he would
shine by virtue of her mind among the most accomplished of her
sisters, who have had every advantage that civilization can give. She
is a flower nourished on a mountain crag, exhaling all its fragrance,
untainted by a poisonous breath from the outer world. Who would have
dared to say that amid this rough, uncouth people, such loveliness
could take root and nourish? And yet it is that loveliness which has
permeated and regenerated the miners themselves. But for her these
nights would be spent in drinking, roistering, fighting and carousing.
It is her blessed influence, which unconsciously to herself has
purified the springs of life. Like the little leaven she has leavened
the whole lump."

The passing days increased his interest in her, until very soon he
confessed to himself that he was deeply in love with Nellie Dawson.
She had become dearer to him than his own life. He could not live
without the hope of gaining and possessing her. He would remain in New
Constantinople and starve, even though a Golconda was discovered a few
miles away. He would linger, hopeful, buoyant and believing that the
dream of his existence was to be crowned with perfect fruition.

But the sagacious lieutenant had learned to be observant and to note
the most trifling things that escape the eyes of the majority of
persons. Thus it was that the secret which Wade Ruggles and Parson
Brush believed was hidden, each from everyone except himself, became
as clear as noonday to him. He pitied them and yet he extracted a grim
amusement from the fact.

"They are hopelessly infatuated with her; they are excessively jealous
and would rather shoot me than have me win. They are more than double
her age, and yet they can see no incongruity in hoping to win her.
They will hope on until the awakening comes. Then they will be my
deadliest enemies. I shouldn't be surprised if I receive a call and
warning from them, but neither they nor the whole world shall turn me
from the prize which is more than all the gold, mined or unmined, in
the Sierras."

No one could have been more circumspect than the young man. He treated
Nellie Dawson with the chivalrous respect of a Crusader of the olden
time. He was always deferential, and, though he managed frequently to
meet and chat with her, yet it invariably had the appearance of being
accidental. Fortunately his feeling of comradeship for Captain Dawson
gave him a legitimate pretext for spending many evenings in h