ywhere; and it was not until I lifted the stone
off the hole to put the gold in that we'd taken out since noon that we
discovered that we had been robbed. I reckon there is no use of trying
to find the robbers. A hundred men could hide themselves in these
mountains in a couple of hours where ten thousand could not find them,"
and the look of despair settled back on his face. "Nobody saw them come
and nobody saw them go and nobody has the least idea who did the
robbing. So, I guess, it is just up to Mollie and me to buckle down to
hard work and hard living again."

"Now, don't git discourage. Maybe thar's better luck in store for you
than you dream of," and Ham's face lighted up, as if a pleasant idea had
suddenly come to him. "I want tew have a talk with th' rest of th'
members of th' Never-Give-Up California Mining Company; an' then, may be
we'll have a propersition tew make tew you, an', ag'in, maybe we won't,"
and Ham grinned so good-naturedly that even Mrs. Dickson smiled wanly.

"Come on, fellers, let's git tew th' office of th' Never-Give-Up
California Mining Company; an' go intew secret session tew consider
important matters," and he hurried out of the house, followed by all the
others, except Mr. and Mrs. Dickson, who stared after them with
something like hope mingled with the look of wonderment on their faces.
They knew that Hammer Jones never talked that way, under such serious
circumstances, without meaning something. But, what could he mean?

Ham was the first to open the door of the log house and enter. The room
was dark and he struck a match and lit the candle, which had been left
on the table ready for lighting. The moment the light of the candle
illuminated the surface of the table, Ham uttered an exclamation and
stood staring blankly, for a moment, at something that glittered and
shimmered in the flickering candle light near the center of the table.

"Wal, I'll be durned!" and he reached out one of his big hands and
gingerly drew from the table a small keen-bladed Mexican dagger, which,
with a strong blow, had been driven through a piece of paper deep into
the wood of the table.

All the others were now crowding excitedly around the table; and Mr.
Conroyal quickly picked up the piece of paper and held it up to the
candlelight. On the paper were scrawled, with a piece of charred coal by
a hand unused to writing, the following words:

WE ARE AGOIN TEW GIT THE MAP OR WE ARE A GOIN TEW GIT THE GOL