linguist, tried first to tie the knot in English, but the Mexican laughed so immoderately and so persistently when called upon to repeat the ominous words, that the man of matrimony became angry, closed his book, and left the pair only half united. Bridget rushed after him and begged him, with tears in her eyes to finish the business, assuring him her loved one meant no disrespect. Keturning he administered the oath of allegiance to the Irish in English, and to the Mexican in Spanish, and the united pair went their happy way.
Here are two sketches ; one the forty-niner and the other the fifty-sixer:
"Buried among the recollections of by-gones are the good old times when eight feet square was a claim, and a crowbar, sheath-knife, and pan constituted a full set of mining tools. When working with a rocker was considered rushing business, and holding two claims a monopoly ; when potatoes were an expensive luxury, and flap-jacks passed current for bread; when men disdained to speak of dollars and cents, but reckoned their small change in pounds and ounces; when the abodes of honest miners were not dignified by the modern terms of houses, towns, and cities, but were known as cabins, camps, and ranches; when Judge Lynch disposed of all desperate cases in a summary manner, through the simple medium of a jury of miners; and such things as petty swindling, pett^'thieving, and pettyfoggers were unknown; when the only sickness in vogue was a headache after a big spree, and the only medicine, the hair of that same dog. Alas! the country is getting civilized, alarmingij; civilized!
"Such are the reflections of an old forty-niner, who, having outlived his time, now smokes the pipe of peace and poverty—an honorary member of the Can'tget-awav club. He has flourished in the season of big strikes, and can, if he chooses, give you a leaf
