USA > California > A picture of pioneer times in California, illustrated with anecdotes and stores taken from real life > Part 52
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He fell, and we picked him up, and, bringing him in, he proved to be the man who had annoyed me so much on the passage from San Francisco.
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He was in a dying condition, and spoke in a wild, often incoherent way. We saw life was fast ebbing away, but, notwithstanding this, the landlord sent for a doctor. I asked the fellow his name. He said, in a faint voice, "Timothy Dutton; but they call me Seagull Tim." " What did you want to kill me for?" said I. He answered, in a half-suffocated voice, with his eyes shut: " Oh, it was a cold sort of a job; I did not like it. I did not want it; but the Captain said he wanted you out of the way, and told me he would give me a thousand dollars for the job, and all my expenses, and I under- took it; not so much for the pay as that I wanted to please the Captain. I did him a good turn once before; for it was I, and he will tell you so, who brought down Captain Jackson, by thrusting my knife in his back when they had their big last fight, that made him our Captain." Here the wretch seemed to die away altogether; but with a considerable effort he again aroused himself, and said, " Tell the Captain I was true to him to the last," " Yes," said I, " I will tell him. What is his name ?" " His name, his name," repeated the dying man, seeming to try to collect his scattered senses; "yes, his right name is Captain Lusk, but, but we here in California call-yes, in California-call him-yes, we call him -" The wretch said no more, for he was dead; and so the doctor found him when he arrived.
As Walter read the last words Minnie, without speaking, arose and went into her room. She closed the door and dropped on her knees beside her bed, and, with her face buried in her hands, gave way to her feelings in a burst of thankfulness to God for His wonderful protection of him she so dearly loved. Her words of praise and thankfulness were accompanied by a flood of tears she could not hold back. They were tears of gratitude to God and of sympathy for the danger James De Forest had passed through.
When Isaac Hilton read the account of the attack on De Forest, he remained in thought for a long time. Then he said to Mrs. Swan:
" I have an idea who this Lusk is, that the robber spoke of; but I do not say a word, for, of course, I might be mistaken; and I hope I am mistaken, for Walter Wagner's sake."
The next day Walter received a long letter from James De Forest himself, giving all the particulars of the attempt on his life, but at the same time making light of it. The only thing that disturbed him, he said, was to find that he had such a bit- ter enemy. He concluded the subject by saying :
A horrible suspicion as to who this man Lusk, who seeks my life, is, has forced itself on my imagination. When I go to the city in May, I will take some trouble to investigate the matter. I will do this in justice to the party I am forced to suspect. I will, therefore, mention no names now, particu- ticularly as I hope to find that I am totally in the wrong.
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The last few words of the letter seemed to be addressed di- rectly to Minnie, in this way :
Now, my dear Miss Minnie, pray on for me; for I cannot but believe that it was those prayers you promised me that saved me from the assassin's hand, and that makes life sweeter than ever to me; and I want you to con- sider it all at your service as a matter of right,
As Walter finished reading, he exclaimed: " Who can it be that De Forest suspects ? I cannot imagine."
Minnie gave a little start and a shudder, but said nothing.
The morning that the news of Seagull Tim's attempt on De Forest's life reached San Francisco, Ward was seated in his room, at the finest hotel in the city, the Oriental, quietly smoking his cigar, when Brown burst into his room in great excitement, closed the door, and said in almost a whisper:
" Seagull Tim made a mis-blow, and I fear our game is all up."
" He did !" said Ward, as he turned deadly pale. " Well, I will sink him with a piece of lead fastened to his neck, in the middle of the bay when the dog gets back."
" No, you will not; for he is dead."
" Dead !" repeated Ward.
"Yes. Here, take this Portland paper and read the account for yourself."
As Brown handed the paper, he pointed out the place where the account of the Coroner's inquest was given. While Ward read, he was more agitated than Brown had ever seen him. When he concluded, he growled out:
" Well, all is right. The miserable villain choked before he betrayed us. That is first-rate, anyway."
