Here new life seemed to inspire the party. What mattered it if they
were in debt to the butcher--for did they not own thirty thousand feet
apiece in the "richest mines on earth"! Who cared if their credit was
not good with the grocer, so long as they revelled in mountains of
fictitious wealth and raved in the frenzied cant of the hour over their
immediate prospect of fabulous riches! But at last the practical
necessities of living put a sudden damper on their enthusiasm. Clemens
was forced at last to abandon mining, and go to work as a common
labourer in a quartz mill, at ten dollars a week and board--after flour
had soared to a dollar a pound and the rate on borrowed money had gone
to eight per cent. a month. This work was very exhausting, and after a
week Clemens asked his employer for an advance of wages. The employer
replied that he was paying Clemens ten dollars a week, and thought that
all he was worth. How much did he want? When Clemens replied that four
hundred thousand dollars a month, and board, was all he could reasonably
ask, considering the hard times, he was ordered off the premises! In
after days, Mark only regretted that, in view of the arduous labours he
had performed in that mill, he had not asked seven hundred thousand for
his services!
After a time, Mark and his friend Higbie established their claim to a
mine, became mad with excitement, and indulged in the wildest dreams for
the future.
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