"It's no use, Mr. Reade," laughed Walsh, shaking his shaggy head.
"You couldn't persuade one of us to leave you now."
"And I'd thrash any man who tried to," declared another miner.
"Men, I thank you," Tom declared, his eyes shining, "and I hope that we shall all win out together."
"Now, what do you want us to do?" asked Walsh.
"We have timbers and boards here," Tom replied. "If the big snows are likely to be upon us within a week, then we can't lose any time in getting our shaft protected. At the same time we must use other timber for putting up two or three more shacks. The tents will have to come down until spring."
Harry immediately took eight of the men and started the erection of three wooden shacks not far from the mine shaft. Ferrers took the rest of the men and speedily had timbers going up in place over the mouth of the shaft.
For three hours the snow continued to float lightly down. Then the skies cleared, but the wind came colder and more biting.
Jim Ferrers and one of the men started for Dugout City with a two-horse wagon, that the camp might be kept well-supplied with food.
By night of the day following all of the carpenter work had been finished, though not an hour too soon, for now the weather was becoming colder.
"Never put in a winter on the Indian Smoke Range, did you, Mr.
Reade?" Walsh inquired.