They came into the Trinities with gold on their minds. They were father and son though they did not know it. The gold they had in mind was not in the rocks and rivers, but in the banks and stores.
They were uneducated men with few skills to their names. One thing they did know well. That was the safe manufactured by Tilton and McFarland. They knew exactly how to open any safe they made. So it was to businesses with Tilton and McFarland safes that they turned their attention.
They were hungry and the night was cold. They crouched under a hemlock trying to stay out of the rain and they dined on a half cooked squirrel.
``Wasn't thinking of no brick buildings,'' the father said.
The son nodded, ``And solid built,'' he said as he pulled a squirrel tendon from between his teeth.
In the morning they went down to the settlers' place they had been watching. They were given work splitting rails. They went to the shop to sharpen axes. They took crow bars and a pick and hid them outside to pick up later. They put in a day's work, ate a fair meal of beef and beans and coffee and went on their way.
By midnight the town was deserted. Even the whorehouse was dark and silent.
The two men began to work the bricks loose at the back of the bank. It took seventy two minutes to get into the building. The safe held only $107. No gold. At the Post Office they got $35. At the store as dawn was breaking they found only something dry and brown and a shoe. The owner had long ago found a better place for his money.
They stayed in the brush by the side of the road, making their way down to the Sacramento. When they heard the stage coming they took cover but the old man was seen by the driver. The driver knew about the break ins. He got off a shot at the old man in the brush and killed him. He took $70 off the body and kicked it into a ravine. The young man crouched under a mountain mahogany and waited. After an hour or two he took off fast across country with his $70 safe and he did not stop until he reached Shasta.
He drank a fast beer and moved on.