The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-10-02

ial successes. The true money-maker,
though often selfish to the core, has the
sagacity to perceive that his ends can
only be gained by resolute self-repression
and sacrifice in the early stages of his
career. He works necessarily, denies
himself, refuses all indulgence, bends all
his energies to the furtherance of his
main purpose. Men like John Black, ON
the other hand, are too weak to put
themselves under any such discipline.
They, like savages, are uninfluenced by
the possibilities of the future. The pres
ent alone interests and moves them.
So John Black grew feebler and less sta
BILE every month, and though feverishly
eager for fortune, could not endure any
steady toll or submit to any monotOnous
duty. Little by little the veneer of civil
cation was wearing off him, and the in
stincts and tendencies of savagry were
asserting themselves. Already he had
tired of the life of prospector. Already
he had habituated himself to loafing
about the bar-rooms and to playing cards
in working hours, without shame.
Sometimes, too, he drank more than was
good for himself, and he no longer felt
degraded in his own eyes when he came
out of debauch. He had fallen far and
was near the bottom.
Mollie Black, arrived at San Francisco,
was not in realizing that it would be
quite useless for her to stay in the big
city. Her husband might be there, but
even if so, she could never hope to find
him in that crowd. However, she had
one of those inexplicable impressions
which come to women alone, and this
impression told her that Jack was in the
interior-in the mountains somewhere.
Before yielding altogether to this inner
voice, however, she spent some time in
making inquiries, and by judiciously fol-
lowing his tracks up to the point at
which he had last been heard from, she
gained information which atleast seemed
to make it certain that he had gone to
California in 1861. 1t seemed probable
that he had gone to California in 1861.
1t seemed probable that he had stayed
for time in the high Sierra. He might
even have taken up claim in that re-
gion; though if he had done that, and
had made bare living, there was no rea-
son why he should have stopped writing
to her. 1t may be thought strange that
Mollie did not suspect Jack of infidelity
to her, but somehow such suspicion
did not enter her head. Perhaps her
knowledge of his character assured her
on that point. Perhaps the depth and
strength of her affection cast out fear.
How it was, jealousy never approached
her, and in all the imaginings with which
she sought to explain her husbands 81
lence, some misfortune occurring to him,
and preventing him from writing, was
invariably the loyal conclusion reached.
As the term of his silence heightened,
moreover, her faith did not decline.
Only she said to her own heart how great
the misfortune must have been which
sealed his lips so long.
But time came when Mollie Black
felt that she could no longer delay the
opening of her quest. In truth she had
shrunk from it little, not having, after
all, full and perfect faith in her own in
tentions. What if she were unable to
find Jack? What if, Notwithstanding all
interior reassurances, news of his death
should encounter her? She did not often
yield to such dark thoughts, but when
they came they stimulated, while max
ing her tremble, and as she was woman
of action, she resolved to put away all
hesitation. She did not attempt to de-
ceive herself as to the difficulties of the
quest. She even foresaw the possibility
that Jack might have changed his name.
She knew that this was frequently done
on the Pacific coast, particularly when
men had got into trouble of one kind or
another, and if he had resorted to such
a disguise, it would be doubly hard to
trace him. Then, again, she could not
conceal from herself that, in going about
asking for and describing him, she might
be doing him an i'll turn; for though she
would not allow even to herself the pos
sibility that he might have fallen under
the ban of the law, it was entirely sup
possible that he might have got into some
mining difficulties which would require
concealment for time. All these con-
siderations necessitated the greatest tact
and caution in the prosecution of her
search. Nevertheless, she was not dis
mayed or discouraged. With maps of
the region lying before her, she planned
series of tours through the mining
counties; and being careful to dress in
the most unpretentions and retiring way,
she set out sometimes riding in the local
stages, sometimes hiring buggy, put
ting up at wretched mountain taverns,
enduring all manner of discomforts and
privations, scorched by the sun and half
smothered by the red dust; exposed
sometimes to the insults of drunken men
and still oftener embarrassed by the effu-
sive and honest hospitality of miners
who looked upon the fair-faced traveller
with sort of rough, chivalrous rapture.
For weeks and months the quest went
on, and all this time nothing was learned.
The descriptions of Jack seemed to be
the descriptions of so many other people
Dozens of false clues we're put in hel