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Show 1 j 244 PERSONAL ADVENTURES contents ; and that various articles were irretrievably gone, for the scrub and brush were so thick as to baffle the minutest search. Our muskets we found, as a matter of course, but we did not discover our crow-bar until the next morning. I-Ialliday returned to our encatnpment, or rather explored his 'vay to it, guided by the light of our fire. l-Ie brought news of my horse, to the effect that it would probably be found at a ranche in the vicinity' belonging to one Don Jose. It appeared that, after a long and fruitless chase, he lost sight of the animal o.n the opposite side of the plain; and, looking about hitn, perceived a road which led hi1n to a ranche. l-Ie made inquiry here, without at first procuring any information; until, having 1ninutely described the lost beast, the ranclteA·o remembered that a neighbour of his, Don Jose, \vho lived at a ranche a few miles further ou, had sold such a horse some tinte ago, and he doubted not but, finding itself near its former home, it had gone back to it. The polite 'l'anche1~o advised I-lalliday to return to our IN CALIFORNIA. 245 encan1pn1ent, and he would himself send to Don Jose, and request him to bring the horse to us in the morning, if his conjectures respecting it should prove correct. This advice he followed, and we anxiously looked forward for the dawn.. We were now compelled to remove our quarters, in consequence of the scarcity of wood; and, acting upon the suggestions of . Monsieur Frederic, who seemed never at a loss, established ourselves on a part of the plain most frequented by the herds of wild cattle, whose dried manure supplied us with tolerable fuel, though it kept the watches busily employed collecting it, as it soon burnt out. At about ten o'clock next morning a hoy came up to us, leading my horse, which, as the r.anchero conjectured, had fou11d its way back to its former master, Don Jose.. We gave the lad some powder and a few percussion~cap~, with which he was highly delighted, and were preparing for a fresh start, when we bethought ourselves that it would be as well to go to the |