"We are going back now," said Tom. "Are you going?" asked Hercules. "Yes," said Tom; "we are getting ready to start." "I will go too," said Hercules; "I have got gold enough." "What will you do with your gold when you get home?" asked Tom. "Buy a farm, and then----" Hercules hesitated and blushed. "Well, what then?" asked Toney. "I will marry my little cousin," said the giant. "That's right!" said Toney. "Who is your little cousin?" asked Tom. "Polly Sampson. She is a very little woman, but she is very pretty." "Well, come help us to pack up, and we will all be off," said Tom. "And you can go home and marry Polly Sampson," said Toney. Hercules went to work with alacrity, and they were soon packed up, and on the road to Sacramento; which place they reached late at night, and on the following evening were in San Francisco. They were detained in the city of Saint Francis several days; and the business relating to the sale of their sand-hill having been completed, Toney, Tom, and the Professor went on board the steamer with their fortunes in their money-belts, in the shape of drafts on banking-houses in New York. They soon passed through the Golden Gate and were on the broad waters of the Pacific Ocean. The weather was fine, and the vessel was remarkable for her speed. In a few days they were running along in sight of the coast of Lower California, and about two leagues from the land. The Professor was on deck, with a telescope in his hand, looking at the desolate coast, when he suddenly cried out,-- "There are several persons standing on the beach." "They are pelicans," said the captain. "At a distance they are often mistaken for human beings." "Human beings they are," said the Professor; "and, good heavens! there is a woman among them. They have a white handkerchief elevated as a signal of distress." The captain took the telescope, and, after looking through it, said,-- "You are right. There are several men; and there is a woman among them." "This coast is uninhabited," said the Professor. "Who can they be?" "Persons escaped from some wreck," said the captain. "Put the ship about! Run her in towards the land! They must be rescued!" cried the Professor. "I dare not do it; the water is shoal," said the captain. "We must stop the engines and lower a boat." The order was given; the engines stop, and the boat lowered, and into it leaped Toney and the Professor; while six seamen manned the oars. The boat put off from the vessel; and the sailors pulling with a will, they were soon approaching the shore. Several men were seen standing on a rock, and one of them was waving a white handkerchief. They cheered, and were responded to by the loud huzzas of the party in the boat, which grounded within a few yards of the shore. The Professor's gaze was intently fixed on some object at the base of the rock.