CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
DEEP PLOTS AND PLANS--BILL JONES RELATES HIS MISADVENTURES--MADEMOISELLENELINA CONSENTS TO RUN OFF WITH LARRY O'NEIL--A YANKEE MUSICIANOUTWITTED--THE ESCAPE.
As Larry had rightly anticipated, Bill Jones made his appearance at theCity Hotel the moment the concert was over, and found his old comradeswaiting anxiously for him.
It did not take long to tell him how they had discovered the existenceof Nelly Morgan, as we shall now call her, but it took much longer todrag from Bill the account of his career since they last met, and theexplanation of how he came to be placed in his present circumstances.
"Ye see, friends," said he, puffing at a pipe, from which, to look athim, one would suppose he derived most of his information, "this is howit happened. When I set sail from the diggin's to come here for grub, Ihad a pleasant trip at first. But after a little things began to lookbad; the feller that steered us lost his reckoning, an' so we took twoor three wrong turns by way o' makin' short cuts. That's always how itIs. There's a proverb somewhere--"
"In Milton, maybe, or Napier's book o' logarithms," suggested CaptainBunting.
"P'r'aps it wos, and p'r'aps it wosn't," retorted Bill, stuffing the endof his little finger, (if such a diminutive may be used in reference toany of his fingers), into the bowl of his pipe. "I raither think myselfit wos in _Bell's Life_ or the _Royal Almanac_; hows'ever, that's wot itis. When ye've got a short road to go, don't try to make it shorter,say I--"
"An' when ye've got a long story to tell, don't try to make it longer,"interrupted Larry, winking at his comrade through the smoke of his pipe.
"Well, as I wos sayin'," continued Bill, doggedly, "we didn't git on sowell after a bit; but somehow or other we got here at last, and castanchor in this very hotel. Off I goes at once an' buys a cart an' amule, an' then I sets to work to lay in provisions. Now, d'ye see,lads, 'twould ha' bin better if I had bought the provisions first an'the mule and the cart after, for I had to pay ever so many dollars a dayfor their keep. At last I got it all square; packed tight and tied upin the cart--barrels o' flour, and kegs o' pork, an' beans, an' brandy,an' what not; an' away I went alone; for, d'ye see, I carry a compass,an' when I've once made a voyage, I never need to be told how to steer.
"But my troubles began soon. There's a ford across the river here,which I was told I'd ha' to cross; and sure enough, so I did--but it'sas bad as Niagara, if not worse--an' when I gits half way over, we woscapsized, and went down the river keel up. I dun know yet very well howI got ashore, but I did somehow--"
"And did the cart go for it?" inquired Captain Bunting, aghast.
"No, the cart didn't. She stranded half-a-mile further down, on a rock,where she lies to this hour, with a wheel smashed and the bottom out,and about three thousand tons o' water swashin' right through her everyhour; but all the provisions and the mule went slap down the Sacramento;an', if they haven't bin' picked up on the way, they're cruisin' off theport o' San Francisco by this time."
The unfortunate seaman stopped at this point to relight his pipe, whilehis comrades laughingly commented on his misadventure.
"Ah! ye may laugh; but I can tell ye it warn't a thing to be laughed at;an' at this hour I've scarce one dollar to rub 'gainst another."
"Never mind, my boy," said Ned, as he and the others laughed loud andlong at the lugubrious visage of their comrade; "we've got well-linedpockets, I assure you; and, of course, we have _your_ share of theprofits of our joint concern to hand over whenever you wish it."
The expression of Bill Jones's face was visibly improved by this pieceof news, and he went on with much greater animation.
"Well, my story's short now. I comed back here, an' by chance fell inwith this feller--this Yankee-nigger--who offered me five dollars a dayto haul up the curtain, an' do a lot o' dirty work, sich as billstickin', an' lightin' the candles, an' sweepin' the floor; but it'shard work, I tell ye, to live on so little in sich a place as this,where everything's so dear."
"You're not good at a bargain, I fear," remarked Sinton; "but what ofthe little girl?"
"Well, I wos comin' to that. Ye see, I felt sure, from some things Ioverheerd, that she wasn't the man's daughter, so one day I axed her whoshe wos, an' she said she didn't know, except that her name was NellyMorgan; so it comed across me that Morgan wos the name o' the Irishfamily you wos so thick with up at the diggin's, Larry; an' I wos goin'to ask if she know'd them, when Jolly--that's the name o' the gitter upo' the concerts--catched me talkin', an' he took her away sharp, andsaid he'd thank me to leave the girl alone. I've been watchin' to haveanother talk with her, but Jolly's too sharp for me, an' I haven't spoketo her yet."
Larry manifested much disappointment at this termination, for he hadbeen fully prepared to hear that the girl had made Bill her confidant,and would be ready to run away with him at a moment's notice. However,he consoled himself by saying that he would do the thing himself; and,after arranging that Bill was to tell Nelly that a friend of his knewwhere her sister was, and would like to speak with her, they all retiredto rest, at least to rest as well as they could in a house which, likeall the houses in California, swarmed with rats.
