"Yes; I've been on the coast for three years, more or less."
"How do you like it out there?"
"Well, I've had my ups and downs. A year ago, six months for that matter, I was dead broke."
"Did your luck change?"
"Not till I struck Nevada. Then I got a small interest in the Golden Hope mine——"
"The Golden Hope mine?" exclaimed Mark in excitement.
"Do you know anything of that mine, youngster?"
"Yes; I have a—a friend who owns some stock in it."
"Then your friend is in luck. Why, do you know where the stock stands to-day?"
"No, but I should like to know."