sent to watch for Van Dorn
reached the little cabin. A lamp was burning within, as could be told
by the lines of light around the edge of the dark shade at the window,
but beyond this, there was neither sign nor sound. Having assured
themselves that there was no way by which they could ascertain what
was going on within, the men sat down behind a little clump of
evergreens, and filling their pipes, prepared to await developments.
Scarcely had they done so, however, when the light suddenly went out.

"What the divil do they think they're givin' us?" said one of the men,
with an oath.

"They seen us mos' likely, and they're tryin' to fool us that there's
nobody there."

"They can't play no such trick on us as that, damn 'em," said the
first speaker, but at that instant the cabin door opened, and two
figures came out. The men sprang quickly to their feet, making no
sound, and listening intently. They heard the lock click in the door,
and Jack's voice bidding Rex take care of the house, to which he
barked in reply; and then came Mike's broad voice:

"The saints presarve us! but the baste knows more than mony a mon, I'm
afther thinkin'."

"That he does," replied Jack, "and he is far more faithful."

The men, astonished, slunk back into the brush, their keen eyes
watching every movement of the two as they passed; there was no
mistaking those figures, or the rough clothes which they wore; it was
Jack and Mike, and their powerful muscle was too well known throughout
the camp, for any man, even the most brutal, to have the slightest
wish to tackle either of them.

As Jack and his companion passed out of hearing, the men dropped to
the ground, and for a moment the air resounded with their profanity,
while they held a brief consultation.

"They've tricked us, and that feller's hidin' 'round here," said the
leader, "or else he went on ahead to the mines; he hadn't no time to
go back to the house, for we'd 'a met 'im. There's somethin' in the
wind to-night," he added with an oath, "and I'm goin' to find out what
'tis. You fellers git after them two and keep 'em in sight; the boss
is down there, and mebbe the other feller, too; if ye see 'im, send
Jake to me, and I'll come 'round there and we'll lay for 'em. If he
ain't there, he's here, hidin' somewhere, and I'll watch and settle
his hash for 'im all right when he does show up."

"We'd better git some more of the boys," said Jake, "if we're goin' to
tackle them fellers