " Yes you will, and not only that, but before go- ing there you will ' put yourself in his place,' and then you will see that he has done nothing but what a sincere, devoted, earnest, exemplary Christian gen- tleman should do. Then you will go and see him in a proper spirit ; he will receive you sorrowfully, but as a friend, and then, if you behave yourself properly, he will receive you into his house as the husband of his stepdaughter, and insist upon your staying at his house until you shall have provided suitable accommodations for your wife, and until her mother shall have become better." " Oh, do you think so, doctor ? If so I will hug the old — I mean I will embrace the exemplary Christian. And, Doctor, you are and always have been the best friend that any human being ever was blessed with. What can I do to repay you for all you have done for me ?" 348 I]^ SEARCH OF GOLD. "l^othing DOW. If I ever want a friend rest as- sured I will not liesitate to call upon you, and I know you will never fail me." " God knows I never will." " In the mean time I only wish to see you happy. I cannot perhaps tell why it is, but I never had a brother of my own, and that may be a part of the reason why I liked you the first day I ever saw you, and since then I have learned to love you as strong- ly as ever one brother loved another." They then embraced, and swore that nothing ever would or could happen which would alienate their friendship one from the other. At an early hour 'the next morning LockweU rang the bell at the c ffice of Dr. Brown, and the door was 023ened to him by that individual himseK. LockweU was very much confused on first seeing Dr. Brown, as he did not know exactly how to ad- dress him ; he did not know if he should call him father or not, and in his confusion he came very near calling him the only name that occurred to liim, and that was " exemplary Christian." How- ever, he quickly recovered himself as the other ex- tended his hand and remarked : " My wife's daughter's husband is now and I hope always will be welcome to this house. You know, of course, that I am sorry this has occurred, but it cannot now be helped, and it wiU not be my fault THE SECOND WIFE. 349 if you ever treat your wife other than as a good and faithful husband should treat his wife, and if you will treat her as a Christian, and not as a man of the world, you will receive every encouragement I can pop: 'Illy give you. My wife is too ill now to part with her daughter, therefore come and take up your abode with us for the present, only I ask as a favor to myself that you will not take part again in our prayer meetings." " Give me your hand again," exclaimed Lockwell. "You have spoken like a — like an exemplary Christian gentleman, and I assure you it will be my constant endeavor to show you that you have been mistaken in the estimate you have placed upon me as a suitable husband for your stepdaughter, and I cheerfully give you my word that I will never pray again." The doctor smiled sadly as he said ; " ISTo, I release you from that 23romise. I hope the time will come when you will pray — pray as a repenting sinner in urgent need of forgive- ness." "I think," said Lockwell, his old controversial spirit starting up within him, "I think it would be better not to sin and so have no need of either repentance or forgiveness." "And do you never sin ?" asked the deacon. Lockwell looked at him intently, and his frank 350 m SEARCH OF GOLD. and open countenance showed plainly the sincerity of his words as he rephed : " I am a thorough believer in the principles of eudaemonism, and as such I never knowingly do an action which I think is conducive to the misery of any portion of the animal kingdom. I try by every means in my power to increase the sum of comfort and pleasure in that kingdom. When I make mistakes, as all men do, they are errors of judgment and not of the heart or the intention, and so are no sin. No, sir, I have nothing to repent of, and no forgiveness to ask of any one." "Well, well, you appear to be sincere in what you say, but to me il appears to be very singular. However, I may be somewhat mistaken in my opin- ion of you ; but now go up to the parlor, where your wife awaits you. She will show you your room, and then you can order your things brought around here ; I must be off to my patients. By the way, where is that friend of yours who so ably pleaded your cause for you? Ask him to come here ; I like him." " Everyone likes liim ; he is one of nature's no- blemen." In another minute the husband and wife were locked in each other's arms, and expressing their mutual astonishment at the manner in which the worthy deacon had acted upon hearing of their THE SECOND WIFE. 351 marriage, and they resolved then and there that they would always be dutiful and respectful to the good old man, and never hurt his feelings, at least any more than was absolutely necessary for their own happiness. Comfortably and happily established with his wife at the deacon's house the days flew quickly away, and he had been married about as many months to his second wife as he had years to his first one when his invalid mother-in-law was bur- ied. This left him free to start an establishment of his own, and as he had been occupying himself in the preceding months in speculating in stocks, and had been quite successful, he was well able to carry out a plan which he had been gradually ma- turing in his mind. He had become tired of living in another man's house, and he now suggested to his wife that they should move over to Brooklyn and take a house on the heights. She acquiesced and the movement was made. They urged the good deacon, who was now a widower, to give up his practice and go and live with them, but he would not consent. Lockwell and his wife both insisted that his old friend, the doctor, should make his home with them, and he willingly did so. As the honeymoon had long since passed, and their lives had become settled, the doctor looked 352 m SEARCH OF OOLB. closely to see if there was any diininiition of that deep love which had been mutual when they were married, but he only saw that that love had in- creased and strengthened as time went on. Prob- ably in the whole length and breadth of the land no happier family could be found. As their love for each other increased so their friendship for him dee23ened, until both looked upon him with the af- fection of a well-beloved brother, and he was always deserving of their affection, for a truer friend to both of them could not have been. And now, as Lock well is situated thus pleasantly, for the first time in our narrative we must leave him, while we visit the noble girl' he had left behind in South America. THE FIRST WIFE. 353 CHAPTER XXIIL THE FIRST WIFE. Eight years have passed away since in that far- away South American inland town a noble wife gave up and sent away a dearly-loved husband for that husband's happiness. Eight letters filled with expressions of devoted love have passed from her to him. Eight answers filled with whatever an ingenious brain could sug- gest to please her have been