[Congressman Baldwin and Sheriff Coggswell were political enemies.]
“A pretty good witness that. Who is he?�
“I have no right to tell. You’ll know soon enough.�
“I withdraw my charge against Wycliff,� concluded Baldwin. And Ford Hulbert withdrew.
CHAPTER XIII.
DEEP down in a narrow gorge echoed the sound of the miner’s pick.
“Mr. Baxter,� said Colonel Lathrop, one of the owners of the Rattlesnake Mine, “this is too hot a place for an old man like you. If you are determined to work as long as you live I’ve got other jobs that are easier for you than swinging a pick-axe in this heat all day. You know you are not obliged to work. I’ll see you and your wife well taken care of as long as you live. You’ve done your share of the world’s work. When a man reaches seventy-five he ought to rest.�
“I enjoy working,� replied “Old Sunshine.� That was the name he was best known by among his fellow-laborers. “It’ll be time enough for me to stop work when I have to. Even if I have done work enough, I have not worked for you so long that you can afford to pension me off.�
“Never mind that. I would enjoy paying you your wages better if you would quit mining. If you are bound to stick to the mines, why not work in the ‘drift’ with the boys, where the sun cannot hit you? It’s fearfully hot out here.�
“Now don’t worry any more about me,� said Old Sunshine, laughing. “Don’t you see I’m only prospecting? I want to find out what is under the face of this cliff.