ly waiting for him to confess his failure, but he never
did. There was still some hundred feet of river front to be "tried out,"
and Jim calmly went on boring his monotonous holes. It was maddening to
watch him.

One morning two men came poling down the creek in a flat-bottomed boat
packed with gear and food. They pulled up at sight of Jim. He recognized
them as the owners of two claims farther up the creek.

"Still diggin', pard?" queried one.

"Yep."

"Wal, it's sure a waste of time. There ain't no pay dirt on this yere
creek. We got five hundred feet up yonder plum full of holes, and we ain't
shoveled out naught but muck."

Jim stretched himself.

"'Tain't panning out up to schedule," he grunted, "but I'm going through
with this bit afore I hit the trail again."

"Better cut it, Cap," said the second man. "I gotta hunch they didn't call
this Red Ruin for nothin'. See here, I found six abandoned claims half a
mile up. I reckon the guys who pitched that lot over were the same as did
the christening of this bit of water."

Jim laughed carelessly. He had little doubt that the location was bad, but
it went against his nature to quit before he had carried out his task. The
first man stuck a wad of tobacco between his back teeth.

"That pardner o' yourn don't seem to take kindly to diggin'," he
ejaculated.

Jim stared at him, and then tightened his lips.

"No need to fly off the handle, Cap. I had a pard like him once, strong on
paper but liked the other fellow to do the diggin'."

"What the blazes are you talkin' about?" demanded Jim. "I ain't inviting
you to give opinions. What's more, she ain't a _him_. You go to hell--and
quick about it!"

The man looked at his comrade and they both grinned. Jim put down the
spade in a way that caused them to stare blankly.

"Wal, you're some joker. Pete, am I blind? It's no odds, anyway, and no
offense meant, but by ginger! it's the first time I've seen a woman smoke
a two-dollar cigar."

"What's that?"

Jim suddenly felt dazed as a new explanation entered his mind. He stepped
down towards the boat.

"What's all this?" he inquired. "I'm kinder interested."

The first man explained.

"I bin campin' way back there. The other guys who abandoned them claims
played hell with the timber--gormandized the whole lot--must have gone in
for the timber business. So I bin cuttin' spruce up there on the hill.
Wal, I often seen you drilling holes in this muck, but damn me if