away. But when he was working it, why Wiley
came back and claimed it under the tax sale; and he went right up to the
mine and took away George's gun--and kicked him down the dump!"

"He did!" exclaimed the Colonel, but Wiley did not look up, for his mind
was on the end of the tale.

"And then--oh, it's all mixed up, but Blount couldn't find any gold and
so he leased the mine to Wiley. And the minute he found that the white
quartz was tungsten, and worth three dollars a pound, he was mad as
anything and did everything he could to keep him from meeting the
payment. But Wiley went ahead and shipped a lot of ore and made a lot of
money in spite of him. He cleaned out the mine and fixed up the mill and
oh, Father, you wouldn't know the place!"

"Probably not!" returned the Colonel, "but proceed with your story. Who
holds the Paymaster, now?"

"Why Blount, of course, and he's moved back to town and is simply
shoveling out the ore!"

"The scoundrel!" burst out the Colonel. "Wiley, we will return to Keno
immediately and bring this blackguard to book! I have a stake in this
matter, myself!"

"Nope, not for me!" answered Wiley wearily. "You haven't heard all the
story. I fell down on the final payment--it makes no difference how--and
when I came back Blount had jumped the mine and Stiff Neck George was in
charge. But instead of warning me off he hid behind a car and--well, I
don't care to go back there, now."

"Why, certainly! You must!" declared the Colonel warmly. "You were
acting in self defense and I consider that your conduct was justified.
In fact, my boy, I wish to congratulate you--Charley tells me he had the
drop on you."

"Yes, sure," grumbled Wiley, "but you aren't the judge--and there's a
whole lot more to the story. It happens that I took an option on
Blount's Paymaster stock, but when I offered the payment he protested
the contract and took the case to court. Now--he's got the town of Vegas
in his inside vest pocket, the lawyers and judges and all; and do you
think for a minute he's going to let me come back and take away those
four hundred thousand shares?"

"Four hundred thousand?" repeated the Colonel incredulously, "do you
mean to tell me----"

"Yes, you bet I do!" said Wiley, "and I'll tell you something else.
According to the dates on the back of those certificates it was Blount
that sold you out. He sold all his promotion stock before the panic; and
then, when the price was down to nothing, he tu