ing was against
Slade or with Slade against himself. Yet he continued to play to her
lead----

"Yes, the discoverer of the mine should know whether it was gold or
copper."

After some argument, Slade finally admitted that the old rumour about
Cripple Sim's fabulously rich lost gold mine might be an "exaggeration."
With much hemming and hawing, he then agreed that if the lost mine were
rediscovered he would accept ten thousand dollars and rid Dead Hole of
Cochise.

"We might git up a company our own selves, Lennon, but we couldn't bring
in any railroad to develop a _copper_ mine," he repeated what Carmena
had already remarked. "Take what you can git and be thankful, is my
motto. Soon's we find that mine, you can count on me to run Cochise
clean out of the country."

Carmena drew in a deep quavering breath.

"That's such a relief, Mr. Slade! I've been so afraid for Elsie. I know
that Cochise figures on making off with her at the first chance."

"He does, does he?" growled the trader. "Well, then, you're going to
stick here and see he don't git no chance, while I go with our new pard.
How's that, Lennon?"

"Good enough," agreed Lennon.

"Elsie and I will hunt up some tools," said Carmena and she hurried her
foster-sister out into the store-rooms before Slade could voice an
objection.

He at once began to give Lennon a pessimistic account of the small
profits and many risks and hardships of a trader's life in this arid
land of mesas and canons. As for the cattle business, there was more
work than money in it, what with mountain lions, wolves, and
brand-blotters.

Lennon checked himself on the point of asking the meaning of the strange
term. He recalled that Elsie had said something about mavericking and
brand-blotting by the Apaches. Unless Farley and the girls were
conniving with Cochise, the Indian could not be carrying on any work in
the Hole unknown to Slade, and he had just intimated that brand-blotting
was some kind of harmful or criminal action.

CHAPTER XIII

THE BLOSSOMING

At the supper table Slade returned to his jovial praises of Elsie as a
cook. Under his bold admiring gaze the girl blushed much and ate little.
Lennon kept his head with difficulty. To sit quiet and feign
indifference required all his self-control.

Farley had been brought in by Carmena. Toward the end of the meal Slade
began to browbeat the abject, liquor-poisoned man. Lennon had no pity to
spare for his broken-spir