d nursed the miserable little creature into recovery.
Denbigh, his foreman, who had seen Talbot sitting up for two whole
nights to watch the helpless animal, had carried away the impression
that the cold, quiet, hard and selfish man, as he appeared to the
miners, had another side to his character that they never saw. It was
this other side that the kitten was familiar with, and she came mewing
and purring with delight towards him. Talbot, who was ready to sink to
the floor with exhaustion, stooped and stroked the animal, which
followed his steps everywhere as he set about lighting up his stove. It
was very quiet, there was absolute silence all round him, and every step
of his heavy boots on the wooden floor, every crackle of the igniting
wood in the stove, seemed a loud and important sound in the stillness.
It was always very quiet at the gulch, Nature's own solemn quiet, except
in the summer time, when she filled it with the laughing voices of a
thousand streams and rills.

That evening, when his domestic arrangements were all put into working
order, his fire blazing, his coffee boiling on the hob, and his table
laid, he sank back in his chair with a weary sigh, his hand idly
stroking the cat, which had jumped purring on his knee. It seemed lonely
without Stephen, and he foresaw that probably many evenings would pass
now without his society.

The next morning, when it was yet barely light, and the gulch was
holding still all its damp black shadows of the night, Talbot was out
tramping over the claims, showing his men where to start new fires, and
carefully scanning the fresh gravel as it was thawed and dug out. All
his men had a pleasant salutation for him as he passed by, except one,
who merely leaned over his work and threw out his spadeful of gravel
savagely, as Talbot stopped by the fire. He took no notice apparently of
the man, and after a second's survey passed on to the next fire. The man
looked after him a moment sulkily and returned to his work. He was a
huge fellow, some six feet four, and with a massive frame and head to
suit his height. He had been working for many months with Talbot now,
and was a valuable labourer on account of his great strength and
capacity for work. At first he had been rather a favorite with Talbot,
and there hung now in his cabin a first-class six-shooter, the gift of
his master when he first came up to the gulch.

Dick Marley had had a devoted admiration for Talbot until the last