rom the crowds below kept us awake for some
time, and that night in my dreams I still fancied that I was on the
train and that I could hear the surging of the rails beneath me. Glad,
indeed, was I the next morning to wake and find that I was once more on
solid ground.

CHAPTER XX. TWO WEEKS IN CALIFORNIA.

We were booked for a stay of two weeks in San Francisco, and that two
weeks proved to be one continual round of pleasure for every member of
the party. The appearance of the city itself was somewhat of a
disappointment to me, and I soon grew somewhat tired of climbing up hill
only to climb down again. The really fine buildings, too, were few and
far between, the majority of them being low wooden structures that
looked like veritable fire-traps. They are built of redwood, however,
and this, according to the natives, is hard to burn. The fact that the
towns had not burned down yet would seem to bear out the truth of their
assertion, though the Baldwin Hotel was built of the same material, and
that went up in flames a little over a year ago in such a hurry that
some of the people who were stopping there thought themselves lucky to
get off with the loss of their wardrobes and baggage, while others who
were not so lucky never got out at all.

The natural surroundings of the city are, however, decidedly handsome,
and I doubt if there is a handsomer sight anywhere than San Francisco
Bay, a bay in which all of the navies of the world could ride at anchor
and still have plenty of room for the merchant vessels to come and go.
The shores of this bay are lined with beautiful little suburban towns
that are within easy reach by boat and sail from San Francisco, and it
is in these towns that a large proportion of the people doing business
in the city reside. The people are most hospitable and at the time of
our visit the base-ball foes and cranks, both in the same category, were
as thick as were the roses, and roses in California greet you at every
turn, not the hot-house roses of the East, that are devoid of all
perfume, but roses that are rich with fragrance and that grow in great
clusters, clambering about the doorways of the rich and poor alike,
drooping over the gateways and making bright the hedges. Flowers were to
be seen everywhere, and their cheapness at the time of our visit was
both the wonder and delight of the ladies.

The day after our arrival, November 4th, dawned bright and beautiful,
but the haggard faces an