"No talk, now," continued the long-nosed man, with a hard smile slightly curving his thin black moustache. "drop that rifle, you other kid. Back up the side of that hollow, both of you, and scoot. You're in the wrong pew. This happens to be our claim. See?"
Billy was so surprised and bewildered at the sudden attack that he simply couldn't say a word. He only looked, with mouth open, at Charley; and then at the men. He and Charley slowly backed away, up the other slope of the hollow. Charley saw that the three men were breathing hard, as if they had just arrived, in a hurry. He was so mad that he, too, scarcely could speak.
"'T isn't either your mine," he retorted hotly. "That's a lie, and you know it. You're only trying to steal it. It was given to me, and we've found it again, and we can prove it. You wait till we get our crowd."
The three behind the gun- laughed.
"The best thing for your crowd to do is to stay out of shooting distance," answered the long-nosed man. "We've got the mine, and the documents to prove it's ourn. Those are two p'ints hard to beat, bub."
"You haven't any right, just the same," retorted Charley, furious. "You stole those papers, but you needn't think you can steal the mine. You wait."
"We'll wait," said the long-nosed man, grimly.
"Come on," bade Charley, choking with and almost with tears, to the astonished Billy. "Let's get our animals and find our partners. Those fellows needn't think they can us."
"Who are they, anyhow?" Billy, as he and Charley went down the . "Is that their mine? Did they put that sign up? I thought we found it. We were there first, weren't we?"
"It's a long story, Billy; I'll tell you later," panted Charley, hurrying. "But it's our mine, all right—same one that was given to dad and me last spring. Remember I about it? And we're going to have it, too. Come on."
"And I'm going to have my rifle. They needn't think they can keep that, either," uttered Billy, waxing .
"I see the rest of 'em," announced Charley.
"They're making for the pack animals." And there, threading their way through the brush near the foot of the ridge, beyond the burro and the horse, were the figures of Mr. Adams and Mr. Walker and the tall Frémonter. A fourth figure was with them—he looked like a miner.
Charley and Billy waved and shouted, and hurried.
"Hello! Were you doing that shooting?" demanded Charley's father, as they approached. "What did you see?"
"A big bear," Charley. "But we found the mine—the Golden West. And the long-nosed man took it away from us."
"There are three of 'em," joined in Billy. "They guns at us and made us get out."
"Where?"
"Up there on top of the ridge. Billy's bullet knocked out a piece of gold —see?" and Charley extended the fragment that he had been clutching tightly. "Then Billy found a sign that said 'Golden West' and is signed by Tom Jones, for a claim; and when we were looking at it that Jacobs gang surprised us and told us to 'git.' Let's go back up there. They made Billy leave his gun, too."
The four men uttered , while looking at each other; Mr. Grigsby thoughtfully stroked his beard, and gazed at the of the ridge. Charley was certain that the heads of the Jacobs party were over the brush, there.
The piece of quartz passed around, and was examined. Most excited of all seemed to be the miner—for he certainly was a miner—who had been added to the party: a short, heavy-set man, very shaggy and weather-worn. He carried knife and pistol, and appeared to be good reinforcement.
"Did you get that up on that hill?" he demanded. "How much more is there of it? It's gold quartz, sure as shootin'—an' plaguey rich. Say—I want some o' that, myself. Hooray! Come on, all o' ye, ' the news gets out. You're fust, I'm second."
"You say you found the Golden West mine, and the Jacobs party ran you out, Charley?" asked Mr. Adams.
"Yes, sir. Didn't we, Billy?" And Billy nodded.
"Are they up there now?"
"Yes, sir. See 'em. They've got guns, too, besides Billy's."
"Looks as though we were in for a fight, then; eh, Grigsby?" remarked Mr. Adams, flushing. "We'll not stand to be robbed in any such fashion. Let's go and see what they have to say."
"The way I size those up," said Mr. Grigsby, "they're there and we're here, and they won't let us get much closer. Maybe we can starve 'em out, though," and he surveyed the ridge.
"I'm with you, in anything you want to do," spoke Mr. Walker. "How many are there? Three?"
"Jumped yore claim, have they?" asked the miner.
"They certainly have."
"You're shore it's yourn?"
"We can prove it."
"Then best thing you can do is to prove it to the boys at Rough an' Ready," pursued the miner. "Thar's been too much claim-jumpin', in this valley; no-one's property is safe, by thunder. You come along to Rough an' Ready, an' we'll see if 't isn't time for law an' order to take a hand in this game. Yore claim won't peter out while you're gone—not if it's any good; an' whilst I believe in fightin' when you have to, thar's no use sheddin' blood if thar's an easier way 'round to get the same thing."
