at Charley and his
father, and his mother, too, puzzled over it almost in vain. Starting
from the joining of two rivers, it appeared to represent an exploring
trip up along one of the rivers, and through the country, with crosses
scattered like camps, and the letters "G. H." set down here and there.
The page was thumb-marked so badly, and so scuffed, that some of it was
well-nigh rubbed out. Charley and his father and mother later puzzled
a great deal over that map, which looked like this.

[Illustration: The map from the mysterious stranger. ("G H" means
"Gold Here")]

But now the next thing was the examination of the sacks, round and
heavy.

"I suppose we'd better open them," mused Mr. Adams. He untied the
worn, greasy thong about the neck of one, and loosened the mouth. He
peered in; so did Charley.

"Gold dust, sure as shooting," gasped Mr. Adams. "What in the world
are we to do with it? Nuggets, too. Ever see any, Charley? Here----"
and with thumb and finger he fished out a smoothish lump about the size
of a navy bean.

Charley saw it. He saw the dust, too--a mass of fine particles,
glinting dully yellow amidst the brownish interior. Gee whiz! And the
other sack held the same!

"How much do you suppose it makes?"

Mr. Adams weighed the sacks in his hand, thoughtfully.

"I judge they weigh about three pounds apiece," he mused. "Gold is
selling at fourteen dollars an ounce, I hear. Humph! If each sack
contains three pounds, that makes--er, twelve ounces to the
pound--thirty-six ounces in each sack, at fourteen dollars--say $500
apiece, or $1000 in all. I declare!"

That seemed like a lot of money.

"He gave it to me," declared Charley, eagerly. "Really he did, dad.
And he gave me his mine, too, out in California. He did. I wrote as
he told me to on a piece of paper, and he started to sign, and then he
quit. It's the Golden West mine. See?" and Charley, showed the
writing on the pad.

"Well!" muttered his father. "I declare! 'Tom,' that looks like. Tom
who, I wonder. That's the most importance. Of course we don't want
his mine or his money. Didn't he tell his last name?"

"No, sir. But he gave me the money, and he gave me the mine. He----"
but Charley was interrupted by a resounding knock on the front door.

"See who that is," bade his father. "I'll lay these things away."

When Charley opened the front door, the long-nosed man stood there, on
the threshold.

"Hello,"