CHAPTER XIV.
EARLY TIMES.
The Days of '49 and '52.—How they Administered the Law in Tuolumne County, and Justice in Sierra.—Old Put and Judge Hollowbarn.—Pike's "Sasherarer."—Peart Times on Rabbit Creek.—A Game that was Spoiled.—An Appeal that wouldn't hold, and Prediction that wouldn't do to Bet Upon.—Stories of Wagers.—Insulted Dignity Avenged.—Base Ingratitude.—Dead or Alive, Drowned or Not.—A Glass-eye Bet.
Brave old days were those of '49, How mankind has degenerated since, any old California pioneer will tell you with a sigh. "Things was lively then, you bet, and one man was as good as another!" he says, with a shake of the head which implies volumes. Nevertheless, California was not wholly a Paradise even then, though it pains me to be compelled to say so. The fierce, aggressive energy of the Anglo-American invaders, when it overthrew the social habits, long established customs and local laws of the quiet, unambitious descendants of the old Spanish conquerors, could not establish a new system perfect in all its details in a day, and something of chaos and confusion necessarily followed. Judge Lynch generally did his work quickly and well, though being human, and as such liable at times to err, there was something a little rough in the operation of his decisions when a mistake did occur. An old Spaniard,
