"Oh, don't you remember how they came to Mexico for the gold. There was Pizarro and Cortez——"
"And poor Montezuma in South America. Are there any real gold mines here?"
"Not just in the town."
"Then no one will come and fight us and take the gold away," she said with a sigh of relief.
Uncle Jason gave a dry smile. There was fighting enough, he had found already.
"Would you care for the gold?" The child raised soft, inquiring eyes.
"Why, yes; I should like to have a share of it. But I do not think I shall go and work in the mines."
"Did they fight very much at the fort. And who did they drive away?" she asked in a rather awe-stricken voice.
"Oh, my child, they did not fight at all. The country belonged to us. The gold was free for any one willing to mine. We shall see the men coming in with their bags of gold dust and nuggets, and though they may talk fiercely and quarrel, they need not disturb us," and Miss Holmes smiled reassuringly.
"Uncle Jason will not go," she said confidently, after quite a pause. Then she glanced over to him and smiled, and was answered in return.