y yarn. Story of my life,
Bill." He placed a chair for Madeline. "Miss Hammond, beggin' your
pardon again, I want you to listen, also. You've the face an' eyes of a
woman who loves to hear of other people's happiness. Besides, somehow,
it's easy for me to talk lookin' at you."

His manner subtly changed then. Possibly it took on a little swagger;
certainly he lost the dignity that he had shown under stress of feeling;
he was now more like a cowboy about to boast or affect some stunning
maneuver. Walking off the porch, he stood before the weary horse and
burro.

"Played out!" he exclaimed.

Then with the swift violence so characteristic of men of his class he
slipped the pack from the burro and threw saddle and bridle from the
horse.

"There! See 'em! Take a look at the last dog-gone weight you ever
packed! You've been some faithful to Danny Mains. An' Danny Mains pays!
Never a saddle again or a strap or a halter or a hobble so long as you
live! So long as you live nothin' but grass an' clover, an' cool water
in shady places, an' dusty swales to roll in an' rest an' sleep!"

Then he untied the pack and, taking a small, heavy sack from it, he came
back upon the porch. Deliberately he dumped the contents of the sack at
Stillwell's feet. Piece after piece of rock thumped upon the floor. The
pieces were sharp, ragged, evidently broken from a ledge; the body
of them was white in color, with yellow veins and bars and streaks.
Stillwell grasped up one rock after another, stared and stuttered, put
the rocks to his lips, dug into them with his shaking fingers; then he
lay back in his chair, head against the wall, and as he gaped at Danny
the old smile began to transform his face.

"Lord, Danny if you hevn't been an' gone an' struck it rich!"

Danny regarded Stillwell with lofty condescension.

"Some rich," he said. "Now, Bill, what've we got here, say, offhand?"

"Oh, Lord, Danny! I'm afraid to say. Look, Miss Majesty, jest look at
the gold. I've lived among prospectors an' gold-mines fer thirty years,
an' I never seen the beat of this."

"The Lost Mine of the Padres!" cried Danny, in stentorian voice. "An' it
belongs to me!"

Stillwell made some incoherent sound as he sat up fascinated, quite
beside himself.

"Bill, it was some long time ago since you saw me," said Danny. "Fact
is, I know how you felt, because Gene kept me posted. I happened to run
across Bonita, an' I wasn't goin' to let her ride away alone, when