principle! If at one time it seemed probable that these festivities
might be marred by the machinations of envy--(groans)--or that
harmony interrupted by the importation of low-toned material
interests--(groans)--he could say that, looking around him, he had never
before felt--er--that--Here the judge stopped short, reeled slightly
forward, caught at a camp-stool, recovered himself with an apologetic
smile, and turned inquiringly to his neighbor.

A light laugh--instantly suppressed--at what was at first supposed to
be the effect of the "overflowing hospitality" upon the speaker himself,
went around the male circle until it suddenly appeared that half a dozen
others had started to their feet at the same time, with white faces, and
that one of the ladies had screamed.

"What is it?" everybody was asking with interrogatory smiles.

It was Judge Piper who replied:--

"A little shock of earthquake," he said blandly; "a mere thrill! I
think," he added with a faint smile, "we may say that Nature herself has
applauded our efforts in good old Californian fashion, and signified her
assent. What are you saying, Fludder?"

"I was thinking, sir," said Fludder deferentially, in a lower voice,
"that if anything was wrong in the reservoir, this shock, you know,
might"--

He was interrupted by a faint crashing and crackling sound, and looking
up, beheld a good-sized boulder, evidently detached from some greater
height, strike the upland plateau at the left of the trail and bound