enthusiasm by the miners. They were not making a fortune. and adventurers all, were willing to take a risk. Jacob also wished to go;after his late experience, the prospect of being left alone in Deadwood did not appeal to him.
'Yu'll come with me, Gerry, I guess?' Sudden said.
'Yu'd lose at any guessin' game,' was the reply. 'I'm with the boys.' The puncher was surprised, but he made only one comment: 'The women are goin'.'
'Then yu can be shore o' trouble,' Gerry retorted viciously.
After two days' preparation, Paul and his party were ready to start on what he gave out to be a prospecting expedition, and since--save for the women--it differed in no way from others which left the town almost daily, it attracted little attention. Strong, it undoubtedly was, consisting of nine men, including the leader, with pack-mules loaded with tools and provisions. All the men were armed.
Sudden, arriving outside the Lesurge cabin, found familiar faces; Fagan, Rodd, Berg, Hank, Lem--of whose wonderful escape he had learned--and a big fellow, sitting awkwardly on his mount, whom he recognized as Miller. The miner was eyeing him doubtfully. Sudden rode to his side.
'How's the hangin' trade?' he asked gravely.
Husky cleared his throat, spat, and said reproachfully, 'You didn't oughta hold that agin me--it shorely looked like you was our meat. I was just as pleased the way it come out.' The cowboy realized that he was in earnest, and with a laugh shoved out a fist. 'I was on'y joshin',' he confessed.
Husky's hand, like a bear's paw, gripped his, and a broad grin betrayed his relief.
'How come yu in this?' Sudden asked.
'Well, my claim done petered out an' my luck follered suit,' Husky explained. 'Took a whirl at the wheel las' night an' went bust. Stark speaks for me an' here I am, figurin' mebbe to earn a grubstake.' He surveyed the assembled riders and lowered his voice. 'Mister Lesurge is a fine fella but he's picked a middlin' ornery crowd--not meanin' any offence.' The cowboy's eyes crinkled at the corners. 'One look at 'em is shore a-plenty,' he admitted.
'Now then gals is different--purty as pictures.' Husky went on. 'Hell! here's one a-coming'. See you later-- pardner.' He beat a hasty retreat as Lora Lesurge trotted up, her eyes alight with excitement.
'Morning--Jim,' she greeted, in her rich low voice. 'So we are to be fellow wanderers in the wilds again.'
'Seems so,' he replied, his gaze travelling from the turned-up soft hat to the trim spurred heels. 'I'm hopin' yore brother has provided yu with a good pony--them boots ain't no use for walkin'.'
'I'm not proposing to walk--this time,' she retorted. 'If my mount fails 1 shall come to you; I'm sure Nigger could carry both of us,' she finished roguishly.
''Could' an' would' come outa different corrals,' Sudden said dryly. 'Mornin', Miss Ducane. Well, here's good-bye to Deadwood--for a spell.'
'For ever, would please me more,' Lora remarked, and her tone told that she meant it.
She ranged herself by his side as they set out. Snowy followed, perched precariously on the back of Jezebel and brandishing a stout stick.
The animal turned a spiteful eye upon him, got a smart clip over the bony nose, dropped its head and stepped demurely forward. The rider emitted a wheezy whoop of triumph.
'The magic wand is still a-workin', Jim,' he called out.
Mary found herself paired with Paul, and the rest of the party, leading the pack-beasts, brought up the rear. They soon left the timber-stripped slopes of the gulch behind and headed into the unknown.
At Snowy's suggestion, the cowboy was taking them by a new and more roundabout route. 'No sense in lettin' Lesurge know how near he is to Deadwood,' the old man had argued. 'He might, at a pinch, send for help if it looks like comin' to a scrap; as it is, we'll be even-matched.' Sudden knew the direction in which the mine lay, and as a plainsman, that was all he needed, but the savage nature of the country made straightforward progress impossible, and more than doubled the actual distance.
