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 sister !

Brave men ! they said nothing ; they set their teeth, looked things squarely in the face, but did not complain. One man, however, who watched the flood from a point on the other side and saw his flume swept away, swung his old slouched hat, danced a sort of savage hokee-pokee, and sang :

" O, everything is lovely, And the goose hangs high ! "

A strange song, indeed !

To them this disaster meant another weary winter in the mines disease, scurvy, death. Many could not endure it. They understood their claims could not be opened till another year, and set their faces for other mines which they had heard of, further on. Mining life is not unlike life at large.

We two had not saved much money. And what portion of that had I earned ? I could not well claim a great deal, surely. How much would be left when the debts were paid the butcher and the others ? True, the claim was valuable, but it had no value now not so much as a sack of flour. There were too many wanting to get away, and men had not yet learned the worth of a mine. Some times in these days new excitements, new diversions, would tap a camp, drain it dry, and not leave a soul to keep the coyotes from taking possession of the cabins.

"What will you do?" said the Prince to me one day, as we sat on the bank, wishing in vain for the water to