et.

Meantime a most gentlemanly person, of whose presence we were at first
ignorant, would occasionally descend from the stage top, look at us
compassionately, ask if anything was wanted, and take leave. At one of his
calls I asked him if we were not near our dining place, when, much to our
discomfort, he informed us of the impossibility of finding anything to eat
on the road. We had provided no lunch, and, having partaken of a meagre
and untimely breakfast, were fast becoming exhausted. He politely offered
to share with us his store of provisions, and at the next stopping place
escorted us to the rude log cabin with the air of a Knight Errant, took
off our rubbers, placed them before the fire, and after other
indescribable and delicate attentions opened his basket and spread before
us a lunch of truly, royal viands, which, in spite of our rude
surroundings, was eaten with unrivalled relish.

Arriving at Eureka, we stopped at the Parker House, in which Mr. Hinckley,
the proprietor, made every exertion to secure our comfort. It had rained
for a week, and the streets were in such a horrible condition that we were
filled with forebodings of failure. Quite unexpectedly we again
encountered our cavalier, who insisted upon lifting us over the deep mud
of the crossings, placing us entirely at ease by the assurance that it was
the custom of the country, after which he offered his assistance in the
sale of books, and, going into a faro bank, he sold twelve copies at a
dollar and a half apiece.

We described this gallant gentleman to Mr. Hinckley, who informed us that
he was Pete Fryer, the most noted gambler of the Pacific coast, whose
unrivalled success and universal popularity were in a great degree owing
to his sobriety, his elegant presence and polished manner.

Our next move was to Gold Point, where we spent a day. We met there a
Virginia physician with whom we had a long and interesting conversation.
We were boarders at the same hotel, and at the tea table he came over to
Hattie, and placing in her hand a ten dollar gold piece, said it was for
the blind lady, and he wished her to buy with it a keepsake. We went to
Palisades in a mud-wagon, the only means of transportation at our
disposal, and we found it highly appropriate, the mud being over the hubs
of the wheels.

In this primitive style we reached our destination upon Christmas Eve,
weary and homesick; yet our Christmas dinner in this insignificant town
was choic