"I dunno," said the dusty man. "I jus' did. I had to. It was make or break. Them war-whoops chased me quite a spell."
"You was lucky," observed Dawson.
"Yo're whistlin' I was. We was all lucky when it comes to that. We was at the shack eatin' dinner when they jumped us. S'pose we'd been down the creek where our claims is at, huh?"
"Yo're hair would shore be decoratin' a Injun bridle," admitted Dawson. "But I didn't know there was gold on Hatchet Creek."
"We got four claims," said the dusty man, shortly.
"Gettin' much?"
"We ain't millionaires yet."
"No, I guess not," whispered Jim Mace to Loudon. "I'll gamble that gravel don't assay a nickel a ton. Been all through them hills, I have. I know Hatchet like I do the Dogsoldier. There's no gold there."
"This prospector party says different," muttered Loudon.
"You'll see," sniffed Jim Mace. "Gold on the Hatchet! He's loco! You'll see."