"Boys," said he, quietly, "I've been held up." He eyed them quizzically. "Up by the slide rock," he continued, "and by the spook."
"Who was he?" "What was it?" they cried, starting to their feet.
"It was Jimmy Gaynes," replied California John.
"The Babe?" someone broke the stunned silence at last.
"Precisely."
"Well, I'll be damned!" cried Tibbetts.
"Did he get much off you?" asked a miner after another pause.
"He never took a thing."
And on that, being much besieged, California John sat him down and told of his experience.