led it white quartz and dismissed it from their minds, but he had
come among them with different eyes. He had gone to a school of mines,
where he had learned to identify minerals, and he had kept up with the
mining magazines; and while these poisonous knockers had been lamenting
the results of the war he had jumped in and turned it to his advantage.
He had done something practical, to the improvement of industry,
something that might change in a certain measure, the very destiny of
the world; but the moment he succeeded they had accused him of robbing
half-wits and of oppressing the widow and the orphan. Wiley shut down
his jaws and smiled dourly.

There was small hope now of changing the widow and her "orphan" but if
he could not convert them he could show them. As sure as he knew
anything he was convinced that Colonel Huff had simply fled from his
wife's nagging tongue and, when he got the time, Wiley intended to hire
a pack-train and set out across Death Valley to find him. Virginia came
and went, but always she avoided him scrupulously. Not once since she
had returned from Vegas had she met his questioning eyes; and to all his
advances she turned a deaf ear, if the statements of Charley could be
trusted. The carefully thought out scheme of getting back the Huff stock
and then forming an alliance against Blount had died before it was born;
or it remained at best in suspended animation, pending Death Valley
Charley's return. He had gone off with his burros but the longer Wiley
waited on him the more he saw that Charley was a broken reed. No, the
trimming of Blount, if it was done at all, would have to be done by
him--and all he needed was time.

Two months and a little more lay between him and the day of
reckoning--the twentieth day of May. In that short time he must meet
heavy obligations, pay off his notes, buy Blount's stock and purchase
the mine; and if anything should happen--if the hoist should break
down, the mill blow up, the market for tungsten fail--well, he could
kiss the Paymaster good-by. The market and other influences were on
the knees of the gods, but Wiley decided that there should be no more
accidents. That was something preventable and no more love-sick
engineers were going to use his gearings for a clothes mangle. He
engaged two watchmen who were mechanics as well and then he kept watch
over his watchmen. Neither by day nor by night did he go down the hill
for more than a few minutes at a time and