ou,
anyway? He would be a capital fellow to join in on such an absurdly
foolish scheme as you are just about to pull off at the Y.M.C.A. now.
Going into somebody else's property and absorbing its benefits to
yourselves. That's his scheme exactly. He watches my mining claims like a
hawk, and if my assessments should be a day late he'd jump my claims. He
hates me."

"What did you ever do to make him hate you?" innocently inquired Willis.

Again Mr. Williams ignored the question and went on: "He'd just love to
work on that old cabin again."

"I should think that cabin _would_ interest him," calmly replied Willis.
"I only wish he was here to join us, for I'd rather know him than any man
I can think of just now. A man who builds a house ought to know how best
to build onto it, hadn't he? Personally, I think he must have been a very
clever old miner and as true as steel."

"Yes, true to his own interests."

"It takes two to make a fight, though, doesn't it? By the way, Uncle, why
did you let that sapheaded Englishman jump your claim last week? I
should think you'd hate him for such tricks as you do Tad?" Willis eyed
his uncle closely, then in a half undertone he casually remarked,
"Anyway, I think a whole lot of this mining business is mighty crooked
business." Then again to his uncle, "Is Tad still around in the mountains
somewhere, Uncle?"

Mr. Williams smiled in a preoccupied way and said, "Yes and no."

"I don't understand?" questioned Willis.

There was no reply. Soon the man laid down his paper and left the room.

"Well, I'll be jiggered," said Willis half-aloud. "What can he have
against the man who was my father's partner? I don't know, but I'll find
out." He closed his book with a slam and went off to bed.

* * * * *

The last Friday night of the summer vacation saw a large group of husky
high school boys board the car en route to the cabin. All were equipped
with blanket rolls, and several carried picks, shovels, and other tools,
for "to-morrow" real work on the cabin was to begin. It seemed that the
coloring of the leaves had given everything their delicate tint. The
squirrels were already gathering stray acorns that Mother Nature had
dropped for them. The little canyon lay in perfect quiet, except for the
chattering of the line of boys stretched out along its leafy woodland
trail. The whole physical body seemed to respond in a mysterious way to
its every call, for "In th