Brown made no remark, and Ward arose and paced the floor in thought for some minutes. Then he said :
" You see, Brown, I am in luck after all ; for, if that dog had lived half a second longer, we would now be in the hands of Sam Brannan and Wm. T. Coleman, and their merciful lambs, on our way, most likely, to ornament some impromptu gibbet, for the amusement of those Yankees. So, you see, as I say, luck is on our side, or it may be that the devil has too much business for us yet, to let us be caught. Oh, how glad I am that the fellow choked just as he did!"
"I was in hopes, Captain," said Brown, in a dogged tone, " that this would show you the necessity of abandoning your
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views about this Wagner girl. Everything, you know, is ready. We could be off in less than an hour, if you would only give the word. This San Francisco is a great place to be recognized in. Some one may arrive from Sydney who knew you there, or from your old home in England. It is a terrible risk to run, now that the name of Lusk is connected with a California or Oregon crime."
" Pshaw ! Brown; you are a child. I often told you so before. You are of the wolf breed, and cannot understand the boldness of the lion. I have told you three times before that I am, in truth, infatuated by this girl, and can no more draw myself off from pursuing her, no matter what the consequence may be, than I could subdue a storm at sea, that was rushing me on the rocks."
" Well, Captain, I hope this passion of yours will not rush us all on the rocks; that is all."
" Don't be a coward, Brown. I tell you that luck is on my side. See how nicely Tim choked just at the right moment."
"I wish he had choked before he mentioned the name of Lusk," said Brown.
" Yes; that would, of course, have been better, decidedly, as you say, Brown; but it is all right as it stands. Was not Wild choked just as he was going to point me out ! One word more, and I would have been gone!" And here Ward chuckled in his peculiar way, as he continued: " Oh, the old villain ! how his eyes leaped out towards me, as it were, when he saw me in the crowd; but his arms being pinioned saved me, and in a moment . more he was swinging in fine style. Oh, yes; I managed that first-rate, and luck is on my side surely, Brown."
" I forgot to tell you, Captain, that, at old Jack's request, I called to see his daughter Lizzie yesterday. I found her well, but very anxious to see you. She said you had not been there for some days, and told me that if I saw you to ask you to call. I believe, Captain, that she loves you better than she loves her life; and she is really very handsome, and, in truth, a really edu- cated lady in her manners. She would go with you to the end of the earth ; I could see that. How I do wish that you could be satisfied with her, and then we could take her on board and be off to sea !"
Ward stopped short in his walk up and down the room, and, turning to Brown, said, in a most angry tone :
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" I tell you, Brown, that you must never again suggest my doing what I have so often told you it was impossible for me to do-that is, to give up Minnie Wagner. Since our last conver- sation on this subject, I have grown half mad in regard to her. I think of her all day, and dream of her all night. When I am near her now, I am a man like other men, it appears to me, and every tone of her voice reverberates through me. Yes; strange as it is, I love that girl to almost madness. When she put her arm on mine the other day, a strange feeling I never experienced before took possession of me. I could not say a word to her. I had a notion of dropping on my knees before her, and telling her how I loved her, and swearing fidelity to her ; and then, if she discarded me, of killing her and myself both on the spot. Yes ; if our walk had been ten yards longer, that is what would have happened ; but we reached the garden-gate just in time to save me from the mad act. Then she took some flowers from me, and spoke so kindly to me that I was in a wild dream of love- yes, love-all the way back to San Francisco. No, Brown ; my fate, as I often told you before, is linked to this girl in some mysterious way, and she shall marry me, or die by my hand ; that is decided. If you admire that girl Lizzie so much, I will turn her over to you, and you are welcome to her. I want no more of her."
" No, no, Captain ; thank you! I want nothing to do with her. I prefer to die some other way than by old Jack's sheath-knife being drawn across my throat some bright morning."
" Pshaw ! Brown; his sort have no such feeling as you suppose. I will take my queen, my empress that is to be, on board the Blue Bell, right before the eyes of old Jack and his two sons, and you will see that they will cringe like wolf whelps before my look, and obey me like kicked dogs."
" Well, Captain, a sort of luck does seem to be with you. So lead on, and I will not flinch."
Ward did not speak for a few minutes, but continued his walk up and down the room in thought. At length, he said:
" Yes, Brown ; all you have to do is to follow where I lead, and all will come out right. In the first place, I will have to see the principal men of the Vigilance Committee, and mislead them as to who this man Lusk is. I will pretend that I know him, and that he is now at sea in command of a schooner, and you know we can
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keep him at sea until we have left the harbor ourselves. I will also write to Wagner and De Forest, intimating that I am on Lusk's tracks."
