The party were able to cover a greater distance on the second day than on the first, being now among the foot-hills, where travelling was attended with less difficulty.
In the mountain-cabin they had been solitary1. Their only visitors had been Bill Mosely and his friend Tom Hadley, and such visitors they were glad to dispense2 with. Now, however, it was different. Here and there they found a little mining-settlement with its quota3 of rough, bearded men clad in strange fashion. Yet some of these men had filled responsible and prominent positions in the East. One of the most brigandish-looking miners had been a clergyman in Western New York, who had been compelled by bronchial troubles to give up his parish, and, being poor, had wandered to the California mines in the hope of gathering4 a competence5 for the support of his family.
"It seems good to see people again," said Ben, whose temperament6 was social. "I felt like Robinson Crusoe on his desert island when I was up on the mountain."
"Yes," answered Bradley, "I like to see people myself when they're of the right sort. When they're like Bill Mosely I'd rather be alone."
"I agree with you there," said Ben. "Poor company is worse than none."
Besides the mining-settlements there were little knots of miners at work here and there, who generally gave the travellers a cordial welcome, and often invited them to stay and join them.
"No," said Bradley, "we're in a hurry to get to 'Frisco."
"Oh, you've made your pile, then?" was generally answered. "What luck have you had?"
"Our pile is a small one," Bradley was wont7 to reply, "but we've got business in 'Frisco. Leastwise, he has," pointing to Richard Dewey, who headed the procession.
"Will you come back to the mines?"
"I shall, for one," said Bradley. "I ain't rich enough to retire yet, and I don't expect to be for half a dozen years yet."
"Will the boy come back?"
"Yes," answered Ben. "I'm in the same situation as my friend, Mr. Bradley. I haven't my fortune yet."
"You'd better stay with us, boy. We'll do the right thing by you."
Ben shook his head and declined with thanks. He did not want to forsake8 his present companions. Besides, he had been commissioned by Florence Douglas to find Richard Dewey, and he wanted to execute that commission thoroughly9. He wanted to see the two united, and then he would be content to return to the rough life of the mining-camp.
It is easy to understand why Ben should have received so many friendly invitations. A boy was a rarity in California at that time--at any rate, in the mining-districts. There were plenty of young men and men of middle age, but among the adventurous10 immigrants were to be found few boys of sixteen, the age of our hero. The sight of his fresh young face and boyish figure recalled to many miners the sons whom they had left behind them, and helped to make more vivid the picture of home which their imaginations often conjured11 up, and they would have liked to have Ben join their company. But, as I have said, Ben had his reasons for declining all invitations at present, though he had every reason to anticipate good treatment.
Toward the close of the second day the little party reached a small mining-settlement containing probably about fifty miners.
It was known as Golden Gulch12, and it even boasted a small hotel, with a board sign, on which had been scrawled13 in charcoal--
GOLDEN GULCH HOTEL.
KEPT BY JIM BROWN.
"I believe we are getting into the domain14 of civilization," said Richard Dewey. "Actually, here is a hotel. If Mr. Brown is not too exorbitant15 in his prices, we had better put up here for the night."
"It doesn't look like an expensive hotel," said Ben, looking at the rough shanty16 which the proprietor17 had dignified18 by the appellation19 of "hotel."
It was roughly put together, had but one story, was unpainted, and was altogether hardly equal, architecturally, to some of the huts which are to be found among the rocks at the upper end of Manhattan Island.
Such was Jim Brown's "Golden Gulch Hotel." Such as it was, however, it looked attractive to our pilgrims, who for so long had been compelled to be their own cooks and servants.
They found, upon inquiry20, that Jim Brown's terms for supper, lodging21, and breakfast were five dollars a day, or as nearly as that sum could be reached in gold-dust. It was considerably22 higher than the prices then asked at the best hotels in New York and Philadelphia; but high prices prevailed in California, and no one scrupled23 to pay them.
The party decided24 to remain, and the landlord set to work to prepare them a supper as good as the limited resources of the Golden Gulch Hotel would allow. Still, the fare was better and more varied25 than our travellers had been accustomed to for a long time, and they enjoyed it.
Ki Sing sat down to the table with them. This was opposed at first by Jim Brown, the landlord, who regarded Chinamen as scarcely above the level of his mules27.
"You don't mean to say you want that heathen to sit down at the table with you?" he remonstrated28.
"Yes, I do," said Richard Dewey.
"I'd sooner be kicked by a mule26 than let any yaller heathen sit next to me," remarked Jim Brown, whose education and refinement29 made him sensitive to such social contamination.
Richard Dewey smiled. "Of course you can choose for yourself," he said. "Ki Sing is a friend of mine, though he is acting30 as my servant, and I want him to have equal privileges."
Jim Brown remarked that of course Dewey could choose his own company, though he intimated that he thought his taste might be improved.
"Me eatee aftelward," said Ki Sing when he perceived that his presence at the table was the subject of controversy31, but he was overruled by Richard Dewey, who possessed32 a large share of independence, and would not allow himself to be controlled or influenced by the prejudices of others.
This may not seem a very important matter, but it aroused a certain hostility33 on the part of the landlord, which arrayed him against Dewey and his companions at a critical time.
Entirely34 unconscious of the storm that was soon to gather about them, the little party did good justice to the supper which Mr. Brown set before them.
"How would it seem, Jake, to have supper like this every night?" remarked Ben.
"It would make me feel like a prince," answered Jake Bradley.
"It is no better than I used to get at Uncle Job's, and yet he was a poor man. How he would stare if he knew I was paying five dollars a day for no better fare than he gave me!" replied our hero.
"That's true, Ben; but maybe it's easier to get the five dollars here than it would have been to scrape together fifty cents at home."
"You're right there, Jake. Fifty cents was a pretty big sum to me a year ago. I don't believe Uncle Job himself averages over a dollar and a quarter a day, and he has a family to support. If I only do well here, I'll make him comfortable in his old age."
"I guess you'll have the chance, Ben. You're the boy to succeed. You're smart, and you're willin' to work, and them's what leads to success out here."
"Thank you, Jake. I will try to deserve your favorable opinion."
As Ben finished these words, there was a confused noise outside, the hoarse35 murmur36 as of angry men, and a minute later Jim Brown the landlord entered the room, his face dark and threatening.
"Strangers," said he, "I reckoned there was something wrong about you when you let that yaller heathen sit down with you. Now, I know it. You ain't square, respectable men; you're hoss-thieves!"
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1
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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2
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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quota
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| n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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competence
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| n.能力，胜任，称职 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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7
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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8
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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9
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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10
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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11
conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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12
gulch
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| n.深谷，峡谷 | |
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13
scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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15
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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16
shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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17
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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18
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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19
appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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21
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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22
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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23
scrupled
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| v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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28
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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29
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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30
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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31
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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32
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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33
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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34
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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35
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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36
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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