telling
her that he had discovered other visitors to the old mine within a very
short time. There were evidences of their presence everywhere in the
vicinity, and they had not been idle curiosity seekers, but men with a
mission. Whether they had given up the hunt for gold and gone away from
the neighborhood of the mine for good, Jim could not tell. This was one
of the reasons why he had prowled around so long. He had gone to all the
likely spots near by, where a party of miners might be camping, thinking
he might run across them, but not one of them had turned up.

Pretty soon, Jim discovered that Jack and Carlos were not in the spot
where he left them, but he did not yet feel uneasiness. He circled
around the three hills; he went a short distance into the thicket of
pine trees, making as much racket as possible; he gave the long cowboy
call of the Rainbow Ranch. And then Jim's blue eyes turned black with
anger and his sun-tanned skin grew red. He was exceedingly angry with
Jack and Carlos, he was frightened, and an inner voice reminded him that
if anything had happened to them he was to blame for leaving them so
long alone.

But what could have happened?--for no one else had come near the place.

Jim saw Jack's footprints leading to the entrance of the cave, but his
own and the Indian boy's were alongside them, and as they had rushed to
look in the mine the first moment of their arrival he did not think to
search for fresh tracks. And yet, for an instant, Jim had an odd
premonition urging him toward the deserted mine.

The wind was now blowing hard across the plains; and the sun was
slipping down to the line of the far horizon, not in a crimson glow, but
in a piled-up mass of smoke--gray clouds lit with flame-colored sparks.
Jim watched it uneasily. A summer storm was coming up after their week
of perfect weather, and Jack, who knew the signs of the weather as well
as any backwoodsman, had probably set off with Carlos for their camp,
expecting him to overtake them. There was no other explanation for their
disappearance. Once Jim walked irresolutely toward the mouth of the
mine; then he turned, quickly moving off along the trail, wondering how
far his companions would be able to travel before he reached them.
Within twenty yards he halted, swung himself about and, in spite of his
worry and haste, strode back to the open mine, where he had once vainly
tried to find his fortune. Jim did not know exactly why he returned