turned to me.

"You ought to remember me, Lorimer," he said.

"Of course I do, Calvert. Didn't you hire my horses, once?" I replied.
"You must take my meaning the right way when I say that I'm pleased to see
you here. But what brought you and the others into this desolation?"

Calvert's eyes twinkled. "The same thing that brought you--stories of
unlimited treasure. When I heard them I left my few machines--they were
not working well, and humbly craved the autocratic president of the Day
Spring mine's permission to join this expedition. The Day Spring was not
prospering in such a degree that we could afford to ignore the rumors--eh,
Geoffrey?"

"You may put it so," said Ormond quietly. "But Colonel Carrington is your
acknowledged chief, and you owe him due respect."

"Well," the narrator continued, "we came up, six sanguine men and one
despondent mule, which showed its wisdom by breaking its tether and
deserting. I gather that these expeditions are generally rough on cattle.
Then we lost our way, and, provisions growing scanty, divided the party,
three returning and three holding on, Geoffrey and I, unfortunately, among
the latter. We got lost worse than ever on the return journey, and were
steering south, we hoped, at the last gasp, so to speak, when we found
you. That's about all, but, if it's a fair question, did you find any sign
of gold?"

"Not a sign," I answered.

"Yours was a triple combination," Ormond said. "Where's your cheerful
partner; I liked him. Ah, excuse an unfortunate question--a difference of
opinion most probably?"

"No," I answered. "We never had a difference of opinion since poor
Johnston joined us. He lies somewhere in a nameless river--we lost him
crossing a treacherous ford two days ago."

Ormond looked startled for a moment, then he bent his head and answered
with a kindly glance toward me: "He was a good comrade, and you have my
deep sympathy. May I say that sometimes I fancied your friend could tell a
painful story, and in endeavoring to forget it made the most of the
present."

"You are probably right," said Harry. "He hinted as much, but no one will
learn that story now. He took his secret with him, and the river guards
it."

"It's an old tale," said Ormond gravely. "The way into this country was
opened by the nameless unfortunate. After all, where could a man rest
better than among the ranges through which he had found a pathway. Are not
these dark pines grander than any monu