ry's short now. I comed back here, an' by chance fell in
with this feller--this Yankee-nigger--who offered me five dollars a day
to haul up the curtain, an' do a lot o' dirty work, sich as bill
stickin', an' lightin' the candles, an' sweepin' the floor; but it's
hard work, I tell ye, to live on so little in sich a place as this,
where everything's so dear."

"You're not good at a bargain, I fear," remarked Sinton; "but what of
the little girl?"

"Well, I wos comin' to that. Ye see, I felt sure, from some things I
overheerd, that she wasn't the man's daughter, so one day I axed her who
she wos, an' she said she didn't know, except that her name was Nelly
Morgan; so it comed across me that Morgan wos the name o' the Irish
family you wos so thick with up at the diggin's, Larry; an' I wos goin'
to ask if she know'd them, when Jolly--that's the name o' the gitter up
o' the concerts--catched me talkin', an' he took her away sharp, and
said he'd thank me to leave the girl alone. I've been watchin' to have
another talk with her, but Jolly's too sharp for me, an' I haven't spoke
to her yet."

Larry manifested much disappointment at this termination, for he had
been fully prepared to hear that the girl had made Bill her confidant,
and would be ready to run away with him at a moment's notice. However,
he consoled himself by saying that he would do the thing himself; and,
after arranging that Bill was to tell Nelly that a friend of his knew
where her sister was, and would like to speak with her, they all retired
to rest, at least to rest as well as they could in a house which, like
all the houses in California, swarmed with rats.

Next night Bill Jones made a bold effort, and succeeded in conveying
Larry's message to Nelly, very adroitly, as he thought, while she was
standing close to him waiting for Mr Jolly to lead her to the
foot-lights. The consequence was that the poor child trembled like a
leaf when she attempted to sing, and, finally, fainted on the stage, to
the consternation of a crowded house.

The point was gained, however; Nelly soon found an opportunity of
talking in private with Bill Jones, and appointed to meet Larry in the
street next morning early, near the City Hotel.

It was with trembling eagerness, mixed with timidity, that she took the
Irishman's arm when they met, and asked if he really knew where her
sister was.

"Oh, how I've longed for her! But are you _sure_ you know her?"

"Know her!" sai