"Sure! Do you blame me?"
"No, but she's too good for you."
"Then she's too good for them. I think I'll enter the running."
"Better stay out," the gambler advised; "you'll have sore feet before you finish. As a matter of fact, I don't like her father any better than you like her lovers—"
"Well, it's mutual. I can see Gale hates you like poison."
"—and I don't intend to see him and his tribe hog all the best ground hereabouts."
"They've already done it. You can't stop them."
Before answering, Stark listened for the trader, but evidently Gale had finished his task and returned to the shack, for there was neither sign nor sound of him.
"Yes, I can stop them," said Stark. "I want the ground that girl has staked, and I'm going to get it. It lies next to Lee's, and it's sure to be rich; ours is so far away it may not be worth the recorder's fees. This creek may be as spotted as a coach-dog, so I don't intend to take any chances."
"She made her locations legally," said Runnion.