d have betrayed him, had any one
known his real business there, but a young inventor, exploring mines
just for the fun of the thing, is supposed to find plenty of
amusement. Under the big, blond mustache of the Englishman, a pair of
lips curled scornfully, and his eyes rolled wildly for a moment, but
that was all.

As the gentlemen gathered around the dump, the last vestige of Mr.
Blaisdell's irritation seemed to have disappeared, as he blandly
expatiated upon the quantity and quality of the ore.

Van Dorn's eyes sparkled as he saw the shining lumps from the Yankee
Boy, and he and Lindlay exchanged quick glances.

"Look at that," said the latter, quickly extracting from his pocket a
sample of the Sunrise ore and placing it beside a piece taken at
random from the dump; "does any one pretend to tell me that those are
from the same vein?"

"It is a different class of ore altogether," replied Van Dorn, "such
ore as that never would be found under the conditions existing in that
mine, but I'll be blest if I wouldn't like to see the mine it did come
from."

Mr. Rivers had observed this little side conversation and Van Dorn's
close scrutiny of the samples, and was at his side in a moment,
inquiring in his smoothest tones:

"What do you think of that ore, Mr. Van Dorn?"

"Very fine ore, so far as I can judge," said Van Dorn carelessly, "I
would like to see it run through that concentrator and amalgamator of
mine; if these men ever get through talking about mines, Mr. Rivers, I
must get you and Mr. Blaisdell interested in my machinery."

At the suggestion of Mr. Lindlay, the party next paid a visit to the
Morning Star mine, that being the one which Mr. Blaisdell had declared
was on the same lead as the Sunrise. This they found to be a valuable
mine, but there was not the slightest indication of the vein being
identical with that of the Sunrise, its strike carrying it in a
totally different direction, and its characteristics being wholly
dissimilar.

As it was too late for any further mining explorations, the team was
ordered, and preparations made for a return to the house.

Lindlay and Van Dorn, by mutual agreement, started up the canyon road
together, in advance of the others.

"Boys, where are you going?" called Mr. Winters.

"Going to walk on ahead," answered Van Dorn.

"Just as cheap to ride," said Mr. Winters.

"Plenty of room," added Mr. Blaisdell.

"We can't wait for you, you're too slow," laughed Van