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CAPTAIN BAYLEY'S HEIR

A TALE OF THE GOLD FIELDS OF CALIFORNIA.

BY G. A. HENTY




CAPTAIN BAYLEY'S HEIR.


[Illustration: CAPTAIN BAYLEY HEARS STARTLING NEWS.]




CAPTAIN BAYLEY'S HEIR:

A TALE OF THE GOLD FIELDS OF CALIFORNIA.

BY

G. A. HENTY,

Author of "With Clive in India;" "Facing Death;" "For Name and Fame;"
"True to the Old Flag;" "A Final Beckoning;" &c.

          _WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
                  BY H. M. PAGET._

[Illustration]

          NEW YORK
          SCRIBNER AND WELFORD
          743 & 745 BROADWAY.




CONTENTS.


    Chap.                              Page

        I. WESTMINSTER! WESTMINSTER!      9

       II. A COLD SWIM,                  25

      III. A <DW36> BOY,                42

       IV. AN ADOPTED CHILD,             58

        V. A TERRIBLE ACCUSATION,        75

       VI. AT NEW ORLEANS,               92

      VII. ON THE MISSISSIPPI,          107

     VIII. STARTING FOR THE WEST,       127

       IX. ON THE PLAINS,               154

        X. A BUFFALO STORY,             173

       XI. HOW DICK LOST HIS SCALP,     186

      XII. THE ATTACK ON THE CARAVAN,   206

     XIII. AT THE GOLD-FIELDS,          223

      XIV. CAPTAIN BAYLEY,              238

       XV. THE MISSING HEIR,            253

      XVI. JOHN HOLL, DUST CONTRACTOR,  268

     XVII. THE LONELY DIGGERS,          285

    XVIII. A DREAM VERIFIED,            306

      XIX. STRIKING IT RICH,            324

       XX. A MESSAGE FROM ABROAD,       341

      XXI. HAPPY MEETINGS,              360

     XXII. CLEARED AT LAST,             374




ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                                 Page

  CAPTAIN BAYLEY HEARS STARTLING NEWS, _Frontis._   262

  THE RESCUE FROM THE SERPENTINE,                    32

  THE BREAK-UP OF THE CHARTIST MEETING,              72

  FRANK'S VISIT TO MR. HIRAM LITTLE'S OFFICE,       101

  A FLOOD ON THE MISSISSIPPI,                       125

  A DEER-HUNT ON THE PRAIRIE,                       162

  THE ESCAPE OF THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER,             195

  DICK AND FRANK ELUDE THE INDIANS,                 227

  THE SICK FRIEND IN THE MINING CAMP,               296

  GOLD-WASHING--A GOOD DAY'S WORK,                  329

  THE ATTACK ON THE GOLD ESCORT,                    338

  MEETING OF CAPTAIN BAYLEY AND MR. ADAMS,          352




[Illustration]

CAPTAIN BAYLEY'S HEIR.




CHAPTER I.

WESTMINSTER! WESTMINSTER!


A <DW36> boy was sitting in a box on four low wheels, in a little room
in a small street in Westminster; his age was some fifteen or sixteen
years; his face was clear-cut and intelligent, and was altogether free
from the expression either of discontent or of shrinking sadness so
often seen in the face of those afflicted. Had he been sitting on a
chair at a table, indeed, he would have been remarked as a handsome and
well-grown young fellow; his shoulders were broad, his arms powerful,
and his head erect. He had not been born a <DW36>, but had been
disabled for life, when a tiny child, by a cart passing over his legs
above the knees. He was talking to a lad a year or so younger than
himself, while a strong, hearty-looking woman, somewhat past middle age,
stood at a wash-tub.

"What is all that noise about?" the <DW36> exclaimed, as an uproar was
heard in the street at some little distance from the house.

"Drink, as usual, I suppose," the woman said.

The younger lad ran to the door.

"No, mother; it's them scholars a-coming back from cricket. Ain't there
a fight jist!"

The <DW36> wheeled his box to the door, and then taking a pair of
crutches which rested in hooks at its side when not wanted, swung
himself from the box, and propped himself in the doorway so as to
command a view down the street.

It was indeed a serious fight. A party of Westminster boys, on their way
back from their cricket-ground in St. Vincent's Square, had been
attacked by the "