andered moodily along the avenue and
presently came to a square, past which rows of pretty wooden houses
surrounded by poplars, ran towards the river bank. The snow had gone,
the afternoon was warm, and finding a bench in the sun, he sat down to
think. His character was complex and his thoughts involved, for he had
inherited something from ancestors of different type. A touch of Indian
vanity and French expansiveness was balanced by his father's Scottish
caution and the Indian's stolid calm. Sometimes he was rash and
impulsive, and sometimes strangely patient, but he seldom forgot an
injury.

It was obvious that he had been cheated and in the meantime could get no
satisfaction for the wrong he had been done. What he knew about the
silver ore was worth something while he alone had the secret, but now he
had told somebody else its value had disappeared. It was, however, a
comfort to reflect that he had not been altogether frank with Stormont;
he had kept something back that would be a useful guide when one looked
for the creek. His recollection of this was hazy, but he would think
about it later.

On the whole, Drummond thought Stormont had not found the ore. A hint of
anger in his ironical amusement implied that he had come back
disappointed; and if he imagined he had got on the right track, he
would, no doubt, have been willing to pay another fifty dollars. For all
that, Watson and Stormont had plotted to win his confidence, make him
drunk, and find out all he knew, and this indicated that the fellow
thought the vein worth looking for. When Stormont got over his
disappointment he would try again.

Drummond saw that he could embarrass Stormont by selling the secret he
had been cheated of to somebody else. It was amusing to think of two
parties looking for the vein; the difficulty was that he did not know
anybody likely to be a buyer. But he could wait, since it looked as if
he had put Stormont off the track, and by and by he might find a
speculator willing to believe his tale. Sooner than let Stormont locate
the vein he would give, for nothing, any antagonist of the latter's all
the help he could.

Then he remembered that he had only a few dollars and must find some
work soon. Supper would not be served at the cheap hotels for an hour
yet and he set off to look for an employment agent. The man charged a
dollar and gave him a card with an address, remarking that Drummond
ought to get a job, as business was good. Drum