beyond.

"There's nothing to frighten you this time," he said. "Nothing to tell
much, just--money."

"I gathered as much."

"And why, Elice?"

"Several reasons. First of all, a practical man doesn't carry an
automobile half across the continent by express without a definite stake
involved. Later he doesn't 'scrap,' as you say, that same machine without
regret unless the stake was big--and won."

"You think I won, then?"

"I know."

"And again, why?"

The girl flashed a glance, but he was not looking at her.

"Because you always win," she said simply.

"Always?" A pause. "Always, Elice?"

"Always in matters of--money."

The man lay there still, looking up. Barely a leaf in the big maple was
astir, not a single sensate thing. Had they been the only two people
alive on a desert expanse they could not have been more isolated, more
completely alone. Yet he pursued the lead no further, neither by word nor
suggestion. Creeping through a tiny gap a ray of sunlight glared in his
eyes, and he shifted enough to avoid it. That was all.

In her place the girl too shifted, just so she could see him more
distinctly.

"Tell me about it," she said. "I'm listening."

"You're really interested? I don't care to bore you."

"Yes, really. I never pretend with you."

Slowly Roberts sat up, his head bare, his fingers locked over his knees.

"Very well. I 'phoned, you remember, that I was going West to look at a
mining claim."

"Yes."

"What I should have said, to be exact, was that I was going to file on
one, if it wasn't too late. I'd already seen it, on paper, and ore from
it; had it assayed myself. It ran above two hundred dollars. It was one
of those things that happen outside of novels oftener than people
imagine. The man who furnished the specimens was named Evans,--a big,
raw-boned cowboy I met down in the Southwest, where I've got an interest
in a silver mine. He'd contracted the fever and worked for our company
for a time. When the Nevada craze came on he got restless and wanted to
go too. He hadn't a second shirt to his back so I grub-staked him.
Nothing came of it and I staked him again. This time he came here
personally to report. He had some ore with him and a map; just that and
nothing more. Whether he'd found anything worth while he didn't know,
didn't imagine he had, as it was a new section that hadn't produced as
yet. He hadn't even taken the trouble to secure his claim. What he wanted
was more mon