r seen
before, and not a genuine ghost, who had stood between him and the
finding of the nugget. He was not satisfied until he had burned up three
or four brands in going out to see the object to make sure it was there
yet. To tell the truth, this Red Ghost had often stood between Elam and
the accomplishment of his hopes; and as much as he desired to possess
the nugget he did not dare face it alone.

"It is there yet," said Elam, coming in once more and throwing a
half-burned chunk upon the fire. "Tom, you have made me your everlasting
debtor. Now I hope the finding of the nugget will go the same way."

"I hope I can have the same effect upon your other work," said Tom
modestly. "If I do, you will call me a lucky omen."

"What is an 'omen'?" asked Elam, who had never heard the word before.

"Why, it is an occurrence supposed to show the character of some future
event. That is about as near as I can come to it. If I am with you, you
will find the nugget without the least trouble: if I am not, you won't."

"Well, I'll see that you don't get very far from me till I find out what
this map means. There is something hidden there, and I know it."

It was while we were talking in this way that daylight came, and I began
getting breakfast while Elam and Uncle Ezra smoked, and Ben and Tom were
packing up the skins which had fallen to Ben's rifle during the hunt. I
could see that Ben was sadly disappointed in not being permitted to
accompany Elam on his search for the nugget, but like the soldier he
was, he gave right up. He knew that his father did not believe in such
things anyway, and very likely his refusal would have been more pointed
than Uncle Ezra's. When the breakfast was over all hands turned to and
washed the dishes and put them away. We calculated to visit the camp
again during the winter, and, if we did, we wanted to know what we had
to go on. Then we went out to saddle our horses and take a last look at
the Red Ghost.

"Are we going to leave this thing here?" asked Ben.

"Sure!" replied Uncle Ezra. "We can't carry it with us."

"I'll bet I don't leave it all here," said Elam, going into the cabin
and returning with an axe in his hand. "The folks down there won't
believe that we killed anything, and I am going to have one of the
feet."

The thing was hideous when we came to look at it by daylight, and
especially the great hoofs with which it had tramped so far. They were
lacerated in every direction, and on