"What were you doing here, Jim?" Jack queried, trying to make her voice appear perfectly indifferent.
Jim hunched his big shoulders and took a long puff at his pipe. "I was prospecting for gold, same as every other young idiot that ever came west not knowing a lump of gold from a chunk of mud when he found it," he returned calmly. "There are three little pine cone hills a matter of ten miles from here, with an ugly stream of water and a group of trees near them, where I believe I had a claim located once, a good many moons ago."
"And you never told us a word about it. Jim Colter, you are a pig!" Jean declared inelegantly.
"There wasn't nothing to tell, Jean," Jim replied in his usual slow, indifferent manner. "Just another fellow and I saw a hill with some bits of black rock with yellow streaks in it, and we dug away for a couple of months without getting anything out of it but trouble."
"Jim, I don't believe there wasn't gold in your mine," Jean declared resolutely. "You just gave up too soon."
"All right, Miss Bruce," Jim agreed. "You can have my claim if you want it. Come to find out, we weren't the first and I don't reckon we were the last fellows to go digging in that hill. It's called 'Miner's Folly', and is about as gloomy a looking hole as anybody ever saw."
"I'd like to see the place awfully, Jim," Jack suggested eagerly.
"Don't doubt it for a moment, Jack," Jim returned unwinkingly.
Jack whispered something in Jean's ear. "I'll do no such thing, Jack Ralston," Jean replied firmly. "Remember, yesterday you were awfully selfish about letting me have my turn at riding horseback with Olive. I told you then I shouldn't do the next favor you asked me and I certainly don't mean to wear myself out on such a tramp. Besides, Jim wouldn't think of taking you."
"Wouldn't you, Jim?" Jack pleaded meekly.