“Mornin’, stranger,” came the reply. “Yes, this here’s the gold diggin’s, an’ she’s hummin’ these days.” “Catching any fish?” Adam inquired, with interest. “Yep; I ketched one day before yestiddy,” replied the man, complacently. “What kind?” went on Adam. “I’ll be doggoned if I know, but he was good to eat,” answered the angler, with a grin. “Where you hail from, stranger?” “Back East.” “So I reckoned. No Westerner would tackle the Colorado when she was in flood. I opine you hit the river at Ehrenberg. Wal, you’re lucky. Goin’ to prospect for gold?” “No, I’d rather work. Can I get a job here?” “Son, if you’re as straight as you look you can get a good job. But a husky lad like you, if he stayed sober, could strike it rich in the diggin’s.” “How about a place to eat and sleep?” “Thet ain’t so easy to find up at the camp. It’s a few miles up the canyon. But say, I’m forgettin’ about the feller who stayed here with the Mexicans. They jest buried him. You could get his place. It’s the ’dobe house--first one. Ask Margarita, there. She’ll show you.” Thus directed, Adam saw the Mexican girl standing above him. Climbing the path to the top of the bank, he threw down his pack. “_Buenas dias_, señor.” The girl’s soft, liquid accents fitted a dark, piquant little face, framed by hair as black as the wing of a raven, and lighted by big eyes, like night. Adam’s Spanish was not that of the Mexicans, but it enabled him to talk fairly well. He replied to the girl’s greeting, yet hesitated with the query he had on his lips. He felt a slight shrinking as these dark eyes reminded him of others of like allurement which he had willed to forget. Yet he experienced a warmth and thrill of pleasure in a pretty face. Women invariably smiled upon Adam. This one, a girl in her teens, smiled with half-lowered eyes, the more provocative for that; and she turned partly away with a lithe, quick grace. Adam’s hesitation had been a sudden chill at the proximity of something feminine and attractive--of something that had hurt him. But it passed. He had done more than boldly step across the threshold of a new and freer life. CHAPTER II For Adam’s questions Margarita had a shy, “_Si_, señor,” and the same subtle smile that had attracted him. Whereupon he took up his pack and followed her. Back from the river the sand was thick and heavy, clean and white. The girl led down a path bordered by willows and mesquites which opened into a clearing where stood several squat adobe houses.