"Well, Jake, suppose we get some breakfast, and then consider what
we will do."
"That's a good thought, Ben. We can't do much on an empty stomach,
that's a fact."
For reasons which need not be specified, it was decided that the
breakfast should consist of trout. Despite their loss, both had a
good appetite, and when that was satisfied they became more hopeful.
CHAPTER XXVII.
KI SING.
Leaving Ben and his companion for a time, we go back to record an
incident which will prove to have a bearing upon the fortunes of
those in whom we are interested.
One morning two men, Taylor and O'Reilly, who had been out
prospecting, came into camp, conveying between them, very much as
two policemen conduct a prisoner, a terrifled-looking Chinaman,
whose eyes, rolling helplessly from one to the other, seemed to
indicate that he considered his position a very perilous one.
At that early period in the settlement of California, a few Chinamen
had found their way to the Pacific coast; but the full tide of
immigration did not set in till a considerable time later, and,
therefore, the miners regarded one as a curiosity.
"Who have you got there, O'Reilly?" inquired one of his
mining-comrades.
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