How It All Goes Down
Part II: New Almaden
- Before meeting Oliver, Susan spends a night with Mary and Conrad Prager, Oliver's sister and her husband, in San Francisco. The Pragers are wealthy, so Susan is immediately comfy with them.
- Oliver takes Susan to his mining camp the following day. The camp is pretty backwoodsy, but Susan is impressed by the Hacienda, where the mine's wealthy managers live.
- After passing through the Hacienda, Oliver and Susan get to the Cornish camp, where Welsh immigrants who work at the mine live (2.1.30). There are other camps for Chinese and Mexican workers as well.
- Finally, Oliver and Susan arrive at their cottage. It's actually surprisingly nice and is nestled in a pretty, isolated corner of the camp. Oliver even has a dog named Stranger. Adorbs.
- After settling in, Susan builds up the nerve to ask Oliver about her train fare. Oliver is ashamed; he knows that he should have sent it to her but didn't have the money.
- Susan is awoken the next morning by Oliver bartering with a Chinese man named John. Susan and Oliver spend the morning cleaning up his bachelor pad to make it fit for a married couple.
- Later that afternoon, Susan and Oliver are visited by Mr. and Mrs. Kendall, "the manager and his wife" (2.1.130). Oliver tells Susan later that this is quite an unusual occurrence, crediting Susan's artistic reputation for the unexpected visit.
- Susan and Oliver eat dinner at Mother Fall's, an inn in the Cornish camp. It's a wild place, so Oliver and Susan head home early.