le. I felt
strongly that I should see to Yank, and so announced. Johnny at once
offered to accompany me. While we were talking over the future
prospects, McNally came over to us, saying:

"The boys are pretty well agreed that we ought to divide up what gold is
left, and let each man take care of his own share. Are you agreeable?"

We instantly assented. The scales were brought out, and the division
began. It consumed most of the morning, and was productive of much
squabbling, in which, however, we took no part. Our share, including
Yank's--with which we were intrusted--came to about thirty-one pounds: a
value of about seven thousand dollars. We were impatient to be off, and
now wanted nothing so much as to be done with the whole affair. Yank had
ridden one of our horses; the other had been stolen in the Indian raid.
We approached Don Gaspar, who had his own saddle horse and that of
Vasquez, not to speak of the remaining pack-animals. To our surprise and
delight he offered to accompany us; and Bagsby, too, decided to leave.
McNally, Buck Barry, and Missouri Jones, however, could not be persuaded
out of their intention of remaining to dig fresh gold; nor, I am afraid,
were we very cordial in our insistence. We considered them foolhardy;
but in our then mood we did not greatly care.

By noon we had packed our goods, and by night we had broken the back of
our return journey.

We found a full-grown town where we had left a few tents and miners'
cabins. Its main street ran either side the deep dust of the immigrant
trail, and consisted of the usual shanties, canvas shacks, and log
structures, with rather more than the customary allowance of tin cans,
old clothes, worn-out boots, and empty barrels kicking around. The
diggings were in the gulch below the road; but the streets of the town,
and especially the shady sides of the buildings, were numerously
furnished with lounging men. Some of these were employees or owners of
the gambling halls, saloons, and boarding-houses; but most were plain
"loafers"--a class never wholly absent from any mining camp, men who
washed just enough gold to keep themselves fed and pickled in drink.
Many of them were evil-looking customers, in fact about as tough a lot
as a man would care to see, unshaven generally, but not always, dirty,
truculent and rough, insolent in manner. In our passage of the main
street I saw just three decent looking people--one was evidently a
gambler, one a beefy, red-