CHAPTER XXIX.

"Dared I but say a prophecy,
As sang the holy men of old,
Of rock-built cities yet to be
Along these shining shores of gold,
Crowding athirst into the sea;
What wondrous marvels might be told!
Enough to know that empire here
Shall burn her loftiest, brightest star;
Here art and eloquence shall reign
As o'er the wolf-reared realm of old;
Here learned and famous from afar,
To pay their noble court, shall come,
And shall not seek or see in vain,
But look on all with wonder dumb."


Once more away from Sacramento we visited Marysville, which is a beautiful
brick town, laid out with great regularity and width of street, each house
nestling in flower-garden and shade, and is a place of extensive
manufactures and trade. We went from there to Colusa, where I reaped a
rich harvest of gain. Indeed I never found a people more lavish in the
expenditure of money, seeming to value it only for the good it dispensed.

Leaving Colusa, elated with the success we had met, we journeyed to
Marysville in a very happy state of mind that was doomed to undergo a
severe reverse on our arrival. When we started there were three hundred
dollars in "hard money" in my trunk, and when we arrived in Marysville my
heart sank within me and I could feel the blood leave the surface and my