noon
To our surprise and delight he offered to accompany us ; and Bagsby , too , decided to leave . McNally , Buck Barry , and Missouri Jones , however , could not be persuaded out of their intention of remaining to dig fresh gold ; nor , I am afraid , were we very cordial in our insistence . We considered them foolhardy ; but in our then mood we did not greatly care . By noon we had packed our goods , and by night we had broken the back of our return journey . We found a full-grown town where we had left a few tents and miners ' cabins . Its main street ran either side the deep dust of the immigrant trail , and consisted of the usual shanties , canvas shacks , and log structures , with rather more than the customary allowance of tin cans , old clothes , worn-out boots , and empty barrels kicking around . The diggings were in the gulch below the road ; but the streets of the town , and especially the shady sides of the buildings , were numerously furnished with lounging men .