The Spoilers | Page 2

for
claim-jumping?"
"Identical! Remember me tellin' you about a good turn I done him once
down Guadalupe way?"
"Greaser shooting-scrape, wasn't it?"
"Yep! Well, I noticed first off that he's gettin fat; high-livin' fat, too, all
in one spot, like he was playin' both ends ag'in the centre. Also he wore
di'mon's fit to handle with ice-tongs.
"Says I, lookin' at his side elevation, 'What's accented your middle
syllable so strong, Mexico?'
"'Prosperity, politics, an' the Waldorf-Astorier,' says he. It seems Mex
hadn't forgot old days. He claws me into a corner an' says, 'Bill, I'm
goin' to pay you back for that Moralez deal.'

"'It ain't comin' to me,' says I. 'That's a bygone!'
"'Listen here,' says he, an', seein' he was in earnest, I let him run on.
"'How much do you value that claim o' yourn at?'
'"Hard tellin',' says I. 'If she holds out like she run last fall, there'd ought
to be a million clear in her."
"'How much'll you clean up this summer?'
"''Bout four hundred thousand, with luck.'
"'Bill,' says he, 'there's hell a-poppin' an' you've got to watch that
ground like you'd watch a rattle-snake. Don't never leave 'em get a grip
on it or you're down an' out.'
"He was so plumb in earnest it scared me up, 'cause Mexico ain't a
gabby man.
"'What do you mean?' says I.
"'I can't tell you nothin' more. I'm puttin' a string on my own neck,
sayin' THIS much. You're a square man, Bill, an' I'm a gambler, but
you saved my life oncet, an' I wouldn't steer you wrong. For God's sake,
don't let 'em jump your ground, that's all.'
"'Let who jump it? Congress has give us judges an' courts an'
marshals--' I begins.
"'That's just it. How you goin' to buck that hand? Them's the best cards
in the deck. There's a man comin' by the name of McNamara. Watch
him clost. I can't tell you no more. But don't never let 'em get a grip on
your ground.' That's all he'd say."
"Bah! He's crazy! I wish somebody would try to jump the Midas; we'd
enjoy the exercise."
The siren of the Santa Maria interrupted, its hoarse warning throbbing

up the mountain.
"We'll have to get aboard," said Dextry.
"Sh-h! What's that?" the other whispered.
At first the only sound they heard was a stir from the deck of the
steamer. Then from the water below them came the rattle of rowlocks
and a voice cautiously muffled.
"Stop! Stop there!"
A skiff burst from the darkness, grounding on the beach beneath. A
figure scrambled out and up the ladder leading to the wharf.
Immediately a second boat, plainly in pursuit of the first one, struck on
the beach behind it.
As the escaping figure mounted to their level the watchers perceived
with amazement that it was a young woman. Breath sobbed from her
lungs, and, stumbling, she would have fallen but for Glenister, who ran
forward and helped her to her feet.
"Don't let them get me," she panted.
He turned to his partner in puzzled inquiry, but found that the old man
had crossed to the head of the landing ladder up which the pursuers
were climbing.
"Just a minute--you there! Back up or I'll kick your face in." Dextry's
voice was sharp and unexpected, and in the darkness he loomed tall and
menacing to those below.
"Get out of the way. That woman's a runaway," came from the one
highest on the ladder.
"So I jedge."
"She broke qu--"

"Shut up!" broke in another. "Do you want to advertise it? Get out of
the way, there, ye damn fool! Climb up, Thorsen." He spoke like a
bucko mate, and his words stirred the bile of Dextry.
Thorsen grasped the dock floor, trying to climb up, but the old miner
stamped on his fingers and the sailor loosened his hold with a yell,
carrying the under men with him to the beach in his fall.
"This way! Follow me!" shouted the mate, making up the bank for the
shore end of the wharf.
"You'd better pull your freight, miss," Dextry remarked; "they'll be here
in a minute."
"Yes, yes! Let us go! I must get aboard the Santa Maria. She's leaving
now. Come, come!"
Glenister laughed, as though there were a humorous touch in her
remark, but did not stir.
"I'm gettin' awful old an' stiff to run," said Dextry, removing his
mackinaw, "but I allow I ain't too old for a little diversion in the way of
a rough-house when it comes nosin' around." He moved lightly, though
the girl could see in the half-darkness that his hair was silvery.
"What do you mean?" she questioned, sharply.
"You hurry along, miss; we'll toy with 'em till you're aboard." They
stepped