's ranch, not far from Smith
Mountain, developed a habit of goin' away fer a few days and then
comin' back with bits of black rock chock full of gold which he traded
fer firewater and such. He didn't seem ter care if he got full value
or not.

"'Plenty more where those came from,' he'd say.

"Wa'al, they set a watch on him and found that he always headed off
inter ther desert by way of Smith Mountain, which would be the nat'ul
way of gettin' ter ther three buttes that Peg-leg had described.

"Guv'ner Downey he come to hear about this in course of time, and he
come down frum Sacramento to question ther Injun. But in ther meantime
ther pesky coyote had gone and got himself killed in a quarrel over
cards and so there they was up agains' a blank wall ag'in."

The old prospector paused to fill his pipe.

CHAPTER XXIV.

"THE THREE BUTTES."

"The Injun bein' dead, the guv'ner did the nex' best thing. He
questioned his squaw. But she couldn't tell 'em much 'cept that the
Injun told her he got his last water at t'other side of Smith Mountain
and then traveled toward ther sun till erbout mid-afternoon when he
found mucho, mucho oro.

"The guv'ner made two or three tries to locate them buttes, but he
failed. Then come along a man named McGuire, who said he knew where
the buttes was and showed black rocks with gold in 'em to prove it,
jes' like the ones Peg-leg and ther Injun had found, they was. Well,
McGuire he gets five other dern fools and off they starts and that's
the end of them. They ain't never heard of ag'in.

"Then comes a prospector who gets lost, and in hunting for water
finds these same three buttes and the black, gold-specked rocks that
are scattered about. But he wasn't bothering about gold just then, so
he keeps on and in time finds the water hole at the foot of Smith
Mountain.

"He comes back to Los Angeles and tries to organize a company to go to
ther three buttes. But he falls ill and when he learns he's goin' ter
die he tells Dr. De Courcy, that's his physician, that he knows whar
Peg-leg's lost mine is an' gives him a map an' directions. Arter ther
man dies, Dr. De Courcy spends all his money trying ter find ther
buttes, but he fails. Then comes a young chap named Tom Cover of
Riverside. He's wealthy and fits out a dozen or more outfits to hunt
fer ther three buttes. But after setting out on his twelfth trip he
never comes back, so they know that Peg-leg Smith's mine has claimed
another v