nd Weston motioned to the kitchen. "He
doesn't deserve all the trouble we've had to-day. My, he was a heavy
load! And to think that Sconda should have run away and left us. I
wonder what came over the rascal?"

"Is Dan seriously wounded, do you think?" Glen enquired, evading her
father's reference to Sconda.

"No, just a scratch, which made him unconscious for a time. He'll be
all right in a few days, I am sorry to say. Such a treacherous
creature is better dead than alive."

"What will you do with him, daddy?"

"Keep him here for a while and patch him up. I must find out why he
tried to shoot us, and if there are others in the plot, I know the
villain is very revengeful, and that may have been his sole purpose for
following us to-day. How did Sconda know about him, Glen?"

"He saw him hurrying along this side of the lake shortly after you had
disappeared beyond the wild meadow. I thought it best for Sconda to
go."

"And mighty fortunate you did. Why, the villain would have shot us all
if Sconda hadn't been on hand."

"Do you intend to stay here a while, daddy?"

"Long enough to look after my patient. But you must go home, and Natsu
will go with you. Reynolds has to hurry down to Big Draw to record our
claims."

"And so you found the gold?" Glen eagerly asked.

"I should say we did. Why, that cave is full of it. We shall be as
rich as Croesus in a short time."

"Oh, I am so glad," and the girl gave a sigh of relief. "When we get
the gold why cannot we leave this country, daddy, and go outside? I
want to travel and see the world, and enjoy life. There, now, I know
you will either scold or laugh at me. But I mean every word I say."

"I shall do neither, dear," was the quiet reply, "so you need not fear.
I have known for some time that you wish to leave this country, and I
have given it very serious consideration. But you must wait a while,
that is, for a few days at least. It all depends upon something about
which I do not care to speak now, as I must have more time to think it
over."

Weston rose suddenly from the table and went into the kitchen. Glen
and Reynolds looked at each other without a word. They were both
surprised at Weston's words and the abrupt manner in which he left
them. Moved by the same impulse, they, too, rose from the table and
went out of doors. It was a beautiful evening, and the sky beyond the
mountain peaks was aglow with the lingering light of departing d