ck Kilmeny."
The other--it was Peale, the Cornish miner--had stepped on a spoke of
the wheel and pulled himself up so that he could look down into the bed
of the wagon. Now he broke out with an oath.
"The wagon's empty."
"What!" Trefoyle straightened instantly, then ran to see for himself.
For a moment he could not speak for the rage that surged up in him. "The
dommed robber has made fool of us'n," he cried savagely.
In their fury they were like barbarians, cursing impotently the man
lying with a white face shining in the moonlight. They had expected to
pay a debt of vengeance and to win a fortune at the same stroke. The
latter they had missed. The disappointment of their loss stripped them
to stark primeval savagery. It was some time before they could exult in
their revenge.
"He'll interfere wi' us no more--not this side o' hell anyway," Peale
cried.
"Not he. An' we'll put him in a fine grave where he'll lie safe."
They threw the body into the wagon and climbed to the seat. Peale drove
along an unused road that deflected from the one running to the Jack
Pot.
CHAPTER XIX
MR. VERINDER IS TREATED TO A SURPRISE
The morning after the seizing of the ore Verinder came to breakfast in a
mood so jubilant that he could not long keep to himself the cause of his
exultation. Kilmeny and Farquhar were away on a hunting trip, and none
of the ladies except Moya was yet up. He was especially eager to tell
his news to her, because she had always been such an open defender of
the highgrader. She gave him his opening very promptly, for she was
anxious to know what had occurred.
"Has some distant connection passed away and left you a fortune, Mr.
Verinder? Or have you merely found a new gold mine since I saw you
last?" she asked.
"By Jove, you're a good guesser, Miss Dwight. I found a gold mine last
night. Wonder if you could think where."
Her heart beat faster. "You're so pleased about it I fancy the quartz
must have been sacked up for you ready for the smelter," she said
carelessly.
Verinder flashed a quick look at her. "Eh, what? How's that?"
Moya opened her lips to confess what she had done, but the arrival of a
waiter delayed this. Before he had left, Lady Farquhar entered and the
girl's chance was temporarily gone.
"I was just telling Miss Dwight that we've found another gold mine, Lady
Farquhar--and of all places in the world located in the bed of a wagon."
"In the bed of a wagon! How
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