from here," said a
bystander.

"I reckon," said Yuba Bill coolly, "they kem by stage to Portland, by
steamer to 'Frisco, steamer again to Stockton, and then by stage over
the whole line. Allers by Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express, from agent to
agent, and from messenger to messenger. Fact! They ain't bin tetched or
handled by any one but the Kempany's agents; they ain't had a line or
direction except them checks around their necks! And they've wanted for
nothin' else. Why, I've carried heaps o' treasure before, gentlemen,
and once a hundred thousand dollars in greenbacks, but I never carried
anythin' that was watched and guarded as them kids! Why, the division
inspector at Stockton wanted to go with 'em over the line; but Jim
Bracy, the messenger, said he'd call it a reflection on himself and
resign, ef they didn't give 'em to him with the other packages! Ye had a
pretty good time, Bobby, didn't ye? Plenty to eat and drink, eh?"

The two children laughed a little weak laugh, turned each other
bashfully around, and then looked up shyly at Yuba Bill and said,
"Yeth."

"Do you know where you are goin'?" asked Starbuck, in a constrained
voice.

It was the little girl who answered quickly and eagerly:--

"Yes, to Krissmass and Sandy Claus."

"To what?" asked Starbuck.

Here the boy interposed with a superior air:--

"Thee meanth Couthin Dick. He'th got Krithmath."

"Where's your mother?"

"Dead."

"And your father?"

"In orthpittal."

There was a laugh somewhere on the outskirts of the crowd. Every one
faced angrily in that direction, but the laugher had disappeared. Yuba
Bill, however, sent his voice after him. "Yes, in hospital! Funny, ain't
it?--amoosin' place! Try it. Step over here, and in five minutes, by the
living Hoky, I'll qualify you for admission, and not charge you a cent!"
He stopped, gave a sweeping glance of dissatisfaction around him, and
then, leaning back against the bar, beckoned to some one near the door,
and said in a disgusted tone, "You tell these galoots how it happened,
Bracy. They make me sick!"

Thus appealed to, Bracy, the express messenger, stepped forward in Yuba
Bill's place.

"It's nothing particular, gentlemen," he said, with a laugh, "only
it seems that some man called Spindler, who lives about here, sent an
invitation to the father of these children to bring his family to a
Christmas party. It wasn't a bad sort of thing for Spindler to do,
considering that they were his p