I could not help perceiving at the time that there was something
underneath; that no unmixed desire to have us comfortably settled
had inspired the Kelmars with this flow of words. But I was
impatient to be gone, to be about my kingly project; and when we
were offered seats in Kelmar's waggon, I accepted on the spot. The
plan of their next Sunday's outing took them, by good fortune, over
the border into Lake County. They would carry us so far, drop us
at the Toll House, present us to the Hansons, and call for us again
on Monday morning early.



CHAPTER II--FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SILVERADO



We were to leave by six precisely; that was solemnly pledged on
both sides; and a messenger came to us the last thing at night, to
remind us of the hour. But it was eight before we got clear of
Calistoga: Kelmar, Mrs. Kelmar, a friend of theirs whom we named
Abramina, her little daughter, my wife, myself, and, stowed away
behind us, a cluster of ship's coffee-kettles. These last were
highly ornamental in the sheen of their bright tin, but I could
invent no reason for their presence. Our carriageful reckoned up,
as near as we could get at it, some three hundred years to the six
of us. Four of the six, besides, were Hebrews. But I never, in
all my life, was conscious of so strong an atmosphere of holiday.
No word was spoken but of pleasure; and even when we drove in
silence, nods and smiles went round the party like refreshments.