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 466 round the fence, and the idea of bears suggested itself immediately; and when he had listened a long time without hearing anything, and had convinced himself that there was no such animal near, other fears forced themselves upon him. In short, it was getting daylight before his rifle dropped from his hand, and he was sound asleep. After this happened, he had more reason to be alarmed if he had but known it, for when he woke he found three Indians sitting inside the little encampment and looking at him attentively. Two of them were young, but the third was an elderly man, who might have been the grandfather of the girl who was sitting at his feet. If they looked attentively at Geoffrey he did the same by them, for, from what he had heard of the natives generally, he imagined they would attempt to murder him. It was fortunate, for his peace of mind, that they had come upon him in the way they had; for when he found they did not attack him, he remembered how easy it would have been for them to have killed him as he lay sleeping, and as they had not molested him he concluded they would not do so, and hastened to offer them tobacco, which they seemed quite capable of appreciating. They could only communicate with each other by signs, and their success in this way was not very encouraging, but they could show him where to find a bear, which he shot, and, after a little while, the girl would run about with him everywhere, and was a very amusing companion. After staying a few days two of the Indians went away, but the eldest remained, and his child with him, until Geoffrey’s father and brother returned.

Let us return now to the two Rawlinsons who had started for San Francisco. Though they had not to contend, like Geoffrey, against the almost insupportable weariness of absolute solitude, they had anxieties of another kind. The way was rough and fatiguing, and they never knew when they might be attacked and murdered, either by Indians or by some of the ruffianly whites who were suspected of pursuing this method of acquiring the means of supporting a life of debauchery. This made them anxious to get to the end of their journey as soon as possible, and, on the other hand, it was essential to be careful of the mules, and not hurry them, lest one should die or fall from exhaustion, and so delay them perhaps for days. However, they met with no accident, and in course of time reached San Francisco, and disposed of their gold, selling a portion, and consigning the rest to a house in London, with whom they had made an arrangement before leaving England.

So crowded was the city with people who poured in incessantly, and so vast the number of those who left it every day, that the Englishmen never imagined that anybody paid any attention to their proceedings. They made little excursions from the city, and picked up a mule here, and another there, at prices which could hardly be termed exorbitant at any time, and still less at a period when animals sold in the open market were fetching unheard-of prices, and the competition was such that more than one man lost his life from having been able to outbid another who had an equal desire to get possession of the animal, but not equal means. Though they had accomplished all this with as little delay as possible, it yet took several days to do, and in that time Arthur had frequent opportunities of observing the kind of life which miners led in the city. Those who had just come in with a good supply of gold-dust, commenced by indemnifying themselves for their long, and forced abstinence by the most gluttonous indulgence in eating and drinking. When the palate could no longer find enjoyment in these things, excitement was sought for at the gaming-table, and if the good fortune of the miner followed him, there was hardly any extravagance of which he would not be guilty in his desire to get rid of the money which had, so to speak, forced itself upon him. To many of them the possession of too much money was an actual burden from which they were rather glad to be relieved, since they had no person to whom they could trust it, and their faith in banks was of the weakest. Some who had more foresight, or acting on what they believed to be prudent advice, invested their gold-dust in the purchase of one or more diamonds. There were several diamond-merchants in the city, but the man who was reputed to hold by far the greater number was one who called himself Lazarus Levi. This may or may not have been an assumed name, but there was very little resemblance to a Jew in his appearance. He seemed to have many friends among men who appeared the richest in the city, and these frequently recommended miners who had been more than usually fortunate to invest their money in the purchase of a diamond, as being not only profitable as an investment, but as a simple and easy method of carrying property from place to place. Arthur was strongly advised by one of these to adopt this course, which had, in fact, many recommendations in its favour, but his father’s arrangements had already been made, and they had now no gold to dispose of. What his adviser probably was, and what Lazarus Levi certainly was, will be developed further on.

What with getting saddle bags made of sufficient strength to sustain a heavy weight, though with rather a weak and flimsy external appearance, and the purchase of mules and other necessaries, including revolvers and a supply of gunpowder, it was the eleventh day from their arrival at San Francisco when they set out on their return to where Geoffrey was waiting for them. The train consisted of ten mules, laden with flour and other provisions, as though it was a trading speculation which the Englishmen were about to make among the miners. This was thought prudent to prevent suspicion of their real object, though they adopted it rather as a precaution than from a conviction that it was necessary, for, as I have already remarked, they did not imagine that anybody took any notice of their movements; there was, too, a good deal more bulk than solidity in their packages.

I must now turn to another packet of papers, to give some necessary information respecting a powerful gang of wretches which at that time existed in San Francisco.

Most of the inhabitants of this city, and,