descent, a woman dropped her baby into
the water, and, although it was quickly rescued by the seamen, her
continued screams even after its safe delivery quite intimidated me, but
with the usual sure-footedness of the blind, I went down with so much ease
that I was greatly complimented by the astonished captain. Our skiff-ride
to shore was a pleasant episode, and the romance was much heightened by
the floating sea plants around us, which could be easily touched with our
hands. There were no good hotels in Santa Barbara, but we were comfortably
accommodated in a private family. The climate is finer there than in any
locality in the State, the thermometer most of the time standing at
seventy degrees, hence it is so greatly sought by consumptives.

It was to me a delightful pastime to spend an occasional hour with the
fishermen on the coast, who are so happy to impart any information
regarding their own calling, and from whom I learned many a valuable
lesson.

From Santa Barbara we went down the coast to a little railroad landing and
took the train bound inland; after leaving the beach the road passes
through dense, fragrant orange-groves and rich, fruitful vineyards. A ride
of twenty-five miles brought us to Los Angeles, a town with the same
beautiful surroundings. It was, at that time, a quaint, old, dilapidated
Spanish place, with an air of shabby gentility, but the subsequent tide of
immigration and trade has doubtless transformed it. We returned to the
coast and took the steamer to San Diego, which, with its arid, sandy
waste, has little to recommend it to the visitor, save its truly, palatial
hotel, which must have been built in anticipation of the many projected
railways diverging from this point.

While there, our hearts were rejoiced by a meeting with Dr. Baird and his
wife, a pleasure known only to those who, exiled from home, see a "dear
familiar face."

CHAPTER XXXI.

"All that's bright must fade,
The brightest, still the fleetest;
All that's sweet was made,
But to be lost, when sweetest."

We returned to Sacramento with minds refreshed and spirits brightened by
the delightful scenes through which we had passed during our coast trip.
My life seemed to have received new radiance, and all things wore the
bright "couleur de rose," when one day there seemed something in Hattie's
touching tone which, like the "shadow of coming" events, sent through my
heart a strange, premonitory t