arduous.
"I wish it was light," he muttered.

Then he revoked his wish.  In the darkness and obscurity lay his
hopes of escape.

"I'd give half this nugget if I was safe in San Francisco," he said
to himself.

He stumbled on, occasionally forced by his fatigue to sit down and
rest.

"I hope I'm going in the right direction, but I don't know," he said
to himself.

He had been traveling with occasional rests for four hours when
fatigue overcame him.  He lay down to take a slight nap, but when he
awoke the sun was up.

"Good Heaven!" he exclaimed in alarm.  "I must have slept for some
hours.  I will eat something to give me strength, and then I must
hurry on."

He had taken the precaution to take some provisions with him, and he
began to eat them as he hurried along.

"They have just discovered their loss," thought Hogan.  "Will they
follow me, I wonder?  I must be a good twelve miles away, and this is
a fair start.  They will turn back before they have come as far as
this.  Besides, they won't know in what direction I have come."

Hogan was mistaken in supposing himself to be twelve miles away.  In
reality, he was not eight.  During the night he had traveled at
disadvantage, and taken a round-about way without being aware of it.
He was mistaken also in supposing that the pursuit would be easily
abandoned.  Mining communities could not afford to condone theft, nor
were they disposed to facilitate the escape of the thief.  More than
once the murderer had escaped, while the thief was pursued
relentlessly.  All this made Hogan's position a perilous one.  If he
had been long enough in the country to understand the feeling of the
people, he would not have ventured to steal the nugget.

About eleven o'clock Hogan sat down to rest.  He reclined on the
greensward near the edge of a precipitous descent.  He did not dream
that danger was so close till he heard his name called and two men
came running toward him.  Hogan, starting to his feet in dismay,
recognized Crane and Peabody, two of his late comrades.

"What do you want?" he faltered, as they came within hearing.

"The nugget," said Crane sternly.

Hogan would have denied its possession if he could, but there it was
at his side.

"There it is," he said.

"What induced you to steal it?" demanded Crane.

"I was dead broke.  Luck was against me.  I couldn't help it."

"It was a bad day's work for you," said Peabody.  "Didn't you know
the penalty attached to theft in the mining-camps?"

"No," faltered Hogan, alarmed at the stem looks of his captors.
"What is it?"

"Death by hanging," was the terrible reply.

Hogan's face blanched, and he sank on his knees before them.

"Don't let me be hung!" he entreated.  "You've got the nugget back.
I've done no harm.  No one has lost anything by me."

"Eight of us have lost our time in pursuing you.  You gave up the
nugget because you were forced to.  You intended to carry it away."

"Mercy! mercy!  I'm a very unlucky man.  I'll go away and never
trouble you again."

"We don't mean that you shall," said Crane sternly.  "Peabody, tie
his hands; we must take him back with us."

"I won't go," said Hogan, lying down.  "I am not going back to be
hung."

It would obviously be impossible to carry a struggling man back
fifteen miles, or more.

"We must hang you on the spot then," said Crane, producing a cord.
"Say your prayers; your fate is sealed."

"But this is murder!" faltered Hogan, with pallid lips.

"We take the responsibility."

He advanced toward Hogan, who now felt the full horrors of his
situation.  He sprang to his feet, rushed in frantic fear to the edge
of the precipice, threw up his arms, and plunged headlong.  It was
done so quickly that neither of his captors was able to prevent him.

They hurried to the precipice and looked over.  A hundred feet below,
on a rough rock, they saw a shapeless and motionless figure, crushed
out of human semblance.

"Perhaps it is as well," said Crane gravely.  "He has saved us an
unwelcome task."

The nugget was restored to its owners, to whom Hogan's tragical fate
was told.

"Poor fellow!" said Joe soberly.  "I would rather have lost the
nugget."

"So would I," said Bickford.  "He was a poor, shif'less critter; but
I'm sorry for him."




CHAPTER XXXIX

HOW JOE'S BUSINESS PROSPERED

Joe and his friend Bickford arrived in San Francisco eight days later
without having met with any other misadventure or drawback.  He had
been absent less than three months, yet he found changes.  A
considerable number of buildings had gone up in different parts of
the town during his absence.

"It is a wonderful place," said Joe to his companion.

"It is going to be a great city some day."

"It's ahead of Pumpkin Holler already," said Mr. Bickford, "though
the Holler has been goin' for over a hundred years."

