his teens.

It came during the gold fever, which raged with such intensity from
1849 to 1851, when the wildest stories were afloat of the treasures
that were daily being dug out of the earth in California. The brain of
the sturdy youth, whose Scotch and Puritan blood tingled for some
broader field than the village store and his father's farm in
Stockbridge, New York, was haunted by the tales of adventure and
fortune wafted across the continent from the new El Dorado. "I brooded
over the difference," he says, "between tossing hay in the hot sun and
digging gold by handfuls, until, one day, I threw down the pitchfork,
went to the house, and told mother that I had quit that kind of work."

Armour was nineteen years old when he determined to seek his fortune in
California. His determination once formed, he lost no time in carrying
it out. As much of the journey across the plains was to be made on
foot, he first provided himself with a pair of stout boots. Then he
packed his extra clothing in an old carpetbag, and with a light heart
bade his family good-by.

He had induced a young friend, Calvin Gilbert, to accompany him in his
search for fortune. The two youths joined the motley crowd of
adventurers who were flocking from all quarters to the Land of Promise,
and set out on their journey.

Tramping over the plains, crossing rivers in tow-boats and ferryboats,
and riding in trains and on wagons when they could, the adventurers,
after many weary months, reached their destination. During the journey
young Armour became sick, but was tenderly nursed back to health by his
companion.

"I had scarcely any money when I arrived at the gold fields," said
Armour, "but I struck right out and found a place where I could dig,
and in a little time I struck pay dirt."

He entered into partnership with a Mr. Croarkin, and, with
characteristic energy, kept digging and taking his turn at the rude
housekeeping in the shanty which he and his partner shared. "Croarkin
would cook one week," he says, "and I the next, and we would have a
clean-up Sunday morning We baked our own bread, and kept a few hens,
too, which supplied us with fresh eggs."

The young gold hunter, however, did not find nuggets as "plentiful as
blackberries," but he found within himself that which led him to a
bonanza far exceeding his wildest dreams of "finds" in the gold fields.

He discovered his business ability; he learned how to economize, how to
rely upon himse