That went on everything, twenty dollars a ton whether they
hauled both ways or one; and with so much at stake he had to treat
everyone generously or run the chance of being tied up by a strike. Nor
was there lacking the sinister evidence of some unfriendly if not
hostile force, and as breakdowns recurred and unexpected accidents
happened, Wiley came and went like a ghost. His gun was always on him
and he watched each man warily, seeking out his enemies from his
friends.

As for Virginia and her mother, he had long since given up hope of
stopping their venomous tongues; and Death Valley Charley, finding the
pressure too strong, had conveniently dropped out of sight. In all that
town, which he had found dead and unpeopled and had changed in a few
months to a live camp, there was not a single soul that he could
truthfully say was honestly and unquestionably his friend. It was not
that they were against him, for most of them realized that their own
success was bound up with his; but they were not actively for him, they
did not boost and help him, but joined in on the old anvil chorus. He
had cheated the Widow, he had beaten Virginia out of her stock, he had
taken advantage of Death Valley Charley! But, they added--and this was
what galled him--what else could you expect from the son of Honest John?

Wiley gritted his teeth, but he did not speak his mind for the hour of
vindication was at hand. When he had paid off his notes and his bills
for supplies the first thing he would do, even before he took over the
mine, would be to buy in Blount's Paymaster stock. And with that stock
in his hands, with every tell-tale endorsement to prove the damning
story of Blount's guilt, he would go to these old-timers and make them
eat their words when they said his father was not honest. But as far as
he was concerned, what difference did it make whether they considered
him honest or not? Would they feel any more kindly towards his honest
old father when he had proved that he had been faithful to the end? No,
they thought they were virtuous and only denouncing injustice, but when
that charge was taken out of their mouths they would clack on out of
jealousy at his success. It was envy that really poisoned their minds
and made them spit forth spleen, envy and chagrin at their own lack of
foresight.

The Paymaster dump had lain right at their doorway where all of them
could inspect its ore, but no one had noticed the heavy spar. They had
cal