er father kept on,
despite the entreaties of her mother, she ran up and caught him by the
sleeve.

"No, don't go, father!" she cried appealingly and as Bunker replied with
an evasive laugh she turned her anger upon Denver.

"Why don't you get back your own mine?" she demanded, "instead of
dragging my father into it?"

"Never mind, now," protested Bunker, "we ain't going to have no
trouble--we just want to have a friendly talk. This has nothing to do
with Denver or his mine--all we want is a few words with Dave."

"He'll shoot you!" she insisted. "Oh, I just know something will happen.
Well, all right, then; I'm going along too!"

"Why, sure," smiled Bunker, "always glad to have company--but you'd
better stay back with your mother."

"No, I'm going to stay right here," she answered stubbornly, giving
Denver a hateful glance, "because I don't believe a word you say."

"Ve-ry well, my dear," responded Bunker indulgently and took her under
his arm.

"I'm going ahead!" she burst out quickly as they came to the turn in the
trail; and before he could stop her she slipped out of his embrace and
went running to the entrance of the cut. But there she halted suddenly
and when they came up they found her pale and trembling. "Oh, go back!"
she gasped. "He's in there--he'll shoot you. I know something awful will
happen!"

"You'd better go back, now," suggested her father quietly, and then he
turned to the barrier. "Don't start anything, Dave--we've come
peaceable, this time; so come out and let's have a talk."

There was a long, tense silence and then the muzzle of a gun stirred
uneasily and revealed the hiding place of Dave. He was crouched behind
the rocks which he had piled up across the cut where it entered the
slope of the hill, and his long barrelled six-shooter was thrust out
through a crack just wide enough to serve for a loop-hole.

"Don't want to talk," he answered at last. "So go on, now; get off of my
property."

"Well, now listen," began Bunker shaking off Drusilla's grasp, "we
acknowledge we made a slight mistake. We tried to run a whizzer and you
called us good and plenty--all right then, now let's have a talk. If you
can show title to this ground you're holding, we'll leave you in
peaceful possession; and if you can't, you're just wasting your time and
talents, because there's plenty more claims that ain't took. It's a
cinch you can't hide in that hole forever, so you might as well have it
out now."