rd his complaining voice from the
corrals. He spoke as to the hilltops, after the manner of mountain men
or those who address themselves to mules; and John Calhoun in turn had a
truly mighty voice which wafted every word to her ears. But as she
listened, half in awe at their savage repartee, a third but quieter
voice broke in, and she leapt into her dress and went dashing down the
hill for her father had come back from the mine. He was deaf, and
slightly crippled, as the result of an explosion when his drill had
struck into a missed hole; but to lonely Wilhelmina he was the dearest
of companions and she shouted into his ear by the hour. And, now that he
had come home, the rival claimants were laying their case before him.

Dusty Rhodes was excited, for he saw the chance of a fortune slipping
away through his impotent fingers; but when Wunpost made answer he was
even more excited, for the memory of his desertion rankled deep. All the
ethics of the desert had been violated by Dusty Rhodes and a human life
put in jeopardy, and as Wunpost dwelt upon his sufferings the old thirst
for revenge rose up till it quite overmastered him. He denounced Dusty's
actions in no uncertain terms, holding him up to the scorn of mankind;
but Dusty was just as vehement in his impassioned defense and in his
claim to a half of the strike. There the ethics of the desert came in
again; for it is a tradition in mining, not unsupported by sound law,
that whoever is with a man at the time of a discovery is entitled to
half the find. And the hold-over from his drinking bout of the evening
before made Dusty unrestrained in his protests.

The battle was at its height when Wilhelmina arrived and gave her father
a hug and as the contestants beheld her, suddenly transformed to a young
lady, they ceased their accusations and stood dumb. She was a child no
longer, as she had appeared in the bib overalls, but a woman and with
all a woman's charm. Her eyes were very bright, her cheeks a ruddy pink,
her curls a glorious halo for her head; and, standing beside her father,
she took on a naive dignity that left the two fire-eaters abashed. Cole
Campbell himself was a man to be reckoned with--tall and straight as an
arrow, with eyes that never wavered and decision in every line of his
face. His gray hair stood up straight above a brow furrowed with care
and his mustache bristled out aggressively, but as he glanced down at
his daughter his stern eyes suddenly softe