"Didn't I say that I would give you half of it the moment we dug it up? You will find that I am a man of my word, Tom."
"How much do you suppose the thing will pan out?" I said, seizing the nugget with both hands and trying to lift it from the ground. "It is heavier than it was a while ago."
"That nugget will pan out between five and eight thousand dollars," said Elam. "That's the price that Spaniard put upon it."
"Do you think this is the same find your father had?" continued Tom. "A good many people have been searching for gold since then, and a great many nuggets of the size of this one have been dug up."
"That's the reason I wish it could speak," said Elam. "Until I know differently I shall believe it is the same nugget. Anyway it is mine. Now, boys, I am going to Texas as soon as I can get there. You will go with me, of course."
"What are you going down there for?" asked Tom.
"To buy some cattle. You can get them down there for half what they are worth up here, and bringing them home across the plains will leave them in good order for next winter."
"I don't know whether I will go or not. There may be some lawless men down there, and you will have money on your person."
"Well, what of it? A man that will stand up the way you did against the Red Ghost is not going to be afraid of lawless men! You must go, Tom. You are a lucky omen."
As for myself, I did some thinking, too. There was my herd, for instance; a small one to be sure, but large enough to keep me in that country. If Uncle Ezra would sell his sheep and buy the herd, I would be a free man and willing to go to Texas, or any other place to see some fun. And that there was fun there I could readily believe. All men who had got into a "little trouble" in the more settled portions of the community came there to get out of reach of the law, and in a new country they did pretty near as they had a mind to. It would not be a safe thing for Elam to go down there with one or two thousand dollars in his pocket, but I for one was not unwilling to back him up.