an' passes
out accordin'!

"One day thu ole man goes shy on meat and goes out huntin'. He don't see
no deer but he finds a mine--just hes dum luck, ye see; he were lookin'
fer chuck an' thu best he got was a stone! Well, he gits so axcited thet
he tries to break a chunk offen thu laidge with his gun butt, an' thu
blame ole shootin' iron jars loose an' blows hes fool wing off. Fawtuhn
were a leetle severe on thu ole fellah, don't yuh think? But he manages
ter git home with hes leetle ole hunk o' quawtz, tells thu ole woman
wheah he found it, an' petehs out, hisself. They's so pooh thet she had
ter go an' git hes gun so's ter be able ter sell it an' git enough
mazuma ter plant him with thu 'propriate trimmin's. Them kind is allus
great on perprieties!

"Well, she finds thu gun wheah he had drapped it on thu croppin's an'
brings it an' a hull apern full o' thu rock home with her. Then she
bawls it all out, foolish like, to ther neighbors; she hocks her weddin'
dress fer enough ter pay a rock-sharp fer a assay on thu truck--an' o'
cose thu durn skunk sneaks out an' jumps thu claim!"

He rolled a fresh cigarette and lit it with a red-hot coal juggled
deftly between his palms. Douglass kicked the fire impatiently and
yawned.

"Cut it short, Red! It's getting late. Of course she got so much gold
out of her mine that she took the yellow fever and swallowed her false
teeth, or was guilty of some other fantastic foolishness. You
incorrigible old faker, you are making that up as you go!"

Red looked undecidedly after him as he strode away in the moonlight in
the direction of the picketed horses. For a moment he hesitated, then he
flung a fresh log on the fire and began to untie his blanket roll.

"It is gettin' along about beddin' down time, fer a fac'." But there was
much of disconsolation in his voice. Red hated to spoil a good story.

"But the woman, the mine, finish your story!" came in rapid fire from
his audience. He fumbled with his "soogans" a moment, then came over and
looked thoughtfully into the fire.

"Thu fellah who jumped thu Las' Chance lode was a kind o' mine brokeh,
one o' thu damn sharks as is allus raidy to take a low down advantage of
thu mis-fort-unit an' helpless." Brevoort winced slightly and his wife
smiled behind her hand. "He had anotheh felleh workin' fer him, a real
white man! When this yeah las' felleh I'm tellin' yuh about finds out
what the brokeh cuss's game is, he done raises--well, he nac