Peter listened in complete silence, his arms folded on his knees. When Rawley had finished, Peter straightened up with a sigh. “I never dreamed we had cut into your ground,” he said heavily. “I thought, as you probably did, that the code described an old, underground watercourse some miles from here. But you must be right, this is it. Old Jess discovered gold near the river, at a point where this stream back here dives under the cliffs and empties, most likely, into the river somewhere under the water line. It was rich; a heap richer than any one ever dreamed, I guess. And the fact that the stream flowed right into the Colorado may have given him his first idea of gathering the gold that had washed on into the river. If you come with me, I’ll show you.” “I can’t be too long,” said Rawley. “Johnny Buffalo’s up on top, waiting for me to come back with my pockets full of gold. It’s going to be hard on the old man, especially since Grandfather’s gold went into the clutches of Old Jess. I don’t know that I’d better tell him. At the same time,” he mused aloud, “I can’t tell him that there isn’t any gold; he is so firmly convinced that his sergeant told the truth. He’d have to know that some one else has beat us to it.” Peter turned and looked at him thoughtfully. “I’ll give you some nuggets to take up to him,” he said. “Old Johnny’s pretty keen, and he holds a bad grudge against Young Jess and the old man. If I could, you know I’d replace the gold we got from under that blowhole. But I can’t. It has all been spent, practically. Gone into the dam, along with the rest.” Rawley laid his hand on Peter’s shoulder and left it there. “You wouldn’t do anything of the kind,” he laughed. “That darned dam idea of yours is catching. I’ve got it, and got it bad. If that gold you beat me to will tip enough rock into the river to make a good job of the dam, I’m satisfied. All I ask is that you let me know when you’re ready so I can see her go. Are you doing as I advised,--preparing to shoot her with electricity?” Peter nodded. “Old Jess kicked on the cost, but we showed him how it was the only safe way. She’s all loaded, across the river. We did that during low water and carried the wiring across up to a high, overhead cable that crosses the river all ready to be hooked up to the battery. I talked with a mining man about explosives and found out some things that came in pretty handy, I guess. I got a hint not to break the ground with dynamite enough so that the power of the black powder would be killed in the seams opened up. We didn’t use so much dynamite, after all. We’re depending on the black powder.”