"I am getting to that. Kennedy had left his interest in it to me, but Baxter claimed the whole discovery as his own, saying he was out on his own hook when the mine was located, which was a falsehood. But though Baxter claimed the mine he could not locate it, nor could I do so. It was along a creek which a certain Jack Wumble had called Bumble Bee, but we could not locate this creek, and Jack Wumble had departed for fresh fields. But I have located the old miner, and he has told me that Bumble Bee Creek was in reality one of the south branches of the Gunnison River, and is now called the Larkspur. You must remember that in those, early days matters were very unsettled in Colorado, and names changed almost weekly." "So this Eclipse Mine is on Larkspur Creek?" "Yes, at a point three hundred yards above a white cliff which the old miners used to call Rooney's Ghost, because a miner named Rooney once committed suicide there." "And what about Baxter, father? If he has those papers, do you think he or his confederate will go up the Larkspur to locate the Eclipse Mine?" "Undoubtedly--under another name--that is, if it proves as valuable as my old partner anticipated." "But if we can get there before him and locate for ourselves?" "Ah, if I could do that, Dick, then I would not fear Baxter or anybody else. But if he gets in ahead of me--well, you know, 'possession is nine points of the law,' and he can at least make me a lot of trouble." Dick sprang from the seat into which he had dropped. "He shan't do it, father!" he exclaimed. "But how are you going to help it, my son? I cannot go West with this sprained ankle." "I'll go West myself and locate that claim in spite of what Arnold Baxter has done." "You go West?" "Yes." "Without me? That would be, a--well--" "Remember, father, I went to Africa to find you." "I shall never forget it, Dick. But you had others with you--your Uncle Randolph, and Tom, and Sam, and Aleck." "Well, I can take Tom and Sam with me again, if it comes to that." "It is a wild country out there among the mining camps of the mountains." "It's no wilder than in the heart of Africa." Mr. Anderson Rover shook his head doubtfully. "And then if Baxter found out what you were trying to do he would--" He could not finish, but Dick understood. "I shall be on my guard, father. I know what a scoundrel he is, and will give him no chance to get at me." At that point the conversation was interrupted by the hired girl, who came to call Dick to a late supper. The lad was hungry, so he did not refuse. By the time he had finished, Mr. Rover had gone to bed, so his son also retired, without probing the Eclipse Mine affair any further. But it was a long time before Dick got to sleep, so full was his head of the suddenly proposed trip to the West. CHAPTER XVII BOUND FOR THE WEST