ening with Seth Allport and Mr Rawlings, the
second mate having the watch, the Captain was expressing his regret at
the approaching loss of several of those who had sailed with him for
many voyages, for he knew that they would ship in other vessels when
they found that the _Susan Jane_ was to be laid up for a thorough
overhaul.

"Well, Cap," Seth Allport said, "I shall not be sorry myself for a spell
on shore. Since I had them three years over among the mines in
Californy I get restless at sea after a spell, and long for a turn among
the mountains."

"Were you at work on the surface all the time, or did you work in any of
the deep mines?" asked Mr Rawlings.

"I worked for a few months on the Yuba," Seth said, "but then I went to
sinking. I worked with some mates first, and then I bossed a mine down
Grass Valley. It was held in shares. I only had a few, but I was spry
and handy, you see, and I worked up till I got to be boss, or what you
would call manager. The lode paid well for a while; then it fell off,
and I got to longing for the sea again; so I just chucked it up, and
made tracks from `Frisco.'"

"If you would like another spell at mining, Seth, I can put you in the
way of it," said Mr Rawlings. "I am on my way out to Dakota, to
prospect a mine there. I will tell you how it has come about. I had a
cousin, a wild young fellow, who left home in the early days of the
Californian gold fever, and was not heard of for many years. Eighteen
months ago he returned. His father and mother were long since dead, and
having not a friend in the world he hunted me up, for we had been great
chums in our boyhood. He was a broken man, and I did not think he had
long to live. I took him in, and he lingered on for fifteen months, and
then died. He told me all his history during the twenty years he had
been mining, and a strange, wild story it was--at one time almost
starving, at another wealthy enough to have come home and lived in
comfort. The most important part, and that which is of most interest at
present, is that in a valley in the heart of Dakota he had discovered
what he believed to be a most valuable gold mine. Among the hills he
had found some lumps of very valuable ore. He had traced down the
outcrop of the lode, which on the surface looked poor enough, to a point
near the river. Here another lode intersected it, and believing this to
be the richest point, he began with four comrades to sink a shaft. Fo