h the best of
outfits and a magnificent dog-team, his task was mainly to run the
various creeks and keep his eyes and ears open. A pocket-miner, first,
last, and always, he was privately on the constant lookout for pockets,
which occupation did not interfere in the least with the duty he owed
his employer. And as the days went by he stored his mind with
miscellaneous data concerning the nature of the various placer deposits
and the lay of the land, against the summer when the thawed surface and
the running water would permit him to follow a trace from creek-bed to
side-slope and source.

Corliss was a good employer, paid well, and considered it his right to
work men as he worked himself. Those who took service with him either
strengthened their own manhood and remained, or quit and said harsh
things about him. Jacob Welse noted this trait with appreciation, and
he sounded the mining engineer's praises continually. Frona heard and
was gratified, for she liked the things her father liked; and she was
more gratified because the man was Corliss. But in his rush of
business she saw less of him than formerly, while St. Vincent came to
occupy a greater and growing portion of her time. His healthful,
optimistic spirit pleased her, while he corresponded well to her
idealized natural man and favorite racial type. Her first doubt--that
if what he said was true--had passed away. All the evidence had gone
counter. Men who at first questioned the truth of his wonderful
adventures gave in after hearing him talk. Those to any extent
conversant with the parts of the world he made mention of, could not
but acknowledge that he knew what he talked about. Young Soley,
representing Bannock's News Syndicate, and Holmes of the Fairweather,
recollected his return to the world in '91, and the sensation created
thereby. And Sid Winslow, Pacific Coast journalist, had made his
acquaintance at the Wanderers' Club shortly after he landed from the
United States revenue cutter which had brought him down from the north.
Further, as Frona well saw, he bore the ear-marks of his experiences;
they showed their handiwork in his whole outlook on life. Then the
primitive was strong in him, and his was a passionate race pride which
fully matched hers. In the absence of Corliss they were much together,
went out frequently with the dogs, and grew to know each other
thoroughly.

All of which was not pleasant to Corliss, especially when the brief