received. Eight years make no noticeable difference in the appearance of these two-century-old towns. The same old fami- lies live in the same old places in the same old houses where their ancestors lived one hundred years ago. In one of them we find the object of our search sitting upon the piazza teaching a little boy a foreign language. Though not yet eight years of age he is bright and quick to learn, and has already mastered the rudiments of the English tongue ; but this afternoon either the lesson is more difficult, or he is not in a mood for study, and his task evidently frets and annoys him, for after many vain efforts to concentrate his attention upon the 354 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. Spanish and English grammar before him he turns to his teacher with an impatient gesture, and ex- claims in pure Castihan : " Mother, why have I got to learn this horrid English language ? None of the other boys have to do so, and I don't understand at all why I must." " I have told you more than once, my son, that it is the language of your father ; it is his native tongue ; it is spoken by all the people of that great and beautiful country where he is now Hving." " Then why is my father not living here now with his family as other fathers are doing ?" " My boy, have I not often told you that you must not speak of these things while you are too young to understand them ? When you are older you will know all, and then you will see that he left me to save my life, and that he now remains away because I will not permit him to return here. He does not know that he is a father, as you were born about half a year after he left, and though I write to and hear from him once a year I have never told him of your birth, and he has never thought of such a thing. This is all that you can know at present. As I have told you, when you are older you will Imow everything. In the mean time you must always bear in mind that you have a higher destiny before you than any other boy in the town, yes, or in the country ; no one else in this THE FIRST WIFE. 355 whole country has so noble a father as yon have, and you should have but one object in life, but one ambition, to be worthy of him, and to so fit and prepare yourself that when you meet him he will be proud of you, and you will have no fear or shame. This has been my one and only thought since the day of your birth. This is why I have spent years of arduous study in acquiring English and other foreign languages in order to teach them to you. This is why the good padres come and spend so much time and care to teach you every youthful accomplishment. Your father sent me a sum of money for my own use but not one dollar have I expended upon myself. The money is well invested and all the income is used to pay for your education, and so it will continue to be until you take the whole amount and go to meet your father in that great country of the north." " But, mother, when will that be ? When will I go to him ?" " My plan was to have you suitably accomplished and sufficiently prepared by the time you were fourteen years of age, and then to send you to him under the care of some merchant going from our nearest seaport town to l!^ew York. But you are improving so fast, and advancing in your studies so rapidly, and withal I have such an intense long- ing to look once more upon the face of my husband, 356 m SEARCH OF GOLD. that I liave almost decided that as soon as I can do so witli great pride I will take yon by the hand and lead you to him and say, ' My husband, behold our son.' " The little fellow came up to his mother, and throwing his arms about her neck whispered : "Yes, together we will go to see him. I too have a great longing to see my father. But as he is so great and good and noble as you say I would not for worlds that he should see me now ; but I will work and study, oh, so much harder than ever. I will get uj) earlier, and work later. English will no longer be disao-reeable to me now that I realize it is the language of the people in that beautiful country wliere he lives, and that when we go there we shall have to speak it all the time. How long did it take you to learn it ?" " It was my constant study for years, but when I sent and got the books there was no one here to teach me, and so it was very difficult to learn. The padre who has given you lessons for so long a time only came to this place about three years ago ; previous to that time no one here spoke English." " Well, mother, in about two years more I will be ready to go with you ;" then after a pause he added, "Do you remember you promised that as soon as I was eight years of age you would show me THE FIRST WIFE. 357 my father's letters ? Tliat time will soon be here now." " Yes, I remember, but it was with the condition that from that day forward yon would speak to me only in English." " I will be ready," was the answer proudly given. So the task which she had set herself nearly eight years before, to bring up this boy in such a way that when she sent or took him to his father he would be a youth that would bring pride to any parent's heart, was in a fair way to be successfully accomplished. The boy had developed as yet only the most amiable qualities. In fact it seemed impossible for him to inherit from his parents anything evil in his disposition. And it was with most unspeakable joy that his mother, while closely watching liim as he grew older, saw only good in his disposition and amiability in his character. Endowed with rare intelligence he made rapid progress in his educa- tion, and at eight years of age stood on a plane with boys of twelve or more. l!^or was this at all surprising when we consider that in the years of his early infancy his mother had toiled constantly to thoroughly master for herself those things which she thought it would be necessary to teach him in order to fit him for making a very creditable ap- pearance when he should aj^pear before his father. 358 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. On this object slie had set her heart, and to accom- plish this purpose no trouble was too great, no work was too hard, and no difficulties but what she was determined to surmount. All these but con- stituted the cross which she cheerfully bore for years, thinking only of the crown she would wear when, with joy and pride, she would lead this noble and accomplished boy up to her ever-loved husband and say, "Behold our son." Her mind would dwell constantly upon this subject ; and when she thought of the astonishment, joy, and pride with which the father would embrace his handsome son, she was inspired to fresh effort in his behalf. Thf, love she bore her husband had never been lessened by the lapse of time and absence, but only intensi- fied and sanctified by these. She lived now but for one thing alone — to make of her son a gift worthy to be presented to her husband. At times, when the thought would cross her mind that one or the other of them might die before the time of meeting, she would turn pale, and her heart would almost cease to beat ; but these