hore of Goose
Neck Lake, and laid it down on the corpse.

"Now, I reckon, we'll have to see if you have any of that stolen
gold-dust left," and Ham began a search of the body, which resulted in
the finding of a heavily laden gold-belt buckled around the waist, next
to the skin.

Ham at once appropriated this; and then the two men lowered the body
into the grave. A similar belt, also well-filled with gold-dust, was
found around the body of Bill Ugger. Ham unbuckled this belt and placed
it with the other. Then he and Rex lifted the body of Ugger and carried
it to the grave and lowered it down on top of the body of Quinley; and
then filled the grave with broken pieces of rocks and dirt, to prevent
the wolves from digging up the bodies.

"Th' way of th' transgresser is hard, accordin' tew th' good book," and
Ham's eyes rested thoughtfully on that lonely new-made grave. "An' shore
th' end of them tew 'pears tew bear out th' good book. Wal, th' dead is
dead, an' that's all thar is tew it. Now, for th' livin'," and he turned
from the grave and walked up to where Mr. and Mrs. Dickson were
standing, the two confiscated gold-belts in his hand.

"Here, Dick, I reckon, is a part of th' gold them skunks got from you,"
and he handed the two belts to Dickson. "Leastwise we got them from
their bodies."

But Mr. and Mrs. Dickson refused to take the gold and insisted that it
be placed in the common fund, to be shared by all alike, so Ham turned
the two gold-belts over to Mr. Conroyal.

The camp was now placed under the strictest discipline. Ten of the
prisoners were compelled to assist in getting the gold from the cave.
The others were kept bound and under constant guard, night and day, all
except Pedro, who, during the day, was forced to do the cooking and the
camp work for all, while at night he was securely bound and returned to
his place with the other prisoners.

Thus the work of getting the gold out of the cave went steadily on for
five days, every one, even Mrs. Dickson, working to the very limit of
his or her endurance. Then came the night of the catastrophe.

The gold, as fast as it was taken out of the cave, was carried, in sacks
made from blankets, to the opening in the wall of rock that gave
entrance to Crooked Arm Gulch, and from there lowered to the ground with
ropes. Each night all the workers returned to the camp under the Big
Tree. On this night, the sixth night from the day of the finding of the
Cave of Gold,