He darted a vindictive glance at the unfortunate Dick, but
joined in the laugh. "And what was ye goin' to do with that?" he said,
pointing to the treasure.
"Oh, we're taking that with us. There's a chunk for each of us as a
memento. We cast lots for the choice, and Demorest won,--that one which
you couldn't lift with one hand, you know," said Stacy.
"Oh, couldn't I? I reckon you ain't goin' to give me the same chance
that they did at the Mint, eh?"
Although the remark was accompanied with his usual coarse, familiar
laugh, there was a look in his eye so inconsequent in its significance
that Stacy would have made some reply, but at this moment Demorest
re-entered the cabin, ushering in a half dozen miners from the Bar
below. They were, although youngish men, some of the older locators in
the vicinity, yet, through years of seclusion and uneventful labors,
they had acquired a certain childish simplicity of thought and manner
that was alternately amusing and pathetic. They had never intruded upon
the reserve of the three partners of Heavy Tree Hill before; nothing but
an infantine curiosity, a shy recognition of the partners' courtesy in
inviting them with the whole population of Heavy Tree to the dinner the
next day, and the never-to-be-resisted temptation of an evening of "free
liquor" and forgetfulness of the past had brought them there now.
Among them, and yet not of them, was a young man who, although speaking
English without accent, was distinctly of a different nationality and
race.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25