ed coldly.

Sandy's indignant eyes blazed.

"Gold? Pea-shucks!" he roared, with a furious oath. "An' I tell you
right here I ain't to be made no fool of. You ken take this
mule-headed job an'--an'--well, you ken take it. I quit right here."

But again Bill ignored his outburst. There was not a vestige of
expression in his face as he moved across to the mouth of a shaft
Scipio had been sinking before his work had been interrupted by the
going of his wife. He looked into it and pointed.

"Guess you best get right on makin' this hole deeper. Ther' ain't
nuthin' like diggin' to find out. Zip's sure a wise guy. I don't guess
I know what you'll likely find--but--you best kep diggin'. That's sure
his notion."

Sandy went purple in the face, and spluttered violently in his attempt
to speak. Finally, when he did get his words out, it was only to
repeat his decision.

"It's jest a mud swamp," he cried, "an' I quit."

Bill turned swiftly. His movements were almost cat-like as he came up
and peered into Sandy's face.

"You'll kep right on diggin' that hole," he said, with an icy threat.
"An' come Wednesday you'll quit diggin' an' hit the trail on Zip's
track--you an' Sunny an' Toby--an' you'll sure see no harm comes to
him. But he ain't to see you, nor to know you're chasin' him. An' you
ain't to stop him, no matter what fool trick he gets playin'. Get
me?"

Sandy's choler died out before the other's purpose. He suddenly
realized that his work on the claim was not of any great consequence
to his employer, that Bill had other thoughts, other schemes in his
head, and that he, Sandy, was to have his place in them. He nodded.

"I get you," he said. "But--"

"Ther' ain't no 'buts,'" interrupted Bill. "You're goin' to do as I
sez. Meanwhiles you're goin' right on diggin' that hole, to earn your
dollars."

And without another word he turned and hurried away towards the mouth
of the trail whence he had appeared.

CHAPTER XXVII

SUSPENSE

It was nearly sundown. A chilly mist was stealing down the slopes of
the surrounding hills. It densified to a ruddy fog as it caught the
glow of the evening sun, and finally settled upon the valley. And with
each passing moment the hills seemed to recede, their outlines to grow
more indistinct and ghostly. And gradually the whole prospect took on
the depressing aspect of a day dying wearily.

Had Jessie been less preoccupied as she stood at the door of the
ranch-house she mig