ays lived by himself till the
Irishman came; he was another queer sort of duck and was a first-class
miner, too, so him and Jack has worked together and lived together
ever since, but Jack is boss."

"Are they the only miners living by themselves?" asked Houston.

"The only single men; there's six or seven of 'em that are married and
have families, like Maverick; they have very good shacks, furnished by
the company, but all the single men, excepting them two, live at the
quarters. By the way, have you ever been down to the quarters?"

"No," replied Houston, "but I should like very well to visit them."

"All right, we'll go to-night if you like; I go down there myself once
in a while and listen to their stories; they've most of 'em had some
queer experiences, and they can spin as many yarns as a lot of
sailors, any time."

Later in the evening, Houston, having excused himself to the ladies in
general, and Miss Gladden in particular, accompanied by Morgan, was on
his way to the miners' quarters. The latter were situated but a short
distance from the office, on the road to the mines, and consisted of
two boarding houses and four bunk houses. Farther down the road were
the stables for the horses used in hauling supplies; also blacksmith
and carpenter shops, and a storehouse.

A rather novel scene presented itself to Houston as he approached.
Scattered about on the ground, and loafing in the door-ways in all
attitudes and positions, were over a hundred men, of various ages,
classes and nationalities, but principally Cornishmen, or, in
western vernacular, "Cousin Jacks." Many of them were strangers to
him, being employed in other mines than those with which he was
familiar, but among them were many of his own men. From the
door-way of one of the bunk houses came the strains of a violin,
while in another, a concertina shrieked and groaned, and from all
directions came the sound of ribald songs, coarse jests and
boisterous laughter. Here and there were groups of men engaged in
playing poker or seven-up, where little piles of silver and gold
were rapidly changing hands, to the accompaniment of muttered oaths.
At one side, Maverick and a few kindred spirits seemed trying to
outrival one another in profanity and obscenity, while at some
distance from them, was a large company of the better class of
men, some lounging against trees and rocks, some sitting or lying
at full length on the ground, but all listening with unmistak