in the grand rush to the newly discovered gold-fields all classes were represented. there were men of education, representatives of all the learned professions, men versed in business, and along with them adventurers and men of doubtful antecedents, graduates of prisons and penitentiaries. bill crane, introduced in the last chapter, belonged to the latter undesirable class. he had served a term at sing-sing as a housebreaker, and later another term in a western penitentiary. he had come to california with a prejudice against honest labor, and a determination to make a living by the use of the peculiar talents on which he had hitherto relied. he had spent a week at river bend, chiefly at the saloon of missouri jack, whom he found a congenial spirit, and had picked up a little money from flats like[pg 38] the young bostonian; but, on the whole, he had found it an unprofitable field for the exercise of his special talents.
"i must make a raise somehow," he bethought himself, "and then i'll make tracks for some other settlement."
precisely how to raise the fund of which he stood in need was difficult to decide. moneyed men were not plenty at river bend. captain fletcher and his party had been at work but a short time, and were not likely to have collected much.
as we know, bill crane overheard a part of the closing conversation between tom and john miles. from this he learned that miles, besides his own money, would be in charge of seventy-five dollars belonging to our young hero. it was not much, but it was something.
"if the whole doesn't come to over two hundred dollars, i can make it do," thought crane. "it will get me out of this beastly hole, and carry me to san francisco."
john miles slept by himself under a small[pg 39] tent at the northern end of the small encampment. he looked like a man who ate well and slept well, and this would be favorable to bill crane, who proposed to effect the robbery in the night. he had half a mind to secure the aid of missouri jack, but then jack would expect to go shares in the "plunder," and there was likely to be little enough for one. so bill decided to make the attempt alone.
in a small camp like that at river bend, the movements and plans of each individual were generally known. so it was generally understood that john miles intended to start on thursday for the city.
the previous evening he spent with tom and ferguson, with whom he was more intimate than any others of the party. he would not have been drawn to the scotchman, but for his being tom's room-mate. through him he came to appreciate and respect the scot's sterling virtues, and to overlook his dry, phlegmatic manner.
"i hope you'll have good luck, mr. miles," said tom.[pg 40]
"thank you, my boy."
"i would join with my young friend tom," said ferguson, "if i were quite clear in my mind whether good luck is the right term to use."
"don't you think some men are luckier than others, mr. ferguson?" asked tom.
"some men are more successful, doubtless; but what we call good luck, generally comes from greater industry, good judgment, and, above all, the prompt use of opportunities."
"there is something in that," said miles; "but when two men work side by side with equal industry, and one finds a nugget worth thousands of dollars, while the other plods along at a few dollars a day, isn't there some luck there?"
"it may be so," said the scotchman, cautiously, "but such cases are exceptional."
"so one boy is born to an inheritance of wealth and another to an inheritance of hard work. isn't there any luck there?"
"the luck may be on the side of the poor boy," was the reply. "he is further removed from temptation."[pg 41]
john miles laughed.
"well, at any rate, it seems you believe in luck after all. i am sure you both wish me to be prosperous, whether you call it luck or by some other name. tom, if i meet with any good opening that i think will suit you, i shall write you. you don't want to stay here, particularly?"
"no; the place is not so pleasant since these new people have come here. missouri jack isn't a neighbor that i like."
"he is exerting a bad influence," said ferguson. "i am afraid peabody visits him too often for his own good."
"he ought to have stayed in boston," said miles. "he is not the man for such a life as ours. he is too delicate to work, or thinks he is, and i see no other reliable road to success."
"i saw peabody reeling out of the saloon this afternoon," said tom. "i asked him if he considered it was 'high-toned' to drink in a saloon, as that is the word he is always using, but he said it didn't make much difference out here, where he wasn't known."[pg 42]
"peabody isn't overstocked with brains, though he does come from boston," said miles.
ten o'clock came, and miles rose to go.
"i must have a good night's rest," he said, "for to-morrow night must see me many miles on my road. tom, i will attend to that commission of yours just as soon as i have the opportunity."
