CHAPTER TWO.
OUR HERO.
We have entered thus minutely into the details of our hero's dream,because it was the climax to a long series of day-dreams, in which hehad indulged ever since the discovery of gold in California.
Edward Sinton was a youth of eighteen at the time of which we write, andan orphan. He was tall, strong, broad-shouldered, fair-haired,blue-eyed, Roman-nosed, and gentle as a lamb. This last statement mayperhaps appear inconsistent with the fact that, during the whole courseof his school-life, he had a pitched battle every week--sometimes two orthree in the week. Ned never began a fight, and, indeed, did not likefighting. But some big boys _will_ domineer over little ones, and Nedwould not be domineered over; consequently he had to be thrashed. Hewas possessed, even in boyhood, of an amount of physical courage thatwould have sufficed for any two ordinary men. He did not boast. He didnot quarrel. He never struck the first blow, but, if twenty boys hadattacked him, he would have tried to fight them all. He nevertyrannised over small boys. It was not his nature to do so; but he wasnot perfect, any more than you are, dear reader. He sometimes punchedsmall boys' heads when they worried him, though he never did so withoutrepenting of it, and doing them a kindness afterwards in order to makeup. He was very thoughtless, too, and very careless; nevertheless hewas fond of books--specially of books of adventure--and studied theselike a hero--as he was.
Boys of his own size, or even a good deal bigger, never fought with NedSinton. They knew better than that; but they adored him, in some casesenvied him, and in all cases trusted and followed him. It was only_very_ big boys who fought with him, and all they got by it was a gooddeal of hard pummelling before they floored their little adversary, anda good deal of jeering from their comrades for fighting a small boy.From one cause or another, Ned's visage was generally scratched, oftencut, frequently swelled, and almost always black and blue.
But as Ned grew older, the occasions for fighting became less frequent;his naturally amiable disposition improved, (partly owing, no doubt, tothe care of his uncle, who was, in every sense of the term, a good oldman,) and when he attained the age of fifteen and went to college, andwas called "Sinton," instead of "Ned," his fighting days were over. Noman in his senses would have ventured to attack that strapping youthwith the soft blue eyes, the fair hair, the prominent nose, and the firmbut smiling lips, or, if he had, he would have had to count on an hour'sextremely hard work, whether the fortune of war went for or against him.
When Ned had been three years at college, his uncle hinted that it wastime to think of a profession, and suggested that as he was a first-ratemathematician, and had been fond of mechanics from his childhood, heshould turn an engineer. Ned would probably have agreed to thischeerfully, had not a thirst for adventure been created by the stirringaccounts which had begun to arrive at this time from therecently-discovered gold-fields of California. His enthusiastic spiritwas stirred, not so much by the prospect of making a large fortunesuddenly by the finding of a huge nugget--although that was a verypleasant idea--as by the hope of meeting with wild adventures in thatimperfectly-known and distant land. And the effect of such dreams wasto render the idea of sitting down to an engineer's desk, or in amercantile counting-room, extremely distasteful.
Thus it came to pass that Edward Sinton felt indisposed to business, anddisposed to indulge in golden visions.
When he entered the breakfast-parlour, his mind was still full of hiscurious dream.
"Come along, my lad," cried Mr Shirley, laying down the Bible, andremoving his spectacles from a pair of eyes that usually twinkled with asort of grave humour, but in which there was now an expression ofperplexity; "set to work and get the edge off your appetite, and thenI'll read Moxton's letter."
When Mr Shirley had finished breakfast, Ned was about half done, havingjust commenced his third slice of toast. So the old gentlemancomplimented his nephew on the strength of his appetite, put on hisspectacles, drew a letter from his pocket, and leaned back in his chair.
"Now, lad, open your ears and consider what I am about to read."
"Go on, uncle, I'm all attention," said Ned, attacking slice numberfour.
"This is Moxton's letter. It runs thus--
"`Dear Sir,--I beg to acknowledge receipt of yours of the 5th inst. Ishall be happy to take your nephew on trial, and, if I find him steady,shall enter into an engagement with him, I need not add that unremittingapplication to business is the only road to distinction in theprofession he is desirous of adopting. Let him call at my officeto-morrow between ten and twelve.--Yours very truly, Daniel Moxton.'"
"Is that all?" inquired Ned, drawing his chair towards the fire, intowhich he gazed contemplatively.
Mr Shirley looked at his nephew over the top of his spectacles, andsaid--
"That's all."
"It's very short," remarked Ned.
"But to the point," rejoined his uncle. "Now, boy, I see that you don'trelish the idea, and I must say that I would rather that you became anengineer than a lawyer; but then, lad, situations are difficult to getnow-a-days, and, after all, you might do worse than become a lawyer. Tobe sure, I have no great love for the cloth, Ned; but the ladder reachesvery high. The foot is crowded with a struggling mass of aspirants,many of whom are of very questionable character, but the top reaches toone of the highest positions in the empire. You might become the LordHigh Chancellor at last, who knows! But seriously, I think you shouldaccept this offer. Moxton is a grave, stern man, but a sterling fellowfor all that, and in good practice. Now, what do you think!"
"Well, uncle," replied Ned, "I've never concealed my thoughts from yousince the day you took me by the hand, eleven years ago, and brought meto live under your roof; and I'll not begin to dissemble now. The plaintruth is, that I don't like it at all."
