‘It sounds like it,’ said Collis. ‘But what about Laurence Melford? Is he a hard man to get to know?’

‘These days, sure,’ said Andrew. ‘He’s one of the pioneers, you see, and that makes him first-class, tested-with-the-teeth Chivalry. One of the best lessons he learned from Mariano Vallejo was how to save his hide and hang on to his money, and he learned it good. When John Frémont marched into Sonoma in ’46 to liberate it from the Mexicans, Melford was there with open arms and a ten-page speech of welcome. And when John Frémont was picked by the settlers to be the top dog of Yerba Buena, Melford was there too, clapping with the best of them. But, by golly, he was there again when General Kearny came marching along and kicked Frémont out, and the way I heard it, he gave General Kearny the same ten-page speech of welcome he’d given to Frémont with only the names changed. So when General Kearny went off home, and Frémont was packed off in irons because he’d refused to stand down, who was left on the top of the sandpile but Laurence Melford, and he made himself a whole heap of profit selling beef and provisions in San Francisco and all around, and even acquired himself the San Gabriel gold mine, by means that nobody ever did get around to making plain.’

‘He sounds like a fascinating man,’ said Collis. ‘Is he a gambler?’

‘Name me one man in San Francisco who isn’t.’

‘Where does he live? Have you ever been to his house?’

‘I’ve seen the outside of it, sure. It’s in South Park, which is up on Rincon Hill where the Parrotts live. There’s some pretty fancy addresses up there, I can tell you. They’ve even got themselves a windmill up there, just to pump water for the lawns.’

‘I’ll have to pay it a visit.’

Andrew shrugged. ‘I guess you could try. But I warn you they’re standoffish folks, the Chivalry, even worse than any society you could find in New York or Memphis. When you’re trying to show that you’re class in New York or Memphis, it ain’t so difficult, because you’ve got yourself a fine civilised city to do it in. But when you’re trying to show that you’re class in a shantytown like San Francisco, where any building that ain’t made of wood is made of canvas, well, you tend to be three times as covetous of what you’ve got, and what you think you are.’

The gong struck for lunch, and a bearded steward banged open the door to the dining-saloon and shouted: ‘Boiled rockfish, Swedish meatballs, and sharp Wisconsin cheese! Come and get it!’

‘Oh, well,’ said Collis, getting to his feet, ‘I suppose we’re in for another culinary adventure.’

Andrew Hunt grinned. ‘It does me good to see you young society fellows come out here and cut your teeth on some rough-edged pioneer life,’ he said. ‘It’ll make a man out of you, so long as it don’t kill you first.’