to a tenth of their volume. It
wrecked much of the country below, ripping out the good soil, covering
the bottomlands many feet deep with coarse rubble, clay, mud, and even
big rocks and boulders. The farmers situated below such operations
suffered cruelly. Even to this day the devastating results may be seen
above Colfax or Sacramento.

John Gates suffered with the rest. His was not the nature to submit
tamely, nor to compromise. He had made his farm with his own hands, and
he did not propose to see it destroyed. Much money he expended through
the courts; indeed the profits of his business were eaten by a
never-ending, inconclusive suit. The Hydraulic Company, securely
entrenched behind the barriers of especial privilege, could laugh at his
frontal attacks. It was useless to think of force. The feud degenerated
into a bitter legal battle and much petty guerrilla warfare on both
sides.

To this quarrel Charley had been bred up in a consuming hate of the
Hydraulic Company, all its works, officers, bosses, and employees. Every
human being in any way connected with it wore horns, hoofs, and a tail.
In company with the wild youths of the neighbourhood he perpetrated many
a raid on the Company's property. Beginning with boyish openings of
corrals to permit stock to stray, these raids progressed with the years
until they had nearly arrived at the dignity of armed deputies and bench
warrants.

The next day of significance to our story was October 15, 1872. On that
date fire started near Flour Gold and swept upward. October is always a
bad time of year for fires in foothill California--between the rains,
the heat of the year, everything crisp and brown and brittle. This
threatened the whole valley and water shed. The Gateses turned out, and
all their neighbours, with hoe, mattock, axe, and sacking, trying to
beat, cut, or scrape a "break" wide enough to check the flames. It was
cruel work. The sun blazed overhead and the earth underfoot. The air
quivered as from a furnace. Men gasped at it with straining lungs. The
sweat pouring from their bodies combined with the parching of the
superheated air induced a raging thirst. No water was to be had save
what was brought to them. Young boys and women rode along the line
carrying canteens, water bottles, and food. The fire fighters snatched
hastily at these, for the attack of the fire permitted no respite. Twice
they cut the wide swath across country; but twice before it was
comple