"Thank goodness," said Jack, "C company has got some
good luck, at last!"
Joyfully we started back on the overland trip to California,
which took about nine days at that time. Now, travelling with a
year-old baby and a five-year-old boy was quite troublesome, and
we were very glad when the train had crossed the bleak Sierras
and swept down into the lovely valley of the Sacramento.
Arriving in San Francisco, we went to the old Occidental Hotel,
and as we were going in to dinner, a card was handed to us. "Hoo
Chack" was the name on the card. "That Chinaman!" I cried to
Jack."How do you suppose he knew we were here?"
We soon made arrangements for him to accompany us to Angel
Island, and in a few days this "heathen Chinee" had unpacked all
our boxes and made our quarters very comfortable. He was rather a
high-caste man, and as true and loyal as a Christian. He never
broke his word, and he staid with us as long as we remained in
California.
And now we began to live, to truly live; for we felt that the
years spent at those desert posts under the scorching suns of
Arizona had cheated us out of all but a bare existence upon
earth.
