he. 'A day of commingled lucent
clarity and vernal softness, ain't it?'

"'Well, I wouldn't care to bet on that without going a little
deeper into the subject,' says I; 'but it smells good at least--so
does that ham and eggs. Mary, I'll take the same, with coffee
extra strong.'

"'You have doubtless been attracted to our small but growing city
from the reports--which are happily true--of the inexhaustible
mineral wealth of the surrounding region?' says he.

"'No-o--not exactly,' says I; 'but I do want to hear something
about mines. Mr. Hotel-man out there (who's a gentleman of the old
school if ever there lived one) told me that you might put me on to
a good thing.'

"'Precisely,' says he. 'Now, sir, my name is Jones--Agamemnon G.
Jones--and my pardner, Mr. H. Smith, is on a business trip, selling
shares of our mine, which we have called "The Treasury" from
reasons which we can make obvious to any investor. The shares, Mr.
------'

"'Saunders--Red Saunders--Chantay Seeche Red.'

"'Mr. Saunders, are fifty cents apiece, which price is really only
put upon them to avoid the offensive attitude of dealing them out
as charity. As a matter of fact, this mine of ours contains a
store of gold which would upset the commercial world, were the bare
facts of its extent known. There is neither sense nor amusement in
confining such enormous treasure in the hands of two people.
Consequently, my pardner and I are presenting an interest to the
public, putting the nominal figure of fifty cents a share upon it,
to save the feelings of our beneficiaries.'

"'What the devil do I care?' says I. 'I'm looking for a chance to
dig--could you tell a man where to go?'

"'Oh!' says he, 'when you come to that, that's different. Strictly
speaking, my pardner Hy hasn't gone off on a business trip. As a
matter of fact, he left town night before last with two-thirds of
the money we'd pulled out of a pocket up on Silver Creek, in the
company of two half-breed Injuns, a Chinaman, and four more
sons-of-guns not classified, all in such a state of beastly
intoxication that their purpose, route, and destination are matters
of the wildest conjecture. I've been laying around town here
hating myself to death, thinking perhaps I could sell some shares
in a mine that we'll find yet, if we have good luck. If you want
to go wild-catting over the hills and far away, I'm your
huckleberry.'

"'That hits me all right,' says I. 'For, what I don'