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THE MYSTERIES AND MISERIES OF SAN FRANCISCO.
CHAPTER I
The Alarm—The Flames—The Ladder.
San Francisco, on the marge of thesea, with towering hills behind her, laybasking in the sun like a serpent by theside of a rock.
The dwellings of the more fortunateclasses loomed pleasantly on the side ofthe large round hills in the distance, andmight with the aid of a little fancy, havebeen metamorphosed into the castellateddomains of the feudal barons whosereign succeeded that of absolute barbarismin Europe. Those quiet dwellingsamid the solitude of nature, present avivid contrast to the stirring scenes ofthe town below, and accordingly all whopossess taste and the means of gratifyingit, rear a building among the hillsto which they can retire, after the fatiguesof the day, and solace themselveswith the comforts of domestic retiracy,and the grand simplicity of nature.
In giving a coup d’œil at the scene,from the city itself, one is struck by thepointed roof rising above a range of hillswhich lie to the south west of the nobleharbor, and which crowns a dark pilethat, on a nearer approach, seems tolean against the side of a mountain uponwhose peak linger the last beams of thesetting sun. This extensive edifice isthe dwelling or homestead of the wealthyand far-famed Senor de Castro, an oldresident of the country, and one of theproudest of the ancient lords of the soil.His horses are the best, his table themost sumptuous, and his servants themost numerous of any ranchero in theregions round about California.
It was early on one afternoon in June,18—, that several young men, mostlyAmericans, were conversing around atable in one of the principle Cafes inthe young city of San Francisco; a stoutrobus