"I didn't say so."
"But you would have staked if we hadn't done it first."
"That's what you've got to guess," smiled Reade.
"Say, now you've lost this claim, tell us some thing straight, won't youth begged Dolph.
"Tell you something straight?" repeated Tom. "Certainly. I'll tell you something just as straight as I know how,"
"Well," he said, at last, "you said you'd tell us something straight."
"And so I will," laughed Tom. "It's just this: Go to blazes!"
"Come, now, don't get fresh, kid!" warned Dolph angrily. "If we're going to be on neighboring claims you may find it a heap to your advantage to use us about half-way decent and polite."
Tom didn't answer at once. He was rapidly covering the statement of location from the paper nailed to the board.
"You fellows picked up a lot of ore stuff around here," continued
Dolph Gage.