promptly opened
his heart in characteristic fashion.

"They're all sheep, every one of 'em," he beamed upon his confederate.
"They'll be so easy fleecin' it seems hardly worth while. All they
need is liquor, and cards, and dice. Yes, an' a few women hangin'
around. You can leave the rest to themselves. We'll get the gilt, and
to hell with the dough under it. Gee, it's an elegant proposition!"
And he rubbed his hands gleefully. "But ther' must be no delay. We
must get busy right away before folks get wind of the luck. I'll need
marquees an' things until I can get a reg'lar shanty set up. Have you
got a wood spoiler you can trust?"

McGinnis nodded.

"Then weight him down with money so we don't need to trust him too
much, and ship him out with the lumber so he can begin right away.
We're goin' to make an elegant pile."

In his final remark lay the key-note of his purpose. But the truth of
it would have been infinitely more sure had the pronoun been singular.

Never was so much popularity extended to Beasley in his life as at the
moment of his return to camp. When the gold-seekers beheld his convoy,
with the wagons loaded with all those things their hearts and stomachs
craved, the majority found themselves in a condition almost ready to
fling welcoming arms about his neck. Their wishes had been expressed,
their demands made, and now, here they were fulfilled.

A rush of trade began almost before the storekeeper's marquee was
erected. It began without regard to cost, at least on the purchasers'
parts. The currency was gold, weighed in scales which Beasley had
provided, and his exorbitant charges remained quite unheeded by the
reckless creatures he had marked down for his victims.

In twenty-four hours the camp was in high revelry. In forty-eight
Beasley's rough organization was nearing completion. And long before
half those hours had passed gold was pouring into the storekeeper's
coffers at a pace he had never even dreamed of.

But the first rush was far too strenuous to be maintained for long.
The strain was too great even for such wild spirits as peopled the
camp. It soared to its height with a dazzling rapidity, culminating in
a number of quarrels and fights, mixed up with some incipient
shooting, after which a slight reaction set in which reduced it to a
simmer at a magnificently profitable level for the foxy storekeeper.
Still, there remained ample evidence that the Devil was rioting in the
camp and would co