Half an hour after supper the whole lot of them were snoring in their tents, pole-axed by sleep.
CHAPTER XXX
STRANGERS ON THE BEACH
NEXT day passed in labour, another two feet being added to the depth.
At ten o’clock on the morning after as the Tommie-Chink-Bud shift were taking on digging, Hank, shaking sand from his clothes, called out to the others to look.
Down from the southern defile in the cliffs a small procession was coming on to the beach. First came a man in a broad-brimmed hat, then another leading a mule, and another following after.
“Mexicans,” said George.
“Sure,” said Hank. “Look! they’ve seen us, they’ve stopped, now they’re going on, right down to the sea edge. Wonder what they’re after?”
The Mexicans, having reached the sea edge, began to wander along it coming in the direction of the tents. Every now and then they stopped to gather something.