"Well, I should say so! You oughter been here a couple of hours ago an' seen what he done ter three cowboys! He sartinly did take ther starch out of 'em in no time." "Yes?" and the two-faced man arched his eyebrows and looked surprised. "I should like to get acquainted with the young fellow. Where is he stopping?" "Right down below here. He carries a campin' outfit with him, an' he's got two young gals an' a young woman along, as well as his two pards an' this Chinee an' another one. Oh, Young Wild West is used ter goin' about, an' it don't 'pear ter make any difference ter him an' his friends whether there's a hotel ter put up at or not. They didn't even ask me if I could accommodate 'em." Hoker shook his head, as though he felt that he had been slighted somewhat. But Cap Roche only smiled. "I reckon they could tell by the size of your shanty that there wasn't much chance of getting accommodated here," he said. "I don't wonder that they didn't ask you. Why don't you put up a bigger shanty, like we've got over at the Bend? This place is growing all the time, and the time will soon be here when you'll have the chance to fill a good-sized building with boarders. I reckon there's plenty of dust here that hasn't been dug out yet." "There ain't no doubt about that, Cap," spoke up one of the miners. "This is goin' ter be one of ther best minin' camps in ther middle part of Nevada, an' there ain't no mistake on that. It's most placer minin' that we've been doin' here, 'cause we ain't got no machinery ter go down deep in ther ground. But that there's big deposits down under us there ain't no doubt. I've cleaned up a cool, thousand so fur this week, an' I've got two more days ter make almost another one. I'm goin' ter send my stuff over to ther Bend Saturday afternoon." "By the long route, I suppose?" and Cap Roche smiled in a peculiar way. "Yes; that's ther way ther wagons goes nowadays." "Well, I'll guarantee that it will be safe to go through the pass, just the same." "How is it that you are able to give such a guarantee as that, stranger?" The voice came from the doorway, and, turning, Cap Roche saw a dashing-looking boy, with a wealth of chestnut hair hanging over his shoulders, standing there, looking at him. The villain knew who it was without being told. "Young Wild West, I reckon?" he said, coolly. "Come on in; don't stand there. I don't know just what kind of a guarantee I can give that this man's gold will go safely through the pass, but it is my opinion that there are no robbers there. That's why I spoke that way." "Oh!" Our hero walked in followed by his partners and John Sedgwick. As the reader may judge, Wild had suspected the man the moment he saw him looking at the sign at the mouth of the pass. When he heard Sedgwick say he was the storekeeper over in Silver Bend he did not alter his opinion, either. Determined to find out more about the man, he had walked over to the saloon.