Maxime promises to aid in any future juncture. He rides out from
lonely Lagunitas, near which tradition to-day locates those fabulous
deposits, the vanished treasures of Joaquin, the mountain robber.

A generation glides away. The riches, long sought for, are never
found. This blood-stained gold may lie hidden beneath the soil of
Mariposa, but it is beyond human ken.

There are wild rejoicings at Stockton. Harry Love, splendid in
gayest trappings, is the hero of the hour. The dead mountain tiger
was the last leader of resistance to the Americans. The humbled
Mexicans sink into the condition of wandering helots. The only
possession left is their unconquerable pride, and the sadness
which wraps them in a gloomy mantle.






CHAPTER IX.

THE STRANGER'S FOOT AT LAGUNITAS. VALOIS' SPANISH BRIDE.





Through the mines runs a paean of rejoicing. The roads are free;