s three weeks since Tom had seen anybody or heard anyone speak, and
his eagerness to see where the voice came from was desperate. Throwing
his gun upon the rocks, he broke into another run, and there, just as he
turned around an abrupt bend in the canyon, he saw the person to whom it
belonged. The speaker stood with his hat and coat off; his pick lay
against a stone near by, and the shovel which he had been in the act of
using when Tom's rifle shots fell upon his ears was standing upright in
the ground; but he had taken precautions for any emergency, for he held
his rifle in the hollow of his arm. Beyond a doubt somebody had been
grub-staking him for gold, or for something else which he was equally
anxious to find. Tom had just wind enough to take note of these things,
and then he staggered to a rock near by and seated himself upon it.

"You won't find any gold here," said Tom, resting his elbows on his
knees and looking down at the ground.

[Illustration: TOM'S NEW ACQUAINTANCE.]

The stranger uncocked his gun, and, bringing the piece to an order arms,
leaned upon it. He looked hard at Tom, but had nothing to say.

"I have been all over this country, but not a cent's worth of gold could
I find in it," continued Tom, taking off his hat and drawing his hand
across his forehead. "Somebody has duped you just the same as they duped
me."

"Where's your gun?" asked the stranger.

"I left it in the bend up there," said Tom, anxious to hear the sound of
the voice again. "I was so impatient to get to you that I left it up
there. I haven't heard a stranger speak for three weeks."

"Where did you come from?"

"Wait till I get my breath and I will answer all your questions. I came
from a pocket back here in the mountains, where I lost my horse. I wish
you could have seen that animal, for I don't know what it was: long
neck, long head, and a body that looked twice as big as my horse. And
then how strong it was! It broke my lariat----"

"What color was it?" said the stranger, beginning to take a deep
interest in what his guest had to say.

"I didn't see that it was any other color when compared with my horse.
It looked just the same--a dark brown. It had a hump on its back----"

"The Red Ghost, by George!"

Tom started and looked at him in amazement.

CHAPTER X.

THE CAMP OF ELAM, THE WOLFER.

"I aint got any business to be digging around here," said the stranger,
laying down his rifle and picking up his coa