Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG Distributed Proofreaders Project Gutenberg's Treasure and Trouble Therewith, by Geraldine Bonner Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. TREASURE _and_ TROUBLE THEREWITH _A TALE OF CALIFORNIA_ BY GERALDINE BONNER 1917 I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER JOHN BONNER WHO, HIMSELF A WRITER, TRAINED ME IN THE WORK HE LOVED. WHAT MERIT THE READER MAY FIND IN THESE PAGES IS THE RESULT OF THAT TRAINING, UNDERTAKEN WITH A FATHER'S PRIDE, CARRIED ON WITH A FATHER'S BELIEF AND ENCOURAGEMENT. GERALDINE BONNER CONTENTS I. HANDS UP II. THE TULES III. MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE IV. THE DERELICT V. THE MARKED PARAGRAPH VI. PANCHA VII. THE PICAROON VIII. THOSE GIRLS OF GEORGE'S IX. GREEK MEETS GREEK X. MICHAELS THE MINER XI. THE SOLID GOLD NUGGET XII. A KISS XIII. FOOLS IN THEIR FOLLY XIV. THE NIGHT RIDER XV. THE LAST DINNER XVI. THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY XVII. THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING XVIII. OUTLAWED XIX. HALF TRUTHS AND INFERENCES XX. MARK PAYS A CALL XXI. A WOMAN SCORNED XXII. THEREBY HANGS A TALE XXIII. THE CHINESE CHAIN XXIV. LOVERS AND LADIES XXV. WHAT JIM SAW XXVI. PANCHA WRITES A LETTER XXVII. BAD NEWS XXVIII. CHRYSTIE SEES THE DAWN XXIX. LORRY SEES THE DAWN XXX. MARK SEES THE DAWN XXXI. REVELATION XXXII. THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT XXXIII. THE MORNING THAT CAME XXXIV. LOST XXXV. THE UNKNOWN WOMAN XXXVI. THE SEARCH XXXVII. HAIL AND FAREWELL LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS He ... heard the feller at the wheel say, "Hands up!" _Frontispiece_ "Oh, silly, unbelieving child!" came his voice As it came it sent up a hoarse cry for food The ghost of a smile touched her lips TREASURE _and_ TROUBLE THEREWITH CHAPTER I HANDS UP The time was late August some eleven years ago. The place that part of central California where, on one side, the plain unrolls in golden levels, and on the other swells upward toward the rounded undulations of the foothills.