E-text prepared by Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D.
"In those strange days, people coming from God knows where, joinedforces in that far Western land, and, according to the rude custom ofthe camp, their very names were soon lost and unrecorded, and here theystruggled, laughed, gambled, cursed, killed, loved and worked out theirstrange destinies in a manner incredible to us of to-day. Of one thingonly are we sure—they lived!"
Early History of California
| Chapter I |
| Chapter II |
| Chapter III |
| Chapter IV |
| Chapter V |
| Chapter VI |
| Chapter VII |
| Chapter VIII |
| Chapter IX |
| Chapter X |
| Chapter XI |
| Chapter XII |
| Chapter XIII |
| Chapter XIV |
| Chapter XV |
| Chapter XVI |
| Chapter XVII |
| Chapter XVIII |
It was when coming back to the mines, after a trip to Monterey, that theGirl first met him. It happened, too, just at a time when her mind wasripe to receive a lasting impression. But of all this the boys of CloudyMountain Camp heard not a word, needless to say, until long afterwards.
Lolling back on the rear seat of the stage, her eyes half closed,—thesole passenger now, and with the seat in front piled high with boxes andbaskets containing rebozos, silken souvenirs, and other finerypurchased in the shops of the old town,—the Girl was mentally reviewingand dreaming of the delights of her week's visit there,—a visit thathad been a revelation to one whose sole experience of the world haduntil now been derived from life in a rough mining camp. Before herhalf-closed eyes still shimmered a vista of strange, exotic scenes andpeople, the thronging crowds of carnivals and fêtes; the Mexican girlsswaying through the movements of the fandango to the music of guitarsand castanets; the great rodeo with its hundreds ofvaqueros, whichwas held at one of the ranchos just outside the town; and, lastly, andmost vividly of all, the never-to-be-forgotten thrill of her firstbull-fight.
Still ringing in her ears was the piercing note of the bugle whichinstantly silenced the expectant throng; the hoarse roar that greetedthe entrance of the bull, and the thunder of his hoofs when he made hisfirst mad charge. She saw again, with marvellous fidelity, the wholecolour-scheme just before the death of the big, brave beast: the hugearena in its unrivalled setting of mountain, sea and sky; the eagermultitude, tense with expectancy; the silve