A grave
was accordingly dug about a quarter of a mile from his office
amidst a "volunteer" crop so dense that the large space mown around
the narrow opening, to admit of the presence of the multitude,
seemed like a golden amphitheatre.
A distinguished clergyman from San Francisco officiated.
A man of tact and politic adaptation, he dwelt upon the blameless
life of the deceased, on his practical benefit for civilization in
the county, and even treated his grim Pantheism in the selection of
his grave as a formal recognition of the text, "dust to dust." He
paid a not ungrateful compliment to the business associates of the
deceased, and, without actually claiming in the usual terms "a
continuance of past favors" for their successors, managed to
interpolate so strong a recommendation of the late Doctor's
commercial projects as to elicit from Aladdin the expressive
commendation that his sermon was "as good as five per cent. in the
stock."
Maruja, who had been standing near the carriage, languidly silent
and abstracted even under the tender attentions of Carroll,
suddenly felt the consciousness of another pair of eyes fixed upon
her. Looking up, she was surprised to find herself regarded by the
man she had twice met, once as a tramp and once as a wayfarer at
the fonda, who had quietly joined a group not far from her. At
once impressed by the idea that this was the first time that he had
really looked at her, she felt a singular shyness creeping over
her, until, to her own astonishment and indignation, she was
obliged to lower her eyes before his gaze.
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