to place more credence in their story than any of the
company promoters had done. What was more to the purpose, he offered
to provide them with a horse, camp-gear and provisions, in exchange
for a certain share in the mine should their search prove successful.
The share was rather a large one, but, as the man pointed out, it was
very probable that they might not strike the lode at all. They also
made the acquaintance of a young surveyor who had set up in the wooden
settlement several months earlier and had done very little business
since. He was quite willing to give them the benefit of his
professional services on somewhat similar terms to those the
storekeeper had made.

The result of this was that early one morning they set out once more
on the gold trail. When they made their first camp at sunset in a
grove of towering pines they held a council. It was almost dark amidst
the serried rows of tremendous trunks, but the light of the snapping
fire fell upon their faces, which were all a trifle grave. In the case
of two of the party, at least, their faces were stamped with a certain
quiet resolution and a hint of the forcefulness which comes of rigid
and continuous self-denial. Men discover in the bush that abstention
from most of the little comforts and amenities of life not
infrequently tends to vigor of body and clarity of mind. This,
however, is a fact that has been accepted long ago, for it is not, as
a rule, the full-fleshed, self-indulgent man who does anything worth
while. Their skin was clear and bronzed, their nerves steady, and,
though Grenfell differed from them in these respects, their eyes were
very keen, with a snap in the depths of them. They were eyes that
could look peril and defeat squarely in the face without flinching.

Devine, the young surveyor, laughed as he flung his empty enameled
plate aside.

"It's quite a long time since I had a meal of that kind," he said.
"After all, there is a certain satisfaction in the feeling that you
couldn't eat very much more even if you had it, though that's an
opportunity to which I've not been accustomed lately. I've made my
supper rather frequently on half of a stale flapjack, and had the
other half for breakfast the next day. Having admitted that, suppose
we turn our attention to the proposition in front of us. You were
heading south when you separated from Verneille, Grenfell?"

"About south. I can't be sure."

"That," observed the surveyor, "may mean an