But Daggett did not desist, spending day after day in roaming through the wild hills in his fruitless search. During the time he lost in this way his mates were accumulating a vast store of golden grains, while Daggett was as yet only in possession of the result of his first eager labors; and after I opened my grocery store he was obliged to exchange pinches of his small substance for supplies, so that it gradually dwindled away to a mere nothing. He haggled so over the price of every article he secured that his fellows jeered him unmercifully, calling him “the miser” and berating him for neglecting his opportunities. Indeed, the poor fellow was well-nigh desperate, at the last, for he alone of all the camp was still poor, and his only salvation, he considered, was to find the hills of solid gold before the time came for all to abandon the island. So he was gone for days, returning to camp to secure provisions; and no one knew where he wandered or seem to care. CHAPTER IX. THE OUTLAWS. There were many curious characters at the camp, as I suppose there are everywhere that a number of men are gathered together. I used to amuse myself studying the various phases of human nature that came under my observation, with the result that some men attracted me and some repelled me. Aside from the miserly Daggett the man who caused me the most trouble was the surly, scowling Larkin, whom the Major had threatened to shoot on sight if he did not pay me for everything he obtained at my shop. He was a lazy fellow, and did not seem to get ahead as fast as his companions, for that reason. Sometimes, in the heat of the afternoon, he would strike work and come into my hut, where he threatened and bullied me and cast longing glances at the sacks of gold I had accumulated. Uncle Naboth, who, by the way, labored doggedly day after day, as he was commanded, often warned me against Larkin, but I had no fears, being assured the Major would protect me from the villain’s hatred. One or two others—Hayes and Judson, for instance—were evidently disreputable characters, and affected the society of Larkin when they were not at work. But in the main the miners were decent enough fellows, and seemed to have no thought above securing a fortune from the wealth of the golden sands. They paid me liberally, were just in their dealings, and labored industriously day by day so as to lessen the time of their captivity upon the island.