"thank you, mr. miles."
john miles walked slowly toward his tent. arrived there, he threw himself down on his rude couch, and in less than fifteen minutes, he was sound asleep. he had done his usual day's work, and made some preparations for his journey besides, and these made slumber sweet and refreshing.
before settling himself for the night, however, miles carefully deposited a bag of gold-dust under his head, wrapped up in an extra pair of pantaloons. had he known that bill crane had formed a plan to rob him that very night, he would have taken extra precautions, but he was not inclined to be suspicious, or to anticipate danger.
perhaps an hour later, tom, who found himself unusually restless, got up from his hard couch, leaving[pg 43] ferguson fast asleep, and went out into the air, thinking that a walk would do him good and dispose him to sleep. the night was dark, but not wholly so. there was no moon, but a few stars were shining; and as his eyes became accustomed to the faint light, he could easily distinguish objects at the distance of a few rods.
tom's thoughts reverted to his humble home, more than three thousand miles away. probably the fact that he had committed to john miles a sum of money to send to his father, had turned his thoughts in that direction.
"father will be glad to get the seventy-five dollars," thought tom, "and i am sure he will need it. i wish it could get there more quickly, but it is a long way off."
tom was not homesick, and was far from wishing himself back, with his object in coming yet unaccomplished, but it did occur to him, that he would like to see his father and mother, and brothers and sisters, if only for a few minutes.
when he came out he had no particular direction in mind in which he wished to walk, but chance[pg 44] directed his steps toward the tent of his friend, john miles.
when he came near it, his attention was arrested by the sight of a crouching figure which appeared to be entering the tent. his first thought was, that miles, like himself, had got up from his couch and was just returning. he was on the point of calling out "john," when a sudden doubt and suspicion silenced him.—"might not it be a robber?"
tom was determined to find out. he crept nearer, so that he could have a clearer view of the figure.
"it's bill crane!" he said to himself, with sudden recognition. "what's he up to?"
tom could guess. he didn't know the man's antecedents, but he had read his character aright. he was instantly on the alert. crane evidently was on a thief's errand, and was likely to steal not only miles's money but tom's. our hero was alive to the emergency, and resolved to foil him. he had his revolver with him; for in the unsettled state of society, with no one to enforce the[pg 45] laws, and indeed no laws to enforce, it was the custom for all men to go armed.
tom was not long left in doubt as to crane's intentions. he saw him cautiously pulling at something in the tent, and felt sure that it was the bag of treasure. he decided that the time had come to act.
"put that back," he exclaimed in boyish, but clear, commanding tone.
bill crane turned suddenly, panic-stricken.
he saw tom standing a few feet from him, with a revolver in his hand.
all was not lost. he might, he thought, intimidate the boy.
"mind your business, you young cub," he growled.
"what are you about?" demanded tom.
"i am going to sleep with miles. he invited me. does that satisfy you?"
"no, it doesn't, for i know that it's a lie. you are here to rob him."
"you'd better not insult me, boy, or i'll have your life."[pg 46]
"get up this instant and leave the tent, or i'll fire," said tom, resolutely.
"a young cub like you can't frighten me. that shooting-iron of yours isn't loaded," said bill crane, rather uneasily.
"it'll be rather a bad thing for you to take the risk," said tom, with a coolness that surprised himself, for the situation was a strange one for a boy brought up in a quiet new england farming town.
"what do you want of me?" growled the desperado, uncomfortably, for he was satisfied that the weapon was loaded, and tom looked as if he would shoot.
"i want you to leave that tent at once," said tom.
"suppose i don't."
"then i shall fire at you."
"and be hung for attempted murder."
"i think i could explain it," said our hero. "you know very well what will happen to you if you are caught."
bill crane did know. hanging was the penalty[pg 47] for theft in the early days of california, and he had no desire to swing from the branch of a tree.
"you're a young fool!" he said roughly, as he rose from his stooping posture. "i wanted to ask miles to do a little commission for me in frisco. i had no thought of robbing him."
"you can see him in the morning about it," said tom, resolutely.
"i'll be even with you for this," said the foiled thief, as he sullenly obeyed the boy, half-ashamed to do so.
tom went back to his tent, aroused ferguson, and the two took turns in guarding the tent of miles during the night. tom did not wish to awaken him, for he needed rest on the eve of a long and fatiguing journey.
