thrown off not long ago--and have been leery of the dum things
ever since. I'd walk, sooner than ride, even if I did have a horse. So
you roll me that big Hudson Bay blanket and give me a couple of day's
rations. I'll make a pack for my back that I can't feel. Then you strike
off into town."

Without especial enthusiasm Ben agreed. Ezram gave a great sigh of
satisfaction. He had put through the deal: Ben's secret thought was that
Ezram's curiosity--always a pronounced trait with the old--had mastered
him, and he could not wait longer to explore the mine. Not one glimpse
of the truth as to Ezram's real reason for desiring to push on alone as
much as occurred to him.

Ezram was wholly deliberate. He knew what waited him on arrival at his
brother's claim. Jeffery Neilson and his gang had assembled there, had
already jumped the claim just as his brother had warned him that they
would do; and coolly and quietly he had resolved to face them alone.
They were desperate men, not likely to be driven from the gold by
threats or persuasion only. But there was no law in his life, no precept
in his code, whereby he could subject his young partner to the risk.

It was true that the desire to arrive on the scene at the earliest
possible moment had been a factor in his decision. One of them could
hurry on, unimpeded by the pack animals, and the other must linger to
secure their supplies; and there could really be no question, in Ezram's
mind, which should go and which should stay. He had known perfectly that
if Ben had realized the true need for haste, he would never have
submitted so tamely to Ezram's will. The old man knew Wolf Darby. The
strong dark eyes in the lean, raw-boned face reassured him as to this
knowledge. Ben would go too, if he knew the truth. Likely he would
insist on going alone.

Ezram had decided the whole thing in a flash, realizing that a lone
pedestrian would be practically as effective in dealing with the
usurpers as two horsemen, impeded by the pack animals. If they didn't
shoot to kill at first sight of him Ezram would have time in plenty to
seek refuge in the forest and do a sharpshooter's business that would
fill his old heart with joy. And there really wasn't any question as to
which of the two should go. Their partnership was of long duration;
their comradeship was deep; Ben was young, and Ezram himself was old!

Ezram made his decision entirely casually, and he would have been
surprised out of his wi