nes many a night."

"But won't you find it more comfortable here?"

"Yes; but I don't want to intrude. You've given me a good supper and
that is all I can expect."

"He doesn't seem much like Hogan," thought Joe.

"You are welcome to lodge here with me," he said. "It will cost you
nothing and will be more comfortable for you."

"You don't know me, Joe," said the miner. "How do you know but I may
get up in the night and rob you?"

"You could, but I don't think you will," said Joe. "I am not at all
afraid of it. You look like an honest man."

The miner looked gratified.

"You shan't repent your confidence, Joe," he said.

"I'd rather starve than rob a good friend like you. But you mustn't
trust everybody."

"I don't," said Joe. "I refused a man to-night--a man named Hogan."

"Hogan?"

"Yes."

"What does he look like?"

Joe described him.

"It's the very man," said the miner.

"Do you know him, then?"

"Yes; he was out at our diggings. Nobody liked him, or trusted him.
He was too lazy to work, but just loafed around, complaining of his
luck. One night I caught him in my tent, just going to rob me. I
warned him to leave the camp next day or I'd report him, and the boys
would have strung him up. That's the way they treat thieves out
there."

"It doesn't surprise me to hear it," said Joe. "He robbed me of
fifty dollars in New York."

"He did? How was that?"

Joe told the story.

"The mean skunk!" ejaculated Watson--for this Joe found to be the
miners name. "It's mean enough to rob a man, but to cheat a poor boy
out of all he has is a good deal meaner. And yet you gave him
supper?"

"Yes. The man was hungry; I pitied him."

"You're a better Christian than I am. I'd have let him go hungry."

Both Joe and the miner were weary and they soon retired, but not to
uninterrupted slumber. About midnight they were disturbed, as the
next chapter will show.

CHAPTER XX

HOGAN MEETS A CONGENIAL SPIRIT

When Hogan left Joe's presence he was far from feeling as grateful as
he ought for the kindness with which our hero had treated him.
Instead of feeling thankful for the bountiful supper, he was angry
because Joe had not permitted him to remain through the night. Had
he obtained this favor, he would have resented the refusal to take
him into partnership. There are some men who are always soliciting
favors, and demanding them as a right, and Hogan was one of them.

Out in the s