is amazement to see Gum seated on the coupling
apparatus, and looking about him with perfect serenity. One hand held an
iron rod, and with the other he scratched his head; and, but for a great
splash of brown earth on one side, the monkey seemed wholly untouched by
his adventure. A single word in Gaelic from Donald made the monkey
spring from its perch, and over the heads of the people into his arms,
and in a few minutes the strange friends were pursuing their journey
again, as if nothing had happened. A new conductor was now on the train,
and Donald made friends with him by reciting the whole adventure, so
that they were allowed to end the day in peace. About midnight the two
got out at a roadside station, where they spent the night, and in the
grey of the morning set out by coach for Silver Creek. From Silver Creek
Donald's cabin was still thirty miles' walk over the mountains, and
after another day's hard toiling they reached the spot.

CHAPTER V

After a long journey over the mountains Donald reached his log cabin on
the Silver Creek. The monkey, however, did not find quite so immediate a
welcome as himself from Donald's wife. The only pet her children had
ever seen before was a baby puma, which the miner had picked out of the
stream one day in a half-drowned state. Donald had mistaken it for a
kitten of some new brand, and it was not until some weeks later, when it
sprang upon his little girl and buried his claws in her neck, that he
realised what sort of plaything--the puma is the lion of the Rocky
Mountains--he had introduced into his family. So Donald's wife was
suspicious of pets, and when she saw the monkey she was sure it was
another lion, and would not allow it to enter the door. But Gum had
other ways of entering houses than by doors, and finally he was received
as a lawful member of the family, for the simple reason that he could
not be kept out. The new guest gave little trouble. Most of the day the
monkey spent with Donald at the mine. He went off with him when he went
to work in the morning, and gambolled round him till he came home for
supper. And very soon an incident happened which more than reconciled
Donald's wife to her strange visitor. Donald's gold-mine was a poor one.
He had to work very hard to get enough of the precious dust to keep his
family in food, but his spirits were kept up by the constant hope that
he would strike a richer bed and make his fortune. The way he got the
gold was