In writing this story the author has had but one purpose in view--to give his readers a faithful picture of the exciting times of '49, when rich and poor, high and low, laborers and bankers, journeyed by land or by water to California in search of gold. The excitement was intense, equaled only by that when gold was first discovered in the Klondyke region. In those days there were no railroads across the western portion of our country, and the journey had to be made on foot or on horseback and took months where it now takes but days. Those who did not go by land sailed either to the Isthmus of Panama, crossed, and went up the coast of California by ship, or else took the still longer voyage around Cape Horn. Surely the hearts of these Argonauts were of the stoutest, and their deeds deserved to be chronicled! CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL. _August 15, 1906._ CONTENTS I. MARK AND HIS DIFFICULTIES II. NEWS FROM CALIFORNIA III. MARK RUNS AWAY IV. MARK MAKES A FRIEND V. UP A TREE VI. TWO BOYS AND A MULE VII. TAKING IN ANOTHER PARTNER VIII. OFF FOR THE LAND OF GOLD IX. A STORM AND A WASHOUT X. AT FORT LARAMIE XI. SAG RUFF'S THREAT XII. SUFFERING FROM THIRST XIII. A FIGHT WITH AN ELK XIV. THE STEALING OF THE OUTFIT XV. A SNAKE, A DEER, AND A SURPRISE XVI. GETTING BACK THE OUTFIT XVII. AMONG THE INDIANS XVIII. SI TAKES A TUMBLE XIX. A GLOOMY OUTLOOK XX. AT THE TRADING CAMP XXI. ANOTHER BRUSH WITH THE INDIANS XXII. THE COMING OF SPRING XXIII. NUGGETS OF VALUE XXIV. THE RESULTS OF A CAVE-IN XXV. THE MAN FROM PHILADELPHIA XXVI. MARK'S SICKNESS XXVII. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MAYBE DIXON XXVIII. STRIKING A BONANZA XXIX. A FORTUNE IN NUGGETS XXX. THE LANDSLIDE XXXI. A CRUSHING LOSS XXXII. THE TRAIL OF THE GOLD THIEVES XXXIII. BROUGHT TO BAY--CONCLUSION PIONEER BOYS OF THE GOLD FIELDS CHAPTER I MARK AND HIS DIFFICULTIES "I wonder if this report can be true, Carl?" "What report, Mark?"