loom.
He had just emerged from his dwelling and stopped abruptly at sight of
the trio of shadows gliding past.

"What's up, pards?" he called.

"Nothing," was the curt answer of the captain, who was leading and did
not change his pace.

"You needn't be so huffy about it," growled the other, standing still
and puffing his pipe until they vanished.

"That was Vose Adams," remarked the captain over his shoulder; "he'll
tell the rest what he saw and it will be known to everybody in the
morning."

The little party was carefully descending the side of the canyon, with
now and then a partial stumble, until they reached the bottom of the
broad valley where the grass grew luxuriantly nearly the whole year.
It was nutritious and succulent and afforded the best of pasturage for
the few horses and mules belonging to the miners.

Captain Dawson and Lieutenant Russell had ridden up the trail, each
mounted on a fine steed, which had brought them from Sacramento. When
the saddles and bridles were removed, the animals were turned loose in
the rich pasturage, which extended for miles over the bottom of the
canyon. There, too, grazed the pony of Nellie Dawson, the horses of
Ruggles and Bidwell and the three mules owned by Landlord Ortigies
and Vose Adams. The latter were left to themselves, except when needed
for the periodical journeys to Sacramento. The little drove
constituted all the possessions of New Constantinople in that line.
Consequently, if any more of the miners wished to join in the pursuit,
they would have to do so on foot or on mule back,--a fact which was
likely to deter most of them.

In the early days of the settlement, before the descent of that
terrible blizzard, fully a dozen mules and horses were grazing in the
gorge, subject to the call of their owners, who, however, did not
expect to need them, unless they decided to remove to some other site.
But one morning every hoof had vanished and was never seen again. The
prints of moccasins, here and there in the soft earth, left no doubt
of the cause of their disappearance. Perhaps this event had something
to do with the permanence of New Constantinople, since the means of a
comfortable departure with goods, chattels, tools and mining
implements went off with the animals.

After that the miners made no further investments in quadrupeds,
except to the extent of three or four mules, needed by Vose Adams,
though he was forced to make one journey to Sacramento on fo