“Perhaps it is as well,” said Crane gravely. “He has saved us an unwelcome task.”
The nugget was restored to its owners, to whom Hogan’s tragical fate was told.
“Poor fellow!” said Joe soberly. “I would rather have lost the nugget.”
“So would I,” said Bickford. “He was a poor, shif’less critter; but I’m sorry for him.”
CHAPTER XXXIX
HOW JOE’S BUSINESS PROSPERED
Joe and his friend Bickford arrived in San Francisco eight days later without having met with any other misadventure or drawback. He had been absent less than three months, yet he found changes. A considerable number of buildings had gone up in different parts of the town during his absence.
“It is a wonderful place,” said Joe to his companion.
“It is going to be a great city some day.”
“It’s ahead of Pumpkin Holler already,” said Mr. Bickford, “though the Holler has been goin’ for over a hundred years.”
Joe smiled at the comparison. He thought he could foresee the rapid progress of the new city, but he was far from comprehending the magnificent future that lay before it. A short time since, the writer of this story ascended to the roof of the Palace Hotel, and from this lofty elevation, a hundred and forty feet above the sidewalk, scanned with delighted eyes a handsome and substantial city, apparently the growth of a century, and including within its broad limits a population of three hundred thousand souls. It will not be many years before it reaches half-a-million, and may fairly be ranked among the great cities of the world.