This ended the conference, and Ward carefully pursued the plan he had laid out, and was most successful in deceiving all who took an interest in the matter of the attempted murder. In a few days, as was always the case in California at that time, the whole circumstance of the attempted assassination of De Forest appeared forgotten.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE ROBBERY-MINNIE'S ENCOURAGEMENT.
The terms of separation between Walter and Hilton were that Hilton was to take the store goods and all moneys due the firm in High Canyon, for which he was to pay Walter nine thou- sand dollars. Seven thousand of this was to be cash down, and one thousand in three months, without interest, and one thou- sand in four months, also without interest. The date of the dis- solution of partnership was to be May 10th. These terms were satisfactory to both parties, although Hilton very much regretted Walter's withdrawal, and had done all he could to dissuade him from doing so. Since the date of Minnie's arrival in High Can- yon, everything had been so bright and cheerful that Hilton looked forward to her leaving with the most lonesome feeling. Good Mrs. Swan, too, felt very much down-hearted at the prospect be- fore her. She really loved Minnie, and found it very hard to part from her; and then she must of course lose a nice harbor she had found in her sorrowful widowhood. One day, as the 10th of May was very near in its approach, Mrs Swan sat absorbed in sad thoughts of her peculiar position, and tears were flowing down her cheeks. She gazed out of the dining-room window in a vacant way. Isaac Hilton, happening to pass, looked up and saw the tears on the widow's face. He stopped, turned around, and walked towards the dining-room, saying to himself:
" Why, she looks as sad as I have felt all day myself. I will see what is the matter, for I respect and like her very much."
Well, we will not follow the good Isaac in his mission of charity; for he might prefer to be alone. But certain it is, that a great improvement in the spirits of both Mrs. Swan and Mr. Hilton appeared that afternoon; so much so that Walter and Minnie remarked it. The explanation did not fully appear until the morning of Walter and Minnie's departure, when they were surprised to find that Mrs. Swan and Mr. Hilton were unusually
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fixed up, and were to accompany them as far as Downieville. They now began to see through the matter, and were not mis- taken; for, on reaching Downieville, Walter and Minnie were invited to stand up as witnesses for their two friends. They accepted the invitation with great pleasure, and soon after took their leave of Mr. and Mrs. Hilton, who did not look a bit lone- some.
Walter had with him the seven thousand dollars in gold-dust, received in accordance with his agreement with Hilton. Five thousand of this was to be paid in as his share of the capital of the new firm of Wagner & Brown, and two thousand was to be used in furnishing the cottage he had rented in San Francisco. Brown had already bought the furniture and fitted up the cottage, and Walter was to pay the bills on reaching the city. Walter and Minnie arrived safely in the city. Brown and Ward met them at the wharf, as the boat arrived, about half-past nine in the evening. Captain Ward was all attention, and whispered to Walter:
" Give the packages of gold-dust to Brown, and he will put them in our safe at the Oriental Hotel, where we have some twenty thousand belonging to Brown and myself, which was paid to us this evening after banking hours. It will be perfectly safe, as Brown will stay in the room until I get there, and in the morning we will deposit the whole with Page, Bacon & Co."
As a matter of course, Walter did not hesitate to hand over his two bags of gold-dust to his new partner. Then, taking Min- nie's arm, Walter invited Ward to walk with them to the cottage. The cottage was situated between two sand-hills on Pine street, a little above Kearny street. Jane, the hired girl that Brown had procured for Minnie, had some supper all ready for them, and everything looked neat and in order. The furniture was very handsome, and Minnie felt quite happy in taking possession of her new home. Ward was less pressing in his attentions and compliments to Minnie than usual, and she thought that, per- haps from this very fact, he never looked to so much advantage before. However, she did not feel easy in his company; so, making an excuse of fatigue from traveling, she retired almost immediately after their cup of tea. An hour later, when Ward had left, Walter knocked at his sister's door to wish lier a good- night, and, receiving no answer, he gently opened the door and softly advanced, with the light in his hand, close to her bed.
