land, the ridge
beyond the town, nor anything that looked like these landmarks, though
we went down as far as San Pedro Bay and back twice or three times. It
actually did seem that the whole locality had been swallowed up, or had
vanished into air. In vain did I bring the matter to the notice of the
merchants and scientific men of San Francisco. Nobody would fit out an
exploring expedition by land or sea; those who listened at first
finally inquired "if there was any money in it?" I could not give an
affirmative answer, and they turned away with the discouraging remark
that the California Academy of Natural Science and the Society of
Pioneers were the only bodies interested in the fate of our lost city.
Even Captain Booden somehow lost all interest in the enterprise, and
returned to his Bolinas coasting with the most stolid indifference. I
combated the attacks of the newspapers with facts and depositions of my
fellow-voyagers as long as I could, until one day the editor of the
Daily Trumpeter (I suppress the real name of the sheet) coldly told me
that the public were tired of the story of San Ildefonso. It was plain
that his mind had been soured by the sarcasms of his contemporaries,
and he no longer believed in me.

The newspaper controversy died away and was forgotten, but I have never
relinquished the hope of proving the verity of my statements. At one
time I expected to establish the truth, having heard that one Zedekiah
Murch had known a Yankee peddler who had gone over the mountains of
Santa Cruz and never was heard of more. But Zedekiah's memory was
feeble, and he only knew that such a story prevailed long ago; so that
clue was soon lost again, and the little fire of enthusiasm which it
had kindled among a few persons died out. I have not yet lost all hope;
and when I think of the regretful conviction that will force itself
upon the mind of good Father Ignacio, that we were, after all,
impostors, I cannot bear to reflect that I may die and visit the lost
town of San Ildefonso no more.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories by American Authors (Volume 4), by
Constance Fenimore Woolson and H. C. Bunner and N. P. Willis and Mary Hallock Foote and J. W. De Forest

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES BY AMERICAN AUTHORS ***

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