We continued up the hill as wind pushed against us and sand blew in my face. I longed for a nice, warm bath but wasn’t sure when I would get one.
When we finally reached Portsmouth Square, I paused to take several deep breaths. My legs were burning from the climb, and my feet were still tender from the blisters. Sam’s hotel stood proud across from Clay Street, though it didn’t look like much work had been done on the outside since we’d left.
Sam took in his hotel, as well, and I saw the confusion on his face. He had commissioned several men to help Paddy while we were gone and had hoped it would be ready to open when we returned.
I wanted to run across the square to check on Father and Hazel, but I also wanted to hear what the assayer had to say about our gold.
Thankfully, there were no customers in the office when we entered. Mr. Frederick Kohler, the assayer, sat at his desk in the corner of the room, writing vigorously in a ledger. He glanced up and nodded a greeting as Sam and the young men set the bags on the counter.
After Sam paid the men, they left the office, and we turned to Mr. Kohler.
“How may I help you?” he asked.
“We’d like to have you process our gold,” Sam said, nodding at the bags.
Mr. Kohler opened the first bag and glanced inside, his eyebrows coming up in surprise. “That’s a lot of gold.”
“We had a good run.”
“I’d say so.” Mr. Kohler pulled a form out from under the counter and dipped a pen in the ink pot. He asked Sam several questions, including the location where the gold had been found. Since an assayer was a trusted and confidential representative, Sam was able to tell him where we’d located it. The information would not be shared publicly.
“Let’s weigh this and see what we have here.” Mr. Kohler took several minutes to weigh the crude gold, making marks on his paper, tallying numbers, making corrections, and then adding more.
Sam and I stood silently until he was done.
When he finished, he came back to the counter and smiled. “Your gold weighs six thousand six hundred and five troy ounces, or just over four hundred and fifty-six pounds.”
My eyebrows rose with surprise, since that was more than Sam had estimated. “How much is it worth?”
“After subtracting our fee,” he said, “you’re looking at about one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, ma’am.”
It was an astronomical amount of money in 1849, especially if we had been anywhere but San Francisco. Even in California, it was a lot. How much more would it be in 1929? Hope and relief overwhelmed me.
“When can you have it ready for us?” Sam asked.
“This time tomorrow. I’ll give you your receipt, and you can return at your convenience.”
“Thank you.” Sam accepted the piece of paper, and we left.
My excitement knew no bounds as we stood outside the office, grinning at each other. I wanted to throw myself into his arms, to hug him and congratulate him and thank him, but I refrained, not wanting to cause tongues to wag.
Portsmouth Square was a far cry from Sydney Town, and people would notice and care if I broke the rules of propriety here.
“Is it safe to leave the gold with him?” I finally asked, needing to say something to release my pent-up energy.
“Safest place next to a bank,” he said. “The assayer’s word is as good as gold, as they say.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I had worried so much about getting the gold back to San Francisco, and though it had been physically grueling, we had encountered no real difficulties or threats except my blisters. It seemed too good to be true, making me feel a little uneasy.
We didn’t even need to discuss where we planned to go next as we made our way across the large square toward Sam’s hotel.
People glanced in our direction, but no one seemed too concerned about Sam today.
Their attention was on me.
I was used to being watched, but this felt different. It wasn’t curiosity I saw in their eyes, but judgment, especially from a group of three women I’d never met before. They stood outside the grocer’s, all dressed modestly in gingham and bonnets. I smiled, excited to see women who might become friends, but they turned their backs on me.
“Do you know those women?” I asked Sam, surprised and hurt a little by their obvious snubbing.