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He saw that she was apparently in a sound, sweet sleep. Her long hair was flung back loose over the pillow behind her; her face was turned towards him; her cheek rested in one hand, while the other arm lay at full length outside the clothes. Wal- ter's heart swelled with admiration and brotherly pride as he said to himself: " God bless her!"
And now, my dear young readers, I fancy that you stand by Walter at that moment, and that you exclaim: "Sleep on, poor, dear Minnie; draw all the strength from that sweet sleep you can to invigorate your beautiful physical structure; for you will need it all. Yes, Minnie; dream of your childhood; your sweet mother; and in your dream sit again in her lap as you used to do. Throw your arms around her neck; lay your head on her noble bosom; listen again to her wise counsel and earnest teachings; and draw from it a new inspiration of faith and forti- tude. Yes, Minnie; and in that dream drop again upon your knees, and ask a father's and a mother's blessing, as you did long ago; for, oh, Minnie, to-morrow's light will bring to your new home the first chilly blast of the storm that has been gathering and brewing over you. Yes; a storm so dark and ter- rible that at times you can see no path by which to escape; but your unwavering trust in God will fill your true woman's heart with courage and confidence, as it has in every difficulty; and, though dark the way before you, in the light of His law you will step forward with unfaltering tread, and His angels will guard your feet from every danger, and lead you through every difficulty."
When the brother and sister met the next morning, they were happy and cheerful. As breakfast was concluded, the bell rang, and, on Walter's going to the door, he found a message from Captain Ward, desiring his presence, as soon as it was possible, at the Oriental Hotel. In obedience to the summons, Walter took his hat and left immediately. As soon as Walter had gone, Minnie put on her walking-dress and hat, and, taking the hired girl with her, who was familiar with the way to Father Maginnis' church, near the Orphan Asylum, on Market street, they found the old man very busy about the asylum. Minnie, without hesi- tation, opened her business to him, which was to take two seats in his church.
" Tut, tut ! Could you not do that, as everybody else does it, on Saturday afternoon ?"
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" I did not know it made any difference, Father, on what day I came."
" Difference ! Of course it does. Don't you see how very busy I am?"
" Well, Father, I will come on Saturday, as you can not at- tend to it now," said Minnie, rising to go, and feeling a little mortified at the manner of her reception.
" And come all the way here again in this deep sand and wind ? What would you do that for ?"
" Oh, as you are so busy, Father."
" Well, I suppose you have business, too; for every one in California has business, and as much as they can do, too, without being bothered to make two journeys about one thing ; so come with me."
They entered the church by a side door. Everything looked calm, still and solemn in the little church. The Father turned towards the altar, dropped on his knees, and remained a minute with his head bowed down in prayer. Minnie slipped into an open pew, and followed his example. The Father arose, and beckoned her to draw near him, and in a whisper said, as he pointed to an open pew :
" How would you like your two seats in that pew ?"
" Thank you; that will do nicely, Father;" and Minnie followed the priest out of the church. As soon as they were outside, she said: "Now, Father, how much am I to pay?"
He named the sum necessary for three months, and she handed him the money. As he wrote the receipt, he said:
" Wagner-that is an uncommon name for a Catholic, but I knew a worthy couple in Newark, New Jersey, of that name. I was two or three times at their house with Father Kelly.".
" Yes, Father; and they were my parents."
"Your parents !" said Father Maginnis in surprise, looking closely for the first time at Minnie, and continuing: "Yes; you do look like Mrs. Wagner. I see it now."
" Yes, Father; and that was one of the reasons why I came this morning, for here is a letter to you from mother, drawing herself to your recollection."
" Oh, I recollect her well," said the Father, taking the letter, and continuing: "And why were you going away a few minutes ago, without handing me this letter ? But I suppose you thought I was a cross old fellow, and that you would not give me the letter ?"
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Minnie was about to give some other excuse, when the Father interrupted her with:
" Never mind; when you know me a little, you will find I am not so cross, after all."
He read the letter carefully through, and, turning to Minnie, said in a familiar way :
" Minnie, bring your brother to see me; and when you write home, say to your mother that I will try to make you and him be- have yourselves while you stay in San Francisco."
