Evening star., 1923-09-19
Continued from Yesterdays Starr

talks. I'll put Garret. Jenkins and
the whole crowd on the lookout for
strangers. They think they've been
on the job before. They Will know II
when they get through this time,
! Jenkins is in the gap. Nobody on
this side will get further than him.
Then there's Butler on the outside,
and something's got him smelling for
Won't hurt to jog him up bit, at
that. Then there's old Hatty in the
gulch, She'll spot anybody we don t.
She tipped me on the last one. He's
here now, but he's all right, we can
send him up any time we want to.
Long as he's working here he's al
right. Rocks fall pretty bad in the
| tunnel, anyhow, don't they, DemonS?
He raised his brows to the engineer
significantly as he asked the ques-
tion.
"Just as you say" Demons answered.
WELL" Browning continued, guess
that's our line-up. Houston here
don't say muct, but know him.
appearance, and Eliot's made ghosts
out of dozens like him, he'd have a
hell of a time getting his legal stun
fixed up, eh. Houston?"
The lawyer seemed pleased at the
implied fiattery of his chief and
smiled meekly.
well, I'll say we're air tight,
boys, We're air tight. Now let's get
the men in. here, and see what's under
that muck in the tunnel. Demons. II
the stuff isn't there" Browning S
look must have finished the sentence,
as Pete heard no more.
| The conference thus ended, Pete,
along with his two companions and
the two new workmen, were ordered
TO dig at least a passageway over the
top of the pile of stone and muck
that had been piled for fully fifty
feet N front of the face of the tun-
extra shift If they could have it
cleared before midnight.
| After several hours of hard labor
Pete was one of the first to plunge
his shovel into loose dirt directly be-
fore the base of the tunnels abrupt
| end. He alone, of the five workmen,
knew why the debris in front of the
tunnel was being cleared away, II
seemed. Pete. however, realized full
! well that he was nearing the end of
! the work and bent anxiouSly over the
new rock he uncovered. For fully a
minute he stopped. sheer wonder
holding him motionless, as his eyes
Travelled over the white and gold of
"well, what you got so all fired in
terestin'?' the voice of Demons
sounded over him, and before he could
answer. he felt strong hands close
over his shoulders. A second more
| and he was sprawling on his back in
the muck of the tunnel, Demons TAX
ing his place before the golden
! treasure, picking here and there with
| a little hand tool at the vein. AT
length he gathered up the fragments
he had picked off and ordered Pete
TO precede him out Of the tunnel
calling TO the other workmen to fol-
low.
Something told Pete. as he made
toward the mouth of the tunnel, that
he was already slated as number
one on the casualty list of the Dead
Horse mine.
CHAPTER XIII.
| As Pete and Demons. followed by
the other miners, made their way
out of the tunnel Pete took rapid
stock of the situation in which he
found himself. He could easily
imagine what the sight of real gold
would do for Sharpe and Browning
and he knew only too well the in
Ifuence these men exerted over hire
Ilings such as Demons, Houston, Gar
ret and others.
! AS he stumbled along over the un-
even floor of the tunnel he thought
| of Hawkins. pioneer of the hills
who for years had struggled against
all manner OF hardships for this very
day when his judgment would be
vindicated. vindicated by the dis
covery of gold in quantities that
probably even he had never dreamed
of. He recalled the amused smile
that played over Hawkins face when
he related how friend and foe alike
had derided him for spending his
life searching for gold in the hills
IS when it lay all around him in the
iplacer ground of the gulch below
that now brought forth gold in this
same despised gopher hole" tc
bring ruin to the same placer miners
who had so long made Hawkins the
butt of jests and good-natured fun
and Pete, doubted not, oftentimes
abuse.
He found comfort in the thought
that Hawkins might not be dead
after all: that he might still come
back to the fruits of victory! Yet
even as he thought it the words OF
Browning sounded again in his ears
Even if he does come back, he'll
have a hell of time getting his
Illegal affairs fixed up" he had said
Certainly a mans job this time,
Pete muttered' to himself as all oi
| the complications of the situation
came to him. He thought of Moapa
and of the chances Browning might
have obtaining justice in legal fight
there; but Butler, little Phil AlguiT
and a dozen other faces he remem-
bered all too well, loomed ever
larger in his minds eye than Moapa
Itself and he dismissed the thought
Then, as though conserving even
brain power, his thoughts retreated
from the far-stretched possibility OF
a legal battle in Moapa and roameG
again in the hills. Here, too, they
came to a sudden and abrupt ending
brought UP sharp at the Salmon
Tooth Pass by the cabin of Jenkins
Then, scurrying back along the trail
lust as he himself had done, they
dwelled for a moment at the little
snow-covered shack of Indian Hatty
Even she in the service of Browning
He thought the thing incredible. yet
he knew 1t to be true! And as he
pictured further the fight ahead, in
tangible and indefinite as it was, he
knew it would be the supreme test
/ of his manhood, and unconsciously
the consequences of losing, mingled
carried him back to San Francisco
He smiled as he pictured Judge
Stivers, and how he must have
hoped up and down with excitement
written from the prison shacki What
were his father and the judge doing
Something! Most assuredly some
thing! He had always marveled a
the superknowledge of human nature
the Judge possessed, and at his great
! ability to strike quickly and accu
rately right at the heart of things
Lights at the mouth of the tunne
! at last loomed up large before him
and his train of thoughts soon were
lost in the excited exchange of words
and Calculations that met his ears
Before he could fully collect hi:
wandering thoughts again, Demons
rushing past him called excitedly
then came back into the tunnel witt
Browning and Sharpe hurrying or
behind. The miners, none of whom
had shared with Pete the sight o.
naked rich gold, now stood about fol
| a few moments expressing only G
mild interest in the work, before
hurrying off to the bunkroom in the