Chapter 1: The Stowaways

 

A sailing ship left Boston harbor on a voyage to San Francisco. Inside of it, in the cargo hold, sat eighteen potato barrels. Inside of two of these were stowaways. Gold had been discovered in California 12 months before. The ship, The Lady Wilma, was bound for the gold fields. Men everywhere were buying picks and shovels and heading to California as soon as possible.On the second day at sea, a man with a black umbrella, white gloves, and a black hat, rose from a potato barrel. He tapped the barrel beside him.“All clear, Master Jack.” “Is that you Praiseworthy?” a young voice in the barrel asked.“Your obedient servant,” the man replied. Praiseworthy was Jack’s family’s butler.A twelve year old boy rose from the barrel. He had been sucking on a potato to keep him from being thirsty, and he felt like an icicle. “We made it, Praiseworthy,” he said.“We did indeed, Master Jack.”Jack thought about his Aunt Arabella at home sitting in front of a fireplace. There was no turning back now. They were going to California. “Shall we go to see the captain?” asked Praiseworthy.“He’ll put us in chains---or worse!” Jack gathered his courage and followed Praiseworthy above deck. They asked a few people on the ship where the captain was. The crew called the captain the “Wild Bull of the Seas” and pointed to where he was.Eventually, the two stowaways found the “Wild Bull of the Seas” in the captain’s cabin trying to thaw his icy whiskers over a candle. “Come in!” he roared. The captain was grumpy about the weather and the fact that another ship bound for California, The Sea Raven, was beating him. Jack was worried that the captain would throw them overboard. “We wish to report a pair of stowaways, sir,” said the butler.“Stowaways! I’ll skin them alive! Where are they?” roared the captain.“Standing right here, sir.”“You! I’ll make you walk the plank!”“Let me explain,” Praiseworthy said. “Master Jack and I were in line to buy a ticket for the ship when a cut-purse (thief) stole our money. He must have used our money to buy a ticket and is probably on the ship right now.”Jack stood there thinking of his sisters and Aunt. His parents had died from cholera, and he and his sisters went to live with his Aunt in her big house. The family had become poor and had to get rid of all their servants. The only staff she could keep was Praiseworthy. Jack had heard a banker tell Aunt Arabella that almost all of the family’s inheritance was gone and that she would need to sell the house. Jack had decided to help. He had heard about the gold in California, and decided to run away to the gold fields. Praiseworthy did not want him to go alone, so as a good and faithful butler, he had decided to set out for the world with the boy to try to make money to save Aunt Arabella’s house. Now that a thief had stolen their money, however, the word was as big as a potato barrel.“Blast!” said the captain. “I need to beat the Sea Raven! If I win the race to California, I will win a new clipper ship and I will get to be the captain of the ship. What we need is more steam to make the ship go faster. You will work in the engine room down below to work off the cost of your trip!” The captain told Jack that he would need to be the ship’s boy while Praiseworthy would work in the coal bunkers making steam, but he did not want to leave his butler. Praiseworthy had told Jack that they would stick together. The captain agreed. “To the coal bunkers with both of you! Ask the cook to give you food because you can’t shovel coal on an empty stomach. Now, get out of my sight!”“Praiseworthy, do you really think the thief is on the Lady Wilma?” asked Jack as they walked to the coal bunker.“I do indeed. And we shall find the scoundrel!”“How?” asked Jack.“I don’t know yet, but we’ll think of something!” Praiseworthy and Jack would be the only passengers on board that would be warm as they worked in the coal bunker making steam, while the rest of the passengers would be cold on the icy ship.

 

Chapter 2: How to Catch a Thief

 

Jack thought that shoveling coal would help him in the gold fields. However, the boiler room had gotten very hot! Jack did not mind the heat because he was in a hurry to reach California so that he could help his Aunt Arabella keep her house. Praiseworthy wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “We need to think of a plan to get out of here.” Neither the boy nor the butler had any idea of how to catch a thief.Jack wanted to write a letter to Aunt Arabella. Praiseworthy told him not to mention that they were stowaways so that Aunt Arabella would not be worried. Jack began writing. 

