“Were you ever a miner?” asked a passenger of the black-eyed man.
“No; I never dug for gold. I travel for a firm in San Francisco.”
“Indeed! What firm? I am pretty well acquainted in ’Frisco.”
The black-eyed man smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
“My employers have cautioned me to be reticent about their business,” he said. “Still, before we part company, I may introduce myself.”
“Oh, just as you wish!” said the passenger, not altogether pleased.
“Did any of you ever see Stephen Dike?” asked one of the miners, addressing himself generally.
One by one answered in the negative, till the turn came to the black-eyed man.
“I once caught a glimpse of him,” he said.
“What was his appearance?” asked one of the farmers.