The captain hurried to execute Wolf's orders, while the regent began with feverish haste to transfer the treasures of the colony to the ship.
Norman sat on his cot in prison, awaiting anxiously the first sound of the troops.
He suddenly leaped to his feet.
"They are coming!"
Listening a moment intently, he cried:
"There it is again—the scream of fifes from the hills!—now, they are driving in the pickets—hear the crack of those rifles!—God in heaven, isn't it music!"
He sank back on the cot with a sob of joy.
In a rush the troops surrounded the jail. The sheriff lifted his hand and shouted:
"In the name of the peace and dignity of the State of California——"