through the swaying strap and his head resting upon it,--altogether a
limp, helpless looking object, as if he had hanged himself and been cut
down too late. The French lady on the back seat was asleep too, yet in
a half-conscious propriety of attitude, shown even in the disposition
of the handkerchief which she held to her forehead and which partially
veiled her face. The lady from Virginia City, traveling with her
husband, had long since lost all individuality in a wild confusion of
ribbons, veils, furs, and shawls. There was no sound but the rattling
of wheels and the dash of rain upon the roof. Suddenly the stage
stopped and we became dimly aware of voices. The driver was evidently
in the midst of an exciting colloquy with some one in the road,--a
colloquy of which such fragments as "bridge gone," "twenty feet of
water," "can't pass," were occasionally distinguishable above the
storm. Then came a lull, and a mysterious voice from the road shouted
the parting adjuration--

"Try Miggles's."

We caught a glimpse of our leaders as the vehicle slowly turned, of a
horseman vanishing through the rain, and we were evidently on our way
to Miggles's.

Who and where was Miggles? The Judge, our authority, did not remember
the name, and he knew the country thoroughly. The Washoe traveler
thought Miggles must keep a hotel. We only knew that we were stopped
by high water in front and rear, and that Miggles was our rock of
refuge. A ten minutes' splashing through a tangled byroad, scarcely
wide enough for the stage, and we drew up before a barred and boarded
gate in a wide stone wall or fence about eight feet high. Evidently
Miggles's, and evidently Miggles did not keep a hotel.