But what pleased the missionary more than anything else was the good will of the miners, and the hearty spirit in which they assisted him. He had been brought into close contact with a number of them, and they had all voted him a real good fellow.
As Dick talked each night of the work done throughout the day, and what he hoped to do on the morrow, Nance would listen with the deepest interest. Martin would sit and smoke without saying a word. It was impossible for him not to like the young man, who was so thoroughly in love with his work. But the more Martin heard of the progress of the hospital, the deeper the iron entered into his soul. He did not actually envy the missionary, but how he longed to be full of such enthusiasm, and to be doing a work of a like nature. But this he knew could never be. Not for him could there be a return through that door which had closed to him forever. And as he watched the two happy ones before him he felt like a monster of deception. He presented to them the life of trust and honour, but they could not remove the veil and behold that other old life, which was ever grinning horribly upon him, giving him no rest day or night. How long could he keep this up? he asked himself. Would some one unmask him, or would he be forced to do it himself, that he might find the peace of mind which he so ardently desired?
CHAPTER XXIII
THE MEETING
Every evening the missionary brought the news over the river as to the progress he was making upon the hospital. One room he had reserved for the nurse who should come, so he said, and he was fitting it up as comfortably as he could. This would be her home, and Nance when alone often wondered what it was like, and how it would look when the stranger arrived.
"How are The Twins getting along?" Martin asked, as they sat one evening outside the door.
"Oh, they left several days ago," Dick replied. "The place got too hot for them."
"In what way? Did the miners threaten them with bodily injury?"
"No, not a bit of it. They simply carried out the suggestion which Tom made at the meeting. On all sides, and at every opportunity The Twins were assailed with questions about the claims they had staked, when they intended to work them, and if they expected to get good results. To these they would either reply with oaths, or remain silent and slink away. If they happened to be present at the saloon, or where several men were gathered, the conversation was always sure to drift off to revolvers, and whether a woman could handle a rifle. Then some one was certain to ask The Twins for their opinion. I cannot tell you exactly how the whole thing was managed, but there was really nothing The Twins could do, though they were always boiling over with rage. The miners would talk of nothing else while they were present. Then one night the two scoundrels vanished, where to no one knows. The place is well rid of them. It will teach others to leave you alone after this."