Dear Aunt Arabella, Constance, and Sarah,

By this time you know that Praiseworthy and I have joined the gold rush to California. Please do not worry. We are getting plenty of exercise. Our ship is racing The Sea Raven to San Francisco. 

I am getting used to the food. We have salt beef and sea biscuits which are filling. You would be proud of me because I eat everything. The ship is crowded. Everyone wants to get to California before the gold is gone. We see other ships every day. I think it will be crowded on the gold fields.

I will tell you about the other passengers on the ship. There is a horse doctor with a wooden leg. There is a judge with a scar over his eye from fighting. There are soldiers who fought in Mexico. There are live animals like chickens, pigs, and sheep. I have made friends with a pig named who I have named Good Luck. Praiseworthy says pigs are smart .I am learning new things every day even though I am not at school. The next day while the boy and the butler were washing coal off of themselves, Praiseworthy exclaimed, “Master Jack! You have it!” “Have what?” Jack was covered with coal dust. “Why--the answer! We’ll catch the thief at last! You have it!”Jack wasn’t sure what he had, but began following Praiseworthy up to see the captain. The captain asked them why they were in his pilothouse. Praiseworthy told Captain Swain that Jack had figured out a way to catch the thief. Later that night, the passengers gathered in the main saloon. The captain entered and said, “Gentleman. I’ll get to the point. There may be a thief among us. He already stole from Mr. Praiseworthy and his young partner. They have a plan to capture him.”Praiseworthy and Jack stepped forward with Good Luck and said, “Our plan is simple. Pigs are very smart. This pig here, for example, is able to tell if a man is dishonest. She can tell if someone is lying. If you do, she’ll squeal. I promise you that if a thief touches this pig, she’ll squeal. I want you to all line up and touch her with your right index finger. When she squeals, we will know that we have our thief!” The lights went off and everyone agreed to the plan and lined up to touch Good Luck, the pig. After everyone had passed and touched the pig, the passengers noticed that she had never squealed. Captain Swain stepped forward to tell Praiseworthy and Jack that they must have been mistaken. There was no thief on the ship. Praiseworthy responded, “It is true, it did not squeal. However, Master Jack and I powdered the pig’s back with black coal dust. If you touched her, coal will be on your finger. We will know who the thief is if there is no coal dust on one man’s finger. He will have exposed himself as a thief.” Every man turned up his hand and saw dust on their finger. Except for one… the judge! The other passengers gathered around him and pinned his arms back. Praiseworthy looked at him with a fierce look in his eyes. Captain Swain already knew what to do with him and said, “Take him to the coal bunkers. He will be most miserable there.” 

 

Chapter 3: News of the Sea Raven

 

