Mr. Grant laid the letter down, adding slowly, "If you go, I shall give you a substantial personal interest."
There ensued a pause. Ross sat motionless. His gaze had left his father’s face, and was fixed on the rug.
"Now, knowing," Grant continued, "that Weimer has set his heart on these claims, I can’t desert him. That work must be done and the claims patented."
There was another pause. Grant looked at his son expectantly, but still Ross neither moved nor spoke.
"Weimer is a good sort," Grant went on tentatively. "You’d like Weimer. He’s a big man and jolly in every pound of his avoirdupois. Great story-teller–stories worth listening to, what’s more. You wouldn’t be dull with him."
Grant leaned forward suddenly, and asked directly the question to which his son felt there could be but one reply in view of his father’s appeal.
"My boy, will you go?"
CHAPTER II
A STEADY HAND
In the two weeks which elapsed between Ross’s visit to his father and his start for Wyoming he planned hopefully for the year.