ashamed of his momentary jealousy of his
brother. When she had finished speaking, he laughed and said: "What a
pity Jim sees me through such fine magnifying glasses. The undesirable
qualities in my character he never detects."

"I think it is great to have your family think you are all that is
wonderful! I think my family regard me as a saint, and I like it, too,"
declared Polly.

"That's because you are one, Polly dear," retorted Tom, and the fervor he
expressed in his eyes and voice, caused his companion to gasp.

Before Tom could follow up his sudden declaration and make Polly
understand his sentiments for her, she broached another subject of
conversation.

"Tom, what has been accomplished at the mine and at Rainbow Cliffs while
I was in Europe?"

Tom frowned, but he realized that Polly was more sensible than he. He
remembered, once more, what Anne had advised, so he choked the despondent
sigh and replied instead, with seeming interest:

"Oh, John and I had another queer bout with some thieves. They were not
after the land this time, but they planned to get at the ore and carry
off as much of the gold as they could lay hands on. Our old friend,
Rattlesnake Mike, caught them red-handed, and now they are serving a term
in prison at hard labor."

"Oh, Tom! I never heard a word of this!" cried Polly, eagerly. "Do tell
me about it."

CHAPTER V

THE RAID ON CHOKO'S FIND MINE

"You remember when we all came East last June to attend John's wedding
and see you off for Europe?" asked Tom.

Polly nodded eagerly but said nothing to interrupt him.

"Well, we remained longer than we had planned when we left Pebbly Pit.
The friends in New York were so eager to entertain us before we went back
home, that the days passed swiftly before we realized we had stayed on
ten days longer than we should have done at that time.

"Now to go back to the time when those two rascals tried to jump your
claim, the time your father and Mike guided the party when you-all
climbed the Indian Trail to Grizzly Slide.

"It seems that crafty clerk who had copied the rough map of the claim you
staked on Flat Top and filed in Oak Creek, never gave up hope of some day
getting his hands on enough of that gold to help him get away and live
comfortably, ever after, on the proceeds.

"When he learned that everyone of the family at Pebbly Pit, would be East
for a few weeks, and the mine would be left in charge of Mike and the
other empl