Praiseworthy and Jack moved their baggage into a cabin with six other passengers. They shared the cabin with a mountain man, Mountain Jim. Mr. Azariah Jones was a Yankee trader who said he had to hold his breath to get through the cabin door. One of the other cabin mates was Dr. Buckbee, the horse doctor. He was going to California to look for gold even though he had a wooden leg. He said he had a map to find the gold. He kept an alarm trumpet around his neck in case anyone tried to take the map from him. When everyone was asleep in the room, Jack had to sleep with his fingers in his ears because of all of the snoring.Jack liked to walk around the ship. Good Luck followed him everywhere he went. Jack didn’t want to get too close to Good Luck because he knew the pig was meant to be a Sunday dinner. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but let the porker cuddle next to him when he sat in the shade. He decided to write another letter to his family:It is very hot by the equator. It is not like the winter I am used to. We have not seen The Sea Raven so we do not know how the race is going. I hope we will win. I have already told you about our money getting stolen. Praiseworthy thought of an idea to catch the thief, Cut-Eye Higgins, but he will not take the credit for it. All I did was take Good Luck to the coal bunkers, where he got covered with coal. That is how Praiseworthy got his idea. We thought we would never find our money. Captain Swain helped us to search the cabin and we found our money in Cut-Eye Higgins’s homemade cigars. He had rolled up our money in them. I’ll send this letter the next time I come to port. I must go now because I hear someone calling “ship ahoy!” Maybe it is the Sea Raven. Jack saw the captain looking at a ship in the distance. “Blast!” He scowled. “That is not the Sea Raven. It is a becalmed square-rigger ship.” The square-rigger was stuck at sea because there was no wind to keep her moving. Captain Swain used his silver speaking tube to ask the square-rigger’s captain if they had seen the Sea Raven. He said that they had seen the ship a day ago. He also asked if Captain Swain could tow their ship until they could catch a wind to make it to port. The square-rigger had been stuck at sea for two weeks and the passengers were getting sick with a fever. Captain Swain knew that if he did tow the square-rigger it would slow the Lady Wilma down and they would be farther behind in the race. He still agreed to help and hooked the square-rigger up to his ship to tow it. Later that night Jack and Praiseworthy talked as they watched the stars. Jack asked him if Praiseworthy had always been a butler. Praiseworthy replied, “Always.” Jack wished he hadn’t been because then maybe he could call Jack just Jack, not Master Jack. They would be more like partners, then. On the fifth day of pulling the square-rigger, a wind finally came and filled the ship’s sails. The crews shouted and the square rigger threw off the tow lines. They wished each other well and the Lady Wilma was able to move much faster. She was back in the race. 

 

Chapter 4: The Pig Hunt

 

Jack worried about Sunday dinners because he knew that Good Luck may be on the menu one night. One Sunday, the cook came looking for the pig, but found that the pig had been taken out of the pen. The cook and other hungry passengers went on a search for the pig. They looked everywhere on the ship except for one place: the captain’s stateroom. Jack heard the captain coming so he and the pig quickly hid under the captain’s bed, where there was hardly any room to breathe. Eventually, the captain went to bed and started snoring. Good Luck grunted loudly and almost woke the captain. Jack decided to take Good Luck and run back to his own cabin. Dr. Buckbee was asleep in the cabin. Dr. Buckbee thought someone had come in to steal his map, so he blew on the trumpet that he carried around everywhere. Jack knew the whole ship would hear the trumpet, so he tried to stuff the pig through the window in the cabin. Good Luck was stuck and half of the pig’s body was sticking out of the window and half was still inside the cabin. Just then, Praiseworthy came in and told Jack that the cook was on his way in. Moments later, the cook came in and found Praiseworthy standing in front of the window with his umbrella blocking the view. The cook asked, “Where’s the pig?”Praiseworthy answered, “Pig? What pig? Jack, the cook thinks you have a pig with you.”The other passengers laughed and told the cook it was time to leave because there was no pig in the room. The cook was about to leave when he asked Praiseworthy, “Do you always stand with an umbrella, even inside?”Praiseworthy told the cook that the cabin leaked whenever there was rain so he always kept the umbrella with him. The cook shook his head and left. Praiseworthy took the umbrella down and saw that Good Luck was gone!Jack ran out on deck and saw Mountain Jim playing the harmonica on top of a barrel. Jack asked him if he had seen the pig. Mountain Jim smiled and told Jack that Good Luck was under the barrel that he was sitting on. Then he told Jack to sit with him and sing. The singing and harmonica blowing made it impossible for anyone to hear Good Luck snorting and grunting underneath. Later that night when it was dark, Jack put the barrel with Good Luck on a small boat on the side of the ship. He covered the small boat with a piece of canvas cloth. Jack went to bed.The next morning, Jack woke up as the ship was approaching the port of Rio de Janeiro. He had almost forgotten what land looked like. As he stood looking at the land, Praiseworthy asked Jack if he was homesick. He said no. Praiseworthy asked Jack if he was scared. Jack said no again but wondered if Praiseworthy did not want to be on the journey with him. Jack asked Praiseworthy if he didn’t want to be his partner anymore. Praiseworthy said, “Don’t talk nonsense. I just had to be sure that you still wanted to be on the trip.” Jack smiled. At that same time, Captain Swain was looking for the Sea Raven at port. They passed the customs boat as they approached the port and Captain Swain asked, “Is the Sea Raven in port?” A man on the ship replied, “No, she was here and left five days ago.”The captain decided they would stay at Rio de Janeiro for one night only to get the supplies they needed, and then they would leave. Praiseworthy spent the day walking around the city. When they came back, Jack decided to give Good Luck some scraps of food. He went to the small boat where he had hidden Good Luck and saw that the boat was gone… along with Good Luck!Just then, Dr. Buckbee blew on his alarm trumpet. He came running down the deck yelling, “It’s stolen! My brother’s map to the gold is gone!” “Cut-Eye Higgins!” said Mountain Jim.The passengers knew that Cut-Eye Higgins must have left the ship on the small boat along with the gold map. Jack was happy because now Good Luck was safe and would not be served for dinner. 

