n his
eye now; he looked thoughtful. He, too, limped, and there was a
trickle of blood down his nose. Verily it had been a hard fought
field.

* * * * *

As both men were anxious to see the lay of the land as soon as
possible. Red took his place in the waggon that day, after the
damages were repaired, content to wait until his leg was less sore
for horseback riding.

There followed a busy two weeks for them. Mr. Demilt had some
money he wished to put into the enterprise, but his most valuable
assistance was, of course, his thorough knowledge of the resources
of the country.

They found an admirable site for the mill, in an old stone barn,
which had stood the ravages of desolation almost unimpaired. Red's
mining experience told him that the creek could easily be flumed to
the barn, and as that was the only objection of the others to this
location, they wrote the owner of the property for a price. They
were astonished when they received the figures. It had come by
inheritance to a man to whom it was a white elephant of the most
exasperating sort, and he was glad to get rid of it for almost a
song. They were a jubilant three at the news. It saved the cost
of building a mill, and including that, the price was as low per
acre as any land they could have obtained. Red closed the bargain
instantly.

Lettis' part of the business was chiefly to arrange for the
disposal of their product, and when he explained to his partners
what he could reasonably hope to do in that line, the affair lost
its last tint of unreality, and became a good proposition, for
Lettis had an excellent business acquaintance, who would be glad to
deal with the straightforward young fellow.

The night after the signing of the deeds, Red said to Miss Mattie,
"We ought to have a stockholders' dinner to-morrow night, Mattie.
If you could hire that scow-built girl, who wears her hair
scrambled, to come in and give you a lift, would you feel equal to
it?"

"You always put it that I'm doing you a great favour in such
things, Will, but you know perfectly well there's nothing I'd
rather do," replied Miss Mattie, with a dimpling smile. "However,
it adds to the pleasure of it to have it put in that way, so I
won't complain. I'll just have my supper first, and then you men
can talk over your business undisturbed."

"You _will_ not--you'll eat with the rest of us."

"Yes, but you stockholders--" The word had an import to M