It Was With Genuine Regret That I Left Grass Valley The Following
Morning; Not Even Sonora Possessed For Me A Stronger Attraction.
As I
paused on the summit of the hill, for a farewell view of the town, I
mentally resolved - the Fates permitting - I would pay another and more
protracted visit to this land of enchantment.
Chapter VII
Grass Valley to Smartsville. Sucker Flat and its Personal Appeal.
I was heading due west for Smartsville, just across the line in Yuba
County. In four miles, I came to Rough and Ready, once a famous camp.
Save for the inevitable hotel, now used in part as a store, there was
nothing to suggest the cause of its pristine glory or the origin of its
emphatic designation; today it is simply a picturesque, rural hamlet. In
Penn Valley, a mile or two farther on, I passed a smashed and abandoned
automobile, the second wreck I had encountered. I thanked my star I
traveled afoot; heavy going, it is true, in places, but safe and sure.
Notwithstanding the ubiquity of the autocar, it is still a fact that
between the man in the car and the man on foot is set an impassable
gulf. You are walking through a mountainous country, where every bend of
the road reveals some new charm; absorbed in silent enjoyment of the
scene, you have forgotten the very existence of the machine, when a
raucous "honk" jolts you out of your daydream and causes you to jump for
your life.
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