But just in front of the entrance, he halted. Before him, across the wide, dusty street and the shining rails of the track, lay the level desert. It was mid-afternoon. And the grey wastes were swept by waves of heat that sank and rose unceasingly, now almost as plain to the eye as flames would have been, now shadowy. Blandy measured every blistering mile, from the rough, unroofed porch on which he stood to the distant horizon, where a mountain range traced an uneven line upon the misty blue of the sky. And as he stood, his arms hanging loose at his sides, his shoulders lowered, his head sunk between them, he was the very figure of indecision. Finally, he straightened, turned about, opened the restaurant door and re-entered. Patton was smoking, a long cigar in one corner of his mouth, and tilted upward; one knee crossed upon the other. Blandy walked to the counter. “Patton,” he began, “_this_ ain’t no kind of a business for _you_. You won’t make your _salt_ here in Searles. Now, I’ve got a proposition to make you--you _and_ Polly. But it mustn’t go no further.” He gave a quick glance about him. “I’m not dying to stay in Searles,” observed Patton, blowing smoke. “Wal,”--Blandy dropped his voice--“you go into pardnership with me, Patton, and you don’t _have_ to stay.” The other took out his cigar and eyed Blandy half-suspiciously. “You’ve changed some,” he commented. “You didn’t used to care much about me. But--what’s your proposition?” The gleam of triumph came back into Blandy’s eyes. “I’ve made a strike,” he said. “A _mine_?” Now, Blandy straightened, shoulders back, head up, face all a-grin once more. “That’s what,” he declared proudly. Patton slipped down from his stool. “Where?” he asked excitedly. Blandy lifted a long arm to point out through the front window toward the north. “Four days from here,” he answered. “When’ll we go?” questioned the other. He reached across to lay a hand on Blandy’s sleeve. “We’ve got to locate, you know. That’s the law. We mustn’t miss a trick, old man.” “Oh, I located, all right,” declared Blandy. He drew back a step. “But you didn’t locate for _me_,” went on Patton. “So _I_’ve got to go out, haven’t I? And there’s another reason, too. You’re the only person that knows just where the lead is. Well, suppose anything were to happen to you--a railroad accident, or a bad sickness. Where would _I_ be? That’s the way all the lost mines’ve come about, Blandy.” “We’ll talk it over to-night. Then Polly can hear about it, too. There’s enough for the three of us out there,--and some over. So she can have a claim separate.” “Oh, I’ll look after her,” said Patton carelessly. “No.” There was determination in Blandy’s tone. “I’m lettin’ you in on this with the understandin’ that she has _her_ holdin’. She can lease it, or she can work it, just whichever she likes. You know, it’s kinda stylish for a lady to have her own bank-book.” “All right,” agreed Patton impatiently.