es, all of which had been dumped into a thicket in confused
piles.

"We'll sort this out and get it back to camp," Tom proposed.
"Alf, little hero, redeem yourself by buckling down to a good
load. Come here; let me load you down."

Alf meekly submitted, cherishing a half hope that he would not
be discharged from his new position after all.

At the end of an hour the stuff had all been taken back and the
camp looked a good deal as it had looked that morning.

"Now, Alf," directed Tom in a milder, kinder tone, "you hustle
over and break your back helping Mr. Ferrers to get supper ready.
We're a famished lot. Understand?"

Alf was only too glad to be able to understand that his part in
the dismantling of the camp had been overlooked. While Tom and
Harry led their guests into one of the tents, young Drew hastened
over to where Jim Ferrers was starting a fire in the camp stove.

"Now, put that stuff back in your pockets, or I'll throw it in
the fire!" sounded the angry voice of Ferrers. "You can't use
any of that stuff when you're working around me."

"The poor little cigarette pest must have been trying to use his
newly acquired 'makings,'" grinned Tom.

While Ferrers was thus busied with preparation of the meal, Joe
Timmins had taken the guide's rifle and was keeping a watchful
eye over the approaches to the neighborhood.

"So you young men think you could serve me satisfactorily as engineers,"
questioned Mr. Dunlop.

"I think we could," Tom answered.

"But I am afraid you young men have a rather large notion as to the
pay you're worth," continued the mine promoter.

"That's right, sir," Reade nodded. "We have a good-sized idea
on the pay question. Now, when you go to Dugout City next you
might wire the president of the S.B. & L. railroad, at Denver,
or the president of the A.G. & N.M., at Tucson, Arizona, and
ask those gentlemen whether we are in the habit of making good on
large pay."

"How much will you young men want?"

"For work of this character," replied Tom, after a few moments
of thought, during which Harry Hazelton was silent, "we shall
want six hundred dollars a month, each, with two hundred dollars
apiece added for the fighting risk."

"The fighting risk?" questioned Mr. Dunlop.

"Well, we shall have Dolph Gage and his crowd to guard against, won't
we?" Reads counter-questioned.

"But such pay is absurd!" he protested.

"From your view-point, very likely, sir. From our view-point