the beaten gold that overlaid the temple of Israel's greatest king, it
would, to-day, represent the labor of one of those miners that toiled in
Ophir and fell back to dust thirty generations before the Christ was
born.

"Moreover, it is and has been from the first one of the measures of the
civilization of nations. Where gold and silver are in general circulation
among the people they are always prosperous, their children are always
educated, and the advance is so marked that it can be measured by decades
of years. A nation's decay or enlightenment can be traced by the
decreasing or increasing volume of gold and silver in circulation.

"Miners thus engrossed, producing such a substance, and carrying such
hopes and aspirations in their souls, as a rule, grow stronger, more
manly and more true.

"I do not say that there are not many rough characters among them. I do
not say that when the influence of true women is in great part withdrawn
from any class of men, they do not more and more gravitate toward
savagery, for they but follow a natural law; but the tenderest, truest,
bravest, best, most generous and most just men I have ever known have
been miners in the far West of the United States."

While talking, Sedgwick had seemed to forget where he was, but as
he ceased he glanced across the table and noticed a look of full
appreciation on Rose's face, and smiling, he added: "I was talking for
Jack's sake, Miss Rose."

It was a pleasant dinner, and a pleasant evening followed. There was a
running fire of conversation, broken only when the young ladies sang or