They of the High Trails

k. She hardly ever left her kitchen, it was observed, and her bedroom door had a new lock. Every second night Bidwell, gaunt and ragged, and furtive as a burglar, brought a staggering mule-load of

into a different corner. He gave it a slight wrench, looked a little

by. No sabbe klacke

wat will ye be doin' nixt, ye squint-eyed mo

profound dismay. "Me goin' s'eep

I nailed that barrel to the flure

r. That night, when Bidw

ot streaks chasin' up and down me spine like little red snakes. And man, luk at yersilf. Wh

o?" asked Bid

in before the face and eyes of the world, and go wid it to sell it, whilst you load y'r gun an' stand guard over the hole in the ground. I'm fair crazy wid this burglar's bu

prospecting in the mountains; but, as day came on and he looked back upon the red hole he had made in the green hillside, the reality of it all came to pinch his heart and make him gasp.

from beneath the shanty and piling them conveniently near the roadway. She watched every movement and checked off each sack like a shipping-clerk. "Merciful powe

eper's wife, saw them at work and

. Delaney. You're

a

it? Why, that looks like ore!"

t to the mill. Have ye anny objecti

id it co

t like a monstrous bug tugging a pair of Bidwell's overalls (ore-filled), as if they formed the trunk of

elaney. "It's all up wid us; soon the whole world will

"Let me see that ore!" he called out as

hipping a revolver out of her pocket.

erty added enormously to his excitement. "The ore must be very rich," h

'Tis well Bidwell is not here; he'd do more than make ye smell of a gun. Go back to y

attering up the trail with a big freight-wagon the whole gulch was aroused, and a doze

re soberly: "Boys, there comes Bidwell with a wagon to haul this stuff

of amazement ran round the gr

e matter? You look l

said Bidwell, and the reply wa

hold and help the man load up. I'll have dinne

he must have left a trail. You take a turn up the ca?on

trouble, Clark; I'll lead you to the place after dinner. My clai

at sandwich, she said: "'Twill not do to sit down, Sherm; take this in yer fist and go. They'll all be slippin' away

s of desire and ready to stampede at any moment. Hastily

scrouge. The man who tries to crow

ard the Bear. Then Johnson cried, "I know where it is!" and plunge

said Clark. "I'm going to stick by B

side; then the stampede began. With wild halloos and resounding thwacking of mules they scatter

and Clark and Johnson were in a loud wrangle as to who reached the spot first. Leading his mule up to the cliff

underground, and the man who tries to jump this claim

differences stilled, the men had leisure

"There may not be an ounce of gold outside your vein

" he muttered, as he crouched in his shelter, his gun on his knee. He was very sleepy, but resolved not to close his eyes. "If I only had a dog-some one I

gulch. He did not distrust her; he only feared her ability to override the difficulties of her mission. For the best part of

ooked his breakfast in peace-though his eyes were restless. "Oh, they'll c

p the trail and, pausing just long enough to see the shine of gold in Bidwell's dump, flung themselves upon the land, seizing the first unclaimed contiguous claim without regard to its character or formation. Their stakes once set, they began to roam, pawing at the e

s ground or m

"Every piece of rock they car

arrld, mon," protested Angus Cr

not," said Bidwell. "It may be

valleys below these lights could be seen, and the heavily laden trains of the San Luis Accommodation trailed a

an shouted, and the cry struck home

iated to the bone, and trembling with nervous weakness, but he was indomitable. A long life of camping, prospecting, and trenching had fitted him to withstand even this strain, and to "stay with it" was an instinct with him. Therefore he built a big fire not far from

aw the Widow Delaney sitting astride a mule and looking down at him with tender amusement. "Ye are a pitcher; sure! Ye lo

awkwardly approached her. "I had on

compassionately. "Ye're s

e out with the

o the mill, but I says, Sherm nor mesilf can be in two places to wanst. So I gave o'er the notion

d again, and with the influence of hot coffee and the genial sun the firm gr

. From this toime ivery man's hand is agin' y'r gold-schamin' to reach y'r pockets. Rest

ent a man for ore-sacks and tools, while other willin

ances," she said; "

representatives of big firms in Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. The path past the Maggie Mine was worn deep

sked Bidwell if he wanted to sell. Bidwell said, "No," sh

e. If it runs as well as this sample I'

usand! Why, I tuk twoice t

he mine a little closer. I m

dred thousand may you even h

ts" could not see why they should turn over the gold which lay there in sight to a syndicate. It was the

a city was in its initial stages-tent stores, open-air saloons, eating-booths, and canvas hotels. A few of the swarming incomers were skeptical of the find

ith his sumpter horse piled high with bales of ore-sacks came round the clump of firs at the corner of Bid

ay I be shot if the preachers ar

rosy as she conclusively sai

id? Wh

in the crook of his elbow. "To make us wan, S

gged beard. "I wish I ha

for that afterward," she sai

arried, and when the minister gave Mrs. Bidwell a rousing smack

ners, Sherm, and all

his head and said, "C

off, a loud procession formed. With camp-kettles for drums and aspen-bark whistles for pipes, with caterwaul and halloo, th

l! Come

ch! A s

ough the unchinked walls and ordering the m

get drink," she said.

stalwart friends lifted him high, he shouted

Clark's saloon, where kegs of beer were broached and the crowd took a first deep draught. Bidw

-let's see

her alone. Are you gentlemen? If you

the crowd a clea

Well, here she is.

to such characters all her life, and knew them too well to be afraid. Mounting a beer-keg, she turned a benign face on the crowd. The light of the torche

ome and go to bed. Eleven days ago Sherm, me man, discovered this lode. Since then we've both worked night and day to git out the ore-we're dog-tired-

ed old Angus Craig, who stoo

bride and groom and raised a t

ik a luck canna last. To strike a lode and win a braw lass a

COW-

co still lopes across the grassy foot-hills