"Hush, Adin! That is wicked. It looks hard, but the Lord may yet give us deliverance."
"I am afraid we shall end our days in the poorhouse, Sarah," said the husband gloomily.
"It won't be this year or next, Adin. Eight hundred dollars will support us for two years, and then there is your work besides. Let us look on the bright side!"
But that was not easy for either of them. It seemed to Adin Dunham that his cup of bitterness was full.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
HOW THE MYSTERY WAS SOLVED.
We return to Denver, where business required Dean and Ben Rawson to remain two or three days. Eben Jones was too impatient to reach home to bear them company, but started at once for Connecticut. Rawson and Dean secured a large room in the leading hotel, which they made their headquarters.
Denver was at that time far from being the handsome city it has since become. Society was mixed, and the visitors who were continually arriving and departing embraced all sorts and conditions of men. There was no small sprinkling of adventurers, both good and bad, and it was necessary for the traveler to be wary and prudent, lest he should fall a prey to those of the latter kind.
The second night our two friends retired late, having passed a busy and as it proved profitable day, for it was on that day Dean effected his purchase of lots already referred to.