f the gulch, and it was not till several more miles had been passed
that the bandit rode out into what Joan first thought was a hideous
slash in the forest made by fire. But it was only the devastation
wrought by men. As far as she could see the timber was down, and
everywhere began to be manifested signs that led her to expect
habitations. No cabins showed, however, in the next mile. They passed
out of the timbered part of the gulch into one of rugged, bare, and
stony slopes, with bunches of sparse alder here and there. The gulch
turned at right angles and a great gray slope shut out sight of what
lay beyond. But, once round that obstruction, Kells halted his men with
short, tense exclamation.

Joan saw that she stood high up on the slope, looking down upon the
gold-camp. It was an interesting scene, but not beautiful. To Kells it
must have been so, but to Joan it was even more hideous than the slash
in the forest. Here and there, everywhere, were rude dugouts, little
huts of brush, an occasional tent, and an occasional log cabin; and
as she looked farther and farther these crude habitations of miners
magnified in number and in dimensions till the white and black broken,
mass of the town choked the narrow gulch.

"Wal, boss, what do you say to thet diggin's?" demanded Jesse Smith.

Kells drew a deep breath. "Old forty-niner, this beats all I ever saw!"

"Shore I've seen Sacramento look like thet!" added Bate Wood.

Pearce and Cleve gazed with fixed eyes, and, however different their
emotions, they rivaled each other in attention.

"Jesse, what's the word?" queried Kells, with a sharp return to the
business of the matter.

"I've picked a site on the other side of camp. Best fer us," he replied.

"Shall we keep to the road?"

"Certain-lee," he returned, with his grin.

Kells hesitated, and felt of his beard, probably conjecturing the
possibilities of recognition.

"Whiskers make another man of you. Reckon you needn't expect to be known
over here."

That decided Kells. He pulled his sombrero well down, shadowing his
face. Then he remembered Joan and made a slight significant gesture at
her mask.

"Kells, the people in this here camp wouldn't look at an army ridin'
through," responded Smith. "It's every man fer hisself. An' wimmen, say!
there's all kinds. I seen a dozen with veils, an' them's the same
as masks." Nevertheless, Kells had Joan remove the mask and pull her
sombrero down, and instructed her to r