't go far on that piece of land, but I've saved
some, too."

"You might make a payment to hold the land," said Stone.

"I don't like that way. I want to buy it all at once."

Walter Stone smiled. Collie was ambitious, and rather inexperienced. "So
you think you will leave us and go to mining until you have made enough
more to buy it outright?"

"Yes, sir. I don't want you to think I ain't satisfied here. I like it
here."

"I know you do, Collie. Well, think it over. Prospecting is gambling.
It is sometimes magnificent gambling. Miss Lacharme's father was a
prospector. We have never heard from him since he went out on the
desert. But that has nothing to do with it. If I didn't believe you'd
make a first-rate citizen, I shouldn't hesitate a minute about your
going. I'd rather see you ranching it. We need solid men here in
California. There are so many remittance-men, invalids, idlers,
speculators, and unbalanced enthusiasts that do more harm than good,
that we need a few _new_ landmarks. We need a few new cornerstones and
keystones to stiffen the structure that is building so fast. I realize
that we must build from the ground up--not hang out tents from the
trees. That day is past."

"It's a big thing--to be stuck on California more than getting rich,"
said Collie.

"Yes. The State of California is a bank--a new bank. The more depositors
we have, the stronger we shall be--provided our depositors have faith in
us. We have their good will now. We need solid, two-handed men who can
take hold and prove that investment in our State is profitable."

"You bet!" exclaimed Collie, catching some of the older man's
enthusiasm. Then he added with less enthusiasm: "But how about such
things as the Jap ranchers dumping carloads of onions in the rivers and
melons in the ocean, by the ton, and every one cut so it can't be used
by poor folks? If Eastern people got on to that they would shy off
pretty quick."

"Yes," said the rancher, frowning. "It's true enough that such things do
happen. I've known of boatloads of fish being dumped back in the ocean
because the middlemen wouldn't give the fishermen a living price. In
western Canada thousands of bushels of grain have been burned on the
ground because the Eastern market was down and the railroads would not
make a rate that would allow a profit to the farmer. Such things are not
local to California. California is in the limelight just now and such
things are naturally prominent.