Yank answered him that as he was present to speak for his own State he ought to do so, and they would listen to him.
“Well,” said Pike, “there was a right smart chance of our boys from old Missouri thet come out inter Californy long in ’50, an’ I tell ye, boys, thet dern my buttons if I jest wern’t ashamed of some on ’em myself. But them Pike County chaps was from the frontier, yer know, and of course er couldn’t expect anything better. But when yer come to talk about Missouri keracter in general, boys, an’ of them old-fashioned forty-year ago chaps, ther real stub an’ twist style of Missouri gentlemen, why, if yer jest mix together every good pint that yer can find in all ther rest on ’em from ther t’other States, bile ’em all down in a big kittle, an’ when ‘its cooled down a spell take off the kiver, an’ yer’ll find in the bottom on it one of yer rale old-fashioned Missouri gentlemen, cooked clean through, too, you bet. Thar wern’t no marrer in ther backbones nuther, cause they was chuck full ’er sand, an’ ther wern’t no room for marrer, and they didn’t hev no superiors any whar. Now, thet’t my opinion of them chaps in Missouri. What’s yer opinion, pard?”
“Oh, well,” replied Yank, “if we take you for a sample, Pike, maybe you are not far out of the way.”
Yank asked Jersey if he had ever, during his travels around the country, come across one of his old pardners whom they called Bob the Fiddler.
“Yes,” answered Jersey, “but he went East about fifteen years ago, with quite a fortune that he made up on the Trinity River. He was a fine young chap, but some of the boys in the company were terribly down on him when we first went into the mines in ’49. You see, before we sailed from New York there were ten of us who concluded to form a company by ourselves and work together, just as a great many others did who came around Cape Horn, and who intended to go into the mines. These companies were nearly all broken up upon their arrival in the mines, because it was soon found that there were many lazy ones among them who were not willing to do their share of the work. But our company seemed to get
along first rate, and every man was willing to do his part of the work except Bob. We worked together as a company, however, for nearly two years, until some of the boys concluded to go home again. When we first commenced mining we came pretty near breaking up on account of Bob, but fortunately we did not, and I’ll explain why we didn’t. You see we were working a rich claim in Georgetown cañon in the fall of ’49; ’twas good ounce diggings, and we were all anxious to get out all we could before the heavy rains commenced in the winter, but the trouble was that Bob wouldn’t do his share of the work, and consequently there was a good deal of grumbling, and four or five of the boys were determined not to divide with him a share of our week’s work upon the Saturday night following, and declared that if he was paid a share of it they would quit and break up the company. Now. Bob was a first rate fellow, good natured and always full of his jokes and fun; was always ready and willing to run errands or work about the cabin, but he was not used to hard work and would only work in the mine a few hours each day. But Bob was a good fiddler and singer, and I tell you, boys, after the day’s work was done we liked to hear him start in on his music. Well, fiddle-strings were a scarce article up in the mines then, and some of Bob’s strings breaking we had to get along without music for awhile; but one Saturday Bob heard of a man who worked in a cañon a few miles above, and who had just come up from San Francisco, bringing an assortment of fiddle-strings with him. This was good news for Bob, so he threw down his pick and shovel about ten o’clock A.M. and made tracks for the cañon.
“It was then that the dissatisfied ones determined that Bob should either leave the company or they would, for they had made up their minds not to work any more for a man who wouldn’t do his share.
“The balance of us, however, thought too much of Bob to have him turned out of the company, and agreed if they would overlook Bob’s faults that we would work a little harder to make up for his delinquency. We were thus engaged in talking and endeavoring to arrange the difficulty along in the afternoon, when we heard the sound of Bob’s violin up on the hill above. Upon looking up we saw him seated upon a log under the shade of an oak. We all stopped work and seated ourselves upon the most convenient places
