"Well, then," resumed Archie, panting, and addressing the Pine Knot Ike party, "you didn't buy the Golden Prize, because you couldn't. The boys didn't own it. They wouldn't take it from me; they said they'd work it while I was gone, and now I'm back and I won't sell--to _you_. And I order you to get off." Terry looked blankly at Harry, Harry smiled at Terry. "That's so." And it was so, now that they thought. "B' gorry, the same thing happened to me," announced the voice of Pat Casey, "an' Oi lost me diggin's. Sure, it doesn't seem fair play--though Oi'm a friend to the boys." "It is fair play, in this case," asserted Sol. "You see, gentlemen," he said to the crowd, "these two boys, Harry and Terry, came in here and proceeded to work this ground. They had the water and they hustled to put in a sluice, and were beginning to wash out pay dirt, when those mean whelps, suspecting these prospects were richer than they looked to be, turned off the water to which this ground naturally was entitled--just hogged it, made the waste run the other way, to render these claims useless so they might either be jumped or bought for a song. The same whelps sneaked around, prospecting, until they located some of the richest gold quartz you ever laid your eyes on; then they told the boys the ground was no good, anyway--mostly pockets and barren bed-rock, had no water, and all that sort of thing--and tried to get 'em to move, for $100. But the boys stuck, so as to pay off a debt. One of them sold pies and the other worked for a dollar and a half a day. Then, while they were temporarily absent, these whelps jumped both claims--and look at the rock they've already taken out!" "B' gorry, they ought to be hanged!" declared Pat Casey. "The lads are honest lads, Oi'll say that for 'em. An' if somebody'll fetch a rope----" "No, no, gentlemen," appealed Sol, as the crowd began to surge angrily. "When the dirty deal was started there was no law in the camp; but you have laws now, and if those fellows want to fight we'll fight them with law. But they're licked, and they know it." "Waal," conceded Pine Knot Ike, "if we're licked I reckon we're licked, an' no hard feelin's. We air men o' peace. We bought this hyar property in good faith, but bein' as the other party ain't satisfied we'll take our hundred dollars in dust an' move off." "Where's their dust, Terry?" asked Harry. "Hold on a bit," objected Mr. Richards. "Hold on! How much gold have they taken out already, since they jumped these prospects? They've been running that sluice for at least a couple of days." "We'll leave you that thar pile o' sluice tailin's; it's too coarse for washin'," replied the giant. "And thar's a clean-up waitin', in the sluice. But you got to give us back the hundred dollars' purchase price, an' do it mighty quick." "Don't rile us," warned Ike.