“Take care of these till I get back,” he said. Then his two brothers went into convulsions of merriment at this token of Tom’s regard.
“If you didn’t steal them you would be sure to hide ’em,” he said, and there was considerable truth in his last observation.
“If you are going to make a bank out of Jeems, you will have to pay him interest,” remarked Jo derisively. Tom regarded Jeems doubtfully and then, reassured by his belief in the latter’s generosity, he made off on his errand.
“There is one good thing about Tom’s going,” said Juarez, “he will hustle more than any of us.”
“No doubt about that,” laughed Jim. “He will scorch a trail down the mountain all right.”
It was true that Tom made extraordinary time, for he was desperately afraid lest his comrades-in-arms would get all the nuggets, but he need not have been so worried, for the boys worked busily night and day for the greater part of a week before Jim gave the orders to break camp. There was bitter rebellion on the part of Tom, and he was backed by Jo.
“You can stay,” Jim said finally. “We have enough, and more than enough. If we don’t pull up stakes now, we will be snowed under. A storm will strike us at this altitude any time at this season. We did not come here to spend the winter and we are not prepared for it. What’s the use of the gold? It won’t buy us anything if we are nothing but beautiful frozen corpses.”
“You hit the nail on the head that time, Skipper,” said Jeems Howell, the philosopher. “Gold is no good if you are dead. Men kill their souls getting it, too, pretty often in this world.” Tom had to give in, but he kept growling under his breath, and Jim turned on him fiercely.
“Another growl out of you, Tom Darlington, and I’ll give you a sound thrashing. I’m using my best judgment and I am not going to be pestered from here to the coast with your growling sulks. That’s straight. You cheer up.” Tom cheered.
They got an early start one morning and turned their horses’ heads southward. The gold was evenly divided, and the burden imposed equally upon the three mules. The triumphant procession started, with Jim mounted jauntily on his white charger, Caliente, followed by Juarez and the rest in order.