boys, ez
that suthin in my bones tells me the old man is THAR. I pushes in,
and, sure as a gun, I hears his voice. Kinder pathetic, kinder
pleadin', kinder--"

"Love-makin'!" broke in the impatient Robinson.

"You've hit it, pard,--you've rung the bell every time! But she says,
'wants thet money down, or I'll--' and here I couldn't get to hear the
rest. And then he kinder coaxes, and she says, sorter sassy, but
listenin' all the time,--woman like, ye know, Eve and the sarpint!--and
she says, 'I'll see to-morrow.' And he says, 'You won't blow on me?'
and I gets excited and peeps in, and may I be teetotally durned ef I
didn't see--"

"What?" yelled the crowd.

"Why, DADDY ON HIS KNEES TO THAT THERE FANCY DANCER, Grace Somerset!
Now, if Mammy's ghost is meanderin' round, why, et's about time she
left the cemetery and put in an appearance in Jackson's Hall. Thet's
all!"

"Look yar, boys," said Robinson, rising, "I don't know ez it's the
square thing to spile Daddy's fun. I don't object to it, provided she
ain't takin' in the old man, and givin' him dead away. But ez we're
his guardeens, I propose that we go down thar and see the lady, and
find out ef her intentions is honorable. If she means marry, and the
old man persists, why, I reckon we kin give the young couple a send-off
thet won't disgrace this yer camp! Hey, boys?"

It is unnecessary to say that the proposition was received with
acclamation, and that the crowd at once departed on their discreet
mission. But the result was never known, for the next morning brought
a shock to Rough-and-Ready before which all other interest paled to
nothingness.

The grave of Mammy Downey was found violated and despoiled; the coffin
opened, and half filled with the papers and accounts of the robbed
benevolent associations; but the body of Mammy was gone! Nor, on
examination, did it appear that the sacred and ancient form of that
female had ever reposed in its recesses!

Daddy Downey was not to be found, nor is it necessary to say that the
ingenuous Grace Somerset was also missing.

For three days the reason of Rough-and-Ready trembled in the balance.
No work was done in the ditches, in the flume, nor in the mills.
Groups of men stood by the grave of the lamented relict of Daddy
Downey, as open-mouthed and vacant as that sepulchre. Never since the
great earthquake of '52 had Rough-and-Ready been so stirred to its
deepest foundations.

On the third day the sher