A sudden thought seemed to occur to the Little Giant and his face brightened greatly. "Do you two fellers want a hired man?" he asked. "What kind of a hired man?" said Boyd. "A likely feller, not very tall, but strong an' with a willin' heart, handy with spade an' shovel, understandin' hosses an' mules, an' able to whistle fur you gay an' lively tunes in the evenin', when you're all tired out from the day's work in the richest mine in the world." "No, we don't want any hired man." "Not even the kind I'm tellin' you 'bout?" "Not even that, nor any other." "An' both o' you hev got your minds plum' made up 'bout it?" "Plumb made up." The Little Giant's face fell for the third time in one day, an absolute record for him. "I reckon thar ain't no more to say," he said. Boyd was still watching him closely, but now his look was one of sympathy. "We don't want any hired man," he said. "We've no use for hired men, but we do want something." "What's that, Jim Boyd?" "We want a partner." "Why, each of you has got one. You hev young William and young William hez you." "Well, young William and me have talked about this some, not much, but we came straight to the point. For such a big hunt as ours, through dangers piled on dangers, we need a third man, one that's got a strong heart and a cheerful soul, one that can shoot straighter than anybody else in the world, one whose picture, if I could take it, would be the exact picture of you, Tom Bent." "But I ain't done nothin' to come in as a pardner." "Neither did I, but Will took me in as a guide, hunter and fighting man. Don't you understand, Giant, that to get the Clarke gold we'll have to pay the price? We'll have to fight and fight, and we'll have to risk our lives a thousand times apiece. Why, in a case like this, you're worth a cool hundred thousand dollars." "Then I come in fur a tenth--ef we git it." "You come in for the same share as the rest, share and share alike, but I will say this to you, Little Giant, that we expect you to do the most tremendous fighting the world has ever seen, we expect you to wipe out whole bands of Sioux and Blackfeet by yourself while Will and me stand by and rest, and, after it's all over, we expect you to sit down and whistle an hour or two, until you soothe us to sleep." "Then, on them conditions I come in as a full pardner," said Giant Tom, and he grinned with pleasure, the most amazing grin that Will had ever seen. It spread slowly across his face, until the great crack seemed to reach almost to each ear, revealing a splendid set of powerful white teeth, without a flaw. Above the chasm two large blue eyes glistened and glowed with delight. It was all so infectious, so contagious that both Will and Boyd grinned in return. They were not only securing for a perilous quest a man who was beyond compare, but they were also giving the most exquisite mental pleasure to a likable human being.