"No, I don't believe you could. I have been thinking about you," continued Mr. Fay, depositing his feet on the desk once more, "and if you know when you are well off you won't go out there this fall. I was talking with a man who has come in from Dutch Flat, and he says it is getting most too cold up there to suit him. He has made a heap of money, and has come here to spend it. I suppose that is what you will be doing when you get to work out there—make all you want in summer, and come here in winter and spend it."
"No, sir," asserted Julian, emphatically; "we have worked hard for what little money we have, and we know how to take care of it. I thought it would not make any difference to us how cold it was if we were working under the ground; I thought you said something like that."
"Certainly, I said so," affirmed Mr. Fay; "but you will have to take provisions with you to last you six months. If you don't, you will get snowed up in the mountains; the drifts will get so deep that you can't get through them."
"I did not think of that," said Julian.
"Well, you had better think of it, for if you get up there, and get blocked by drifts, my goodness!—you will starve to death!"
"Did you say anything to the man about our claim up there?"
"No, I did not, for I did not know where it was located. I will tell you what you can do, though. He is going back in the spring, and he can assist you in getting everything you need."
"We are very much obliged to you for saying that," responded Jack, who felt that a big load had been removed from his and Julian's shoulders.
"I am only speaking of what I know of the man," remarked Mr. Fay. "Miners are always ready to help one another, and I know he will do that much for you. I will tell you where you can see him. Do you know where Salisbury's hotel is?"
The boys replied that they did not. They had been all over the city, but did not remember having seen any sign of that hostelry.