Page:History of California (Bancroft) volume 6.djvu/60



CHAPTER III.

THE SECRET  ESCAPES.

Febkuaky, 1848.

Bkxnktt Goes  to  Monterey— Sees  Pfister  at  Bekioia — 'Thebb  is  What WILL Beat  Cual!' — Bennett  Meeta  Isaac  HrMPUBBY  at  San  Franoikco

— UxsrCtTESMFUL  AT   MONTEKEY— SiTTTER's  SwIS8  TeAMSTER — ThE  BoY

WiMMEu Tells  Uim  of  the  Gold — The  Mother  Wimmer,  to  Pbovk HER Boy  not  a  Liak,  Shows  It — And  the  Teamster,  Who  is  TniBSTr, Shows It  at  the  Fort — Affairs  at  th»  Mill  Proceed- -as  XJwsal, — Bksler's Sunday  Mfj»itations — (told  Found  at  fcirs"  "Oax  Ba& — Bi(lkr  W'RiThks  ULs  Three  Friends  the  Secret— Who  Unite  with Thkm Other  Three  to  Help  Them  Keep  It — Three  Cosulso  CobOMX

— l>l?*OOVERY  AT   MoitMON   ISLAND — ThE   Mo&MON    ExiT.

Occasionally instances  occur  where  one's  destiny, hitherto seemingly  confined  in  the  clouds,  is  let  out in a  Hood,  and  if  weak,  the  recipient  is  overwhelmed and carried  down  the  stream  by  it;  if  he  be  strong, and makes  avail  of  it,  his  fortune  is  secured;  in  any event, it  is  his  opportunity.

0[)p<)rtunity here  presented  itself  in  the  first  in- stance to a  chosen  dozen,  none  of  whom  appear  to have  taken  due  advantage  of  it. Having no  realiza- tion of their  situation,  they  left  the  field  to  after- comers, who  by  direct  or  indirect  means  drew  fortune from it. The chief  actors,  Marshall  and  Sutter,  with proj)rtionately greater  interests  at  stake,  primarily displayed  no  more  skill  than  the  others  in  making  avail of  p|)ortunitv,  the  former  drifting  away  without  one successful grasp,  the  latter  making  a  brief  stand against the  torrent,  only  in  the  end  to  sink  amidst  the ruins of  his  projects  and  belongings.