ou get caught in a sandstorm, or what?"

"Yes, a sandstorm," answered Charley, solemnly. "It came down the valley
like a wall. And my burros got away; but the Colonel, he found me--I was
digging a hole in the sand."

"Say, where are these Ube-Hebes?" broke in Wiley impulsively. "I'd like
to go over there some time."

"They're across Death Valley," answered Charley smiling craftily, "--on
the west side, in the Funeral Range. The Coffin mine is there--I used to
work in it--but they put me underground with a stiff for a pardner so I
quit and come back to town."

"Yes, I heard about that; but you forgot something, Charley--how about
that graveyard shift? But I'll tell you what I'll do, if you'll take me
to the Colonel I'll help Virginia get back her mine."

He plumped the statement at him, for Charley was an innocent who spoke
out the truth when he was jumped, but for once he detected the ruse.

"The Colonel's dead," he answered sulkily and picked up his hat to go.

"I doubt it!" scoffed Wiley. "I met a man the other day who said he'd
seen him--in the Ube-Hebes mountains."

"He did?" exclaimed Charley, and then he drew back and his eyes flashed
with angry resentment. "You're a liar!" he burst out. "The Colonel is
dead. He never said anything of the kind."

"Yes, he did," insisted Wiley, "and you know the man well. He's got a
little dog like Heine."

"He's a liar!" cried Charley savagely, "and don't you go to talking or
I'll make you wish you hadn't."

"No, I won't," assured Wiley, "but here's the proposition--the Colonel
left a lot of stock. And Mrs. Huff, being crazy, gave it all to Blount
on a loan of eight hundred dollars. But if the Colonel should come back
that transfer would be illegal and he could fix it to get back the mine.
So don't talk to me about giving Virginia her mine--you go out and bring
in the Colonel."

"He's dead!" yelled Charley, scrabbling madly out the door. "You're a
liar--I tell you he's dead!"

"Yes, he's dead," observed Wiley, "just the same as I am. I'll have to
get old Charley drunk."

CHAPTER XVIII

ON CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas came to Keno in a whirling snowstorm that shrouded Shadow
Mountain in white and, as he stepped out in the morning and looked up at
the peak, Wiley Holman felt a thrill of joy. The black shadow had
bothered him, now that he had come to live under it; and a hundred times
a day as it caught his eye he would glance up to find the dark cloud.
But n