"Come along, Jim," called Tom at last. "Those fellows won"t do any shooting. Their minds are now set on their new claim. They expect to dig out gold enough to enable them to buy two or three banks. They won"t shoot unless they"re driven to it."
Jim Ferrers turned and walked with the boys.
Fifteen seconds later a rifle cracked out behind them, the bullet striking the dirt well to the left of Tom"s party.
"It"s a bluff, Jim, and-----" began Reade.
Crack! spoke Ferrers"s ride.
"I knocked Gage"s hat off," said the guide dryly. "Now, if he fires again, it"ll show that he"s looking for trouble."
"The fellow who goes looking for trouble is always a fool," Tom remarked.
"Because trouble is the most worthless thing in the world, yet a fellow who goes looking for it is always sure to find twice as much as he thought he wanted."
By the time the young engineers had reached their own camp, Harry, whose face had been growing gradually "longer" on the walk, sank to the ground in an att.i.tude of dejection.
"Just our luck!" he growled. "Gage is right when he says that claim is the best in this part of Nevada. And, just because we were too slow, we lost it. Fortune, you know, Tom, knocks but once at any man"s door."
"I don"t believe that," said Tom stoutly. "Harry, now that we"ve made a start and lost, my mind is made up as to our course now.
I hope you"ll agree with me."
"What is it?" Hazelton asked.
"Harry, old fellow, we"ll turn mining engineers in earnest for the present. We"ll engineer our own mines, with Jim for a partner.
Harry, we"ll get up our muscle with pickaxes. We"ll stake our fortunes on the turn of a pick!"
CHAPTER VIII
JIM FERRERS, PARTNER
"You mean it, do you?" asked Hazelton, after a pause of a few moments.
"I never meant anything more in my life!"
"Then, of course, I"ll agree to it, Tom. If I go astray, it"ll be the first time that I ever went wrong through following your advice."
"And you"re with us, Ferrers?" inquired Tom, looking around.
"Gentlemen," spoke the guide feelingly, "after the way you"ve used me, and the way you"ve talked to me, I"m with you in anything, and I can wait a month, any time, to find out what that "anything"
means. Just give me your orders."
"Orders are not given to partners," Tom told him.
"Orders go with _this_ partner," Jim a.s.serted gravely. "And, gentlemen, if we make any money, just hand me what you call my share and I"ll never ask any questions."
"Jim, we"re going in for mining," Tom continued. "I can speak for Mr. Hazelton now, for he has authorized me to do so. Mining it is, Jim, but we three are young and tender, and not expert with pickaxes. We"d better have some experts. Can you pick up at least six real miners at Dugout City?"
"A feller usually can," Ferrers replied.
"Then if you"ll put in a good part of tonight riding, tomorrow you can do your best to pick up the men. Get the kind, Jim, who don"t balk at bullets when they have to face "em, for we"ve a hornets" nest over yonder. Get sober, level-headed fellows who know how to fight---men of good judgment and nerve. Pay "em what"s right. You know the state of wages around here. While you"re at Dugout, Jim, pick out a two-mule team and a good, dependable wagon for carting supplies. Put all the chuck aboard that you think we"ll need for the next two or three weeks. I"ll give you, also, a list of digging tools and some of the explosives that we"ll need in shaft sinking. While you"re in Dugout, Jim, pick up two good ponies, with saddles and bridles. I guess I"d better write down some of these instructions, hadn"t I?"
"And write down the street corner where I"m to pick up the money, Mr. Reade," begged Ferrers dryly. "You can"t do much in the credit line in Nevada."
"The street corner where you"re to find the money, eh, Jim?" smiled Tom. "Yes; I believe I can do that, too. You know the map of Dugout, don"t you?"
""Course."
"You know where to find the corner of Palace Avenue and Mission Street?"
"Sure."
"On one of those four corners," Tom continued, "you"ll find the Dugout City Bank."
"I"ve seen the place," nodded Ferrers, "but I never had any money in it."
"You will have, one of these days," smiled Tom, taking out a fountain pen and shaking it. Next he drew a small, oblong book from an inside pocket, and commenced writing on one of the pages. This page he tore out and handed Ferrers.
"What"s this?" queried the guide.
"That"s an order on the Dugout City Bank to hand you one thousand dollars."
Ferrers stared at the piece of paper incredulously.
"What"ll the feller pay me in?" he demanded. "Lead at twelve cents a pound? And say, will he hand me the lead out of an automatic gun?"
"If the paying teller serves you that way," rejoined Reade, "you"ll have a right to feel peevish about it. But he won"t. Hazelton and I have the money in bank to stand behind that check."
"You have?" inquired Ferrers, opening his eyes wide. "Fellers at your age have that much money in banks"
"And more, too," Tom nodded. "Did you think, Jim, that we had never earned any money?"
"Well, I didn"t know that you probably made more"n eighteen or twenty dollars a week," Ferrers declared.
"We"ve made slightly more than that, with two good railroad jobs behind us," Tom laughed. "And here"s our firm pa.s.s-book at the bank, Jim. You"ll see by it that we have a good deal more than a thousand dollars there. Now, you draw the thousand that the check calls for. When you"re through you may have some money left. If you do, turn the money in at the bank, have it entered on the pa.s.s-book and then bring the book to me."
"I"ll have to think this over," muttered Ferrers, "and you"d better set down most of it in writing so that I won"t forget."
The smoke from the cook fire brought Alf Drew in from hiding, his finger-tips stained brown as usual.
"Now, see here, young man," said Tom gravely, "there is no objection to your taking some of your time off with your "makings," but Ferrers is going away, and you must stay around more for the next two or three days. Otherwise, there won"t be any meals or any payday coming to you."
"Is Mr. Ferrers going to Dugout City?" asked Alf, with sudden interest.