Free L'or by Blaise Cendrars Page A

highway of France, and via Lure, Vesoul, Vitrey and Langres, they reach Chaumont in time to catch the mail-coach to Paris. From Chaumont, they could certainly have taken the steam train which runs to Troyes, and from there reached Paris by the Iron Way, but, in one of the coaching inns, Frau Sutter has seen a leaflet containing drawings by a certain Daumier, drawings which delineate all the dangers to which this new mode of locomotion exposes its passengers. That is why, despite her instructions, she boards the public coach that arrives from Strasbourg; it is less dangerous, and besides, in this way she will be able to remain a little longer amongst German-speaking people. The children, especially the boys, are disappointed.
    In Paris, Dardel the Elder, her banker, warns her against too great a haste. It is in his home that she first hears of the discovery of gold. She is tempted to cry and run home to her father's house. Monsieur Dardel does not know exactly what is afoot, but he has heard that all the down-and-outs from Europe are going to California, and that they are fighting and murdering one another in the mines. He advises her to go no further than Le Havre and to obtain reliable information from his colleagues there before venturing to embark.
    On the barge that sails down the Seine, there is a gang of men who look like cut-throats and gallows-birds; they form a little group apart from the other travellers. They are sitting on their luggage, talking quietly amongst themselves. Sometimes, furious arguments break out and one can hear, amidst shouts and imprecations, the words 'America, California, gold.'
    Messieurs Pury, Pury and Son open their eyes very wide when they see Frau Sutter entering their office and learn from her own lips that she wishes to travel to New Helvetia.
    'Why, yes, Madame, we know M. John Augustus Sutter extremely well, we are his commission agents and for many years have carried out substantial business deals on his behalf. Indeed, less than six months ago, we sent him a grand piano by sea. But things are changing, changing ... we are not yet sure precisely what is happening; he is said to be the richest man in the world at the moment. It seems he has discovered gold, mountains of gold. We don't know exactly how much. Nevertheless, we feel it is our absolute duty to dissuade you from embarking just now to join him. This is hardly the moment to go to California. During the last three months, Le Havre has been invaded by all kinds of adventurers bound for that country, men without law or religion, men who have committed the most heinous crimes in the town. This is not the moment to expose your sons, still less your young daughter, to such dangers. No, no one goes via New York any more, it takes far too long. We ourselves have chartered three steamers that go direct to Chagres, it's a much shorter route. Everyone is using this route now, there have been 712 departures already this month. But do reflect, Madame, just think of the risks you will run in such company! Be patient for a few months, we will seek instructions concerning you from M. John Augustus Sutter personally. You could . . .'
    But, in the face of Frau Sutter's mulish obstinacy, Messieurs Pury, Pury and Son cease to insist. They do whatever is necessary for her. Anna Sutter and her children embark on one of their steamers, La Ville de Brest , a paddle-boat which used to ply the Jersey run but has now been chartered by the new maritime line in Chagres for the transportation of would-be gold prospectors.
    The crossing takes forty-one days. There are eleven members of the crew and 129 passengers, many of whom help with the handling of the ship. Frau Sutter and her daughter are the only women aboard. The passengers come from every country, but are predominantly Frenchmen, Belgians, Italians and Spaniards. Five Swiss, nine Germans and one Luxembourger explain their enterprise to Frau Sutter in some detail. No, they have never heard of