g Creek were drawn from all sorts and
conditions of society. The majority of them lived like various grades
of princes when money was plentiful, and starved when Fortune frowned.
There were men amongst them who had never felt the softer side of
life, and men who had been ruthlessly kicked from that downy couch.
There were good men and scoundrels, workers and loafers; there were
men who had few scruples, and certainly no morals whatever. But they
had met on a common ground with the common purpose of spinning
fortune's wheel, and the sight of a woman's handsome face set them
tumbling over each other to extend the hand of friendship to her
husband.

And the simple-minded Scipio quickly fell into the fold. Nor was it
long before his innocence, his mildness, his never-failing
good-nature got hold of this cluster of ruffians. They laughed at
him--he was a source of endless amusement to them--but they liked him.
And in such men liking meant a great deal.

But from the first Scipio's peculiar nature, and it was peculiar, led
him into many grievous mistakes. His mind was full of active purpose.
He had an enormous sense of responsibility and duty to those who
belonged to him. But somehow he seemed to lack any due sense of
proportion in those things which were vital to their best interests.
Ponderous thought had the effect of turning his ideas upside down,
leaving him with but one clear inspiration. He must do. He must
act--and at once.

Thus it was he gave much consideration to the selection of the site of
his house. He wanted a southern aspect, it must be high up, it must
not be crowded amongst the other houses. The twins needed air. Then
the nearer he was to the creek, where the gold was to be found, the
better. And again his prospecting must tap a part of it where the
diggers had not yet "claimed." There were a dozen and one things to be
considered, and he thought of them all until his gentle mind became
confused and his sense of proportion completely submerged.

The result was, he settled desperately upon the one site that common
sense should have made him avoid. Nor was it until the foundations of
the house had been laid, and the walls were already half their full
height, that he realized, from the desolation of refuse and garbage
strewn everywhere about him, that his home was overlooking the camp
"dumps."

However, it was too late to make any change, and, with characteristic
persistence, he completed his work and wen