owner in said mill in consideration of the privilege of using said
property--and that will bring him to his milk in a jiffy. So he spits on
his hands, and goes in again with his axe, until the mill is finished,
when lo! out pops the quondam wood-chopper, arrayed in purple and fine
linen, and prepared to deal in bank-stock, or bet on the races, or take
government loans, with an air, as to the amount, of the most don't care
a-d---dest unconcern that you can conceive of. By George, if I just had
a thousand dollars--I'd be all right! Now there's the "Horatio," for
instance. There are five or six shareholders in it, and I know I could
buy half of their interests at, say $20 per foot, now that flour is worth
$50 per barrel and they are pressed for money. But I am hard up myself,
and can't buy--and in June they'll strike the ledge and then "good-bye
canary." I can't get it for love or money. Twenty dollars a foot!
Think of it. For ground that is proven to be rich. Twenty dollars,
Madam--and we wouldn't part with a foot of our 75 for five times the sum.
So it will be in Humboldt next summer. The boys will get pushed and sell
ground for a song that is worth a fortune. But I am at the helm, now.
I have convinced Orion that he hasn't business talent enough to carry on
a peanut stand, and he has solemnly promised me that he will meddle no
more with mining, or other matters not connected with the Secretary's
office. So, you see, if mines are to be bought or sold, or tunnels run,
or shafts sunk, parties have to come to me--and me only. I'm the "firm,"
you know.

"How long does it take one of those infernal trains to go through?"
Well, anywhere between three and five months.

Tell Margaret that if you ever come to live in California, that you can
promise her a home for a hundred years, and a bully one--but she wouldn't
like the country. Some people are malicious enough to think that if the