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Show r6z THE MORMON LION However, I tried to bear as cheerfully as possible what could not be avoided. I could do nothing to help Lucy until my return, and what I might be able to do then would depend in great part on my behaviour during this treasonous mission. With this in view, I kept my real thoughts to myself, and, long before we reached the Mohave, managed to wm from Chilcott the hearty commendation that I was as jolly a trail partner as I was orthodox Samt. After crossing the Mohave, we pushed our team and rolled into San Bernardino the night of the second day. At this outermost Stake of the Kingdom we learned that we could not purchase any considerable number of modern firearms in the southern part of the State. We pushed on, by way of the little town of Los Angeles, to the tiny Port of San Pedro. Chilcott and I rigged out in our broadcloth suits and silk hats, and took passal)e on a northbound ship, leaving Waller behind, with instructions to purchase a heavy outfit for our return across the desert. I proved to be a poor sailor- a misfortune which I contrived to turn into a blessing. When we landed at the rushing, roaring city of San Francisco, I feigned a greater weakness than I felt. Chilcott, impatient to be about the business of our mission, left me alone at our hotel. I slipped out, unobserved, and hunted up Mr. Sen by's correspondents. Within the hour, I had presented my letter of introduction, deposited the contents of my money-belt, and returned to-the hotel. Despite the stern work of the Vigilantes, San Francisco was still a wild whirlpool of humanity, sucked from the four quarters of the earth by the gold fever. In it were numbers of men ready to buy and sell anything and all things- and ask no questions. They would have been willing to sell their own souls, h3.d they not already lost them. With the aid of fellow Mormons who had charge of THE MORMON LION the local mission, Chilcott soon struck a bargain with an incurious dealer in firearms. Without a word of inquiry, the merchant boxed up for us several stand of excellent breechloading rilles. I have no doubt that he would have furnished us ten times the number on cash payment. More accustomed to gold dust and coin than to paper money, the merchant hesitated over accepting the treasury notes tendered by Chilcott. The latter coolly explained that we had just arrived by steamer from the East and had no other money than the notes. He knew well enough, he said, that they were not legal tender ; but they bore interest and were backed by the credit of the Federal Government. If the merchant did not care to accept them in payment, well and good ; we must go elsewhere for our rilles. If, however, he chose to accommodate us in the matter, we should reciprocate by adding to our purchases two hundred Colt's revolvers, and no haggling over the price. Greed lured the merchant into the trap. The arms were at once delivered by us to the Mormon assistants, who shipped them as hardware to San Pedro on a vessel in the coasting trade. Meantime, Chilcott suddenly moved our scant baggage to another hotel and insisted that we should at once outfit ourselves in half Spanish style for the return south by land. In some manner unknown to me, he had exchanged a package of his treasury notes for gold coin, which he now spent lavishly. We rode out of San Francisco on the best horses that money could buy, armed like pirates and clad in garments whose fineness of material was better suited for city wear than the rough life of the trails. The extravagance of our dress and the ridiculous display of weapons caused us to be regarded as wealthy Eastern gentlemen on a jaunt. The roll of notes from which Chilcott paid all bills and his lordly indifference to small change did not tend to lessen this impression. |