"Stop, now," cried Mr Shirley, with a grieved expression ofcountenance; "don't be hasty in forming your opinion. Besides, my boy,you ought to be more ready to take my advice, even although it be notaltogether palatable."
"My dear uncle, you quite misunderstand me. I only tell you what I_think_ about the proposal. As to taking your advice, I fully intend todo that whether I like it or not; but I think, if you will listen to mefor a few minutes, you will change your mind in regard to this matter.You know that I am very fond of travelling, and that I dislike the ideaof taking up my abode on the top of a three-legged stool, either as alawyer's or a merchant's clerk. Well, unless a man likes hisprofession, and goes at it with a will, he cannot hope to succeed, sothat I have no prospect of getting on, I fear, in the line you wish meto adopt. Besides, there are plenty of poor fellows out of work, wholove sitting still from nine a.m. to ten p.m., and whose bread I wouldbe taking out of their mouths by devoting myself to the legalprofession, and--"
At this point Ned hesitated for a moment, and his uncle broke in with--
"Tell me, now, if every one thought about business as you do, how wouldthe world get on, think you?"
"Badly, I fear," replied the youth, with a smile; "but everybody doesn'tthink of it as I do; and, tell me, uncle, if everybody thought ofbusiness as you would wish me to do, what would come of the soldiers andsailors who defend our empire, and extend our foreign trade, and achievethe grand geographical discoveries that have of late added so muchlustre to the British name?"
Ned flushed and became quite eloquent at this point. "Now, look atCalifornia," he continued; "there's a magnificent region, full of gold;not a mere myth, or an exaggeration, but a veritable fact, attested bythe arrival of letters and gold-dust every month. Surely that land wasmade to be peopled; and the poor savages who dwell there need to beconverted to Christianity, and delivered from their degraded condition;and the country must be worked, and its resources be developed; andwho's to do it, if enterprising clergymen, and schoolmasters, and minersdo not go to live there, and push their fortunes?"
"And which of the three callings do you propose adopting?" inquired MrShirley, with a peculiar smile.
"Well uncle, I--a--the fact is, I have not thought much about that asyet. Of course, I never thought of the first. I do not forget your ownremark, that the calling of a minister of the gospel of Christ is not,like other professions, to be adopted merely as a means of livelihood.Then, as to the second, I might perhaps manage that; but I don't thinkit would suit me."
"Do you think, then, that you would make a good digger?"
"Well, perhaps I would," replied Ned, modestly.
Mr Shirley gravely regarded the powerful frame that reclined in theeasy-chair before him, and was compelled to admit that the suppositionwas by no means outrageous.
"Besides," continued the youth, "I might turn my hand to many things ina new country. You know I have studied surveying, and I can sketch alittle, and know something of architecture. I suppose that Latin andGreek would not be of much use, but the little I have picked up ofmedicine and surgery among the medical students would be useful. Then Icould take notes, and sketch the scenery, and bring back a mass ofmaterial that might interest the public, and do good to the country."
"Oh," said the old gentleman, shortly; "come back and turn author, infact, and write a book that nobody would publish, or which, in the eventof its being published, nobody would read!"
"Come, now, my dear uncle, don't laugh at me. I assure you it seemsvery reasonable to me to think that what others have done, and are doingevery day, I am able to do."
"Well, I won't laugh at you; but, to be serious, you are wise enough toknow that an old man's experience is worth more than a youth's fancies.Much of what you have said is true, I admit, but I assure you that thebright prospects you have cut out for yourself are very delusive. Theywill never be realised, at least in the shape in which you have depictedthem on your imagination. They will dissolve, my boy, on a nearerapproach, and, as Shakespeare has it, `like the baseless fabric of avision, leave not a wrack behind,' or, at least, not much more than awrack."
Ned reverted to the golden dream, and felt uneasy under his uncle's kindbut earnest gaze.
"Most men," continued Mr Shirley, "enjoy themselves at first, when theygo to wild countries in search of adventure, but they generally regretthe loss of their best years afterwards. In my opinion men should neveremigrate unless they purpose making the foreign land they go to their_home_. But I won't oppose you, if you are determined to go; I will doall I can to help you, and give you my blessing; but before you make upyour mind, I would recommend you to call on Mr Moxton, and hear whatprospects he holds out to you. Then take a week to think seriously overit; and if at the end of that time, you are as anxious to go as ever,I'll not stand in your way."
"You are kind to me, uncle; more so than I deserve," said Ned earnestly."I'll do as you desire, and you may depend upon it that the generousway in which you have left me to make my own choice will influence meagainst going abroad more than anything else."
Ned sighed as he rose to quit the room, for he felt that his hopes atthat moment were sinking.
"And before you take a step in the matter, my boy," said old MrShirley, "go to your room and ask counsel of Him who alone has the powerto direct your steps in this life."
Ned replied briefly, "I will, uncle," and hastily left the room. MrShirley poked the fire, put on his spectacles, smoothed out the wrinkleson his bald forehead with his hand, took up the _Times_, and settledhimself down in his easy-chair to read; but his nephew's prospects couldnot be banished from his mind. He went over the whole argument again,mentally, with copious additions, ere he became aware of the fact, thatfor three-quarters of an hour he had been, (apparently), reading thenewspaper upside down.
The Golden Dream: Adventures in the Far West Page 2