hard. At the close of the session the record
showed a tie. Neither of us would accept determination by lot, and we
respectfully asked the Honorable Board of Education to withhold the
medal for that year.

About this time Georgia and I enjoyed a rare surprise. On his return
from business one day, Mr. Chamberlain announced that a
distinguished-appearing young lawyer, S.O. Houghton by name, had
stopped at the bank that afternoon, to learn our address and say that
he would call in the evening. We, knowing that he was the husband of
our "little cousin Mary," were anxious to meet him and to hear of her,
whom we had not seen since our journey across the snow. He came that
evening, and told us of the cozy home in San Jose to which he had taken
his young wife, and of her wish that we visit them the coming July or
August.

Although letters had passed between us, up to this time we had known
little of Mary's girlhood life. After we parted, in 1847, she was
carried through to San Francisco, then called Yerba Buena, where her
maimed foot was successfully treated by the surgeon of the United
States ship _Portsmouth_. The citizens of that place purchased and
presented to her the one hundred _vara_ lot Number 38, and the lot
adjoining to her brother George. Mr. Reed was appointed her guardian
and given charge of her apportionment of funds realized from the sale
of goods brought from her father's tents. She became a member of the
Reed household in San Jose, and her life must have been cast in
pleasant lines, for she always spoke of Mr. and Mrs. Reed with filial
affection. Moreover, her brother had been industrious and prosperous,
and had contributed generously to her comfort and happiness.

Some weeks later, we took Mr. Houghton's report home to Elitha. We also
showed her a recent letter from Mary, sparkling with bright
anticipations--anticipations never to be realized; for we girls were
hardly settled on the ranch before a letter came from cousin George
Donner, dated Sacramento, June 20, 1860. From this we learned that he
had on that day been summoned to the bedside of his dying sister, and
had come from his home on Putah Creek as fast as horse could carry him,
yet had failed to catch the bay steamer; and while waiting for the next
boat, was writing to us who could best understand his state of mind.

Next, a note from San Jose informed us that Mrs. Mary M. Houghton died
June 21, 1860, leaving a namesake, a daughter two weeks old, a