imed Maxton, in surprise.

"An' lave all the goold!" cried Larry O'Neil, pausing in his mastication
of a tough lump of bear-steak.

"Why, boy," said Captain Bunting, laying down his knife, and looking at
Ned in amazement, "what's put that in your head, eh?"

"Being somewhat tired of grubbing in the mud has put it into my head,"
replied Ned, smiling. "The fact is, comrades, that I feel disposed for
a ramble, and I _don't_ feel bent on making a fortune. You may,
perhaps, be surprised to hear such a statement, but--"

"Not at all--by no means," interrupted Bill Jones; "I'm surprised at
nothin' in this here country. If I seed a first-rate man-o'-war comin'
up the valley at fifteen knots, with stun'-sails alow and aloft, stem
on, against the wind, an' carryin' all before it, like nothin', I
wouldn't be surprised, not a bit, so I wouldn't!"

"Well, perhaps not," resumed Ned; "but, surprised or not, my statement
is true. I don't care about making my `pile' in a hurry. Life was not
given to us to spend it in making or digging gold; and, being quite
satisfied, in the meantime, with the five or six hundred pounds of
profits that fall to my share, I am resolved to make over my unfinished
claim to the firm, and set out on my travels through the country. I
shall buckle on my bowie-knife and revolver, and go where fancy leads
me, as long as my funds last; when they are exhausted, I will return,
and set to work again. Now, who will go with me?"

"Are you in earnest?" asked Tom Collins.

"In earnest! ay, that am I; never was more so in my life. Why, I feel
quite ashamed of myself. Here have I been living for weeks in one of
the most romantic and beautiful parts of this world, without taking more
notice of it, almost, than if it did not exist. Do you think that with
youth and health, and a desire to see everything that is beautiful in
creation, I'm going to stand all day and every day up to the knees in
dirty water, scraping up little particles of gold? Not I! I mean to
travel as long as I have a dollar in my pocket; when that is empty, I'll
work."

Ned spoke in a half-jesting tone, but there is no doubt that he gave
utterance to the real feelings of his heart. He felt none of that eager
thirst for gold which burned, like a fever, in the souls of hundreds and
thousands of the men who poured at that time in a continuous and
ever-increasing stream into California. Gold he valued merely as a
means of accomplishing pr