r. The American
diggers that we took up with had met a lot of foreigners in California
and other places. They could speak a little Spanish and French, and got
on with them. But Jim and I could only stare and stand open-mouthed
when a Spanish-American chap would come up with his red sash and his big
sheath-knife, while they'd yabber away quite comfortable.

It made us feel like children, and we began to think what a fine thing
it would be to clear out by Honolulu, and so on to San Francisco, as
Starlight was always talking about. It would make men of us, at any
rate, and give us something to think about in the days to come.

If we could clear out what a heaven it would be! I could send over for
Gracey to come to me. I knew she'd do that, if I was only once across
the sea, ready and willing to lead a new life, and with something
honest-earned and hard-worked-for to buy a farm with. Nobody need know.
Nobody would even inquire in the far West where we'd come from or what
we'd done. We should live close handy to one another--Jim and Jeanie,
Gracey and I--and when dad went under, mother and Aileen could come out
to us; and there would still be a little happiness left us, for all that
was come and gone. Ah! if things would only work out that way.

Well, more unlikely things happen every day. And still the big room
gets fuller. There's a band strikes up in the next room and the dancing
begins. This is a ball night. Kate has started that game. She's a great
hand at dancing herself, and she manages to get a few girls to come up;
wherever they come from nobody knows, for there's none to be seen in the
daytime. But they turn out wonderfully well-dressed, and some of them
mighty good-looking; and the young swells from the camp come down, and
the diggers that have been lucky and begin to fancy themselves. And
there's no end of fun and flirting and nonsense, such as there always is
when men and women get together in a place where they're not obliged to
be over-particular. Not that there was any rowdiness or bad behaviour
allowed. A goldfield is the wrong shop for that. Any one that didn't
behave himself would have pretty soon found himself on his head in the
street, and lucky if he came out of it with whole bones.

I once tried to count the different breeds and languages of the men in
the big room one night. I stopped at thirty. There were Germans,
Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Russians, Italians, Greeks, Jews, Spaniards,
Frenchmen, M