"You wouldn't know it!" cried Virginia, triumphantly. "All that heavy, white quartz was tungsten!" "What? That waste on the dump? But how much is it worth? Old Charley says it's better than gold!" "It is!" she answered. "Why, some of that rock ran five thousand dollars to the ton!" "Five--thousand!" repeated the Colonel, and then he whirled on Wiley. "What's the reason, then," he demanded, "that you're hiding out here in the hills? Didn't you get possession of the mine?" "Under a bond and lease," explained Wiley shortly. "I failed to meet the final payment." "Why--how much was this payment?" inquired the Colonel cautiously, as he sensed the sudden constraint. "It seems to me the mine should have paid it at once." "Fifty thousand," answered Wiley, gazing glumly at the ground and the Colonel opened his eyes! "Fifty thousand!" he exclaimed. "Only fifty thousand dollars? Well! What were the circumstances, Wiley?" He stood expectant and as Wiley boggled and hesitated Virginia rose up and stood beside him. "He got the bond and lease from Blount," she began, talking rapidly, "and when Blount found that the white quartz was tungsten ore, he did all he could to block Wiley. When Wiley first came through the town and stopped at our house he knew that that white quartz was tungsten; but he couldn't do anything, then. And then, by-and-by, when he tried to bond the mine, Blount came up himself and tried to work it." "He did, eh?" cried the Colonel. "Well, by what right, I'd like to know, did he dare to take possession of the Paymaster?" "Oh, he'd bought up all the stock; and Mother, she took yours and----" "What?" yelled the Colonel, and then he closed down his jaw and his blue eyes sparkled ominously. "Proceed," he said. "The information, first--but, by the gods, he shall answer for this!" "But all the time," went on Virginia hastily, "the mine belonged to Wiley. It had been sold for taxes--and he bought it!" "Ah!" observed the Colonel, and glanced at him shrewdly for he saw now where the tale was going. "Well," continued Virginia, "when Blount saw Wiley wanted it he came up and took it himself. And he hired Stiff Neck George to herd the mine and keep Wiley and everybody away. But when he was working it, why Wiley came back and claimed it under the tax sale; and he went right up to the mine and took away George's gun--and kicked him down the dump!" "He did!" exclaimed the Colonel, but Wiley did not look up, for his mind was on the end of the tale. "And then--oh, it's all mixed up, but Blount couldn't find any gold and so he leased the mine to Wiley. And the minute he found that the white quartz was tungsten, and worth three dollars a pound, he was mad as anything and did everything he could to keep him from meeting the payment. But Wiley went ahead and shipped a lot of ore and made a lot of money in spite of him. He cleaned out the mine and fixed up the mill and oh, Father, you wouldn't know the place!"