The shovelling in was done for the time being. The water was to be regulated, and then the clean-up as soon as the owner came down.
"Better not let Austin hear you say you're takin' stock. He'll run you out o' the creek."
The Boy only smiled, and went on fillipping little stones at Nig.
"What did you mean?" the Colonel persisted, with a look as suspicious as Scowl Austin's own.
"Oh, nothin'. I'm only thinkin' out things."
"Your future, I suppose?" he said testily.
"Mine and other men's. The Klondyke's a great place to get things clear in your head."
"Don't find it so." The Colonel put up his hand with that now familiar action as if to clear away a cloud. "It's days since I had anything clear in my head, except the lesson we learned on the trail."
The Boy stopped throwing stones, and fixed his eyes on his friend, as the Colonel went on:
"We had that hammered into us, didn't we?"