The blood came in an unexpected rush to Leslie's face and his hand trembled as he reached for the papers. Ross watched him as he took them and scanned the headings, column by column. Then he glanced keenly over the advertisements, and without reading further threw the papers aside and rested his elbows despondently on the table. Weimer, satisfied with the tobacco and candy that Ross had brought, retired to his bunk, dozing and smoking by turns. Ross had seated himself at the table opposite Leslie and reread his letters. Now, as the other cast the papers aside, he looked up and met misery in the eyes leveled at him from beneath his caller's lengthening hair. "Say!" ejaculated Ross impulsively, "I bet you find it as awful up in this country as I do!" "Awful!" echoed Leslie. "It's----" A sudden working in his throat stopped him. He turned his face away. "I wouldn't stay here for all the gold in these mountains if things weren't just as they are," Ross continued sympathetically, "and I presume you're caught in some such way, too, or you'd get out." Leslie hesitated, nodded and again faced Ross, "How are you caught?" he asked eagerly. Ross told him briefly about his father's interest in the claims and Weimer's appeal for help that had led to his, Ross's, coming. As he talked Leslie's eagerness evaporated. He evidently was looking for another sort of explanation, and his response was only half-hearted: "Then your father sent you. That's bad luck when you want to be in school." He hesitated and added: "It's not every fellow that wants to go to school. I hate it!" "You do!" exclaimed Ross. "Well, I can't say I waste any love on studying myself, that is, in most studies, but I'm after results. I'm willing to bone down to work because of where the work will take me. The only thing I really like to study is medicine, anatomy and all that sort of thing, you know. But in order to get anywhere in the profession, I have to take a lot of mathematics and language and things that I detest." Leslie's shoulders came up. "I won't study what I don't like," he declared arrogantly, "and I can't be made to--guess they're finding that out, too!" The last was under his breath. "Well," Ross began vaguely, "if you want to be a business man it's not necessary to go through college. Our most successful business men----" His voice trailed into silence as he saw that the other was not listening.