 

Chapter 5: Land of Fire

 

The Lady Wilma continued to make its way around toward the tip of South America. The weather started getting colder and there was a lot of fog. What really worried Jack, though, was that he had heard the captain might try to take a dangerous shortcut though the Strait of Magellan.Captain Swain knew that there would be many storms ahead and that the storms would test how good of a captain he was. Praiseworthy liked to walk around the ship, even when the weather was bad. He said he was looking for Cape Horn. Praiseworthy also told Jack to look for fires.“Fires?” asked Jack. “Yes. The captain tells me that the natives keep fires going day and night to keep themselves and their sheep from freezing. They call it Tierra del Fuego.”“Land of fire? I’ll watch for it,” said Jack.A few days later, a big storm came that made the ship rock back and forth. Jack saw his bowl of soup fly one way, and then the other. Praiseworthy told him that they must have gotten to the Horn. Passengers all over the ship were thrown in one direction and then another. The terrible weather lasted for more than a week. As soon as one storm ended, another bad storm came. The Lady Wilma continued to fight for every foot of water. Jack could not sleep at night because his hammock swayed back and forth and sometimes other cabin mates flew off their beds. Jack asked, “Do you think we’ll ever catch up to the Sea Raven in this weather?”Praiseworthy replied, “We could go right next to her and not see her. I don’t think Captain Swain plans on losing.”“I hope we win!” said Jack. This weather lasted for thirty-seven days. Then, one Tuesday morning the sun came out and passengers began to leave their cabins. “We’ve made it!” yelled Mountain Jim. “This here’s the Pacific Ocean.”Captain Swain came out of the pilothouse and gave a wave to the passengers. He looked at the seas and roared, “By grabs! There she is—the Sea Raven! And she’s behind us!”All of the passengers cheered. Jack thought that this might be the most exciting moment of his life. He wondered how it was possible for the Sea Raven to be behind them.“I watched for the fires, but never saw them,” Jack said to Praiseworthy.“You didn’t see the fires of Tierra del Fuego because they weren’t there to be seen.”“But you said…” “Jack, the fires were there, but we weren’t. The captain took the shortcut through the deadly Strait of Magellan. We did not go around Cape Horn.” Praiseworthy looked at the captain, who smiled at him. The captain had taken a shortcut that cut hundreds of miles off the trip. Captain Swain said, “You’ve found me out,” and pointed at the Sea Raven. “But now she is following us like a chick after a hen!”

 

Chapter 6: Spoiled Potatoes

 

