He
owns these diggings that you and Jim Courtot and your crowd are trying
to jump to-night. Better think it over and jump somewhere else, Monte.'

Monte Devine appeared to be meditating. Howard's angry thoughts were
racing. Rage baffled was but baffled again. There seemed nothing
concrete that he could lay his hands on; again Jim Courtot had come and
gone. To drive the men off the land, even could he succeed in doing it
would so far as he could see be barren of any desired result. There
was a law in the country, and that law would see the man through who
had properly filed on his claim. And yet, for all that, his blood grew
hot at the thought of all of this riff-raff of Jim Courtot squatting
here upon that which by right was Helen's.

'I reckon we'll stay and see it through,' said Monte at last.

Howard turned and strode away. True laughed. But Howard had seen
something showing whitely just yonder in the black void of Dry Gulch.
There was the spot where Longstreet's claim lay. He went down into the
gulch and to the thing that he had seen dimly. It was a stake and a
bit of white paper thrust into the split, and showed him that the three
men had not mistaken the spot. Here, at last, was something concrete
upon which a man, hot with his anger, could lay his hands. He wrenched
it away and hurled it far from him. He saw another stake and another
and these like the first he snatched up and pitched wrathfully as far
as he could throw them.

'That's something, if it isn't much,' he muttered to himself.

The others had held back, watching him. He could hear them speaking
quickly among themselves, Bettins and True angrily. Monte's voice was
low and steady. But it was Monte who came on first.

'Hold on there a minute,' called Howard sharply. 'I'm not asking any
company down here. Here I am going to stick until morning. By that
time, or I miss my guess, this neck of the woods will be full of people
who have heard that something's doing here. There'll be a handful of
your crowd, but there'll be twice as many square-shooters. You'll
stand back with the crowd and take your chance with what is left after
Longstreet gets his, or you'll play crooked and take another chance,
that of a long rope and a quick drop. Think it over, boys.'

'Better clean out while you can, Al,' said Monte. His own voice had
sharpened. 'We're coming down to put them stakes back.'

Howard withdrew half a dozen steps into the deepe