"Anyhow, if the thing's possible, I'm going to find the lode for you."
"Yes," she said, without moving her eyes from his face, "I know you'll try to find it. You're trustworthy; you play a straight game!"
"I cheated once."
"That was when you thought the advantage would be mine. But how far do you think we will have to go?"
"Perhaps I can tell you when the sun gets up. We may have to search for three or four days; we may strike the creek to-night."
"Ah," she said, "I hope it will not be three or four days. Now we are very near, the suspense is keen." Then she smiled. "However, we will go back and get breakfast, because you must set your brain to work."
It was next morning when they saw the first of Strange's landmarks; and Thirlwell, taking its bearing with the compass, changed their line of march. In the evening they climbed a low hill, and when they reached its top, which rose like an island from a waste of short pine-scrub, Drummond stopped and, touching Agatha, indicated the ridge across the valley.
"Look!" he said. "The hollow rock!"
A small gray object, dwarfed by the distance, stood out against a smear of dark green on the crest of the high ground. After studying it for a few moments Thirlwell nodded.
"Yes; I think he's right."