Joe smiled at the comparison.  He thought he could foresee the rapid
progress of the new city, but he was far from comprehending the
magnificent future that lay before it.  A short time since, the
writer of this story ascended to the roof of the Palace Hotel, and
from this lofty elevation, a hundred and forty feet above the
sidewalk, scanned with delighted eyes a handsome and substantial
city, apparently the growth of a century, and including within its
broad limits a population of three hundred thousand souls.  It will
not be many years before it reaches half-a-million, and may fairly be
ranked among the great cities of the world.

Of course Joe's first visit was to his old place of business.  He
received a hearty greeting from Watson, his deputy.

"I am glad to see you, Joe," said he, grasping our hero's hand
cordially.  "When did you arrive?"

"Ten minutes ago.  I have made you the first call."

"Perhaps you thought I might have 'vamosed the ranch,'" said Watson,
smiling, "and left you and the business in the lurch."

"I had no fears on that score," said Joe.  "Has business been good?"

"Excellent.  I have paid weekly your share of the profits to Mr.
Morgan."

"Am I a millionaire yet?" asked Joe.

"Not quite.  I have paid Mr. Morgan on your account"--here Watson
consulted a small account-book--"nine hundred and twenty-five
dollars."

"Is it possible?" said Joe, gratified.  "That is splendid."

"Then you are satisfied?"

"More than satisfied."

"I am glad of it.  I have made the same for myself and so have nearly
half made up the sum which I so foolishly squandered at the
gaming-table."

"I am glad for you, Mr. Watson."

"How have you prospered at the mines?"

"I have had excellent luck."

"I don't believe you bring home as much money as I have made for you
here."

"Don't bet on that, Mr. Watson, for you would lose."

"You don't mean to say that you have made a thousand dollars?"
exclaimed Watson, surprised.

"I have made five thousand dollars within a hundred or two."

"Is it possible!" ejaculated Watson.  "You beat everything for luck,
Joe."

"So he does," said Bickford, who felt that it was time for him to
speak.  "It's lucky for me that I fell in with him.  It brought me
luck, too, for we went into partnership together."

"Have you brought home five thousand dollars, too?" asked Watson.

"I've got about the same as Joe, and now I'm going home to marry
Susan Smith if she'll have me."

"She'll marry a rich miner, Mr. Bickford.  You needn't be concerned
about that."

"I feel pretty easy in mind," said Joshua.

"How soon do you sail?"

"When does the next steamer go?"

"In six days."

"I guess it'll carry me."

Watson turned to Joe.

"I suppose you will now take charge of your own business?" said lie.
"I am ready to hand over my trust at any minute."

"Would you object to retaining charge for--say for four months to
come?" asked Joe.

"Object?  I should be delighted to do it.  I couldn't expect to make
as much money any other way."

"You see, Mr. Watson, I am thinking of going home myself on a visit.
I feel that I can afford it, and I should like to see my old friends
and acquaintances under my new and improved circumstances."

Watson was evidently elated at the prospect of continued employment
of so remunerative a character.

"You may depend upon it that your interests are safe in my hands,"
said he.  "I will carry on the business as if it were my own.
Indeed, it will be for my interest to do so."

"I don't doubt it, Mr. Watson.  I have perfect confidence In your
management."

Joe's next call was on his friend Morgan, by whom also he was
cordially welcomed.

"Have you called on Watson?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then he has probably given you an idea of how your business has gone
on during your absence.  He is a thoroughly reliable man, in my
opinion.  You were fortunate to secure his services."

"So I think."

"Have you done well at the mines?" asked Mr. Morgan doubtfully.

"You hope so, but you don't feel confident?" said Joe, smiling.

"You can read my thoughts exactly.  I don't consider mining as
reliable as a regular business."

"Nor I, in general, but there is one thing you don't take into
account."

"What is that?"

Mr. Bickford answered the question.

"Joe's luck."

"Then you have been lucky?"

"How much do you think I have brought home?"

"A thousand dollars?"

"Five times that sum."

"Are you in earnest?" asked Mr. Morgan, incredulous.

"Wholly so."

"Then let me congratulate you--on that and something else."

"What is that?"

"The lots you purchased, including the one on which your restaurant
is situated, have more than doubled in value."

"Bully for you, Joe!" exclaimed Mr. Bickford enthusiastically.

