Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/401



double-barrel shot  gun. The weapon  was  worth  fifty dollars, but  no  one  would  buy  it ;  the  traders  had stacks of  old  guns,  which  they  could  not  dispose  of, and no  one  just  then  happened  to  want  such  an  arti- cle. Their case  was  becoming  desperate ;  night  was coming on,  and  the  empty  stomachs  called  loudly  for food. Taking the  gun  in  his  hand,  one  of  them  stepped up before  a  store  and  called  out,  "Who'll  give  me  five dollars  for  this  gun?" One smiled,  another  shook  his head, no  one  wanted  it. At length  the  store-keeper reached out  his  hand  and  said,  "Let  me  look  at  it." After examining  it,  said  he,  "  I'll  play  you  five  dollars worth  of  pork  against  the  gun." "Agreed," replied the impecunious  miner. The miner  won. "Now I'll play  you  five  dollars  worth  of  flour  against  the  gun." The miner  agreed,  played,  and  won  again. This was too much  for  the  speculative  proclivities  of  the  crowd, and one  of  the  lookers-on  immediately  bantered  the lucky owner  of  the  gun  to  play  him  five  dollars  in money  against  it,  which  was  promptly  accepted  and won. "Now boys,"  said  the  miner,  again  holding  up the  gun,  "I've  made  a  raise ;  that  let's  me  out ;  any of  you  can  have  the  gun  that  wants  it." Of course no one  took  it,  and  the  miner  then  rising  and  picking up his  pork,  flour,  money,  and  the  gun  he  could  not sell, but  which  had,  nevertheless,  served  him  a  most fortunate turn,  joined  his  comrade,  when  the  two hastened to  satisfy  their  hunger.

Some appeared  blindly  to  stumble  from  one  piece  of good  fortune  upon  another. A nasal-voiced  New Englander in  1849,  thought  he  would  try  California in a  small  way  for  a  short  time. So buying  a  ticket for $395,  he  sailed  lazily  down  into  the  tropics  and crossed the  Isthmus. That, however,  was  a  dull  busi- ness ; besides  he  was  making  nothing. Arrived at Panamd,  he  scratched  his  head,  went  to  bed,  and  rose in the  morning  and  rubbed  his  eyes. Then he  went out and  sold  the  remainder  of  his  ticket  which  was  to