The Golden Dream: Adventures in the Far West by R. M. Ballantyne (book recommendations for teens .TXT) đ
- Author: R. M. Ballantyne
Book online «The Golden Dream: Adventures in the Far West by R. M. Ballantyne (book recommendations for teens .TXT) đ». Author R. M. Ballantyne
Ned looked up in surprise. The idea of paying eight shillings for so slight a service had never entered his imagination. At that moment the door opened, and Mr Thompson appeared, and invited them to enter. He was a shrewd, business-like man, with stern, but kind expression of countenance.
âCome in, come in, and welcome to California,â he said, on perusing the captainâs letter of introduction. âGlad to see you, gentlemen. Youâve not had breakfast, of course; we are just about to sit down. This way,â he added, throwing open the door of a comfortable and elegantly-furnished parlour. âBring the boxes into the passageâthat will do. Here, Lizette, pay the men, dear; two dollars a-piece, I fancyââ
âExcuse me,â interrupted Captain Bunting, âonly one bas to be paid, the other is one of my sailors.â
âAh! very good; which is he?â
Larry OâNeil stepped forward, hat in hand.
âGo in there, my man, and cook will attend to you.â
Larry passed through the doorway pointed out with a pleasant, fluttering sensation at the heart, which was quickly changed to a feeling of considerable disappointment on discovering that âcookâ was a negro.
Meanwhile Lizette took two dollars from her purse, and bowing modestly to the strangers as she passed out of the room, advanced with them towards the young porter.
Now, Lizette was not beautifulâfew women are, in the highest sense of the term, and the few who are, are seldom interesting; but she was pretty, and sweet, and innocent, and just turned sixteen. Fortunately for the male part of the world, there are many such. She had light-brown hair, which hung in dishevelled curls all round, a soft fair complexion, blue eyes, and a turned-up noseâa pert little nose that said plainly, âI will have my own way; now see if I donât.â But the heart that animated the body to which that nose belonged, was a good, kind, earnest one; therefore, the nose having its own way was rather a blessing than otherwise to those happy individuals who dwelt habitually in the sunshine of Lizetteâs presence.
At this particular time, ladies were scarce in California. The immense rush of men from all parts of the earth to the diggings had not been accompanied as yet by a corresponding rush of women, consequently the sight of a female face was, as it always ought to be, a source of comfort to mankind. We say âcomfortâ advisedly, because life at the gold-mines was a hard, riotous, mammon-seeking, rugged, and, we regret to say it, ungodly life; and men, in whom the soft memories of âother daysâ were not entirely quenched, had need, sometimes, of the comforting reflection that there still existed beings on the earth who didnât rant, and roar, and drink, and swear, and wear beards, and boots, and bowie-knives.
There was double cause, then, for the gaze of respectful admiration with which the young porter regarded Lizette, as she said, âHere is your fare, porter,â and put the money into his hand, which he did not even thank her for, but continued to hold extended as if he wished her to take it back again.
Lizette did not observe the gaze, for she turned away immediately after giving him the money, and re-entered the parlour, whereupon the youth thrust both hands into his breeches-pockets, left the house, and returned slowly to the city, with the expression on his countenance of one who had seen a ghost.
Meanwhile Captain Bunting and Ned Sinton sat down with their host and hostess to a second breakfast, over which the former related the circumstances of the double loss of his crew and cargo.
âYou are unfortunate,â said Mr Thompson, when the captain paused; âbut there are hundreds in nearly the same predicament. Many of the fine-looking vessels you see in the harbour have lain helplessly there for months, the crews having taken French leave, and gone off to the diggings.â
âItâs awkward,â said the captain, with a troubled expression, as he slowly raised a square lump of pork to his mouth; âwhat would you advise me to do?â
âSell off the remnant of the cargo, and set up a floating boarding-house.â
The square lump of pork disappeared, as the captain thrust it into his cheek in order to say, âWhat?â with a look of intense amazement.
Lizette laughed inadvertently, and, feeling that this was somewhat rude, she, in her effort to escape, plunged deeper into misfortune by turning to Sinton, with a blushing countenance, and asking him to take another cup of teaâa proposal that was obviously absurd, seeing that she had a moment before filled up his second cup.
Thus suddenly appealed to, Ned stammered, âThank youâif youâah!âno, thank you, not any more.â
âSet up a floating boarding establishment,â reiterated the merchant, in a tone of decision that caused them all to laugh heartily.
âIt may sound strange,â he continued, âbut I assure you itâs not a bad speculation. The captain of an American schooner, whose crew deserted the very day she arrived, turned his vessel into a floating boarding-house, about two months ago, and I believe heâs making a fortune.â
âIndeed,â ejaculated the captain, helping himself to another mass of pork, and accepting Lizetteâs proffer of a third cup of tea.