Day after day the Sea Raven and the Lady Wilma raced along the coast of Chile. Jack, whose hair had grown long and messy, was getting a haircut from Praiseworthy. “Praiseworthy,” said Jack. “Do you really think we’ll strike it rich?”“No doubt about it. There will be enough for all,” he answered. But Praiseworthy knew it would not be so easy. Still, he must see to it that Master Jack did indeed get rich. It would not do to return to Boston without enough money to help Aunt Arabella. As Praiseworthy clipped Jack’s hair, the other passengers offered their advice. Suddenly, the Lady Wilma’s lookoutspotted the Sea Raven. “She’s stopped making smoke Captain!” “Her coal bunkers are empty,” the Captain said. The Sea Raven had run out of coal going around Cape Horn. “But we’re not in much better shape ourselves gentlemen. If this wind doesn’t turn around – we’ll be burning our last lump of coal soon enough!” warned the Captain. Soon the Lady Wilma was in the lead but Praiseworthy was not too excited. “It’s the end of the race that counts,” he said again. As they traveled north, the wind died away completely and the weather became warm. The Lady Wilma was able to keep going by burning coal for steam but about a week later she ran out of coal to burn and sat becalmed, or stranded, on the sea. Day after day she sat at sea with no wind to help her move. Two weeks passed and water was running so low that the Captain said it was only for drinking. One day, as Praiseworthy and Jack watched for whales to pass time, Jack asked, “Is Aunt Arabella an Old Maid?” “Your Aunt Arabella is a young and beautiful woman,” Praiseworthy replied. “I mean, if she didn’t have my sisters and me to bring up maybe she would have gotten married a long time ago.”“Stuff and nonsense.” Praiseworthy pushed aside the thought. “I have no doubt that your Aunt Arabella is merely waiting for the right gentleman to come along…”Another week passed and Mr. Azariah Jones’s eighteen barrels of potatoes began to spoil. “I’m ruined!” he wailed, pacing the hot decks. “Then you must sell them,” remarked Praiseworthy, who was out for a walk. “Sell spoiled potatoes? Who do you think will buy them?”  The next day the French immigrant, Monsieur Gaunt declared, “I’m ruined!” while pacing on deck. “My grape cuttings are drying up and the Captain will not give me a drop of fresh water to keep them alive!” All that day Praiseworthy thought about how to help both his friends, but it was Jack who came up with a great idea and explained it to Praiseworthy. Jack and Praiseworthy suggested that Monsieur Gaunt buy the spoiled potatoes from Mr. Azariah Jones. “Potatoes!” exclaimed the Frenchman. “Don’t make jokes!” “Spoiled the potatoes may be – but juicy they are, sir. Monsieur Gaunt, you need only poke each of your grape cuttings into a plump potato. I daresay they will stay alive all the way to Callao,” Praiseworthy explained.“I’m saved,” both Jones and Gaunt said, and the deal was made. Mr. Azariah Jones and Monsieur Gaunt were so thankful that they both promised to buy Jack and Praiseworthy all the digging tools they would need in the gold fields. The next day a wind from the south came up and the Lady Wilma began to move through the sea again. The weather turned hotter and a growing excitement took over the gold seeking passengers. The port of Callao was only 10 days ahead when the Sea Raven was seen coming behind. “She’s gaining on us!” shouted Mountain Jim.  By noon the Sea Raven had caught up and was being carried along like a feather by the sea. “Blast!” roared Captain Swain. “And me half-sunk in the water with building bricks. Bricks!” By dusk the Sea Raven was gone, far ahead. 

 

Chapter 7: End of the Race

 

