A little later Tom Rover appeared and the boys at once acquainted him with what Toby White had said. They had agreed to say nothing about the encounter with the mountain lion, fearing that Tom might keep them from going out camping as they had hoped to do.
“I expected something of that sort,” answered the twins’ father. “And after I had sent off my telegrams I had a talk with Terwilliger, the keeper of the store. He told me of a man who lives up on Sunset Trail just a short distance from here—a man named Corning. I went and saw this Corning, who used to run the Mary Casey mine. I made an arrangement to stop at Corning’s house provided we were put out here. Corning has his two old-maid sisters with him, and Terwilliger says they are good cooks and good housekeepers, so I imagine we won’t miss anything by making a change.”
“But don’t you want to keep an eye on this place?” questioned Jack.
“Yes, I’m going to keep an eye on it, and in a way Garrish little expects. But I won’t be able to do much openly until I hear from Mr. Renton and two other stockholders named Parkhurst and Leeds. If I can get those three stockholders to act with me we’ll control a majority of the stock, and then we’ll be able to run things here to suit ourselves.”
“Did you hear anything at all from Billings?” asked Fred.
“Not a word. He wasn’t seen around Maporah nor at Allways, the next station. I am satisfied that he is either in hiding or else he’s met with foul play.”
The meal served to the Rovers that evening was a fairly good one, but it was plainly to be seen that Toby White was more than anxious to have them take their departure. Tom said but little to the colored man, fearing that the fellow was entirely under Garrish’s thumb.
“I don’t believe in staying where I’m not wanted,” he told Toby White. “I’ll settle with you right now and we’ll leave as soon as we can pack our things.”
“Sorry, Mr. Rover, very sorry,” said the colored man. “But you know how it is here—this place is leased to me by the mining company and I’ve got to keep my rooms for nothing but miners.”
“Yes, I know. And we’ll go.” And shortly after that the boys and Tom Rover took their departure.