aring of the speculator rather than the discretion of the
careful buyer. Harris had, all his life, lived in an atmosphere of
conservatism, where saving a penny was greater merit than making two,
but he was amazed to find how quickly the gambling spirit of the new
land seized upon him. Unlike Riles, he was a man who responded to his
environment; in a community of hard-working, money-saving farmers he
worked hardest and saved most; but in a community of reckless,
unlicensed speculation he had the qualities which would soon make of
him the greatest gambler of them all. He was astonished and somewhat
frightened by this hitherto unrevealed side of his own character. His
long-dormant imagination began to revive; with imagination came hope
and optimism; and hope and optimism, unchecked, soon breed
recklessness. He saw the evidence of prosperity on every side--not
the prosperity that hedges itself about with socialisms and affected
dignity, but the prosperity that stays on the job in its
shirt-sleeves. He saw men who were doing big things--building
railways, opening up wildernesses, farming or carrying on business
transactions on a scale of which he had never dreamed--and he began
to see that the only reason these men could do these things was that
they dared to do them. Well, he too--he and Allan--would dare some
things...He paid a dollar for their lunch without a grumble, and
again they took the train.

Riles met them on the station platform. He had met every train for a
week, as it had been agreed that it would be better that the Harrises
should not visit Gardiner's ranch until plans were more fully
developed. Jim was still there, and Gardiner insisted that Jim should
not meet Harris at present. He allowed Riles to think that he feared
trouble if former employer and employee should meet; as a matter of
fact, he feared that if their coal mine proposition should reach the
ears of Travers the young man would attempt to dissuade Harris from
having anything to do with it, or at least would urge a fuller
investigation than might be desirable. Besides, he meant to make of
Travers an unwitting party to the affair.

Riles, in overalls and shirt-sleeves, leaned against the iron rail at
the back of the station platform, his big hands stuffed in the
bulging band of his trousers, and his under-jaw busy with an ample
ration of tobacco. He watched the passengers alighting from the train
with little interest; he had no particular expectat