“Just the same, you can't hog it,” a voice went up. “We don't want lots. We want to relocate.”
“But there are only two disputed claims,” Smoke argued. “When they're relocated where will the rest of you be?”
He mopped his forehead with his shirt-sleeve, and another voice cried out:
“Let us all in, share and share alike!”
Nor did those who roared their approbation dream that the suggestion had been made by a man primed to make it when he saw Smoke mop his forehead.
“Take your feet out of the trough an' pool the town-site,” the man went on. “Pool the mineral rights with the town-site, too.”
“But there isn't anything in the mineral rights, I tell you,” Smoke objected.
“Then pool them with the rest. We'll take our chances on it.”
“Fellows, you're forcing me,” Smoke said. “I wish you'd stayed on your side of the river.”
But wavering indecision was so manifest that with a mighty roar the crowd swept him on to agreement. Saltman and others in the front rank demurred.