Presently they paused on the crest of a steep ridge which afforded a wider view. Grey, rock-crowned hills, black forests of fir, green park-like valleys, and deep, precipitous gullies stretched before them in unending succession. For all the blazing sun, there was a keenness in the air and the aromatic tang of the pines was in their nostrils. As they slipped and slithered down the slope of the ridge, Lora said abruptly:
'What brought you to Deadwood? You care nothing for money.'
'Drop a dime an' watch me dive for it,' he bantered, but when she would not smile, he added bluntly, 'I came to find two men.'
'Friends?'
'I wouldn't call 'em that,' was the ambiguous reply. Moved by an impulse he did not attempt to analyse, he told her why he had become a wanderer in the West, of the vow of vengeance one day to be fulfilled.1 She listened with wide eyes. Death dealt swiftly as retribution for a wrong, or in the heat of passion, she could comprehend, but this cold, relentless seeking out appalled her.
'Suppose you never find them?' she questioned.
'Then they'll be in, an' I'll be out o' luck,' he said. 'But you will have wasted your life.'
'I don't figure it thataway; I'm livin' an' doin' things. Right now I'm helping Snowy to get a fortune.'
'And Paul,' she prompted.
'Yeah,' he said. 'But I reckon yore brother can help his-self!' The bitter jest had slipped out unawares and he was afraid she would resent it, but his embarrassed look only made her laugh.
'Never mind, Jim,' she said. 'I've no illusions about Paul; helping himself is one of the things he does best.' Meanwhile, Paul Lesurge had been finding Mary a rather inattentive companion. Gerry's absence had been a blow; she wished--she told herself--to escape from the false position in which pique had placed her. There was too, more than a tinge of resentment in her attitude. 'Said he warn't interested.' The phrase had both hurt and angered her. Paul's voice stepped right into her thoughts:
'I'm sorry young Mason decided not to come with us. There must be a strong attraction in town to separate him from Green.' Mary's face clouded--she had not forgotten Lora's reference to the girls at the Paris. Then her head went proudly up, and she smiled.
'Mister Green doesn't seem to be heartbroken,' she replied. 'I suppose one man less won't matter, will it?'
'Not a bit,' he said. 'There are enough of us to take good care of you--Mary; if there were not, I'd go back and get more.' His voice betrayed a tenderness he had never shown to her before and it thrilled. She tried to answer lightly:
'You might lose the mine.'
'My dear, you are more to me than all the gold in Dakota,' he said earnestly. 'I only want wealth for your sake. Do you care for me, Mary?' The low, passionate tone, the dark, pleading eyes, carried conviction; she could not but believe. 'You have been so kind to us,' she murmured. 'I like you very much, Mister Lesurge '
'Paul,' he smiled.
'Well--Paul,' she amended, 'but--I had not thought ' She broke off, blushing and confused.
'1 understand,' he said gently. 'I did not dare to give even a hint, but I could hold back no longer. I shall not ask for an answer now. Think it over--and be kind.' His courtesy and consideration touched her, as he meant they should, and she thanked him with a look which fanned the flame of his desire.
'By the way, say nothing of this as yet to Lora,' he counselled. 'She is an odd girl, and has all a sister's jealousy for an only brother.' Mile after mile they plodded on, picking a way through the varied welter of the wilderness. When their guide called a halt on the bank of a rippling stream shaded by cottonwoods, all were glad of the rest.
'Berg, you once ran a hash-house, didn't you?' Lesurge said. 'I'm appointing you cook. Get a fire going and make coffee.' The little man's expression was as near a smile as his sour face could contrive; he preferred pots and pans to picks and shovels. The men began to gather dry wood, and Paul rejoined the women. He appeared to be in a gay humour.
'You'll eat with us, Green,' he said. 'How much longer before we reach our destination?'
'Three-four hours, I'd say,' the puncher replied, 'unless we meet with difficulties.'
'Say no more,' Lora begged. 'Mary, we have not been brave--only lucky. And all for a handful of yellow
