reference, from the humble quiet of his native fireside; and if, in
after life, he did not bitterly repent of the folly, it was because of
that light-hearted and sanguine temperament which never deserted him
quite, and supported him in all events and through every vicissitude. He
had wandered much after leaving his parental home, and was now engaged
in an occupation and pursuit which our future pages must develop. Having
narrated, in his desultory way to his companion, the facts which we have
condensed, he conceived himself entitled to some share of that
confidence of which he had himself exhibited so fair an example; and the
cross-examination which followed did not vary very materially from that
to which most wayfarers in this region are subjected, and of which, on
more than one occasion, they have been heard so vociferously to
complain.

"Well, Master Ralph--unless my eyes greatly miscalculate, you cannot be
more than nineteen or twenty at the most; and if one may be so bold,
what is it that brings one of your youth and connections abroad into
this wilderness, among wild men and wild beasts, and we gold-hunters,
whom men do say are very little, if any, better than them?"

"Why, as respects your first conjecture, Forrester," returned the youth,
"you are by no means out of the way. I am not much over twenty, and am
free to confess, do not care to be held much older. Touching your
further inquiry, not to seem churlish, but rather to speak frankly and
in a like spirit with yourself, I am not desirous to repeat to others
the story that has been, perhaps, but learned in part by myself. I do
not exactly believe that it would promote my plans to submit my affairs
to the examination of other people; nor do I think that any person
whomsoever would be very much benefited by the knowledge. You seem to
have forgotten, however, that I have already said that I am journeying