Already
the broad grants of the Dons are coveted by the officials of the
military regency. Several of the officers have already served
themselves better than their country. The entanglements of a new
rule amount to practical confiscation of the lands of the old
chieftains. What they saved from the conqueror is destined later
to fatten greedy lawyers.
The spoliated Church is avenged upon the heirs of those who worked
its temporal ruin. For here, while mad thousands delve for the
gold of their desire, the tramping feet of uncontrolled hosts are
heard at the gates of the Sierras. When the fleets give out their
hordes of male and female adventurers, there is no law but that of
force or duplicity; no principle but self-interest. Virtue, worth,
and desert meekly bow to strength. Wealth in its rudest form of
sacks of uncoined gold dust rules the hour.
The spring days lengthen into summer. Maxime Valois recoils from
the physical toil of the rocky bars of the American. His nature
is aristocratic; his youthful prejudices are averse to hand work.
Menial attendance, though only upon himself, is degrading to him.
The rough life of the mines becomes unbearable. A Southerner, par
excellence, in his hatred of the physical familiarity of others,
he avails himself of his good fortune to find a purchaser for his
interests.
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