full of theoretical advice. The less they actually knew the more
insistent they were that theirs was the only one sure route or locality
or method. Of the remainder probably half were the permanent population
of the place, and busily occupied in making what money they could. They
were storekeepers, gamblers, wagon owners, saloonkeepers, transportation
men. Of course we could quickly have had from most of these men very
definite and practical advice as to where to go and how to get there;
but the advice would most likely have been strongly tempered with
self-interest. The rest of those we encountered were on their way back
from the mines. And from them we got our first dash of cold water in the
face.

According to them the whole gold-fable was vastly exaggerated. To be
sure there was gold, no one could deny that, but it occurred very
rarely, and in terrible places to get at. One had to put in ten dollars'
worth of work, to get out one dollars' worth of dust. And provisions
were so high that the cost of living ate up all the profits. Besides, we
were much too late. All the good claims had been taken up and worked out
by the earliest comers. There was much sickness in the mines, and men
were dying like flies. A man was a fool ever to leave home but a
double-dyed fool not to return there as soon as possible. Thus the army
of the discouraged. There were so many of them, and they talked so
convincingly, that I, for one, felt my golden dream dissipating; and a
glance at Johnny's face showed that he was much in the same frame of
mind. We were very young; and we had so long been keyed up so high that
a reaction was almost inevitable. Yank showed no sign; but chewed his
tobacco imperturbably.

We continued our inquiries, however, and had soon acquired a mass of
varied information. The nearest mines were about sixty miles away; we
could get our freight transported that far by the native Californian
_cargadores_ at fifty dollars the hundredweight. Or we could walk
and carry our own goods. Or we might buy a horse or so to pack in our
belongings. If we wanted to talk to the _cargadores_ we must visit
their camp over toward the south; if we wanted to buy horses we could do
nothing better than to talk to McClellan, at Sutter's Fort. Fifty
dollars a hundred seemed pretty steep for freighting; we would not be
able to carry all we owned on our backs; we decided to try to buy the
horses.

Accordingly next morning, after a delicious slee