By Mark Twain
ReadOasis Step 2
(Part 1)
When I was young, I went looking for gold in California. I never found enough to make me rich, but I did discover a beautiful part of the country. It was called "The Stand". The Stand was like Heaven on Earth. It had bright green hills and deep forests where soft winds touched the trees.
Other men, also looking for gold, had reached the Stand hills of California many years before I did. They had built a town in the valley with sidewalks, stores, banks, and...