means. Put down those guns, and do it quick."

"Suppose you set the example," said Tad quietly. He had not spoken up to
this point.

"Keep still!" commanded Darwood. "Put down those guns."

"Don't be in a hurry," advised Tad. "Before you do anything that you'll
regret, let me say that every man of you is covered. The slightest
hostile motion on your part is your death warrant."

"The Indian's got away!" cried Dawson.

Darwood for the first time realized that all the Pony Rider outfit was
not in sight.

"Either your friends will put down their guns and come out or we'll
shoot," snarled Darwood, fixing his gaze on Tad Butler.

"Are you so anxious to die, Curtis Darwood?" asked the lad calmly.

Darwood flushed, but the four men lowered their rifles to the ground.

"Mr. Darwood, I have something to tell you. Sit down," went on the boy.

"I reckon we'll do nothing of the sort."

"Sit down, I say!"

The men obeyed reluctantly.

"Keep them covered until they come to their senses, boys," directed Tad.
Then he went on to the men: "We don't blame you for feeling that every
man's hand is against you; but I'm going to prove to you that ours are
not. See this?" and Tad tossed to Darwood the rusty stone that he had
found in the sand-bar.

"Gold! A nugget of pure gold," breathed Darwood. "Where did you get it?"

"Perhaps we found the Taku Pass."

"And we've lost it," groaned Dawson.

"We'll fight for it, then!" shouted Darwood.

"You might wait until there's need for fighting, Mr. Darwood," said Tad
contemptuously. He then went on to describe the totem pole, while his
listeners became more and more excited. They got out an old map, and
after studying it Tad said:

"It is the Taku Pass that Stacy and I discovered. As it is undoubtedly
yours, we relinquish all claim to the land."

"How much do you want for the relinquishment?" asked Dawson.

"Nothing. Sit down and have breakfast with us and then we will lead you
to the place."

"I can't say much," said Darwood falteringly. "We've been a bunch of
driveling idiots."

After breakfast Anvik was sent to the men's camp for pans and implements
and supplies, and the others set off in Tad Butler's wake to explore the
gulch.

At one point the party found a slender vein of pure gold, enough to give
hope that the vein broadened out farther on. Tad, in a cavelike niche,
saw a gray streak of ore that reached for a long distance. A piece of
this about the size of a goos