The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1916-06-13

out of it. This time. however, she
seemed to mean business. | suppose
we had made good deal of n racket.
When the fact became evident |, OF
course shouldered the whole response
bility. Thereupon she turned on me.
UNEXPECTEDLY Talbot Ward spoke up
from the obscurity of his corner. His
clear voice was incisive, but so courte-
GUS with the cold finality of the high
bred aristocrat that Mrs. Simpkins was
cut short in the middle of sentence.
81 beg you. calm yourself, madam"
said he. at is not worth heating your
self over, for the annoyance, such as
1t is, will soon he removed. Mr.. Mum
roe and myself are shortly departing
together for California"
If 1 had any scruples-and l do not
remember many-they were overcome
within the next day or two. 1t was
agreed that | was to go in Wards em-
ploy, he to pay my passage money and
all expenses, / to give him half the
gold might pick up. This seemed to
me at least an eminently satisfactory
and businesslike arrangement. Ward
bought the outfits for both of us. II
turned out that he was a Mexican war
veteran-hence the military cape-and
In consequence an old campaigner. His
experience and my rural upbringing
saved us from most of the ridiculous
purchases men made at that time. We
had stout clothes and boots, a water
proof apiece, picks and shovels, blan-
kets and long strips of canvas, three
axes, knives, one rife, double shot
gun and a Colts revolver apiece. The
latter seemed to me a wonderful weap-
on, with its six charges in the turning
cylinder, but l had 10 opportunity to
try 1t.
Ward decided instantly for the PAN
anna route
"Its the most expensive, but also
the quickest" said he. "a sailing ship
around the Horn takes forever, and
across the plains is ditto. Every day
we wait some other fellow is landing
In the dlggings."
Nearly every evening he popped into
our boarding house, where, owing to
the imminence of my departure, / had
been restored to favor l never did
find out where he lived. We took our
passage at the steamship Office. We
went to the variety shows and sang
"Oh, Susannah" with the rest. We
strutted bit and were only restrained
from donning our flannel shirts and
Colts revolving pistols in the streets
of New York by little remnant,
very little remnant, of common sense.
When the time at last came we board
ed our steamship and hung over the
rail and cheered like crazy things.
personally felt as though a lid had
been lifted from my spirit and that
rolling cloud of enthusiasm was at Il. st
allowed to puff out to fill my heaven.
In two days we were both over be-
ing seasick and had chance to look
around us. Our ship was sidewneel
steamer of about a thousand tons, and
she carried go passengers, which was
about 200 more than her regular COM
plement. They were as miscellaneous
lot as mortal eye ever fell upon,
! from the lank Maine Yankee to the
| tall, sallow, black haired man from
Louisiana. | suppose, too, all grades
of the social order must have been
represented but in our youth and high
| spirits we did not go into details of
| that sort. Every man, with the excep-
| tion of a dozen or so, wore red shirt
a slouch hat, revolver and a bowie
| knife, and most of us had started to
| grow boards. Unless one scrutinized
| closely such unimportant details as fea-
lures, ways of speech or manners, one
could not place his mans former sta
| tus, whether as lawyer, physician or
roustabout. And we were too busy for
| that. l never saw such busy place
as that splattering old ship slowly
wallOwing her way south toward the
tropical seas, We had $4,000 things
to discuss, beginning with Marshalps
first discovery. skipping through the
clouds of rumors of all sorts, down to
intimate details of climate, outfit, pros
poets, plans and the best methods of
getting at the gold. And to all these
/ subjects we brought dozen points of
view, each of which was strange to
| all the others. We had with Us men
from every stratum OF society aud
from every point of the compass. Each
was a product of his own training and
mental upbringlng and was Incapable,
without great effort, of understanding
his neighbOr's point of view. Com
munication and travel were in those
days very limited, 1t must be remem-
bered. and different communities and
sections of the country produced strong
types. With us discussion became an
adventurous exploration into new
country. The man from Maine could
not but be interested in finding cut
what that strange, straight haired. dark
creature from Carolina might think of
even the most commonplace subject.
Only our subjects We're not common
place.
So my chief impression of that voy.
age down was of knots of men talk.
ing hurrieGly and eXcitedly, as though
there were not a moment to waste
and the hum of voices rising and fall.
ing far into the night.