oon," he said. Then he added slowly: "It seems
a pity."

"His coming back?" Buck eyed his companion quickly.

"Yes."

"Wher' d'you reckon he's gone?"

The elder man raised a pair of astonished brows.

"Why, to Leeson Butte," he said decidedly. Then he went on quietly,
but with neither doubt nor hesitation: "There's a real big change
coming here--when Beasley gets back. These men want drink, they are
getting restless for high play. They are hankering for--for the
flesh-pots they think their gold entitles them to. Beasley will give
them all those things when he comes back. It's a pity."

Buck thought for some moments before he answered. He was viewing the
prospect from the standpoint of his years.

"They must sure have had 'em anyway," he said at last.

"Ye--es."

The Padre understood what was in the other's mind.

"You see," he went on presently, "I wasn't thinking of that so much.
It's--well, it amounts to this. These poor devils are just working to
fill Beasley's pockets. Beasley's the man who'll benefit by this
'strike.' In a few months the others will be on the road again, going
through all--that they've gone through before."

"I guess they will," Buck agreed. His point of view had changed. He
was seeing through the older eyes. After that they moved on toward
their home lost in the thoughts which their brief talk had inspired.

In a few days the Padre's prophecy was fulfilled. Beasley returned
from Leeson Butte at the head of a small convoy. He had contrived his
negotiations with a wonderful skill and foresight. His whole object
had been secrecy, and this had been difficult. To shout the wealth of
the camp in Leeson Butte would have been to bring instantly an
avalanche of adventurers and speculators to the banks of Yellow Creek.
His capital was limited to the small amount he had secretly hoarded
while his comrades were starving, and the gold he had taken from his
claim. The latter was his chief asset not from its amount, but its
nature. Therefore he had been forced to take the leading merchant in
the little prairie city into his confidence, and to suggest a
partnership. This he had done, and a plausible tongue, and the sight
of the wonderful raw gold, had had the effect he desired. The
partnership was arranged, the immediate finance was forthcoming, and,
for the time at least, Leeson Butte was left in utter ignorance of its
neighboring Eldorado.

Once he had made his deal with Silas McGinnis, Beasley