Blascom soon appeared, his clothing wet and sandy, and in his hand were several rice grains of gold with quite some dust. "Looks fair to me," he said. "I can’t hardly tell what I’m doin’, th’ sump fills up so fast, an’ th’ sand is washed in with th’ water, fillin’ it up from th’ bottom as fast as I can dig it out an’ pan it. I can’t understand where all that water comes from. I know there’s cussed little of it further down th’ crick bed. When she dried up I nat’rally wanted a sump nearer th’ hut, but I couldn’t get one nearer than I have. Must be a spring somewhere under it." He sniffed cheerfully. "That coffee shore smells good," he declared, going out to wash his hands. The meal was eaten rapidly, without much talking, but when it was finished Blascom packed his pipe and passed the pouch to his companion. "New pipe?" he asked. "Then wet yore finger an’ rub it around in th’ bowl before you light her. You don’t want a job cookin’, do you? I never drunk better coffee." The new pipe going well, Tex leaned back and smiled. "I’ll cook th’ supper if you want. I ain’t anxious to get back to town before dark. An’ I’ll put on them old clothes over there an’ help you at th’ sump th’ rest of th’ day. Let’s get goin’." "All right; it’s a two-man job with that water comin’ in so fast," answered the prospector. "We’ll not do any pannin’--just get th’ sand out an’ dump it up on th’ bank, out of th’ way of high water. I can pan it any time. You see, this dry spell is due to end ’most any time, an’ when it does it’ll be a reg’lar cloud-burst. That’ll mean no more placerin’ near th’ sump. Ever see these creek beds after a cloud-burst? They’re full from bank to bank an’ runnin’ like bullets." Tex nodded and looked steadily out of the door, his mind going back some years and vividly presenting an arroyo and the great, sheer wall of water which swept down it on the day when he and his then enemy, Hopalong Cassidy, were fighting it out in the brush. His eyes glowed as the details returned to him and went past in orderly array. From that sudden and unexpected danger, and the impulsive chivalry of the man who had had him at the mercy of an inspired six-gun, had come his redemption. "Yes," he said slowly. "I’ve seen ’em. They’re deadly when they catch a man unawares." He drew a deep breath and returned to the main subject. "Why don’t you hire somebody, Jake for instance, an’ clean up that sump as quick as you can?"