Pop let out a howl. "Good Lord!" he snorted. "Evenin' air too wet for cows! Drive 'em back every night! An' lemme tell you that outfit's just foolish enough to do it, too. He-he-he!" Quigley laughed, and then looked at the proprietor: "Pop, we ain't forgettin'. We both has bought, an' it usually goes th' rounds before it stops." "Oh, I'll set 'em up," growled Pop. "You ranchin', Mr. Quigley?" asked Johnny. "Well, I am, an' I ain't," answered Quigley. "I'm farmin' an' ranchin' both, on a small scale. I got a few head, but not enough to give me much bother. We sort of let 'em look after themselves." "Oh," said Johnny regretfully. "I thought mebby if I got tired of prospectin', an' short of cash, that I might get a job with you." "I ain't got cows enough to keep me busy," explained Quigley. "We let 'em wander, an' get 'em as we need 'em. Well," he said, turning as if to leave, "I'm sorry about that fool break of mine, Mr. Nelson; an' to prove it I'm goin' to give you some real good advice: Keep away from th' Twin Buttes country. So long, boys." Johnny looked after him, and then faced Pop, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't quite get th' drift of that," he said slowly; "but he ought to know th' country he lives in. I'll try Devil's Gap first; but I got a cussed strong notion not to!" Pop sighed with relief. "Let's go over an' see what Charley's got for yore kit," he suggested. Charley James was playing solitaire on a box laid across a nail keg and he smiled a welcome as they entered. "Charley," said Pop. "This cow-puncher's aimin' to change his spots. He's a amatchure prospector an' wants us to pick out his outfit." "I can believe that he's an amatchure if he's goin' to try it in this part of th' country," smiled Charley. "Nobody's ever tried it down here before." Johnny was about to mention the two prospectors referred to by Mr. Quigley, but thought better of it. "Oh, it's been tried," said Pop casually. "But they didn't stay long. What you got in that line, Charley?" "I ain't shore; but first you want an axe. Come on; we'll saunter aroun' an' pick things out as they hit our eye. Here's th' axe--double bitted, six-pounder." "Too big," chuckled Pop. "There ain't none of them there redwood trees out here; they're in Californy." "Huh!" grunted Charley. "Mebbyso; but that's a good axe." "Pop's right; it's too heavy," decided Johnny. "An' I don't want it double bitted because I may want to drive stakes with it." "All right," said Charley, who had hoped to at last get rid of the big axe. "Here's a three-pounder--'Little Gem'--an' it shore is. All right; now for th' next article." In half an hour the outfit was assembled and they were turning to leave the store when Johnny suddenly grabbed his companions. "What about some fishhooks?" he demanded anxiously.