too big for my
taste, even if I had time to think about her."

Ernest groaned and once more silence fell until he roused himself to
ask: "Would that be a monument yonder?"

They pulled up before a heap of stones, the marker of a mining claim, so
familiar to the desert dweller, and spread the government map on their
knees.

"Let's see," said Roger. "Here's Preble's claim, and next him, west, is
the Mellish claim, and beyond that, still west, is government land.
Simple enough if the sand hasn't drifted on their monuments."

It was not difficult. They passed the Mellish workings, a great hole in
the ground, with a deserted shack beside the windlass. A short distance
on, they located his monument and quickly found themselves on government
land.

"Well," sighed Ernest, "it certainly is God-forsaken!"

They looked about them. Far to the west lay a jagged line of blue
mountains, against a blue sky. To the east, the barren tortured peaks of
Coyote Range, brown and black in the blazing morning sun, so near that
they could see the smoke rising from Charley's kitchen chimney, so far
that the adobe looked like a doll house against the range. Between them
and Coyote Range lay the desert valley, a rich yellow, thick dotted with
fantastic growths of cactus and cat's claw.

"Lord, I think it's great!" Roger drew a deep breath. "Let's unload, old
man."

They worked without stopping except for lunch, until five o'clock. With
ax and shovel they cleared away cactus and drifts of sand for a level
space on which to set up their living tent. Austin had given them plans
for this. They laid a rough floor and raised around this a four foot
wainscoating. They used no tent pole, but stretched their canvas on a
frame of two by fours, above the wainscoating. The result was a pleasant
airy compartment with headroom even for Roger. They had not finished
their tent when suppertime arrived. But they took Dick's word that tools
and supplies would be unmolested.

"We may have trouble locating water," said Ernest as they started the
team homeward. "Austin thought we'd strike it most anywhere in the
valley, you remember, but Dick says Mellish never reached it."

"I'll bet we find water if we go deep enough." Roger lighted his pipe
with the sense of comfort of a man whose back is aching from honest
toil. "Dick's information is only hearsay. He's got a good spring there
at the corral and he told me there was considerable water in the lower
workin