oing into the bush in rear of the tent,
cut down a young pine-tree, the tender shoots and branches of which he
stripped off, and strewed thickly on the ground on which he was wont to
sleep; over these he spread two thick blankets, and on this simple but
springy and comfortable couch he and Tom Coffins lay down side by side
to talk over their future plans, while their comrades snored around
them.

Daylight found them still talking; so, pausing by mutual consent, they
snatched an hour's repose before commencing the needful preparations for
their contemplated journey.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

NED AND TOM TAKE TO WANDERING--PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS--A STARTLING
APPARITION--THE DIGGER INDIANS--WATER BOILED IN A BASKET--THE GLOOMY
PASS--THE ATTACK BY ROBBERS--THE FIGHT--A SURPRISE--THE ENCAMPMENT.

Change is one of the laws of nature. We refer not to small-change,
reader, but to physical, material change. Everything is given to
change; men, and things, and place, and circumstances, all change, more
or less, as time rolls on in its endless course. Following, then, this
inevitable law of nature, we, too, will change the scene, and convey our
reader deeper in among the plains and mountains of the far, "far west."

It is a beautiful evening in July. The hot season has not yet succeeded
in burning up all nature into a dry russet-brown. The whole face of the
country is green and fresh after a recent shower, which has left myriads
of diamond-drops trembling from the point of every leaf and blade. A
wide valley, of a noble park-like appearance, is spread out before us,
with scattered groups of trees all over it, blue mountain-ranges in the
far distance circling round it, and a bright stream winding down its
emerald breast. On the hill-sides the wild-flowers grow so thickly that
they form a soft, thick couch to lie upon, immense trees, chiefly pines
and cedars, rise here and there like giants above their fellows. Oaks,
too, are numerous, and the scene in many places is covered with
mansanita underwood, a graceful and beautiful shrub. The trees and
shrubbery, however, are not so thickly planted as to intercept the view,
and the ground undulates so much that occasionally we overtop them, and
obtain a glimpse of the wide vale before us. Over the whole landscape
there is a golden sunny haze, that enriches while it softens every
object, and the balmy atmosphere is laden with the sweet perfume called
forth by the passing show