an get a Mexican to do the assessment work, and
he'd be glad of the money. You never can tell what may happen,"
advised Judge Breckenridge.

"I had a sort of hunch that we ought to keep it, but then again in the
night I decided that it would be foolish. We can go elsewhere and
locate more claims."

"I'll take a trip over there with you this afternoon and have a look at
'Little Orphan Annie.' Tommy Sharpe is threatening to lay in wait for
Kie Wicks with a shotgun."

"Tommy's a fool! He always was!" exclaimed Enid impatiently. "He
can't imagine there is any way of getting the better of a person except
by shooting him. He even wanted to go after Sol Curtin. I believe he
had the notion that he could do it all by himself. He's a funny boy!"

The Judge frowned. Although a year had passed since Enid had been
found, the father could not talk, without emotion, of the man who had
kidnapped his daughter when she was a child. Sol was in jail and would
be there for many years, but still the father was uneasy.

"This Kie Wicks makes me think of Sol," he said bitterly. "And I want
you to keep as far away from him as possible. Have a man do the work
for you if you keep this claim near his."

That afternoon the Judge rode with the girls down Lost Canyon, through
the Iron Gate to the smaller creek and picked their way around the
boulders of the river bed.

About a mile from the claim, they met Professor Gillette. He had been
far over one of the hills in search of the ruins. Half a dozen
arrowheads were his reward. He was preparing a belated dinner in the
creek-bed, over a smouldering fire.

The girls were impatient to go on, and dragged the Judge away from his
friend.

"Come on up over that hill when you finish your lunch," invited the
Judge. "I have to obey, so I'm off."

"What made you think of coming away up here to locate claims, Kit?" the
Judge asked as they brought their horses to the summit.

"Dad said there were some good claims over this way, and I've had
experience. I've lived out here all my life and know how they go about
their location work."

"I'll say your view is worth as much as 'Orphan Annie,'" enthused Judge
Breckenridge, as he looked over the ranges of mountains and the
deep-cut canyons.

"But views are not worth a Mexican dime out here. You can't cash in on
a good outlook," returned Bet with a chuckle. "It's the mine that
counts. Now tell us, don't you think we made a good job of