d occupants, toiling on day by day for a
miserable pittance, and a fare that a self-respecting Eastern mechanic
would have scornfully rejected,--were not a part of the Eastern
visitors' recollection. But the hoisting works and machinery of the
"Blazing Star Tunnel Company" was,--the Blazing Star Tunnel Company,
whose "gentlemanly superintendent" had received private information
from San Francisco to do the "proper thing" for the party. Wherefore the
valuable heaps of ore in the company's works were shown; the oblong bars
of gold, ready for shipment, were playfully offered to the ladies who
could lift and carry them away unaided; and even the tunnel itself,
gloomy, fateful, and peculiar, was shown as part of the experience; and,
in the noble language of one correspondent, "The wealth of Five Forks,
and the peculiar inducements that it offered to Eastern capitalists,"
were established beyond a doubt. And then occurred a little incident,
which, as an unbiassed spectator, I am free to say offered no
inducements to anybody whatever, but which, for its bearing upon the
central figure of this veracious chronicle, I cannot pass over.

It had become apparent to one or two more practical and sober-minded in
the party, that certain portions of the "Blazing Star" tunnel (owing,
perhaps, to the exigencies of a flattering annual dividend) were
economically and imperfectly "shored" and supported, and were,
consequently, unsafe, insecure, and to be avoided. Nevertheless, at a
time when champagne corks were popping in dark corners, and enthusiastic
voices and happy laughter rang through the half-lighted levels and
galleries, there came a sudden and mysterious silence. A few lights
dashed swiftly by in the direction of a distant part of the gallery,
and then there was a sudden sharp issuing of orders, and a dull, ominous
rumble. Some of the visitors turned pale: one woman fainted.

Something had happened. What? "Nothing" (the speaker is fluent, but
uneasy)--"one of the gentlemen, in trying to dislodge a 'specimen'
from the wall, had knocked away a support. There had been a 'cave'--the
gentleman was caught, and buried below his shoulders. It was all right,
they'd get him out in a moment--only it required great care to keep from
extending the 'cave.' Didn't know his name. It was that little man, the
husband of that lively lady with the black eyes. Eh! Hullo, there! Stop
her! For God's sake! Not that way! She'll fall from that shaft. She'll