I thought, When a man is properly drunk it is as though he is an a room by himself--there is a physical, impenetrable separation between him and his fellows.

Why were you feeling low? Why does anyone? It creeps up on you from time to time.

It is hard to find a friend,' I said. 'It is the hardest thing in this world,' he agreed.

Do you know how much a hundred dollars is?' he asked. I said that I did not and he answered, 'It is a hundred dollars.

It is true, I thought. I am living a life.

This perhaps was what lay at the root of the hysteria surrounding what came to be known as the Gold Rush: Men desiring a feeling of fortune; the unlucky masses hoping to skin or borrow the luck of others, or the luck of a destination. A seductive notion, and one I thought to be wary of. To me, luck was something you either earned or invented through strength of character. You had to come by it honestly; you could not trick or bluff your way into it.

Come with me into the world and reclaim your independence. You stand to gain so much, and riches are the least of it.