doubts would last but an instant. She had an abiding faith that the Holy Virgin would never let her fail in this the great object of her life. And so the days went by. Her handsome boy, working with a precocious determination to second all her efforts, daily increased his store of knowl- THE FIBST WIFE. 359 edge. He ceased to associate with tlie boys of his own age, and visited only the best famihes in the place, especially those who had traveled in foreign countries, and from them he learned to practice all the rules and regulations of etiquette as ob- served in other lands. His mother had always taught him to be proud of that father whom he had never seen, and now his own ambition and desire to be a credit to his parents was scarcely second to that of his mother. Long before the two years were up in which he had promised his mother be would be prepared to meet his father, they both knew that neither he nor his mother need now be ashamed to mingle among the best society of any country. She, in preparing herself to instruct her boy, had uncon- sciously changed vastly for the better, both physi- cally and mentally. While so many lose their beauty as they advance in years, she, having none to lose, had really gained it. The pleasure of de- voting herself to the cause of her husband and son had obliterated every trace of coarseness from her features and manners, and to-day, in the aristocratic parlors of New York, although she would not have been considered handsome by any means, yet her appearance would have been pronounced pleasing and interesting, and she well knew that while her husband would have every reason to be proud of 360 IN SEAEGH OF GOLD. their noble boy lie would have no reason to be ashamed of her, and as she thought of this, and realized that it meant when once more they should meet they need never part again, her very soul was filled with ecstacy, and joy unutterable was her companion by day and night, just in anticipa- tion of that meeting. They had decided to await the completion of the boy's tenth year before starting for the north, and they expected about that time to receive the yearly letter from Lockwell wliich should announce his safety, and immediately thereafter they would start for his home in the north to surprise him with an unknown son and an unexpected wife ! Not a thought could he have of the existence of the former, nor would he imagine such a thing as his wife coming to see him, and still less would he sus- pect the great change for the better in her which was the result of ten years of constant struggle, and as she thought of this she would blush with conscious pride and pleasure. No kingly aspirant ever looked forward to his coronation with half the joy that was in the hearts of these two loving persons as they thought and spoke of the absent husband and father, so loved and revered by both. Some weeks must still pass by before they would start, and in the mean time they read many English THE FIRST WIFE. 361 books, and studied the maps and geography of the United States — the country of their future home. For months their conversation had been carried on only in English, for this they considered would be the sole language of their future. On the very day that completed the tenth year in the life of young Jose a long letter was received by his mother from Lockwell, and immediately thereafter preparations were begun for the removal of herself and son to the home of her husband in the land of the north. It was now in the early springtime, and they were not desirous of reacliing the United States until the summer season began, so they had ample time to make all arrangements for a final departure from their native soil, l^either of them ever ex- pected to revisit the scenes of their native place. On a bright and pleasant morning in the mid- dle of May mother and son mounted their animals and, accompanied by peons with several pack-mules carrying the baggage, started over the same road traveled by her husband so many years before. As every incident of that memorable trip had been fully described to her in her husband's letters, she took great interest in every place along the route, asking every person at the stopping-places if they remembered him, and, if she was answered in the affirmative, as was sometimes the case — a foreigner 362 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. traveling through on foot being a rare incident — she would press them with questions as to how he looked? Did he appear tired? Wliere had he slept, or on what had he sat down? Then she would go and sit in the same seat, or, if she were staying all night, she would wish to He on exactly the same spot where he had slept. When they reached Guayaquil she went direct to the priest who had taken such care of her hus- band ten years before, and who was still living in the same place and performing the same duties. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, and called him her husband's saviour. Then she made liim go over the whole history of her husband's burial, and shuddered at the re- cital, and when he told her of the great service the money she had sewn up in his clothes had been to him, and how delighted he was to receive it, she tlirew herself upon her knees before a crucifix and thanlved the Holy Virgin who had inspired her to place the money as she had done. Then with the good jiadre on one side of her and her son on the other, she visited the scene of her husband's burial and resurrection, and turned faint and but for the supj)ort of the pi-iest would have fallen to the ground as the awful episode in her husband's life was thus brought so vividly to her mind. The fearful graveyard was still a black and THE FIRST WIFE. 363 barren waste. The pits whicli had been the recep- tacle of so many human beings were rendered verj plain bj the settling of the earth which had covered the bodies. Eecovering from her faintness she insisted upon being shown the very spot where the dogs had dragged him out, and also where her companion had found him in the morning, lying, all uncon- scious, upon the cold ground. They remained with the padre the three days that they had to wait for the steamer going uj) to Panama, and during all that time she talked con- stantly of her husband, and never could hear enough of the good priest's description of the time when he remained with him. On board the steamer the mother and son are al- ways thinking of the same subject: the meeting and future life with the husband in the far-off land. She would picture to herself the glad surprise with which he would receive her and their noble boy. How astonished and proud he would be when he saw him, and how that joy and pride would increase when he became fully acquainted with young Jose. It was not without cause that she felt proud of her son. He was all that any parent could wish to have him. Fond and affectionate, without being effeminite; manly, without being rude or rough; kind and generous in his disposition, he fairly 864 11^ SEARCH OF GOLD. idolized his mother, and, through her teachings, he had learned to love his