A SERIOUS BREAKDOWN. 195 



or by crook to get the softest place, was stretched 

 in a hammock swung in the rear of the room. 



The conversation had taken a turn from fishing 

 to travelling, and Charlie and Nate had been relat- 

 ing some of their experiences upon a recent visit 

 to the Yosemite Valley ; the former concluding 

 with, " And that is a pleasure you have yet in store, 

 old man." 



" Yes ; and it would have seemed to the world's 

 end, almost, when the old man was a young one," 

 I replied. 



" I think, my Kind Commander," said Nate, "you 

 have met with adventures in the Western country 

 in your youth : can't you revive an incident to pass 

 away the time, while the little fishes are taking their 

 shower-bath ? " 



"Yes : I was thinking of one adventure, in par- 

 ticular, when you were describing that shanty in the 

 valley where you and Charlie lunched. Call John 

 and the rest of the boys, make the circle round the 

 hearth a little larger, and I will spin you a yarn that 

 will take away your appetite for supper, and send 

 you weeping lo your beds." 



"True, of course?" 



" As preaching ; and yet it seems like a dream, 

 a shadowy remembrance of the past, the long 

 past. I can hardly realize that the incident I am 



