Time passed on; that is to say, a few weeks passed on. We visited the office of the company every day or two, and heard nothing but the most glowing accounts. We heard daily of unfortunate and grief-stricken individuals who had been left out in the cold, who were seeking frantically to obtain some of the Revenue stock, but found, to their sorrow, that none was to be had. Each of us had invested his one thousand dollars, and was not allowed to invest more. Those miserable beings who had not been in on the ground floor, and were anxious to buy, were offering,—so we were told,—a hundred per cent. advance for shares, but none of us would sell. We scorned to double our money when we should soon begin to receive every month an amount equal to our investment. Never did a bull-dog cling with more tenacity to the under jaw of another bull-dog than we clung to the stock of the Revenue. [Sidenote: MORE MONEY.] But soon our picture of coming wealth began to lose its brightness. Our first dividend was an Irish one. As soon as the sixty thousand dollars were paid in, we were told that the sixty thousand dollars had gone for the purchase of the mine; that is to say, our half interest in it. Thirty thousand dollars were now needed for the purchase of a mill. Of what use would be a mine without a mill? We admitted the force of this reasoning, and, not without much grumbling, we raised the money to purchase the mill. With the innocence of toothless and milk-imbibing infants we supposed that the purchase of a mill would put our mine in a paying condition. The mill was bought, and then we were told that money was required for transporting it from San Francisco to Frogtown. About that time I began to see a hole through the ladder, and concluded there was a large-sized cat in that beautiful meal tub. I determined to send no more good money after bad money, and refused to pay any more assessments. Some of my friends, however, who had gone into the enterprise, determined to stick to it. They paid the money on their share, or as much as was required for the transportation of the mill. When this was done, there was a call for more money to purchase a steam engine. Then the confounded engine had to be transported from San Francisco to Frogtown. More money. Then a mill site had to be purchased. More money. Then the mill site must be prepared for setting up the mill and machinery. More money. Next, the mill must be set up. More money. Next, a wood ranche must be bought; you could not run a mill without fuel. More money. Next, a shaft must be opened. More money. Next, a road must be built from the mine to the mill. More money. Next, chemicals must be bought for extracting the silver from the crushed ore. More money. And so it went on.