THE HERITAGE OF DEDLOW MARSH and Other Tales

by

Bret Harte




CONTENTS.
THE HERITAGE OF DEDLOW MARSH
A KNIGHT-ERRANT OF THE FOOT-HILLS
A SECRET OF TELEGRAPH HILL
CAPTAIN JIM'S FRIEND



THE HERITAGE OF DEDLOW MARSH.


I.


The sun was going down on the Dedlow Marshes. The tide was
following it fast as if to meet the reddening lines of sky and
water in the west, leaving the foreground to grow blacker and
blacker every moment, and to bring out in startling contrast the
few half-filled and half-lit pools left behind and forgotten. The
strong breath of the Pacific fanning their surfaces at times
kindled them into a dull glow like dying embers. A cloud of sand-