test hope of
escape, yet the rich color for which he is remarkable paled not a shade
during the whole affair.

The woodman who came so near causing a catastrophe was, I believe,
infinitely more frightened than his might-have-been victims. He is a
good-natured, stupid creature, and did not dare to descend the hill
until some time after the excitement had subsided. The ludicrous
expression of terror which his countenance wore when he came in to see
what damage had been done, and to ask pardon for his carelessness, made
us all laugh heartily.

W. related the almost miraculous escape of two persons from a similar
danger last winter. The cabin, which was on Smith's Bar, was crushed
into a mass of ruins almost in an instant, while an old man and his
daughter, who were at dinner within its walls, remained sitting in the
midst of the fallen logs, entirely unhurt. The father immediately
seized a gun and ran after the careless woodman, swearing that he would
shoot him. Fortunately for the latter (for there is no doubt that in
the first moments of his rage the old man would have slain him), his
younger legs enabled him to make his escape, and he did not dare to
return to the settlement for some days.

It has heretofore been a source of great interest to me to listen to
the ringing sound of the ax, and the solemn crash of those majestic
sentinels of the hills as they bow their green foreheads to the dust,
but now I fear that I shall always hear them with a feeling of
apprehension mingling with my former awe, although every one tells us
that there is no danger of a repetition of the accident.

Last week there was a post-mortem examination of two men who died very
suddenly in the neighborhood. Perhaps it will sound rather barbarous
when I tell you that as there was no building upon the Bar which
admitted light enough for the purpose, it was found necessary to
conduct the examination in the open air, to the intense interest of the
Kanakas, Indians, French, Spanish, English, Irish, and Yankees, who had
gathered eagerly about the spot. Paganini Ned, with an anxious desire
that Mrs. ---- should be _amused_ as much as possible in her
mountain-home, rushed up from the kitchen, his dusky face radiant with
excitement, to inform me that I could see both the bodies by just
looking out of the window! I really frightened the poor fellow by the
abrupt and vehement manner in which I declined taking advantage of his
kindly hint.

One of the