l_ do, now he ain't standin' in with the crowd
that hands out the law, Sam. He might try to make it a show-down right
here an' drive us out of the camp or leave us tucked away stiff in some
prospect hole. But there's a lot of decent material drifted in an' it
w'udn't be hard to beat him to that play an' organize a camp committee
fo' the regulation of law an' order till such time as the camp proves
itself an' is established. Once big capital gits stahted in here the
law'll be workin' right along hand in hand with the development. Let's
take a pasear an' look at Casey's workings."

Patrick Casey had run in a tunnel from the face of his discovery.
Weathered porphyry float showed on the dump whose size suggested greater
depth to the tunnel than they had expected. Its mouth had been closed by
timbers fitting closely into the frame of the horizontal shaft, forming,
not so much a door, as a barricade, that had been firmly spiked to heavy
timbers. This had been recently dismantled and then replaced, as recent
marks on the weathered lumber showed. Sandy looked at these places
closely, frowning as he gave his verdict.

"Some one monkeyin' with this inside of the last month," he announced.
"The nails ain't rusted like the old ones an' the chips are fresh. Like
as not it was that bunch of easterners. They'd figger the camp was
abandoned an' consider themselves justified as philanthropists into
bu'stin' open anything that looked good--like this tunnel. A man w'udn't
go to the trouble of timberin' up if he didn't think he had somethin'
inside that was goin' to turn up high cahd some day. 'Course the
capitalist, if he found somethin' that looked good, 'ud hunt up the
owner in the registry an' make him an offer. But it w'udn't be a half
interest in the mine. He'd say he was thinkin' of developin' half a mile
away an', if he bought cheap enough, he might make an offer. Yes, sir,"
Sandy went on, warming to his own theory, "it w'udn't surprise me if
this warn't the mine they sampled which Plimsoll finds out is the real
stuff an' clamps on."

"Well," said Mormon, "we'll have a chance to ask him in a minute. He's
comin' up with that crowd of his rangin' erlong an' their ha'r liftin'.
Thar's that ungrateful skunk I chucked the boots at. Plim don't look
over an' above pleased the way things are breakin'. Looks as amiable as
a timber wolf with his tail in a b'ar trap."

The three partners met the jumpers, now headed by Plimsoll, on the
bor