“Not very well, but he’s Joe Hansart.”
“Is he the prospector you mentioned at your ranch?”
“Yes. Years ago I saw him a few times.”
“Didn’t you tell us at the ranch that he had set out for this hollow and vanished?”
“Yes,” the rancher answered. “So far as I know, Joe hasn’t been seen in Elks Creek for years.”
“But how has he managed to live?”
Warner shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he makes trips out, though not to Elks Creek. Probably he stashes food for the winter. In the summer, a man of his ingenuity could get along on very little.”
“But why would he stay here year after year?”
“Evidently he’s been seized with gold fever, Jack, and it has twisted his brain.”
“You think he’s found Old Stony’s caches?”