father as much as it was possible for him to love one whom he had never seen. And now his impatience to see that father was almost uncontrollable. So we leave them to continue their journey, elated with hope and joy in anticipation of the ecstacy of meeting to part no more. THE TWO WIFE8 365 CHAPTEE XXiy. THE TWO WIVES. It was evening on tlie first day of Jnne. Dinner was over and the lights had just been lit in the drawing-room of Lockwell's residence. He, his wife, and Dr. Train were seated around a small table about to begin a game of whist in which Lockwell was to have Dummy for a partner. ISTo friend had been invited in, as was usually the case, to make up the game, because on the morrow they were to leave all together to spend the sum- mer in the country and on the sea-shore, and they intended to play but a short hour before retiring to their respective rooms to complete their j^rep- rations for departure, and get a good night's rest. " Ma chere," said Lockwell, using the term by which he always addressed his wife, " are you not sorry that we are going to leave this pleasant house even for so short a time ? The years that we have spent beneath this roof have been to me one un- ceasing period of happiness, and it seems to me no change can be for the better, so I almost wish we had not decided to go away even for £o short a time as three months." 366 m SEARCH OF GOLD. " Well," she replied, " for my part I care not where we are, so long as we are all three together. You will not be jealous, will you, if I tell you that until the doctor here decided he could go with us I felt that I would rather remain here as we are at present." " Jealous ! In the years that we have been mar- ried have you ever seen the slightest sign of jealousy in me ? It has been said that perfect love casteth out all fear, and I know that jyerfect love casteth out all jealousy. And I believe I love both of you with a perfect love, and I should be very, very sorry to think that you did not love each other," and then in speaking of how perfect love would cast out all jealousy he thought of his absent wife ; how she had loved him with a perfect love, and so far from being jealous she had sent him away to live among his own countrywomen and refused to receive a promise from him that he would never love and marry again. Truly she had loved him with a perfect love. His thoughts were interrupted by his wife, who said: " "Well, then, if we three are to have no secrets from one another I will tell you now what I was waiting for the privacy of our own room to men- tion. My stepfather called upon me again to-day." "What, the exemplary Christian? I should THE TWO WIVES. 367 have been very glad to see him. He has not been here much lately. What did he have to say ? Tell us all about it, and then afterward give the doctor a chance to talk ; he has had no opportunity to say a word this evening." " When there is only light talk to be carried on I think you and I generally monopohze it, but in an emergency, or when the talk required to be of good practical sound sense, I fancy we would step back and give the doctor the floor." "Well, as there is no emergency this evening, let us hear what the good deacon had to say." He had very little to say to me, but I had a great deal to say to him, all of which was very foolish, I know, but I will tell you as near as I can recollect all the conversation between us. After the usual remarks, as he appeared to be in a very good humor, I asked him whether he would not now con- fess that he had been wrong in his first judgment of you, for I had now been married several years, and during all that time I had never seen one un- happy moment. He smiled and said he was glad to hear it, and hoped it would always continue, but I must remember that I was still young and hand- some, and that my husband loved me dearly. It was when I should become old and my beauty faded that would test the worth of my husband's materialistic principles. He hoped all would con- 368 m SEARCH OF GOLD. tinue well, but lie could not help thinking that Christian principles were the only sure foundation for all permanent happiness. I retorted that if you were a materialist I would not exchange you for all the Christians in the world. He only said ' Time will show/ and kissed me a sad good-bye." "And, ma chere *Time will show' — show him that other men can be good as well as Christians. But I have held this pack of cards idly in my hand long enough ; I now pro230se we — " " A lady and a little boy in the reception room to see Mr. Lockwell," interrupted a servant at the door. " A lady and little boy to see me ? Are you not mistaken, James, was it not the doctor she asked for ? I am sure there can be no lady and little boy to see me." " It was Mr. Lockwell she asked for." " I presume it is some stranger wanting a physi- cian and has got our names mixed. Go and ask her if it is not the physician, Dr. Train, whom she wishes to see." James retired, and Lockwell laughingly said : "Now, ma chere, supposing it is a very hand- some woman, and really wants to see me, what will you do ?" " Why, I should only say that she can't have you just yet. Eut if she has come to see the doctor. THE TWO WIVES. 369 and is beautiful and good, and will make him a loving wife, I will say to Ler, ' Come, and let the bond of love hold four;' would not that be the correct thing ?" James returned : " ITo, sir, she says it is Mr. Joseph Lockwell whom she wishes to see." " Then I will go to her at once. Good-bye, ma chere, if she is handsome I will never come back." He went lightly to the reception room, thinking it was some lady come to ask aid for some society. As he entered the room he saw an elegantly dressed lady standing by the center table, on which one hand was resting, w^hile the other was on the shoulder of the boy who stood beside her, and her face in the full glare of the light, but closely veiled. " Why, madam " said he, as he advanced toward her, " why are you not seated ?" When within a few feet of her a well-known voice replied, as the veil was thrown back : " My husband, behold our son !" One quick look of recognition, followed by one of mortal terror, and he exclaimed : " You ! Oh, my God !" then staggered fainting to a seat. The southern wife gave one piercing scream and cry for help, then sprang to the side of the fainting man. In the parlor the scream and cry came simultaneously to the ears of the doctor and the northern wife. In an instant the former 370 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. was in the reception room and belield tlie fainting man with the strange ladj bj his side. " Oh, sir," said the latter, " save my husband." The boy with more presence of mind said : " My father is faint- ing, sir ; will you please to helj) us ?" These words reached the doctor, then passed on and entered the ears of a marble-white lady standing in the door- way looking upon the scene with eyes of fire. She muttered, "Husband," "Father," then to the woman whose head was now upon the fainting man she said in a voice that rang through the house, " Woman, who are you .