"What do you say?" invited Mr. Adams, of the two other men. As for Charley, he saw that his father was ready to fight or not; he wasn't afraid, was this tall, soldierly veteran who had served with Scott in Mexico.
"I prefer getting our rights without any blood on them, if we can, of course," answered Mr. Walker. "I hate to start in in a new country with a fight of any kind. But you can count on me, whatever you decide to do."
"Let's try miners' law, first, then," spoke Mr. Grigsby, shortly. "If that doesn't help, we'll have to protect ourselves the next best way, even to shooting. But our rights we'll have, or ."
"Very well," said Mr. Adams. "Rough and Ready's four miles. I'll take the boys, so they can tell their story, and our friend here; and you and Walker stay with the animals and keep an eye on the ridge. We'll be back as soon as we can. Come on, lads," and away he strode, with the miner, and with Charley and Billy working hard to keep up.
They passed between the Golden West ridge and another, and emerged into a wide pleasant valley which the miner said was called Grass Valley. Down the valley they hastened, and in about an hour the miner, who acted as guide, pointed ahead, with the remark:
"Thar's Rough an' Ready—the best camp in the hills. Now we'll see what's what."
Miners were busily at work, digging and heaping piles of dirt from the ravines and the flats; and before, against a hill slope, partly in the pines and partly in the open, were tents and huts. As they up, the miner was greeted right and left.
"Hello, Eph. What's your hurry?"
"Injuns after you?"
"What's the news from yonder?"
"Thought you'd left the country."
"How are things at your diggin's?"
"Cleaned up your pile already?"
"By the way you're travelin' you must have made a strike, or else you're after grub!"
"Strike!" Eph. "You bet thar is, an' somethin' to pay, too. Come on, you fellows. I want everybody in the camp. We're goin' to hold a regular town meetin'."
Rough and Ready was another of tents new and old, lean-tos, and covered with canvas. In front of a tent labeled, rudely: "New York Generul Store," Eph halted and uttered a . The miners began to gather; there were other , and cheers, and the gay beating of gold pans, like gongs, until it seemed as though the whole camp was on hand. A booted, whiskered, "rough and ready" crowd they made, too.
"Well, Eph, what's the trouble? Somebody got the dead-wood on you?" demanded a big miner in torn red shirt and boots. He seemed to be a sort of a leader.
"These boys and I——" began Mr. Adams; but Eph interrupted.
"I'll do the talkin', fust. You save yore powder. This gentleman an' these two lads belong to a party I met up with at t'other end the valley. They were prospectin' for a claim they'd heared of. The two boys located it atop a ridge, yon, an' as I understand, they were actually on the ground, sizin' it up, when another party jumped 'em, at the p'int o' guns made 'em vamoose, an' proceeded to hold down the claim themselves. Show yore sample, boys. What do you think o' that, men?"
Charley handed out the sample. As it passed around among the craning heads and hairy fists, it created tremendous excitement.
"Whar'd you get it?"
"Gold quartz, or I'm a sinner!"
"That'll run a thousand dollars to the pan, I bet ye."
"Hooray for the new diggin's! Come on, fellows. I'm off."
"Hold on, thar," bade the red-shirted man, stopping what would have been a stampede. "That doesn't settle the matter. Eph, here, has called a meetin' for a purpose; haven't you, Eph?"
"You're talkin'," assured Eph. "It's time claim-jumpin' 'round these diggin's has got to stop. If this gentleman can prove up for his party that they've fust rights to that discivvery, we ought to go back thar an' show those other fellows that Rough an' Ready is takin' a stand for law an' order."
"Hooray!" cheered the crowd, which seemed ripe for anything new.
"You say you've got fust location on that quartz claim?" inquired the red-shirted man, of Mr. Adams.
"Yes, sir," replied Charley's father, . "By two reasons. It was given us by the former owner, in St. Louis; and these boys, who are partners in our party, found it again on their own hook."
"What might be the name of that claim, then, stranger, if it was given to you?" asked somebody else.
"The Golden West," answered Mr. Adams. "It was given to us by a man whom we befriended in St. Louis. We had the documents to prove it, but they were stolen by the very gang who drove the boys away. Even that doesn't matter, though, for they found it, stake and all, and——"
"What did you say the name is?" demanded half a score of voices.
"The Golden West."
"Fetch the woman," cried the voices, now; and the demand rose to a clamor: "Fetch the woman."
The crowd laughed and jostled expectantly; and presently they parted, to give passage to a young woman, ceremoniously conducted by two of the miners, their hats off. And who should follow her, but Mr. Motte—the young man who had been left behind at Panama!
"Strangers," announced the red-shirted spokesman for the camp, to Mr. Adams, "if you've found the Golden West, here's ............