"Do you mean to insult me? I never took any nugget."
"That's so. You're right there, Colson. But you thought you had, all the same. Fortunately, it's where you can't get at it."
"I have something to say on that point," said Fletcher. "I understand the nugget is very valuable."
"I'm glad to hear it. You're a judge. I have an idee of that sort myself."
"About how much does it weigh?"
"About seventy-five pounds. I don't mind gratifying your innocent curiosity, Fletcher."
Fletcher's eyes sparkled.
"It must be very valuable," he said.
"I reckon it is."
"At what do you estimate it—twenty thousand dollars?"