When the Lady Wilma entered the Bay of Callao, the passengers learned that the Sea Raven had already been there, had loaded up with coal and fresh water, and had left for California. After many months at sea, the gold-seekers, including Jack and Praiseworthy, were very excited to be going ashore. It was land, dry land. While in the small town, Mr. Azariah Jones and Monsieur Gaunt bought picks and shovels for Jack and Praiseworthy. The passengers enjoyed a day in the tiny town and then were called by the ship’s bell to return to the Lady Wilma to continue their journey. There was a wild rush, but when Jack turned Praiseworthy was gone. “Praiseworthy!” Jack screamed. He didn’t know which way to run. He couldn’t leave Praiseworthy behind. And then, from a doorway of a nearby shop, Praiseworthy appeared. He was carrying a strange package wrapped in newspaper. Jack had never been so happy to see anyone in his life. “Hurry!” he cried desperately. “We’ll get left behind!” Together they hurried toward the ship with a long trail of stray cats following the smell of Praiseworthy’s package. When they got on the ship, at least a dozen of the cats got on as well, but nobody noticed them. Back on the ship, Captain Swain was angry because the Sea Raven had taken all the coal and there had been none for the Lady Wilma to buy in the whole town. “Blast the Sea Raven!” he yelled. “She’s made sure there wasn’t a cinder left for us!”Once at sea the Lady Wilma picked up a breeze and continued on her way. Hoping for a supply of coal, Captain Swain stopped in the Galapagos Islands but there was none to buy so they pushed on. Weeks later, off the coast of Mexico, they spotted the Sea Raven, loaded down with coal and moving very slowly. “Billy-be-hanged!” shouted Mountain Jim. “We’re going to pass her up!” As the Lady Wilma pulled ahead, Captain Swain was very happy. “I guess if there’s anything heavier than a ton of bricks – it’s a ton of coal!” As they neared their arrival in California, the Lady Wilma was in the lead. The Peruvian cats that got on the boat in Callao had had many kittens. The gold-seekers got ready by trimming their beards and packing their chests while they sang, I’m going to California with my washbowl on my knee. Jack thought of what the goldfields would be like and suggested to Praiseworthy that they buy a gun to protect themselves. “Stuff and nonsense,” said the butler. But Jack noticed that many of the other passengers had weapons and he wished he had a gun. One bright morning, with San Francisco only a day away, the winds carrying them forward suddenly died away. By afternoon clouds gathered and opposite winds drove the Lady Wilma back. With plenty of coal for steam, the Sea Raven came steadily behind them. By evening she had caught up to the Lady Wilma, passing it with a blast of her whistle. “Boys, it looks like we’re done for,” said Mountain Jim. “Not a bit,” said Praiseworthy. “The voyage isn’t finished, sir. Not by a long shot.” Praiseworthy told Captain Swain to burn some of the lumber on board as fuel. The Lady Wilma caught up with the Sea Raven and the two ships raced to win. The Sea Raven was slowed by its mountains of coal and the Lady Wilma pulled ahead. It entered into San Francisco Bay and dropped anchor as the passengers cheered and threw their hats in the air. “Gentlemen,” said Praiseworthy, “I believe we’ve won the race.” After a 15,000-mile voyage and five months at sea, the gold-seekers had arrived. 

 

Chapter 8: Saved by a Whisker

 

