"Sure!" replied Elam. "What are you doing so far away in the mountains?"
"We got lost, and are now trying to find our way out. This stream leads to some water on the prairie, I reckon? How far is the fort from here?"
Elam made some reply, I didn't know what it was, while I began to look the men over to see if I could discover any signs of their being lost. Their moccasons were whole, or as much so as could be expected, and the wear and tear of their buckskin shirts was no more than our own. They were strangers to me, and I confess that I was not at all pleased to see them. The talk about their being lost was one thing that did the business for me. The men were hunters or trappers on the face of them; they never would be taken for anything else, and the idea of their getting bewildered in the mountains that they had probably passed over a dozen times was a little too far fetched. I caught a glimpse of Elam's face as he was leading his horse up the opposite bank, and there was a look on it that boded mischief.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE NUGGET IS FOUND.
"Where are your horses?" I demanded.
"Horses? We aint got none," replied the man.
"Somebody must have grub-staked you," I continued. "They never sent you into the mountains to get lost."
"We grub-staked ourselves," answered the man impatiently. "But I'll tell you what's the matter with you. Somebody has grub-staked you, and sent you in here to search for gold, and I want to know which one of you is Elam Storm. Speak quick!"