elcome intruder to depart.

Ralph came along, with a quick, swinging gait. He was a tall man, of
strong frame, and an unprepossessing countenance appropriate enough to
his character and reputation.

His first glance was directed toward the spot where he had helped bury
the box upon which his future plans depended.

There was something that startled him in the evident displacement of the
leaves, as if there had been others there since the morning.

"Can it have been taken?" he asked himself, with a thrill of anxiety.

He strode forward hurriedly, and, removing the leaves, discovered signs
of recent disturbance. Most suspicious of all, he found one of the
stakes, the end soiled with dirt, which had been used by the
detectives.

With a beating heart and a muttered imprecation, he began to dig down to
ascertain whether his apprehensions were justified.

Philip, peering from behind the tree, was very much alarmed by this
incomprehensible proceeding.

What could the man be doing? Was he insane? He blamed his folly in
seeking again this dangerous neighborhood after the encounter of the
morning.

"Oh, if I were only safe at home," he mentally ejaculated; "or, if
Congreve were with me. If he discovers me he may kill me."

He thought of running away, but in the silence of the forest his steps
would undoubtedly be heard, and he would be pursued. So it seemed most
prudent to stay where he was. In fear and trembling he continued to
watch the dreadful outlaw.

It was not long before Temple made the unwelcome discovery, suspected
from the first, that the box was gone. He desisted from his work and
gave vent to such a volley of imprecations that Philip trembled as if he
had an ague fit.

Could it be, Temple asked himself, that Vernon had proved false to him,
and, returning, conveyed away the box for his own individual profit?

"If he has, I'll kill him," he muttered, in a deep, growling tone.

Philip heard him, and his heart beat fast with fear. Who did Temple want
to kill? Was it himself or Congreve?

"I'd give a thousand dollars, if I had it, to be at home," thought the
miserable boy.

As for Temple, he was no less miserable. All his hopes and anticipations
were dashed. The disappearance of the tin box, whoever might have
removed it, would render it impossible to carry out plans of Californian
emigration with which he had been solacing himself all the morning. Such
a big haul as the present might never be made aga