We were still trying to find it when my partner's father died and he went East to claim the fortune that was left.

I couldn't work alone, so I drifted away, and didn't come back until about four months ago, when I restaked the claim and went to work again." "You had persistence, Mr.Westcott," the girl laughed.
"It was rewarded.

I struck the vein again--when my last dollar was gone.

That was a month ago, I wired my old partner for help, but----" He stopped, listening intently.
They were nearing a small bridge over Bear Creek, the sounds of Haskell's revellers growing nearer and louder.

Suddenly they heard an oath and a shot, and the next moment a wild rider, lashing a foaming horse with a stinging quirt, was upon them.