t
nuggets all day long, till yer tired o' seein' 'em, hain't ye? Tad, I
seed the beatenest bunch o' young'uns to-day ye ever seed in yer life,
all on a explorin' trip o' some kind."

"That so?" replied Tad, "must have been the same party I saw. Did you see
that tall, slender lad with the brown eyes and dark hair?"

"Yep, b'lieve I did, come t' think on it, only I didn't pay much
pertic'lar 'tention to none of 'em."

Tad helped himself to an old chair, and, leaning back against the wall,
lighted his pipe. He was quiet for a long time, then he spoke in a slow,
thoughtful manner, his pipe held firmly between his teeth, his eyes
fixed on a spot far away down the mountain.

"Dad, the boy has come. He's come to me, and he's just like his
father--tall and straight and clean-cut. Dad, he needs a father, and
perhaps I'll have to act in that capacity yet, who knows, for that
uncle of his is a rascal and will bear a good deal of watching."

"What? Ye don't mean the young feller ye was a tellin' me about the other
evenin'? Bill's boy really come to the mountains?" asked Dad, becoming
interested at once.

"Yes, he's here, Dad, as sure as I'm a living man. He went up this trail
this afternoon, and I talked with him. He asked about his father the
first thing; said his father owned a mine up here somewhere, and asked me
if I knew Tad Kieser."

"Shoot me fer a pole-cat. Well, I'll be dum-swizzled, course ye told him
Yep, ye knowed him a little, didn't ye?"

"No, Dad, I didn't, and that's just what I've come down to talk to you
about this evening. You see, it's like this: If I had told him who I was,
that would have been the end of it, but if he doesn't really find out who
I am for a while yet, perhaps I can locate a paying gold mine for him.
I always have felt that I owed him at least that much."

"So ye didn't tell him?" pondered Dad. "Well, Tad, yer head is a sight
longer'n mine is, an' I s'pose ye know what's best; but, my boy, let me
give ye a little advice: If ye wait till ye find a real gold mine in
these here parts, the boy's likely as not to die o' old age 'fore ye find
it."

"Perhaps so, Dad. Perhaps you're right; but then, if I don't ever find
it, I won't tell him who I am, because he'd be disappointed. He thinks
his father owned a real mine in these mountains somewhere, and he's
looking for it. Do you know, I've been wondering--no, it can't be,
though; I suppose I'm foolish, but someway, I've always felt that I ou