“_Turrible_ high--even where it don’t show colour. There was a fortune right in sight--without thinkin’ of what’s laying _behind_. There’s all we’ll ever want out there--a chance to do a few things for our friends, and our relations--them that we like; and grand houses, and outomobiles, and fine clothes, and horses, and folks to wait on us, and travellin’, and edication, and--and what’ll make Polly a queen!” “Did you put up a written notice?” “Shore.” “Have you got some specimens?” “About a mile from here--buried.” “A few samples aren’t enough,” asserted Patton. “Anybody can get hold of a dozen pieces of rich rock. Why, there are men who make a good living by selling ore that’s used to draw suckers on.” “A-course, that’s so,” agreed Blandy. “What we ought to have is about four barley-sackfuls. There’s nothing like making a great, big hit at the very start.” “Yas, I know,” said Blandy. “But when one of them millionaire fellers is considerin’ a lease, he sends out a’ expert.” “If you have a hundred pounds of quartz and an assay, there won’t be any need of an expert,” argued Patton. “We’ll lease without a bit of trouble. Of course, we might make more by taking some rich man in as a partner, and working the mine on shares----” “Why, there’s half a million apiece in it for us without doin’ _that_.” “Half a million,” repeated Patton. “Huh! I mean to ask one million flat for _my_ share.” Blandy laughed. “Oh, leave a little for the gent that’s a-going to put up the cash,” he advised. Patton went on arguing. “As a matter of fact,” he declared, “it wouldn’t take us any time at all to land three hundred pounds of ore at the track if we used an auto.” “No.” Blandy was decisive. “No, I don’t trust none of them flyshuffers.” “But _I_’ll drive.” “Take a machine and leave tracks, eh?” demanded Blandy. “Not on your life! Burros is what we need. A burro can travel on a washout and never turn a stone.” “All right, burros then,” assented Patton eagerly. “Let’s start to-morrow night.” “Oh, what’s your sweat?” asked Blandy. “Just this: The quicker we leave, the quicker we get out of Searles.” “But--but maybe Jeff’s tired,” suggested Polly timidly. Patton gave her a warning glance. “_I_ know he’s tired,” he answered. “But we won’t have to rush. We can take it easy, and only travel at night. If we wait around here, people’re sure to begin trying to find out where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. The whole town knows you’ve been on a long prospecting trip--I heard it when I came. So (just as you said yourself a while ago) first thing you know, we’ll have a regular gang on our trail.” Blandy nodded, more than half-convinced. “And when we’ve got our ore,” went on Patton, “I’ll go to Los Angeles with you. I’m the man that can advise you when it comes to a lease.” In the end Blandy agreed to an immediate trip to the mine.