ation had left more than one cabin vacant and
the best of these was turned over to him. In it he found cooking
utensils, rough but serviceable bedding and accommodations and much
better comforts than he was accustomed to during his campaigning.
Having no immediate relatives, he had followed the discreet course of
Captain Dawson, who deposited nearly all of his accumulated pay in a
savings institution in the East, reserving only enough to insure their
arrival on the Pacific coast.

Russell, like so many turned from consumers into producers by the end
of hostilities, was obliged to decide upon the means of earning a
livelihood. He had begun the study of law, at the time he answered the
call for volunteers, and would have had no difficulty in taking it up
again; but, somehow or other, he did not feel drawn thitherward. He
disliked the confinements of office work and the sedentary profession
itself. He wanted something more stirring, and active, and calling for
out door life. It was when he was in this mood, that Captain Dawson
urged him to accompany him to the gold diggings in the Sierras.

"So far as I can learn," explained the captain, "the mines haven't
panned out to any great extent, but there is no doubt that there are
millions of dollars in gold in the mountains, and if it isn't at New
Constantinople, it is not far off."

"I shall accept your invitation," replied the junior officer, "with
the understanding that if the prospect is not satisfactory, I shall
feel at liberty to go somewhere else."

"That's the constitutional right of every American citizen."

"I am not as far along in years as you, but I am old enough to feel
that no person ought to fritter away the most valuable years of his
life."

And thus it was that the lieutenant went to New Constantinople and
received the heartiest welcome from every one there. And yet among
these citizens were two that had lately become partners and sharers of
the same cabin, and who were oppressed with misgiving.

"I tell you," said the parson late at night, when he and Wade Ruggles
were smoking in their home, with no one near enough to overhear them;
"Captain Dawson has made the mistake of his life."

"How?"

"In bringing Lieutenant Russell to New Constantinople."

"I don't quite foller your meaning, parson."

"Yes, you do; you understand it as well as myself."

"I have a suspicion of it, but are you afraid to trust me?"

"You ought to know better than to ask th