Next night Bill Jones made a bold effort, and succeeded in conveyingLarry's message to Nelly, very adroitly, as he thought, while she wasstanding close to him waiting for Mr Jolly to lead her to thefoot-lights. The consequence was that the poor child trembled like aleaf when she attempted to sing, and, finally, fainted on the stage, tothe consternation of a crowded house.
The point was gained, however; Nelly soon found an opportunity oftalking in private with Bill Jones, and appointed to meet Larry in thestreet next morning early, near the City Hotel.
It was with trembling eagerness, mixed with timidity, that she took theIrishman's arm when they met, and asked if he really knew where hersister was.
"Oh, how I've longed for her! But are you _sure_ you know her?"
"Know her!" said Larry, with a smile. "Do I know meself?"
This argument was unanswerable, so Nelly made no reply, and Larry wenton. "Yes, avic, I know'd her, an' faix I hope to know her better. Buthere's her picture for ye."
Larry then gave the earnest listener at his side a graphic descriptionof her sister Kate's personal appearance, and described her brotheralso, but he did not, at that time, acquaint her with the death of thelatter. He also spoke of Black Jim, and described the circumstances ofher being carried off. "So ye see, darlin'," said he, "I know all aboutye; an' now I want ye to tell me what happened to ye after that."
"It's a sad story," said the child, in a low tone, as if her mind wererecalling melancholy incidents in her career. Then she told rapidly,how she had been forsaken by those to whom she had been intrusted, andleft to perish in the mountain snow; and how, in her extremity, God hadsent help; how another party of emigrants found her and carried her on;how, one by one, they all died, till she was left alone a second time;and how a Mexican horseman found her, and carried her to his home, andkept her there as his adopted daughter, till he was killed while taminga wild horse. After that, Nelly's story was a repetition of what Larryhad already overheard accidentally in the concert-room.
"Now, dear," said Larry, "we haven't time to waste, will ye go with meto San Francisco?"
The tones of the rough man's voice, rather than his words, hadcompletely won the confidence of the poor child, so she said, "Yes,"without hesitation. "But how am I to escape from Mr Jolly?" she added;"he has begun to suspect Mr Jones, I see quite well."
"Lave that to me, darlin', an' do you kape as much as ye can in thehouse the nixt day or two, an' be lookin' out for what may turn up.Good day to ye, mavourneen; we must part here, for fear we're seen byany lynx-eyed blackguards. Kape up yer heart."
Nelly walked quickly away, half laughing at, and half perplexed by, theambiguity of her new friend's parting advice.
The four friends now set themselves to work to outwit Mr Jolly, and robhim of Mademoiselle Nelina. At last they hit upon
a device, which didnot, indeed, say much for the ingenuity of the party, but which, likemany other bold plans, succeeded admirably.
A steamer was to start in three days for San Francisco--one of thosesplendid new vessels which, like floating palaces, had suddenly madetheir appearance on these distant waters--having made the long anddangerous voyage from the United States round the Horn. Before thesteamer started, Larry contrived to obtain another interview with NellyMorgan, and explained their plan, which was as follows:--
On the day of the steamer sailing, a few hours before the time ofstarting, Mr Jolly was to receive the following letter, dated from awell-known ranche, thirty miles up the river:--
"Sir,--I trust that you will forgive a perfect stranger addressing you,but the urgency of the case must be my excuse. There is a letter lyinghere for you, which, I have reason to know, contains information of theutmost importance to yourself; but which--owing to circumstances that Idare not explain in a letter that might chance to fall into wronghands--must be opened here by your own hands. It will explain all whenyou arrive; meanwhile, as I am a perfect stranger to the state of yourfinances, I send you a sufficient quantity of gold-dust by the bearer toenable you to hire a horse and come up. Pray excuse the liberty I take,and believe me to be,
"Your obedient servant,
"Edward Sinton."
At the appointed time Larry delivered this epistle, and the bag of goldinto Mr Jolly's hands, and, saying that no answer was required, hurriedaway.
If Mr Jolly had been suddenly informed that he had been appointedsecretary of state to the king of Ashantee, he could not have lookedmore astonished than when he perused this letter, and weighed the bag ofgold in his hand. The letter itself; had it arrived alone, might, verylikely would, have raised his suspicions, but accompanied as it was by abag of gold of considerable value, it commended itself as a genuinedocument; and the worthy musician was in the saddle half-an-hour later.Before starting, he cautioned Nelly not to quit the house on any accountwhatever, a caution which she heard but did not reply to. Three hourslater Mr Jolly reached his destination, and had the following letterput into his hands.
"Sir,--By the time you receive this, your late charge, MademoiselleNelina, will be on her way to San Francisco, where you are welcome tofollow her, and claim her from her sister, if you feel so disposed.
"I am, Sir, etcetera,
"Edward Sinton."
We need not repeat what Mr Jolly said, or try to imagine what he felt,on receipt of _this_ letter! About the time it was put into his handsthe magnificent steamer at the _embarcadero_ gave a shrill whistle, thenit panted violently, the paddles revolved,--and our adventurers weresoon steaming swiftly down the noble river on their way to SanFrancisco.