"I guess you've got to go. I'm coming along," he said.
"The Recorder did not mention you. If he'd been anxious for your company he probably would have done so," said the trooper drily.
Tomlinson looked at him with a little glint in his eyes, and then laid his hand on Ingleby's shoulder.
"I've played this game quite a long while, and I guess I know the pointers 'most as well as anybody," he said.
Ingleby said nothing, but his face became suddenly intent, and, though the pace they made was fast, he grew feverishly impatient as they swung along the trail to the Gold Commissioner's office. Coulthurst was awaiting them when they reached it and glanced at Tomlinson inquiringly.
"You have some business with me?" he said.
Tomlinson sat down uninvited, with a smile. "Well," he said, "the fact is, I don't quite know yet. When you've trouble with the Crown folks in the cities you can take a lawyer along. At this game I'm 'most as good as one."
Coulthurst made his indifference apparent by a gesture. "I don't suppose it matters. Will you sit down, Mr. Leger? There's a seat yonder, Ingleby."
Ingleby sat down, and, with a sinking heart, watched him open a book. There was a difference in Coulthurst's manner. He was precise and formal and did not appear quite comfortable. One could almost have fancied that what he was about to do was distasteful to him.
"You left your claim on or about the twentieth of June, Ingleby," he said. "You did not return until—"