hit out back the way he come."

Carmena's look told Lennon that he must make the next play. He thought
quickly. If the girl was not mistaken, Slade would take Elsie away with
him and chance the revenge of Cochise. The Apache might be appeased by
permission to follow his intended victim back into the Basin.

Had Lennon considered only himself he would have been willing to chance
a fight with the renegade. But the mere thought of abandoning Elsie to
either the Apache or this brutal trader was altogether unbearable.

"Indeed, yes--to be sure, Mr. Slade," he blandly made reply. "If you do
not desire me as a partner, I have no wish to remain here. Doubtless I
shall not require your aid to find the mine for which I am looking."

"Mine?" queried Slade, his pale eyes narrowing. "What mine?"

"It's the lost lode," cut in Carmena, her rich voice quivering with
eagerness. "I couldn't say anything until Jack spoke. He was headed for
the mine when his burro was shot and we had to leave his outfit--thanks
to Cochise. But he knows where to find the lost lode. Got it from
Cripple Sim--back East. It's somewhere over near Triple Butte. You see
now why I thought you'd be glad to have me bring Jack in as a partner?"

The red face of the trader fairly glowed with geniality. He held out his
beefy hand to Lennon.

"Shake, pard. Why didn't you speak up sooner? I might have knowed you
was O.K. But Carmena is only a gal, and we got to be careful of
strangers in these parts. Bad place for hoss thieves and brand-blotters.
That's why I put up with a mean Injun like Cochise. He and his bunch see
to it we don't lose no stock."

"Yes, they're great on rounding up, and so far they have never committed
any murders--that can be proved against them," put in Carmena, with an
ironical smile. "Just the same, it wasn't their fault they didn't get
Jack. Do you wonder he won't have them in on this lost-lode deal? Either
he plays a lone hand, or we run Cochise out of the country."

"My offer is ten thousand in cash," said Lennon. "The copper company
pays me twice that and----"

"Copper, huh? What's a copper company got to do with a gold lode?"
demanded Slade.

"But Jack says the lost lode is copper, not gold," said Carmena. "Maybe
we've been mistaken all these years. Sim told Jack it was a copper mine,
and Sim ought to know."

Lennon caught the significant glance that the girl covertly gave to
Slade. He was seized with black doubt whether her schem