Jack felt very excited as they stepped off the boat onto the San Francisco wharf. He was the first out and he was amazed at how many people were there to see the ships arrive. It was crowded with men, women, children, dogs, mules, chickens, and more. There were hundreds of people selling things and Jack was dazzledby what he saw. There were tattooed islanders and East India sailors, Chinese with pigtails, Mexicans with silver spurs on their boots, and many others. Buildings were going up everywhere and interesting sounds and smells were everywhere. Suddenly, Mountain Jim stopped, recognizing the smell of bear meat. “Makes your mouth water, don’t it?” he said. “Not exactly,” said Jack, trying not to breathe. Following the scent, Mountain Jim walked into a restaurant while Praiseworthy and Jack continued on. “A fine room, if you please,” Praiseworthy said to the clerk at the United States Hotel. “And I think a tub bath would be in order.”“That’ll be ten dollars extra-each.” said the clerk. “We’ll wait,” said Praiseworthy. In this part of t he world, he thought, a man had to strike it rich just to keep his neck clean. As Praiseworthy signed the hotel register, Jack noticed a bearded miner in a floppy hat with chestnut hair tumbling out on all sides. “Ruination!” the miner began to mutter. “Ruination!” Praiseworthy asked about getting to the diggings and was told that it would cost twenty-five dollars each for boat fare to Sacramento. Though Jack worried because they did not have the money, Praiseworthy didn’t seem worried, “We’ll be taking the boat tomorrow,” he told the clerk. Praiseworthy figured that it had taken them five months to get to San Francisco and it would take five months to get home, so they had two months left to find gold if they were to keep Aunt Arabella from being sold out.“Ruination!” Jack said. “We’ve come all this way and now we’re no closer.” “Nonsense,” said Praiseworthy “We’ll be on tomorrow’s riverboat, I promise you.” Jack and Praiseworthy washed and changed their clothes and set off to try to find a way to earn money for their trip. In the lobby they saw the shaggy miner again, muttering in his dusty beard. They set out and noticed that the miner was following them. “Sir, are you following us?” Praiseworthy asked. The miner introduced himself as Quartz Jackson and explained that his fiancée was due in on the stage coach any minute and they had never met. “We’re supposed to be getting married. But ruination-- when she takes one look at me, she’s goin’ to think I’m part grizzly bear,” cried the miner. “I couldn’t help staring at the lad here. I figured you must have flushed out a barber and maybe you’d do Quartz Jackson the favor of leadin’ me to him.” Jack liked the man. “No sir,” he said. “I haven’t been to a barber. Unless you mean Praiseworthy.” The miner’s face, what could be seen of it, broke into a sunny smile.  “I’d be much obliged if you’d barber me up, Mr. Praiseworthy. Name your price. I’ll even let you keep my hair when you are done.” “I’ll be glad to help you in your hour of need, sir.” Praiseworthy said. Jack caught every last cut off hair in the miner’s gold pan, as he was told to do. But what did he expect them to do with all the hair cuttings? Stuff a mattress? When the haircut was over, Quartz Jackson turned out to be a nice looking fellow and he was very thankful. “Much obliged, Praiseworthy. You saved me from certain ruination. The least I can do is learn you how to work a gold pan,” he said. Quartz Jackson taught Jack and Praiseworthy how to pan for gold from the gold pan that was piled high with hair cuttings from Quartz Jackson’s beard and hair. Gold Dust!“Why, look there!” the miner roared. “The boy’s panned himself some color. Since I gave you the whiskers and all--- the gold is yours!” Jack had never known a more exciting moment in his life. Half an hour later, Jack and Praiseworthy put up a sign that said, “Free Haircuts-Miners Only” and were taking advantage of the opportunity to find some more gold to pay for their tickets on the riverboat. 

 

Chapter 9: The Man in the Jipijapa Hat

 

It was about a week before Praiseworthy and Jack reached the gold diggings. Dr. Buckbee had stayed behind in San Francisco waiting to see if Cut-Eye Higgins showed up. Praiseworthy and Jack had made enough money to pay their expenses nicely and Praiseworthy poured the left over gold dust into the fingers of his left white glove for safe-keeping. After considering several mining towns with scary names like Whiskey Flat, Cut Throat, and Hangtown, they decided to go to Hangtown. “One place sounds as bloodthirsty as the next.” On the way to Hangtown, Jack saw Indians for the first time in his life. They came to the banks of the river as they went by on the riverboat. Jack felt a little uneasy. What if the savages came aboard when the passengers were asleep- and helped themselves to a few scalps? “Stuff and nonsense,” Praiseworthy said. When they reached Sacramento City, they had to sell one of their picks and a shovel to pay for their ticket on the stagecoach to get to Hangtown. The gold digging tools were so scarce that they sold them for $100 each! Then Praiseworthy poured what was left of their gold dust into all five fingers of his left white glove and forced the gloves on. His left hand felt very heavy. “We ought to carry a gun, Praiseworthy. A four shooter,” said Jack.“There’s no time for that now, Master Jack,” said Praiseworthy. Once on the stagecoach, they met an undertaker named Jonas T. Fletcher who was very friendly. Sitting across from Jack also sat a man in a dusty linen suit with his hat pulled over his face. “Don’t see how a man can sleep on this bumpy road,” Jonas T. Fletcher laughed. The man in the jipijapa hat slept on. With the jostling of the stagecoach the man’s coat fell open and Jack could see the butt of a dueling pistol tucked inside his belt. When he awoke, his hand rested on his gun and he tipped the hat back off his face and looked straight into Jack’s eyes. Jack very nearly jumped. It was Mr. Cut-Eye Higgins.