n broke into
his eyes. "I reckon I did," he replied complacently. "Anyway, I hope
so."

"What was the matter? Did they do you up?"

"Well, I'll tell you about the whole business. My name's Bill Frank,
and I've been here in the mountains since--well, a long time, huntin'
for the lost Dick Winter's mine. I found it, too. It was right in here
behind me, but he'd worked it clean out. I reckon it was nothin' but a
pocket, but a mighty big, rich one, and then the vein had pinched. So
then I went to work and hunted for the gold he'd taken out. I found it
all, or all he told me about. You see, I knew Dick. I was with him
when he died, and he told me what he'd got. There was a Dutch oven and
a pail and a coffee pot, all full of lumps, and two tomato cans full
of little ones, and a whisky flask full of dust, and a gunny sack full
of ore that was just lousy with gold. Much good it will do me now, or
them other fellows, either, damn their souls! Well, I'd hid the coffee
pot and the pail and the Dutch oven and the whisky flask and one
tomato can down by the spring, where I had my camp. I knew pretty well
where the rest of it was, after I'd found that much, and I came up
here two days ago, in the morning, and looked around till I found the
gunny sack. I brought it here and threw it inside this place, which
poor Dick Winters had blasted out, never dreamin' of such a thing as
that anybody would show up. Then I went away again to find the other
tomato can, and when I came back two men were here packin' out my sack
of ore."

"What did they look like?" Nick exclaimed.

"One was tall and thin and youngish like, with a bad look, and the
other was short and stout and a good deal older, and he had a red,
round face."

"The damned, ornery scrubs! They're the ones we're after," Tom
exclaimed, jumping up. "You didn't kill 'em, stranger?" he added
pleadingly.

"I guess I did. I sure reckon you'll find 'em scattered promiscuous
down the canyon. I drew my gun and told 'em to drop it, that it was
mine. They began to shoot, and so did I, and I backed 'em out, and
made 'em drop the sack, and started 'em on the run. They couldn't
shoot as well as I could, and I know I hit one of 'em in the head and
the other one mighty near the heart. I poked my head out for a last
blaze at 'em, to make sure of my work, and the short one, he let drive
at me and took me in the lung, and that's the one that did me up. But
they'd broken one leg before."

"Can't