"One or two people want to know when we mean to pay our bills; I'm sorry we can't satisfy their curiosity just yet. Then there's a letter from Baumstein. He'll give us an extra five hundred dollars for the Bluebird."
"Ah!" said Carrie. "It's strange he makes the offer when we need money so!"
"It is strange," Jake broke in. "Almost looks as if the fellow knew how we were fixed. But we're not sellers, and, for a clever crook, Baumstein is too keen."
"He states he has reached his limit and we won't get another chance," Jim remarked.
Jake pondered and then resumed: "The thing's puzzling. I can't see why Baumstein's fixed on buying a claim that nobody else wants, but you can reckon it a sure snap for him when he makes a deal. There's the puzzle! The ore is pretty good, but that's all. We were kind of disappointed by the assay. The specimens looked better than the analysis proved."
"I was certainly disappointed and surprised," Jim agreed. "Suppose we ask the prospector about it? He has tested a good many mineral claims."
They waited until the prospector returned to the camp, when Jake gave him some bits of broken rock.
"Feel those and tell me what you think about the metal they carry," he said.
The other examined the specimens and weighed them in his hand.
"If you've got much rock like that, it's a pretty good claim."