^" " I," said the southern lady, " why, I am liis wife, and this is his' son, and we thought to give him such a happy surprise, but as he was not look- ing for us the surprise has been too much for him and he has fainted. If 3'ou are a friend of his won't you help this kind gentleman and myself to bring him to?" The doctor had lain the inani- mate f onn of his friend upon a sofa and was busily administering restoratives, but his countenance wore a look of pain and trouble greater than it had borne for years. His quick and practiced eye had detected the features of the father in the son, and he could read the open angelic countenance of the southern wife, and knew there was no imposture there. But he had scarce time to think and none to act before the hand of the northern wife fiercely THE TWO WIVES. 371 the arm of the southern one, and she almost screamed at her. "You lie! He is my husband. I have been married to him for years, and I will not give him up." The hand of the southern wife was raised one moment to her brow ; the room spun round, then she too sank un- conscious by the side of her husband. With a wild cry the boy was by her side. "Oh, my mother! my mother! these demons have killed you ! these brutes have murdered you ! Wake up and come with me from this infernal place ; 'tis I, your son, who speaks to you. Come away with me ; there is no one here who is worthy of a thought from you ;" then to the doctor, " Can it be possible that my father has been unfaithful to my mother for the sake of that thing there V' and he pointed scornfully to where the northern wife still stood gazing with pallid features upon her rival. To this boy all other women were but as dross com- pared to his angel mother. The doctor said, " There, my boy, take this and bathe your mother's brow and head. I will be back in one minute." Then he advanced to the side of the other wife, and taking her by the arm said in a tone of voice which those who heard never dared to disobey, " Come to your room, this is no place for you. I will communicate with you as soon as these people are recovered." 372 IN SEARCH OF GOLD. " But, doctor, who and what am IV " You are the same to-day as you were yesterday, as you were last year. No fault or blame is on your head. But no more now ; I will tell you all soon, and rest assured I will not allow you to be deceived." Then he led lier quickly to lier room and locked her in. Returning to the reception room he speedily had the servants, who had gathered round, carry the remaining wife to a spare room and laid upon a bed. Then giving directions to a domestic who was a good nurse he left her and the boy in the room, but not until he had found an opportunity to say to the youth, " My boy, you are a brave lad, and you have an intelligence far beyond your years ; be a man now if ever in your life you in- tend to be one. The peace and perhaps the lives of all in this house depend upon you and me. We must save them, for they are utterly incapable of saving themselves in this fearful extremity." " I care not for the happiness nor the lives of any of them but my mother, I wish all the others were in hell ! caramba !" " No more such thoughts as that, my boy. Think a moment, then answer me. Does not your mother deejDly love your father ?" " She does, indeed." " Then could she be happy if he were miserable V THE TWO WIVES. 373 " I suppose not." " Then we must do the best we can for all. Your mother will soon return to consciousness. Do the best you can to console her, and above all do not speak against your father, but comfort her all you can. That is all I can say. I must go back to your father." He found his friend just returning to conscious- ness. Dismissing all the servants, he took the hand of Lockwell in both of his own, and bent over him. The first question of the patient as he opened his eyes was, "Where has she gone? Has she really been here ?" "Yes, she is here; she has gone to her room. Oh, my bosom friend, my more than brother, my heart yearns for you. What can I do for you «" " For me ? oh, nothing ; I care not for myself, but the thought that these two — one who loves me dearly, and the other I love dearly — would now meet, and the lives and happiness of both be wrecked and ruined, was more than I could stand. So sudden too." "But, doctor, who was the boy? Did not she say something about a son ?" " Yes, he is your son." " My son ! I never had a son." Then he gave the doctor more particulars already 374 m SEARCH OF GOLD. known to the reader, and the sharp physician was not long in guessing the facts of the case. But Lock well was astounded beyond measure when the doctor told him about the boy, and said he was a noble youth that any parent might be proud of. Then said Lockwell in deep anguish : " Oh, my friend, you who have saved me and done so much for me, I beg of you not to have one thought about me now, but save those two, my — ^my wives. Their lives must not be blasted for no fault of their own. Oh, what can I do for them ? But go now, my friend, to my secretary in the library, and in that you will find a secret drawer" — and he gave him full directions how to find it — " and in that drawer you will find a full manu- script history of my life. The pages are numbered and it has an index ; look in that index for the chapter headed South America, find it and read it, then you will know all." The doctor did as directed and spent over an hour in reading the account of his South American marriage, nearly the same as given to the reader. Then he quietly took the paper and went up to the room of the northern wife. He found her pacing up and down the room with dishevelled hair. She stopped in the middle of the floor as he entered and only said : "WeUr THE TWO WIVES. 375 " If things are bad we must make the best of them, and do the best we can under the circum- stances. Read this paper slowly and thoughtfully, then 'put yourself in his place 'before you pass any judgment upon his actions." She took the paper without a word, and he passed from her room to that of the southern wife. When the latter began to revive, her son, with a discretion beyond his years, asked the nurse to leave the room, as his mother would feel better to see none but her son near her. The nurse was only too glad to retire to the kitchen to speculate with the other servants as to what had happened, for none of them had arrived upon the scene soon enough to hear the story of the southern lady, and they were ignorant of the real state of the case. " Mother," said young Jose as she opened her eyes, " it is I, your son, who loves you more than all the world besides, and who always will love you. Oh, take yom* love away from all others who do not deserve it, and give it all to me, who will return it with interest." " My precious boy ! I have had a fearful dream. I thought — but was it a dream? Have we seen your father, and has he another wife ?" " N^ever mind that now, mother ; think of me and my love for you. I would never have another mother, not if I had all the world to choose from/' 876 Ilf^ SEARCH OF GOLD. and the