ng from his bed, dressed himself and caught up his valise,
which contained an extra suit of clothing, and rushed on deck with the
other passengers."

"How was he saved?"

"It is hard to tell. He and several others hung fast to some such sort
of a raft as we had, and managed to get ashore. And all the time he
grasped that valise, even when besought by his companions to let it go,
find when it endangered his chances of life fully ten-fold."

"He must be very poor."

"Poor! He is worth half a million in gold this minute. That valise
contained all his property that he had entrusted to the steamer, and it
was his fear that he might lose the few dollars that it is worth that
made him cling so tenaciously to it."

"How was it that he gave them to you?"

"No fear that he gave them. I stated in the presence of two witnesses
that, I would give him a hundred dollars for the suit as soon as we
reached San Francisco. He racked his brains to see whether there was not
some means of my giving him my note for the amount; but as that couldn't
be done under the circumstances, he did the next best thing and
established my obligation in the mouth of several witnesses."

"Strange man! But, Mr. Yard, what is to be done?"

"I intend to wait here during the day, as I know of nothing better that
we can do. I think some friends will find us before nightfall."

"We have decided to go inland a short distance, dry our clothes and give
our bodies a good rubbing, to prevent our taking cold."

"A wise precaution, but useless in my case as I have already caught a
very severe one."

"Should we become separated, you will tell our parents that we reached
the land in safety and are in good spirits."

"Of course; but don't wander too far away, as you may lose your chance
of being taken off. You know this isn't the most hospitable country in
the world. There are treacherous and thieving Indians in these parts,
and they would have swooped down on us long ago if they had only known
we were here. As it is, I fear their approach before a friendly sail
comes to us."

"Never fear; we will take good care not to wander too far away."

And the parties separated for a much longer time than any of them
imagined.

CHAPTER VII.

THE RESCUE.

Our three friends--although it seems equally proper to speak of four, as
Terror was a most important member of the party--walked away from the
sea-shore and began making their way back into the country. A