I hurried up to the surface of
the snow, and saw white men coming toward the cabin. I was overwhelmed
with joy and gratitude at the prospect of my deliverance. I had suffered
so much, and for so long a time, that I could scarcely believe my
senses. Imagine my astonishment upon their arrival to be greeted, not
with a 'good morning' or a kind word, but with the gruff, insolent
demand, 'Where is Donner's money?'"
"I told them they ought to give me something to eat, and that I would
talk with them afterwards, but no, they insisted that I should tell them
about Donner's money. I asked them who they were, and where they came
from, but they replied by threatening to kill me if I did not give up
the money. They threatened to hang or shoot me, and at last I told them
I had promised Mrs. Donner that I would carry her money to her children,
and I proposed to do so, unless shown some authority by which they had a
better claim. This so exasperated them, that they acted as though they
were going to kill me. I offered to let them bind me as a prisoner, and
take me before the alcalde at Sutter's Fort, and I promised that I would
then tell all I knew about the money. They would listen to nothing,
however, and finally I told them where they would find the silver
buried, and gave them the gold.
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