little fellow's tears fell fast upon his mother's cheek, " Ah ! then I see it was no dream. It was all real. And I am here to mar his happiness once more ; why did I ever come ?" Even now she would think only of his happiness, and not of the great wrong done her. " I now know this great affliction has been brought ujjon me because I did not enter a convent and devote myself to the service of the Holy Virgin. But it is the last time she will have to punish me, for as soon as I am well enough to move I will join some good sisters of charity and pass the remainder of my life in their service. But my he^d burns, and I feel very ill and faint." Just now the doctor entered, and, passing to the bedside, took up her hand and felt of her pulse ; he looked very serious; then admmistered an opiate, and told the boy he must not talk any more to his mother, but let her sleep, or she would be very ill. The boy's frame trembled with apprehension. He followed the doctor from the room, and when outside the door he grasped his hand and said : " Oh, sir, I am my mother's only protector among all her enemies, and I am so young and can do so little. K you are a doctor, for the love of God won't you cure my mother, and I promise you as soon as she is better we will leave this house and THE TWO WIVES. 377 never come back." Tlie doctor stooped down, and placing both hands npon the head of the boy shoved back the hair from his handsome forehead and pressed a kiss npon his brow, while a tear dropped from the doctor's eye upon the other's cheek, and he said to him : " My young friend, your mother has not an enemy in this house, and I am a physician, and I give you my word that everything that mortal man can do I will do for her. I will not attempt to disguise the facts from you. This shock has been very severe upon your mother, and she is now very ill with a fever, but I have no doubt she will be well again after some days. Now go back to her. I have given her that which will make her sleep, and as soon as she is sound asleep she will remain so for hours, and you can do no good by staying there, and I must talk with you this evening. Will you come down to me in the library ?" "Yes, as soon as she is asleep I will come." Before the northern wife had read half through the story of her husband's previous marriage she muttered, "Well, he never loved her. He has loved only me, and that is the principal thing after all. Oh, why has she come here ? If she had re- mained away things could have gone on the same way always, and I would have been as happy for §ver as I have been for the past few years, and so 378 TJSr SEARCH OF GOLD. would my liusbaud. Oh, why did she come!" Before she had completed the full story she was lost in wonder and astonishment that any girl could give up one she loved in order to secure that per- son's happiness; then she could not refrain from admiring the conduct of both, and when she had completed the narrative she remembered the words of the doctor, to " put yourself in his place" before passing judgment, and when she did so she could not refrain from acknowledging that if she would not have done the same, imder the circumstances, it was because it was not her nature to do such noble deeds. But -then the awful fact remained that the other wife was here, and now the question was, what is to be done ? Her position was a very trjdng one, but she felt very much better after hav- ing read her husband's manuscript. The conviction that he had married his first wife only from a sense of duty, and that he had mar- ried her because he loved her, was in itself very consoling. What should she do? Arise and go back to her stepfather ? She shuddered at the idea, more especially as she remembered the conversation she had with him only the day before. Besides she deeply loved her husband, and he dearly loved her, and her only ; of this she was satisfied. The manuscript history of liis former marriage written by himself proved this. Must she then give him TEE TWO WIVES. 379 up? She could not tell. All she knew was that the other wife had a prior claim upon her husband, and her own marriage was illegal. She kept re- peating, " Oh, if she only had kept away we would have continued on in the same happy life forever, and never have known or thought that we ought to be miserable. Now she is here what will she do ? Let me ' put myself in her place ' and see. I should claim my rights, of course. But then she is infinitely better than I am ; there may be hope in that, though. But no, there is their son ; how- ever unselfish and noble she may be her duty to her son will compel her to assert her rights. "Well, I can only trust in heaven and the doctor ; prin- cipally the doctor now. If any one can help us it is he. But I do not see what can be done." After leaving the boy at the door of his mother's room the doctor hastily called the groom and sent him out with orders to bring a carriage without delay ; then proceeding to the reception room, where his friend was still lying, he said : " Rouse yourself, my friend, there will be a car- riage here in ten minutes to take you to the depot. Tou must catch the midnight train for Boston, and wait there till you hear from me." "Why so?" " Because you must not pass another hour under the same roof with these two ladies. If you do I 380 m SEARCH OF GOLD. will not answer for the consequences. Without jou here perhaps we can — we must — we will do something to help this fearful state of affairs. But you must go at once. Your valise with what you may need will be packed and forwarded to you by ex2:)ress to-morrow." "Doctor, tell me honestly, would it not helj^ matters — would it not be better for them if my body should be found floating in the East Eiver to- morrow morning ? Say but one word and it shall be so." " Hush ! have not a thought of that kind. Don't you know that that would instantly kill your south- ern wife, and make the other miserable for life ? You must do just as I say, and I tell you all will be well yet. I have saved you before, and I will save you again. I am bomid to do so now, for if it had not been for me you would never have married the other one." So this generous man was trying to share the blame with his friend. Five minutes afterward Lockwell had left the house, and the doctor and the boy were alone in the library. " My dear young friend," said the doctor, as he drew the youth to a seat beside him, "this must be a very different reception from what you had anticipated. It is hard, too hard for one of your tender years, but, unless I am greatly mistaken, you THE TWO WIVES. 