n the forty-nine years were up and the family sought
an extension of the lease, the rent went up to one pound an acre. This
was pretty hard; but by frugality and perseverance the family still
prospered. At the end of the second forty-nine years the rent demanded
was five pounds an acre. Think of it--twenty-five dollars a year! That
was too much to endure, so my father, then a young blacksmith, was sent
over to Canada to buy land. He bought three farms of a hundred acres
each, one for himself, one for his brother, and one for their father,
paying four dollars an acre. Here again the rich man had the upper hand.
For this same land had been sold by the British Government to
capitalists for twenty-five cents an acre. Of course, my people had no
money to pay cash down, but they quit Scotland nevertheless. They came
over in 1832, in a small sailing vessel, which took four weeks to make
the passage. Then came another struggle. The land was very productive,
but money was scarce and crops brought hardly anything. But at least the
Mason family had enough to eat. Finally, after many years, the mortgages
were paid off, and the family established."

The doctor paused, and Mat thought he saw a reason for Scotch grit. He
contrasted such a history with the get-rich-quick methods of California!

"America," continued the doctor, "is the land of opportunity. With good
health and industry the poor man can succeed." And he looked at Mat
significantly.

CHAPTER XII

The Golden Summer Comes Again

The golden summer had come again. To old man Palmer, living alone on the
top of Fillmore Hill, the great snow banks stored high upon the
mountains meant abundance of water for mining. The strange flowers of
California, yellow and red, grown familiar now after many years, made
their appeal to him. With the returning summer he welcomed the yellow
bird with red crown and black wings. He loved the exhilarating air and
the glorious sunshine. But I am afraid the golden glow of morning
suggested gold.

He was cleaning up several square rods of bed-rock in the ancient river
bed on the hill-top, and the dirt was rich in gold. Every morning early,
leaving his breakfast dishes unwashed, he carefully shoveled this dirt
into his sluices, and watched the water carry mud and sand away. Once in
a while he would shut off the water to examine the rich amalgam at each
cleat across the trough, removing that which was saturated with gold and
replacing it