“Come in!” called out Charley and, as he motioned Wiley to be silent, Virginia appeared in the doorway.
95“Oh!” she cried, “I didn’t know you were here!” But something in the way she fixed her eyes on him convinced Wiley that she had known, all the same.
“Just a matter of business,” he explained with a flourish, “I’m considering an option on some of Charley’s claims.”
“Jest my bum claims!” mumbled Charley as Virginia glanced at him reprovingly. “Jest them ten up north of the Paymaster.”
“Oh,” she said and drew back towards the door, “well, don’t let me break up a trade.”
“You’d better sign as a witness,” spoke up Wiley imperturbably, and she stepped over and looked at the paper.
“What? All ten of those claims for five hundred apiece? Why, Charley, they may be worth millions!”
“Well, put it down five million, then,” suggested Wiley, grimly. “How much do you want for them, Charley?”
“Five hundred dollars apiece,” answered Charley promptly, “but they’s got to be two hundred down.”
“Well?” inquired Wiley as Virginia still regarded him suspiciously, and then he beckoned her outside. “Say, what’s the matter?” he asked reproachfully. “Let the old boy make his touch–he wants that two hundred for grub.”