for whisky was free and grub plenty to such a party, and jollity and fun the uppermost thoughts.  On one such occasion when the crowd came through Orleans Flat to Moore’s Flat, Sid Hunt, the butcher, was in the lead as they came in sight of the latter place, and both he and his followers talked pretty loud and rough to the Moore’s Flat fellows calling them “lazy pups” for not getting their road clear.  Hunt’s helper was a big stout, loud talking young man named Williams, and he shouted to the leader—­“Sid Hunt, toot your horn if you don’t sell a clam.”  This seemed to put both sides in good humor, and the Orleans fellows joined in a plenty to eat and drink, rested and went home.  Next day, both camps joined forces and broke the road over to Woolsey’s Flat, and the third day crowded on toward Nevada City, and when out and across Bloody Run, a stream called thus because some dead men had been found at the head of the stream by the early settlers, and it was suspected the guilty murderers lived not far off, they turned down into Humbug, a town now called Bloomfield, and as they went down the snow was not so deep.  They soon met Sam Henry, the express man, working through with letters and papers, and all turned home again.

A young doctor came to Moore’s Flat and soon became quite popular, and after a little while purchased a small drug store at Orleans Flat.  In this town there lived a man and his family and among them a little curly headed girl perhaps one or two years old.  She was sick and died and buried while the ground was covered thick with snow.  A little time after, it was discovered that the grave had been disturbed, and on examination no body was found in the grave.

Then it was a searching party was organized, and threats of vengeance made against the grave robber if he should be caught.  No tracks were found leading out of town so they began to look about inside, and there began to be some talk about this Dr. Kittridge as the culprit.  He was the very man, and he went to his drug store and told his clerk to get a saddle horse and take the dead child’s body in a sack to his cabin at Moore’s Flat, and conceal it in a back room.  The clerk obeyed, and with the little corpse before him on the horse started from the back door and rode furiously to Moore’s Flat, and concealed the body as he had been directed.

Some noticed that he had ridden unusually fast, and having a suspicion that all was not right, told their belief to the Orleans Flat people, who visited the Doctor at his store and accused him of the crime, and talked about hanging him on the spot without a trial.  At this the Doctor began to be greatly frightened and begged piteously for them to spare his life, confessing to the deed, but pleading in extenuation that it was for the purpose of confirming a question in his profession, and wholly in the interest of science that he did it, and really to spare the feelings of the parents that he did it secretly.  He argued that no real