The Golden Dream

The Golden Dream
R.M. Ballantyne
Chapter I.
Adventures in the Far West.
The Cause of the Whole Affair.
Ned Sinton gazed at the scene before him with indescribable
amazement! He had often witnessed strange things in the course of his
short though chequered life, but he had never seen anything like this.
Many a dream of the most extravagant nature had surrounded his
pillow with creatures of curious form and scenes of magic beauty, but
never before, either by actual observation or in nightly vision, had Ned
Sinton beheld a scene so wonderful as that which now lay spread out
before him.
Ned stood in the centre of a cavern of vast dimensions--so vast, and so
full of intense light, that instead of looking on it as a huge cave, he felt
disposed to regard it as a small world. The sides of this cavern were
made of pure gold, and the roof--far above his head--was spangled all
over with glittering points, like a starry sky. The ground, too, and, in
short, everything within the cave, was made of the same precious metal.
Thousands of stalactites hung from the roof like golden icicles.
Millions of delicate threads of the same material also depended from
the star-spangled vault, each thread having a golden ball at the end of it,
which, strange to say, was transparent, and permitted a bright flame
within to shine through, and shed a yellow lustre over surrounding
objects. All the edges, and angles, and points of the irregularly-formed
walls were of burnished gold, which reflected the rays of these pendant
lamps with dazzling brilliancy, while the broad masses of the frosted
walls shone with a subdued light. Magnificent curtains of golden
filigree fell in rich voluminous folds on the pavement, half concealing

several archways which led into smaller caverns, similar to the large
one. Altogether it was a scene of luxurious richness and splendour that
is utterly indescribable.
But the thing that amazed Ned Sinton most was, that the company of
well-dressed ladies and gentlemen who moved about in these splendid
halls, and ate golden ices, or listened to the exquisite strains of music
that floated on the atmosphere, were all as yellow as guineas! Ned
could by no means understand this. In order to convince himself that
there was no deception in the matter, he shook hands with several of
the people nearest to him, and found that they were cold and hard as
iron; although, to all appearance, they were soft and pliable, and could
evidently move about with perfect freedom.
Ned was very much puzzled indeed. One would have thought he must
have believed himself to be dreaming. Not a bit of it. He knew perfectly
well that he was wide-awake. In fact, a doubt upon that point never
crossed his mind for a moment. At length he resolved to ask the
meaning of it all, and, observing a stout old gentleman, with a bland
smile on his yellow countenance, in the act of taking a pinch of golden
snuff from a gold snuff-box, he advanced and accosted him.
"Pray, sir," began Ned, modestly, "may I take the liberty of asking you
what is the meaning of all this?"
"All what, sir?" inquired the old gentleman, in a deep metallic voice.
"This golden cave, with its wonderful lamps, and especially these
golden people; and--excuse me, sir, for remarking on the
circumstance--you seem to be made of gold yourself. I have often heard
the term applied to extremely rich persons, but I really never expected
to see a man who was literally 'worth his weight in gold.'"
The old gentleman laughed sarcastically at this sally, and took an
enormous pinch of gold-dust.
As he did not seem inclined to be communicative, however, Ned said
again, "What is the meaning of it all? can you explain what has done

it?"
Smiling blandly at his interrogator, this gentleman of precious metal
placed his head a little on one side, and tapped the lid of his snuff-box,
but said nothing. Then he suddenly exclaimed, at the full pitch of his
voice, "California, my boy! That's what's done it, Edward! California
for ever! Ned, hurrah!"
As the deep tones of his voice rang through the star-spangled vault, the
company took up the shout, and with "California for ever!" made the
cavern ring again. In the excess of their glee the gentlemen took off
their hats, and the ladies their wreaths and turbans, and threw them in
the air. As many of them failed to catch these portions of costume in
their descent, the clatter caused by their fall on the golden pavement
was very striking indeed.
"Come here, my lad," said the old gentleman, seizing Ned Sinton by the
arm, and laughing heartily as he dragged him towards an immense
mirror