"It never rains but it pours," said Joe, quoting an old proverb.  "I
begin to think I shall be rich some time, Mr. Morgan."

"It seems very much like it."

"What would you advise me to do, Mr. Morgan--sell out the lots at the
present advance?"

"Hold on to them, Joe.  Not only do that, but buy more.  This is
destined some day to be a great city.  It has a favorable location,
is the great mining center, and the State, I feel convinced, has an
immense territory fit for agricultural purposes.  Lots here may
fluctuate, but they will go up a good deal higher than present
figures."

"If you think so, Mr. Morgan, I will leave in your hands three
thousand dollars for investment in other lots.  This will leave me,
including my profits from the business during my absence, nearly
three thousand dollars more, which I shall take East and invest
there."

"I will follow your instructions, Joe, and predict that your real
estate investments will make you rich sooner than you think."

"Joe," said Bickford, "I've a great mind to leave half of my money
with Mr. Morgan to be invested in the same way."

"Do it, Mr. Bickford.  That will leave you enough to use at home."

"Yes--I can buy a farm for two thousand dollars and stock it for five
hundred more.  Besides, I needn't pay more than half down, if I don't
want to."

"A good plan," said Joe.

"Mr. Morgan, will you take my money and invest it for me just like
Joe's?  Of course I want you to take a commission for doing it."

"With pleasure, Mr. Bickford, more especially as I have decided to
open a real estate office in addition to my regular business.  You
and Joe will be my first customers.  I shouldn't wonder if the two or
three thousand dollars you leave with me should amount in ten years
to ten thousand."

"Ten thousand!" ejaculated Joshua, elated.  "Won't I swell round
Pumpkin Holler when I'm worth ten thousand dollars!"

Six days later, among the passengers by the steamer for Panama, were
Joseph Mason and Joshua Bickford.




CHAPTER XL

JOE'S WELCOME HOME

On arriving in New York both Joe and Mr. Bickford bought new suits of
clothes.  Mr. Bickford purchased a blue dress suit, resplendent with
brass buttons, and a gold watch and chain, which made a good deal of
show for the money.  His tastes were still barbaric, and a quiet suit
of black would not have come up to his idea of what was befitting a
successful California miner.

He surveyed himself before the tailor's glass with abundant
satisfaction.

"I guess that'll strike 'em at home, eh, Joe?" he said.

"You look splendid, Mr. Bickford."

"Kinder scrumptious, don't I?"

"Decidedly so."

"I say, Joe, you'd better have a suit made just like this."

Joe shuddered at the thought.  In refinement of taste he was
decidedly ahead of his friend and partner.

"I'm going to buy a second-hand suit," he said.

"What!" ejaculated Joshua.

Joe smiled.

"I knew you'd be surprised, but I'll explain.  I want people to think
at first that I have been unlucky."

"Oh, I see," said Joshua, nodding; "kinder take 'em in."

"Just so, Mr. Bickford."

"Well, there is something in that."

"Then I shall find out who my true friends are."

"Just so."

*      *      *      *      *

It is not my purpose to describe Mr. Bickford's arrival in Pumpkin
Hollow, resplendent in his new suit.  Joshua wouldn't have changed
places with the President of the United States on that day.  His old
friends gathered about him, and listened open-mouthed to his stories
of mining life in California and his own wonderful exploits, which
lost nothing in the telling.  He found his faithful Susan unmarried,
and lost no time in renewing his suit.  He came, he saw, he conquered!

In four weeks Susan became Mrs. Bickford, her husband became the
owner of the farm he coveted, and he at once took his place among the
prominent men of Pumpkin Hollow.  In a few years he was appointed
justice of the peace, and became known as Squire Bickford.  It may be
as well to state here, before taking leave of him, that his real
estate investments in San Francisco proved fortunate, and in ten
years he found himself worth ten thousand dollars.  This to Joshua
was a fortune, and he is looked upon as a solid man in the town where
he resides.

We now turn to Joe.

Since his departure nothing definite had been heard of him.  Another
boy had taken his place on Major Norton's farm, but he was less
reliable than Joe.

"I am out of patience with that boy.  I wish I had Joe back again."

"Have you heard anything of Joe since he went away?" inquired Oscar.

"Not a word."

"I don't believe he went to California at all."

"In that case we should have heard from him."