Then looking at Minnie again, he said :
" There are a good many fellows here who will try to marry you, Minnie; but don't listen to any of them until you tell me. Tell your brother Walter I said this."
Minnie blushed, and said:
"Oh, Father, do not be afraid about that! I do not want to get married. But, if I ever do change my mind, I will never take any one who is not approved of by you and Walter both."
" Minnie, do you play and sing ?"
" Yes, sir; a little."
" I thought so, from your voice. When you get settled, will you help us with our choir on Sundays ?"
" Yes, sir; with great pleasure."
" Well, come next Sunday, and I will introduce you. Good- bye, Minnie; I am in a great hurry."
So Minnie was on her way back, well pleased with rough, kind- hearted Father Maginnis, and San Francisco began already to feel more like home. She felt as though she had thrown out an anchor to steady and hold their little craft in case of a storm.
When Walter reached the Oriental Hotel, he was shown up to Captain Ward's room. There he found everything looking in confusion and excitement. In one corner stood two policemen, talking earnestly, but in low, mysterious voices, to Ward, and to each other. As Walter entered, the door was locked behind him, and Ward came forward, and, in a sad, dejected tone, said:
" My dear, dear fellow, I have sad news for you this morning; but I hope you will bear it like a man."
" Well," said Walter, in a bold voice, " out with it, without preface."
" All right; I see you have the true Yankee pluck about you, Walter. Well, we were robbed of every dollar we had in the
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safe, and your seven thousand is, of course, gone with our twenty thousand !"
Walter was stunned for a moment, and remained without speaking; all his hopes and prospects of yesterday he saw now dashed with one blow to the ground. He tried to rally, but the blow was too severe to be at once overcome. So, without speak- ing, he began to walk up and down the room, in deep thought. His first thoughts were all of Minnie; her comfortable new home, where she and he had both expected so much enjoyment, had vanished. Then his thoughts ran back to his darling mother, to whom he had just written, urging her to make immediate prepa- rations to join them in San Francisco. Then Fannie Eaton, somehow, came into his thoughts, and his heart sank very low, and he felt a suffocating sensation, as if half-choking. Then he made another effort to rally. He stopped short, and stamped with his foot on the floor, as if out of patience with himself and others, and, looking at the policemen and Ward, he exclaimed: " Let the confounded money go! But how was it done ? I would like to know that."
Ward started at this sudden address and change in Walter's demeanor; but, recovering himself in a moment, he explained how he had been chloroformed, and how the robbers had taken the key of the safe, which, unfortunately, had only a simple lock, out of his vest pocket, from under his head. Then he intro- duced the two policemen to Walter, and told him that they ad- vised that the robbery should be kept perfectly quiet, and that no one, in fact, should be informed of it. The policemen then explained to Walter that this was their best chance of tracing out the robbers, and that they had great hopes of yet recovering the money; but that it might take days, and even weeks, to do it, and that all would depend on the robbery being kept perfectly secret. Walter listened to all this, and then said:
" Well, in my judgment, the best way is to go right straight to Sam Brannan and William T. Coleman, and lay the case be- fore them, and they will arouse the whole people in a search, and we will be almost sure to get the robbers, if not the money."
" Well, Walter, that would be patriotic, anyway; and I have a mind to agree to it, although I know it would make it perfectly sure that neither you, Brown nor myself would ever recover a dol- lar of the lost money ; for, when the robbers would find them- selves run close, they would throw the money in the bay rather
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than be taken with it. However, if you feel like giving up the almost certainty of recovering the money, for the sake of making a fuss over the robbery-for that is all your plan would amount to-I will go in with you against my own judgment, and the judgment of Brown and these two policemen. But Brown will be here in a few minutes with two of the Vigilance Committee de- tective police. Let us hear what they advise."
So Walter agreed to wait, and in a few minutes more Brown arrived with two men, whom he introduced as detectives of the Vigilance Committee. As they entered the room, Ward whis- pered to Walter:
" You can rely on these men, Wagner; for it was I who got Coleman to place them in the service of the Vigilance Com- mittee."
On being consulted, these men were even more decided than were the city policemen as to the policy of secrecy, and offered to take the matter into their own hands to work up. The result was that Walter consented to this mode of proceeding. Ward then took Walter aside, and said, in a depressed voice:
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