iscovery? And, if his lucky star should lead him aright
again, is he the man to cash in on his luck? Don't you see, Helen,
that James Edward Longstreet in this man's land is a fish out of water?'
'I understand what you mean,' Helen nodded slowly. Again her look
wandered through the fields stretching out far below. 'And you are
right. I didn't want papa to come in the first place; now, as you say,
he is only wasting time.' She smiled a little tenderly. 'He is just a
dear old babe in the woods,' she concluded softly.
Carr's approval of her mounted swiftly to admiration. They lowered
their voices and spoke at length of the professor and of what should be
done for him. They agreed perfectly that, while he was an unusually
fine technical man and an able instructor in matters of geological
theorizing, he was not the man to wander with a prospector's pick
across these rugged lands.
'Even grant the extremely unlikely,' concluded Carr hastily as they
heard the subject of their discussion moving about in the cabin, 'and
admit that he may chance upon a second strike. What then? Why,
Sanchia and Devine and Courtot and a crowd of hangers-on have their
eyes on him. They'd oust him again with not the shadow of a doubt or a
second's hesitation.'
Helen nodded and they went in together.
Carr stayed on to supper. Longstreet looked rested from his nap,
bright and eager and as usual interested in everything in the world.
Carr had bought a new hat yesterday; Longstreet tried it on and
approved of it extravagantly. He asked what it cost and jingled his
few coins, admitting ruefully that he'd have to wait until he uncovered
his 'real mine.' Just the same, he proclaimed brightly, clothes did
help make the man, and inside a year when he was decked out entirely to
his own liking and a tenderfoot saw him, there would be no suspecting
that Longstreet was not a Westerner born and bred. He put the hat away
and sat down with them at the table. As he mentioned in such a
matter-of-fact way his intention of tarrying a year, Carr and Helen
glanced at each other significantly. And Carr after his direct fashion
opened his campaign.
'There are other things than gold mines, and you were not made for this
country,' he said. 'What would you say to going back East if I showed
you the chance there to clean up more money than you'll ever see out
here? I have been thinking about you, and I know the place where
you'll fit in.'
Thi
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