"How was he saved?"
"It is hard to tell. He and several others hung fast to some such sort of a raft as we had, and managed to get ashore. And all the time he grasped that valise, even when besought by his companions to let it go, find when it endangered his chances of life fully ten-fold."
"He must be very poor."
"Poor! He is worth half a million in gold this minute. That valise contained all his property that he had entrusted to the steamer, and it was his fear that he might lose the few dollars that it is worth that made him cling so tenaciously to it."
"How was it that he gave them to you?"
"No fear that he gave them. I stated in the presence of two witnesses that, I would give him a hundred dollars for the suit as soon as we reached San Francisco. He racked his brains to see whether there was not some means of my giving him my note for the amount; but as that couldn't be done under the circumstances, he did the next best thing and established my obligation in the mouth of several witnesses."
"Strange man! But, Mr. Yard, what is to be done?"
"I intend to wait here during the day, as I know of nothing better that we can do. I think some friends will find us before nightfall."
"We have decided to go inland a short distance, dry our clothes and give our bodies a good rubbing, to prevent our taking cold."
"A wise precaution, but useless in my case as I have already caught a very severe one."