381 have a man's heart and mind within this youthful frame, and will bear tliis trial like a man." " Oh, for nie it is nothing, but think of my poor mother, who for years has lived only in the antici- pation of this meeting. Ever since I was born she has struggled to prepare me properly to occupy the position of an affectionate son to my father, and it was not until she saw she could fit herself to appear in the society among which her husband moved without shame to him that she would allow herseK to think of ever coming to see him. And now to find him with another wife! Oh, why did my father do so ?" And his grief, as he thought of his mother's sorrow, choked his utterance. The doctor j^ut his arm around his neck, and, drawing his head down upon his bosom, said : "It is of your father I wish to speak to you. Has your mother told you the story of their lives?" " Yes, on the steamer coming to ^New York she told me all." " Well, your father is my best and dearest friend, and I know him better than any one, and you must believe me when I tell you that there is nothing under the heavens he would not do for your mother to-day. If he thought it would contribute one atom to her happiness he would kill himself this instant ; this I know to be so." " Then, if he thinks so much of her, why did he 382 m SEARCH OF GOLD. forsake her? I know why he left her in South America, she told me all about that, but why has he been unfaithful to her here ?" " That is what it will be hard for you to under- stand, but you must try to understand it. Your father adored and reverenced your mother very much in the same way as you adore the Holy Virgin. But even as no man, however great, would think of conjugal love in reference to Her, so your father would never have thought of asking your mother to marry him until he saw she loved him ; then he did not hesitate to give up all thoughts of and hopes in regard to himself and marry her simply because he thought it would increase her happiness, and he would have remained with her all her life had she permitted it. But she forced him to return to his own country, and here he accident- ally met the other one, and before he knew it they were deeply in love with one another. Then what was he to do ? He could have procured a divorce from your mother and married this one. But there he acted solely with a view to your mother's happi- ness. You must bear in mind that he had no idea of your existence, and so never thought of such a thing as her coming to this country, in which case he would have had no difficulty in keeping his sec- ond marriage a secret from her forever. But if he had gotten a divorce it would have been public and THE TWO WIVES. 383 she miglit have heard of it. N^ow I ask you frankly, has she not been happier in the last few years in ig- norance of her husband's second marriage than she would have been had she known it ?" " Why, yes, I suppose so." " Then you see you agree with your father ex- actly, and had things occurred as he had every rea- son to expect they would she would have been happier all her life in ignorance of his second mar- riage. So you see that, not knowing of your birth, he took the best means that his knowledge of the circumstances would permit to secure her happi- ness." " Then it seems," wailed the poor boy, " that I am the only one at fault. If I had never been born my mother would have remained away all her life in contented and happy ignorance of her rival. He would have been happy, and all would have been happy. Oh, why was I ever born ?" " You were not to blame. IN'o one was to blame. It is only a coincidence of misfortunes which you and I must meet and overcome. But now you must go to bed and try to sleep. To-morrow I will give you your father's story to read. You will not see him, for he has gone away and will not come back till we send for him, which, God grant, will be in a few days. Now kiss your mother, then go to your bed in the next room with the assurance that she 384 m SEARCH OF GOLD. will have every care and attention, and only think how lucky you are to have the noblest mother that ever breathed, and the best father that ever walked the earth." Jose retired sad, but somewhat consoled. Half an hour afterward the doctor knocked upon the door of the northern wife's room and found her pale but not stricken down like the other. "Doctor," said slie, " what must I do?" " You must go to bed at once and sleep till morn- ing." " Should I not leave this house immediately ?" " No, he has gone away and will not return till we send for him, which will be as soon as we can. You must remain here till we decide what is best to be done." " Doctor, will she assert her rights ?" " If she is human she will. If, as I sometimes think, she is divine, she may not." " But the boy ?" "The boy inherits all the noble qualities of both his parents, with none of their faults, if either of them have any, which I doubt. And he will do what is best for all, and so will she, and so will you, and so will your husband. Now go to bed," and he passed on to the room of the sick wife. As he approached the bed where she was sleeping, the sound evidently reached her ears, for she turned her THE TWO WIVES. 385 head slightl)^ on the pillow toward him. Seeing her lips move, he bent his head in time to hear her mur- mur : " My husband, hehold our son. Oh, I knew yon would be proud of him. I have made him what he is to be a fitting present to you." And the doctor, watching her, saw the same heavenly smile upon her countenance she had worn whesn, more than ten years before, she bade her hus- band leave her forever. And that critical judge of human nature thought, as he gazed upon her coun- tenance, that he had never seen before so much di- vinity manifested in the flesh. He kept asking himself if it were possible that that celestial being could ever have been plain in features and unre- fined in manner ; yet he knew it was possible, and that love and grief together will work wondrous changes. All that night the doctor passed in thinking deeply upon the situation, and in watching his pa- tient. He could not close his eyes. It seemed to him that the fate of all beneath that roof, and of the absent head of the family, depended upon him, and he could see no way out of the difficulties, nor could he give any advice until he could talk with the southern (and really the only) wife. He must know her wishes first before anything could be done. 386 IJSr SEARCH OF GOLD. In the morning lie summoned all the servants and told them that a foreign lady, a relative of the family, had arrived, bringing distressing news which had necessitated the immediate departure of Mr. Lockwell, and that the ladj herself was very ill, and would keep her room. So he took the charge of all matters and regulated everything. When the southern wife awoke in the morning she was suffering from fever and nervous prostra- tion, and was far too sick to rise. Jose stood on one side of the bed, with the doctor on the other. She remembered everything, but kissed her boy and gave her hand to the doctor, who raised it to his hps. She then asked where " he" was, and the doctor told her that he had gone away, but would return as soon as they sent for him. She then sur- prised the doctor by asking : " And wdiere is his wife ?" The question embarrassed him. He had not ex- pected this one, who was the real wife, to speak in this way of the other who had usurped her place. He replied : " She is in her room." " And is she very angry, or will she forgive me, do you think ?" " Forgive you ! Good God ! and for what ? " Why, for constantly marring his happiness. She loves him very dearly, does she not ? and if so THE TWO WIVES. 