"Dear me!" Tom murmured.
"The Indians can't help them much," Martin explained. "They are living from hand to mouth themselves now. They generally are at this time of the year."
"We could give them something to eat, couldn't we, daddy?" and Nance looked over at her father.
"Yes, I suppose we could give them something," was the reluctant reply. "But we haven't enough for a crowd of hungry men."
"Oh, they'll make out all right," Dick hastened to explain. "They don't know to-night what they are eating. Hard-tack and roast turkey would be about the same thing to them. When I left they were sitting about a great blazing fire, munching the scraps of food they had left. They are clean daft over the discovery of that gold. I have been chuckling to myself ever since I left them over what they were saying. They are already planning what they are to do with the gold when they get it. One intends to buy a ranch, and keep, I don't know how many, horses and cattle. Another will tour the world. Some have decided to go back to the big cities to live in fine houses they expect to build. But Dobson, generally known as 'Whiskey Jack,' is going on a big spree just as soon as he gets outside."
"Yes, yes, they'll all follow Jack's example, I'm afraid," Tom sadly replied. "I know their kind only too well. They always plan big things, but as a rule they lose it all in whiskey, gambling, and——But there," he suddenly broke off, "it has always been so, an' what's the use of us worryin' about it?"
"But some one must worry, Tom," was Dick's emphatic reply. "Too many say the same thing. But I know better. I never saw a finer lot of men in my life. They are rough at times, I know. There are a few who gave us trouble last winter, but most of them were good fellows at Rapid City, and you know it."
"Sure thing, pard, sure thing. I'm not denyin' that. But I guess it was you who kept them straight, an' made them show up their best side."
"What about yourself, Tom? You had a big hand in the whole affair, if I am not much mistaken."
Supper ended, Nance began to clear away the dishes. Martin and Tom brought forth their pipes and sat down before the fire for a comfortable chat.