the miner having made his reply, turned on his heel, still smoking his pipe, and coolly walked away, while tim o'rooney gazed after him in amazement. the boys were amused spectators of the scene, and elwood now called out.
"come, tim, don't wait! we shall meet somebody else before long; and as you have just had a good smoking spell, you can certainly wait a while."
"yes," added howard, "no good can come of waiting; so jump in and let's be off."
the irishman obeyed like a child which hardly understood what was required of it, and taking his seat said never a word.
"let me alternate with you for a while," said howard to his cousin, "you have worked quite a while with the paddle."
"i am not tired, but if you are eager to try your skill i won't object."
the boys changed places, and while howard gave his exclusive attention to the management of the canoe, elwood devoid himself to consoling tim o'rooney in the most serio-comic manner.
"bear up a little longer, my good fellow. there's plenty of tobacco in the country, and there must be some that is waiting expressly for you."
"where bees the same?"
"of course we are to find that out; and i haven't the least doubt but the way will appear."
"elwood," sighed tim, "'spose by towken of the severe suffering that meself is undergoing i should lose me intellect——"
"i don't think there's any danger."
"and why not?" demanded the irishman, in assumed fierceness.
"for the good reason that you haven't any to lose."
tim bowed his head in graceful acknowledgment.
"but suppose i does run mad for all that?"
"i can easily dispose of you?"
"afther what shtyle?"
"a madman is always a dangerous person in the community, and the moment i see any signs of your malady all i have to do is to shoot you through the head."
"do yez obsarve any signs at presint?"
"you needn't ask the question, for the moment it breaks out the report of the gun and the crash of the bullet will give you a hint of the trouble."
tim laughed.
"yez are a bright child, as me mother used to obsarve whin i'd wash me face in her buttermilk and smiled through the windy at her. if ye continues to grow in your intellect yez may come to be a man that i won't be ashamed to addriss and take by the hand when i maats yez in the straats."
"i hope i shall," laughed elwood, "the prize that you hold out is enough to make any boy work as he never did before. i hope you will not wish to withdraw your offer."
"niver a faar—niver a faar, as bridget mughalligan said, when i asked her if she'd be kind enough to remimber me for a few days."
"tim," added elwood, after a moment's silence, "we are out of the woods."
"what do yez maan by that?"
"we can see signs of the presence of white men all around us, and we have nothing further to fear from indians."
at this point howard called the attention of his companion to a large canoe which was coming around a curve in the river. it contained nearly a dozen men, and was the largest boat of the kind which they had ever seen, and savored also of a civilized rather than a savage architect.
"they are white men," said howard.
"do yez obsarve any pipes sticking out of their mouths?"
"one or two are smoking."
"then boord them if they won't surrender."
"they have headed toward us," remarked elwood, "and must wish to say something."
a few moments later the two boats came side by side, and before any one else could speak tim made his request known for tobacco. this was furnished him, and as he relit his pipe he announced that he had no objection to their proceeding with their business.
there were nine men in the larger boat, and all were armed with pistols, rifles and knives. in truth they resembled a war party more than anything else bound upon some desperate expedition.
the boys noticed as they came along, and while tim o'rooney was speaking, that several of the men looked very keenly at them, as though they entertained some strong suspicion. finally one of the men asked:
"are you youngsters named lawrence and brandon?"
"yes, sir."
here the questioner produced a paper from his pocket, and seemed to read his questions from that.
"and is that man timothy o'rooney?"
"timothy o'rooney, esquire, from tipperary, at your sarvice," called out the irishman from the stern of the canoe, where he was elegantly reclining, and without removing the pipe from his mouth.
"were you on the steamer —— —— that was burned off the coast of california?" pursued the interlocutor.
"yes, sir."
"then you are just the party we are looking for."
"where do you come from?"
"we are from san francisco, sent out by messrs. lawrence and brandon in search of their children, whom they learned a few days ago from mr. yard, one of the survivors, were left on the coast, having wandered inland at the time the others were taken off by the relief."
this was to the point.
"it is fortunate for all parties that we met you," added the man with a smile, "for we receive a very liberal reward to bring you back, no matter whether we met you within a dozen miles of san francisco, or were obliged to spend the summer hunting for you among the mountains, only to succeed after giving the largest kind of a ransom."
"prosaad," said tim o'rooney, with a magnificent wave of his hand, without rising from his reclining position. "we're glad to maat yez, as me uncle obsarved, whin micky o'shaunhanaley's pig walked into his shanty and stood still till he was salted down and stowed away in the barrel, by raisin of which micky niver found his pig agin."
the next day the party reached the outlet of the salinas river, monterey bay, where they succeeded in securing transit to san francisco, and the two boys were once more clasped in the loving arms of their anxious parents.
howard and elwood remained in san francisco until autumn, when they came east again and entered college, and having passed through with honor they returned to the golden city, and are now partners in a flourishing business. tim o'rooney is in their service, and they both hold him in great regard. he is as good-natured as when "adrift in the wilds" with the boys, and his greatest grief is that he has never been able to meet mr. shasta, the most "illigent savage gintleman that iver paddled his own canoe."
