“About a mile from here—buried.”
“A few samples aren’t enough,” asserted Patton. “Anybody can get hold of a dozen pieces of rich rock. Why, there are men who make a good living by selling ore that’s used to draw suckers on.”
“A-course, that’s so,” agreed Blandy.
“What we ought to have is about four barley-sackfuls. There’s nothing like making a great, big hit at the very start.”
“Yas, I know,” said Blandy. “But when one of them millionaire fellers is considerin’ a lease, he sends out a’ expert.”
“If you have a hundred pounds of quartz and an assay, there won’t be any need of an expert,” argued Patton. “We’ll lease without a bit of trouble. Of course, we might make more by taking some rich man in as a partner, and working the mine on shares——”
“Why, there’s half a million apiece in it for us without doin’ that.”
“Half a million,” repeated Patton. “Huh! I mean to ask one million flat for my share.”
Blandy laughed. “Oh, leave a little for the gent that’s a-going to put up the cash,” he advised.
Patton went on arguing. “As a matter of fact,” he declared, “it wouldn’t take us any time at all to land three hundred pounds of ore at the track if we used an auto.”