BEAR SHOOTING IN CALIFORNIA. 71 



celerity, and all at my expense. What reply I made I 

 am afraid to say, but if one might judge by the frequent 

 exclamations of " You bet," " Bully for you," and the 

 like, it must have been highly satisfactory to my audience, 

 especially the concluding sentence, in which I paid a 

 compliment to the American eagle, and begged (?) them 

 to join me in drinking the health of that venerable bird. 

 The events that occurred after this are not very clearly 

 fixed in my memory. I have an indistinct recollection 

 of adjourning to a skittle alley and bowling over the 

 setter-up instead of the pins ; of subsequently playing 

 poker with a gentleman with a long black coat, and a 

 very dirty face, who had an extraordinary facility of 

 holding four aces or three kings every hand ; of dancing 

 a quickstep with old Zack, of more cocktails, smashing 

 of glasses, a free fight, ten thousand stars, — and nothing 

 more ; but I have a most vivid recollection, even to this 

 day, of waking up next morning under the billiard table, 

 where it appears I had been deposited by the gentleman 

 who last knocked me down, with a splitting headache, a 

 most disagreeable sensation in my left eye, and a feeling 

 all over my body as if I had been put through a patent 

 mangle of extra power. Some kind friend, with a 

 great regard for my personal comfort, had taken off 

 my boots and hat — and taken them away with him. 

 Zack was comparatively uninjured, not having been 

 "gouged," to his intense gratification and surprise. 

 " Jest to think that we should have our optics all right 

 when Ebenezer Toland was around the shanty. Yessir, 

 he nearly allers gets his pair of eyes in a free fight, and 

 allers goes for a stranger; and to look at him, yer 

 would think he was as mean a cuss as ever yer seed. 

 You air lucky, sir." The fates had not been propitious 