"No, Joe's proud--poor and proud!" said Oscar.  "I guess he's wished
himself back many a time, but he's too proud to own it."

"Joe was good to work," said the major.

"He was too conceited.  He didn't know his place.  He thought himself
as good as me," said Oscar arrogantly.

"Most people seemed to like Joe," said the major candidly.

"I didn't," said Oscar, tossing his head.  "If he'd kept in his place
and realized that he was a hired boy, I could have got along well
enough with him."

"I wish he would come back," said the major.  "I would take him back."

"I dare say he's had a hard time and would be humbler now," said
Oscar.

At this moment a knock was heard at the door, and just afterward Joe
entered.

He wore a mixed suit considerably the worse for wear and patched in
two or three places.  There was a rip under the arm, and his hat, a
soft felt one, had become shapeless from long and apparently hard
usage.  He stood in the doorway, waiting for recognition.

"How do you do, Joe?" said Major Norton cordially.  "I am glad to see
you."

Joe's face lighted up.

"Thank you, sir," he said.

"Shake hands, Joe."

Major Norton was mean in money matters, but he had something of the
gentleman about him.

Oscar held aloof.

"How do you do, Oscar?"

"I'm well," said Oscar.  "Have you been to California?"

"Yes."

"You don't seem to have made your fortune," said Oscar
superciliously, eying Joe's shabby clothing.

"I haven't starved," said Joe.

"Where did you get that suit of clothes?" asked Oscar.

"I hope you'll excuse my appearance," said Joe.

"Well, Joe, do you want to come back to your old place?" asked Major
Norton.  "I've got a boy, but he doesn't suit me."

"How much would you be willing to pay me, Major Norton?"

The major coughed.

"Well," said he, "I gave you your board and clothes before.  That's
pretty good pay for a boy."

"I'm older now."

"I'll do the same by you, Joe, and give you fifty cents a week
besides."

"Thank you for the offer, Major Norton.  I'll take till to-morrow to
think of it."

"You'd better accept it now," said Oscar.  "Beggars shouldn't be
choosers."

"I am not a beggar, Oscar," said Joe mildly.

"You look like one, anyway," said Oscar bluntly.

"Oscar," said Major Norton, "if Joe has been unlucky, you shouldn't
throw it in his teeth."

"He went off expecting to make his fortune," said Oscar, in an
exulting tone.  "He looks as if he had made it.  Where are you going?"

"I am going to look about the village a little.  I will call again."

After Joe went out Oscar said:

"It does me good to see Joe come in rags.  Serves him right for
putting on airs."

On the main street Joe met Annie Raymond.

"Why, Joe!" she exclaimed, delighted.  "Is it really you?"

"Bad pennies always come back," said Joe.

"Have you----  I am afraid you have not been fortunate," said the
young lady, hesitating as she noticed Joe's shabby clothes.

"Do you think less of me for that?"

"No," said Annie Raymond warmly.  "It is you I like, not your
clothes.  You may have been unfortunate, but I am sure you deserved
success."

"You are a true friend, Miss Annie, so I don't mind telling you that
I was successful."

Annie Raymond looked astonished.

"And these clothes--" she began.

"I put on for Oscar Norton's benefit.  I wanted to see how he would
receive me.  He evidently rejoiced at my bad fortune."

"Oscar is a mean boy.  Joe, you must come to our house to supper."

"Thank you, I will; but I will go round to the hotel and change my
clothes."

"Never mind."

"But I do mind.  I don't fancy a shabby suit as long as I can afford
to wear a good one."

Joe went to the hotel, took off his ragged clothes, put on a new and
stylish suit which he recently had made for him, donned a gold watch
and chain, and hat in the latest style, and thus dressed, his natural
good looks were becomingly set off.

"How do I look now?" he asked, when he met Miss Annie Raymond at her
own door.

"Splendidly, Joe.  I thought you were a young swell from the city."

After supper Annie said, her eyes sparkling with mischief:

"Suppose we walk over to Major Norton's and see Oscar."

"Just what I wanted to propose."

Oscar was out in the front yard, when he caught sight of Joe and
Annie Raymond approaching.  He did not at first recognize Joe, but
thought, like the young lady, that it was some swell from the city.

"You see I've come again, Oscar," said Joe, smiling.

Oscar could not utter a word.  He was speechless with astonishment.

"I thought you were poor," he uttered, at last.

"I have had better luck than you thought."