âYou have no idea,â continued the merchant, as he handed the bread to Ned, and pressed him to eatââyou have no idea of the strange state of things here just now, and the odd ways in which men make money. Owing to the rush of immigrants everything is enormously dear, and house-room is not to be had for love or money, so that if you were to fit up your ship for the purpose you could fill it at once. At the various hotels in the city an ordinary meal at the table dâhĂŽte costs from two to three dollarsâeight and twelve shillings of our moneyâand there are some articles that bear fabulous prices. Itâs a fact that eggs at this moment sell at a shilling each, and onions and potatoes at the same price; but then wages are enormously high. How long this state of things will last no one can tell; in the meantime, hundreds of men are making fortunes. Only the other day a ship arrived from New York, and one of the passengers, a ââcuteâ fellow, had brought out fifteen hundred copies of several newspapers, which he sold for a dollar each in less than two hours! Then, rents are tremendous. You will scarcely believe me when I tell you that the rent paid by the landlord of one of the hotels here is 110,000 dollarsâabout 22,000 poundsâa year, and it is but a poor building too. My own warehouse, which is a building of only one storey, with a front of twenty feet, is rented to me at 40,000 dollarsâ8000 pounds a yearâand rents are rising.â
Ned and the captain leaned back in their chairs aghast at such statements, and began to entertain some doubts as to the sanity of their host; but the worthy merchant was a grave, quiet man, without a particle of romance in his composition, and he went on coolly telling them facts which Ned afterwards said made his hair almost stand on end, when he thought of how little money he possessed, and how much he would have to pay for the bare necessaries of life.
After some further converse on men and things in general, and on prospects at the mines, Mr Thompson said, âAnd now, Captain Bunting, Iâll tell you what Iâll do. I will go down to your ship, overhaul the cargo, and make you an offer for the whole in the lump, taking the saleable with the unsaleable. This will, at any rate, put you in funds at once, and enable you to follow what course seems best. Will that suit you?â
âIt will,â said the captain, âand thank âee. As for turning a boardinâ-house keeper, I donât think Iâm cut out for it. Neither is my friend Sinton, eh?â
âCertainly not,â answered Ned, laughing: âwe might as well become washerwomen.â
âYouâd make a pretty good thing of it if you did,â retorted Mr Thompson; âwould they not, Lizette? you know more about these things than I do.â
âIndeed, I cannot tell, papa, as I do not know the capabilities of our friends in that way; but I think the few washerwomen in the city must be making fortunes, for they charge two shillings a-piece for everything, large and small.â
âNow, then, gentlemen,â said the merchant, rising, âif you have quite finished, we will walk down to the harbour and inspect the goods.â
An arch smile played round Lizetteâs lips as she shook hands with Ned at parting, and she seemed on the point of speaking, but checked herself.
âI beg pardon,â said Ned, pausing, âdid youââ
âOh, it was nothing!â said Lizette; âI was only going to remark thatâthat if you set up in the washing line, I shall be happy to give you all the work I can.â
âAhem!â coughed Ned gravely, âand if we should set up in the other line, will you kindly come and board with us?â
âHallo, Ned, whatâs keeping you?â roared the captain.
âComing,â shouted Ned, as he ran after him. âWhere has Larry OâNeil gone?â
âHeâs away down before us to have a look at the town. We shall find him, I doubt not, cruising about the quay.â
In a few minutes the three friends were wending their way through the crowded streets back to the shore.
The remnant of the cargo of the Roving Bess proved to be worth comparatively littleâless even than had been anticipated. After a careful inspection, Mr Thompson offered to purchase it âin the slumpâ for 1000 dollarsâabout 200 pounds sterling. This was a heavy blow to poor Captain Bunting, who had invested his allâthe savings of many yearsâin the present unfortunate venture. However, his was not a nature to brood over misfortunes that could not be avoided, so he accepted the sum with the best grace he might, and busied himself during the next few days in assisting the merchant to remove the bales.
During this period he did not converse much with any one, but meditated seriously on the steps he ought to take. From all that he heard, it seemed impossible to procure hands to man the ship at that time, so he began to entertain serious thoughts of âtaking his chanceâ at the diggings after all. He was by nature averse to this, however; and had nearly made up his mind to try to beat up recruits for the ship, when an event occurred that settled the matter for him rather unexpectedly. This event was the bursting out of a hurricane, or brief but violent squall, which, before assistance could be procured, dragged the Roving Bess from her moorings, and stranded her upon the beach, just below the town. Here was an end to sea-faring prospects. The whole of his limited capital would not have paid for a tenth part of the labour necessary to refloat the ship, so he resolved to leave her on the beach, and go to the diggings.
Mr Thompson advised him to sell the hull, as it would fetch a good price for the sake of the timber, which at that time was much wanted in the town, but the captain had still a lurking hope that he might get his old ship afloat at some future period, and would not hear of it.
âWhat,â said he, âsell the Roving Bess, which stands A1 at Lloydâs, to be broken up to build gold-diggers houses? I trow not. No, no; let her lie where she is in peace.â
On the day after the squall, as Ned and the captain were standing on the shore regarding their late floating, and now grounded, home in sad silence, a long-legged, lantern-jawed man, in dirty canvas trousers, long boots, a rough coat, and broad straw hat, with an enormous cigar in
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