387 she can only think of his welfare and happiness, which I am constantly destroying. Is it not very, very sad. Doctor, that in my ignorance I am con- stantly doing just contrary to what I intend ? Yon are his friend, are you not ?" " Madam, we are more than friends. We love each other with a love surpassing that of brothers." " Oh, I am so glad ; for now you will show me the best and quickest way to undo what I have done. You know, I suppose, that in my selfish- ness and ignorance I married him, and how I remedied that evil I had brought upon him in the best way I might, by sending him back to his friends; then as he never spoke in his letters of loving any one I did not think of it at all, and again in my ignorance, where I thought only to bring him joy and pleasure with the presence of our boy, I have blasted all his happiness. ]^ow I must take what legal steps are necessary to free him at once from his first mai'riage." " Do you really mean this ?" said the doctor. She looked up in surprise. " What else can I do ? Does he not love his wife very dearly, and could she continue to be happy now that she knows of my existence and the former marriage unless it was dissolved, and she became his wife by law as she already is by their mutual love, which is higher than all law ? Oh, no, there is no other way." 388 m SEARCH OF GOLD. " Madam," said tlie doctor, " you are too good for this world; heaven is not composed of better beings." And he thought, " How is it possible for any human being possessing the love of this angelic creature to ever think of any one else." He passed to the room of the northern wife, and telling her that this rival never once spoke of Lockwell as her husband, but always sjioke of her (the northern lady) as his wife, related to her all that had been said. The tears ran down her cheeks as she listened, and she replied, " She is a far bet- ter, nobler woman than myself, but I cannot be sorry that he does not love her, for, oh ! I could not give liim up. But she must be the noblest woman that ever breathed thus to relinquish him whom she so fondly loves." " She is an angel," said the doctor, and the deep earnestness of his voice caused her to look up at him searchingly, and with her woman's penetration she thought she could read the grand possibilities of the future. "Let me go to her," she said, and the next minute was inside the sick-chamber. She gazed but one instant upon the sorrowful face of the invahd in the bed, then threw herself by her side and wept upon her bosom. " Oh, this is so good of you," said the invalid, "for now I know that you forgive me, and soon you will have him THE TWO WIVES. 389 wholly your own by the law of the land as he is already by the higher law of love. I would return again to my native country, but my son has been prepared to remain here, and is now unfitted to return, and, as he is now my all, I know he will never let me leave him." " You shall never leave us. Oh, be my friend. You are so pure and holy. I need you to help me to be good, for I am very wicked. Won't you be the same friend to me as the doctor is to — to Mr. Lockwell?" She had noticed that this southern lady never spoke of Lockwell as her own husband but always as the husband of the other. " Promise me that you will never go so far away but that I can come to you and learn to be good." " Yery gladly will I be your friend," was the re- ply. But here the doctor interfered, declaring his patient must not say another word, and led the northern wife away. As he parted from her in the hall she whispered to him, " Doctor, never let that noble woman leave us." He answered, " She never shall if I can prevent it," and then to him- self, " I will win her love and marry her, so help me God!" A week has passed since the meeting of the two wives and one is too feeble yet to leave her room. The doctor is constant in his attentions to both mother and son, and the latter has bestowed all the 390 12^ SEARCH OF GOLD. wealth of love wliicli he had reserved for his father upon the doctor, and only wishes that he was in reality his father. Lockwell is still in Boston, where he receives daily letters from the doctor. By the exercise of the utmost vigilance not an intimation of the true condition of affairs has got abroad, and all passes as usual beneath the roof of Lockwell's home. The friendship between these two women so totally different grows stronger each succeeding day. To-day the doctor is writing at great length to Lockwell, giving him his final advice and directions before the latter should leave for the West, for it had been all arranged that Lockwell should go to one of those Western States the laws of which are more liberal in rectifying the errors in that commonest of all mistakes, an ill- assorted marriage, and there he should get a divorce fr6m his first wife, and also while there to buy a large farm, and then the doctor would bring out his northern wife, to whom he would be quietly re- married and then settle down there. And now the doctor wrote to him to buy a large tract of land on which two good houses could be built near each other, as he thought he should himself marry be- fore long, and would then come out and live near them; for he knew the strength of his own de- termination and iron will and never doubted he should succeed in the dearest object of his life. TME TWO WIVES. S91 One more year has passed, and the last scene of our narrative is some hundreds of miles west of the great metropolis. Two beautiful farms adjoin, and the mansions on each are scarce a stone's throw apart. It is Sunday, and every time the day comes round the two families unite, first at one house then at the other. As Lockwell and his wife approach the residence of Dr. Train they are talk- ing of the latter and his wife. " Don't you think," said Lockwell, " that she has learned to love him very much ?" "I know it. He has a will and a way that would compel any woman to love him when he chooses to exert it." And as they chat around the supper-table, and read aloud the last letter from Jose, now known as Jose Lockwell Train, who is distinguishing himself in an Eastern school, not one there present doubts that the noble South American has succeeded in transferring her fathomless love to her present husband. And while they are all here you and I, dear reader, will step across to Lockwell's house and open his wife's writing-desk, which is never locked, and read the closing paragraph of her letter to her stepfather, just written, and to be mailed to-mor- row. Here it is : " So we are all coming East this summer for a 392 /iV^ SEARCH OF GOLD. montli or two, and if you wish it we will make jou a visit. I know that you will be glad to hear again that I have got the best husband and am the happiest wife on earth. You said once, in regard to him, that ' time will show.' Time has shown ; he has been tried in the fiery furnace, and has come out Pure Gold." RARE BOOK COLLECTION THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL Wi Inner 1139