ough, we kin find some feller in Colorado with nerve 'nough to tackle
this yere job, an' I 'm a-goin' out gunnin' for jist that man."

He got to his feet, his obstinate old eyes wandering across the gully,
and the younger man watched him with slow curiosity.

"How f-f-far you g-g-going, Bill?" he burst forth stutteringly.

"Denver, if I need to," was the elder's resolute, response. "I 'll
tell ye what I 'm a-goin' ter do, Stutter. I 'm a-goin' ter draw out
every blamed cent we 've got in the bank down at San Juan. 'T ain't
much of a pile, but I reckon it's got ter do the business. Then I 'll
strike out an' hunt till I find a minin' engineer thet 's got a soul of
his own, an' grit 'nough behind it ter root out the facts. I 've been
a-prospecttn' through these here mountings fer thirty years, an' now
thet I 've hit somethin' worth havin', I 'm hanged if I 'm a-goin' ter
lie down meek ez Moses an' see it stole out plumb from under me by a
parcel o' tin-horn gamblers. Not me, by God! If I can't git a cinch
on sich a feller ez I want, then I 'll come back an' blow a hole
through that Farnham down at San Juan. I reckon I 'll go in an' tell
him so afore I start."

The old man's square jaws set ominously, his gnarled hand dropping
heavily on the butt of the Colt dangling at his hip.

"You stay right yere, Stutter, on the dump, and don't yer let one o'
them measly sneaks put nary foot on our claim, if yer have ter blow 'em
plumb ter hell. You an' Mike kin tend ter thet all right, an' you bet
I 'm goin' ter have some news fer yer when I git home, my boy."

He swung around, and strode back along the ledge to the door of the
cabin, reappearing scarcely a moment later with a small bundle in his
hand.

"Thar 's 'nough grub in thar ter last you an' Mike fer a week yit, an'
I 'll be back afore then, er else planted. _Adios_."

Brown sat up, his gun resting between his knees, and in silence watched
his partner scrambling down the steep trail. It was not easy for him
to converse, and he therefore never uttered a word unless the situation
demanded the sacrifice. He could swear, however, with considerable
fluency, but just now even that relief seemed inadequate. Finally, the
older man disappeared behind the scrub, and, except for those more
distant figures about the dump of the "Independence," the blond giant
remained apparently alone. But Stutter had long ago become habituated
to loneliness; the one condition likely