e a 'cure,' as we call it on our side of the herring
pond. What have I done to 'riz your dander,' as you elegantly express it
here?"

"Britisher, nothing. You know no better. It takes more than that to put
my back up. But forty years agone I do believe I must 'a heaved you out
o' window."

"Why, Colonel, why? Now be reasonable. Not a word have I said reflecting
either upon you or your country; and a finer offer than I have made can
not come to many of you, even in this land of gold. Ten thousand dollars
I offer, and I will exceed my instructions and say fifteen, all paid on
the nail by an order on Frisco, about which you may assure yourself. And
what do I ask in return? Legal proof of the death of a man whom we know
to be dead, and the custody of his child, for her own good."

"Squire, I have no other answer to make. If you offered me all the gold
dug in these mountains since they were discovered, I could only say what
I have said before. You came from Sylvester's ranch--there is time for
you to get back ere the snow begins."

"What a hospitable man you are! Upon my word, Gundry, you deserve to
have a medal from our Humane Society. You propose to turn me out of
doors to-night, with a great fall of snow impending?"

"Sir, the fault is entirely your own. What hospitality can you expect
after coming to buy my guest? If you are afraid of the ten-mile ride,
my man at the mill will bed you. But here you must not sleep, because
I might harm you in the morning. I am apt to lose my temper sometimes,
when I go on to think of things."

"Colonel, I think I had better ride back. I fear no man, nor his temper,
nor crotchets. But if I were snowed up at your mill, I never might
cross the hill-foot for months; but from Sylvester's I can always get to
Minto. You refuse, then, to help me in any way?"

"More than that. I will do every thing in my power to confound you. If
any one comes prowling after that young lady, he shall be shot."

"That is most discouraging. However, you may think better of it. Write
to this address if you do. You have the girl here, of course?"

"That is her concern and mine. Does your guide know the way right well!
The snow is beginning. You do not know our snows, any more than you know
us."

"Never mind, Mr. Gundry. I shall do very well. You are rough in your
ways, but you mean to do the right; and your indignation is virtuous.
But mark my words upon one little point. If George Castlewood had been
livi