lick agin letting the Bank orf," growled Garstang. "Why not let
the escort get its gold to the Bank, and then nab everything in the
show. The original plan's the best."

"I gave you credit for more sense, Garstang." The leader of the gang
looked darkly at his subordinate. "I gave you credit for knowing more of
your trade."

"More credit, eh?" asked the man with the crooked mouth. "For why?"

The four rascals were in the cottage where they had met before, and the
room reeked with the smoke of bad tobacco.

"Why?" replied Dolphin. "Because you're the oldest hand of the lot, an'
you've been in the business all your life."

"Jes' so," said Garstang, with an evil smile. "'Xcept when I've bin the
guest of the Widow."

"Which has been pretty frequent," interjected Sweet William.

"To clean the Bank out is easy enough," said Dolphin: "the trouble is
to get away with the stuff. You ought to see that with half an eye. To
stick up the escort requires a little skill, a little pluck; but as for
gettin' away with the gold afterwards, that's child's play."

"Dead men don't tell no tales," remarked Sweet William.

"But their carcases do," objected Garstang.

"You beat everything!" exclaimed the leader, growing almost angry.
"Ain't there such a thing as a shovel? No wonder you were copped pretty
often by the traps, Garstang."

"You two men wrangle like old women," said Carnac. "Drop it. Tell us
what's the first thing to do."

"To go an' look at the country," answered Dolphin.

"That's it.... Go it.... Dolphin controls the whole push.... Jest do as
'e tells." Garstang was evidently annoyed that the leadership of the
murderous gang, which had once been his, had passed out of his hands.

Dolphin took no notice of the remarks. "We shall have plenty time to get
to work, 'cause the Bank can't bring the gold to town till it's bought
it, and it can't begin to buy it till the agent reaches the field, an'
he only started to-day."

"Every blessed thing's ready," chimed in Sweet William, who was
evidently backing the new leader strongly. "Carny an' me's bin through
the guns, an' they're all clean an' took to bits ready for putting in
the swags. When they're packed, not a trap in the country but wouldn't
take us for the garden variety of diggers, 2 dwts. to the dish, or even
less. Quite mild, not to say harmless, gruel-fed, strictly vegetarian--a
very useful an' respectable body of men."

Dolphin smiled at the young man's witticis