"But Mr. Gibson probably knew what the decision of the court was going to be or he would not have done this," added Julian, after a moment's pause. "I guess we are all right, but I shall feel better when we have all that property in our hands."

Julian wished now, when it was too late, that he had not spoken to Jack about this. During the dinner hour he was unusually silent and thoughtful, and the landlady's questioning could not get a word out of him. He would arouse up long enough to reply, and then he would fall to thinking again.

"I will never tell you another piece of news as long as I live," said Julian, as they went up to their room to get ready to accompany Mr.

Fay to call on the miner. "You always have enough to say at dinner, but to-day you were as solemn as an owl."

"I could not help it," said Jack. "If that man who owns this property turns up here, I tell you we shall be in a fix. We shall spend this before the winter is over, and how are we to get a hundred dollars to pay him? I'll speak to Mr. Gibson about that the next time I see him."

"I believe that would be a good plan," said Julian, after thinking the matter over. "I'll bet you that he has some good reason for it."

In due time the boys arrived at Mr. Fay's office, and found him ready to accompany them. All he said was that he was going out for half an hour, and if anybody came to see him he was to be told that he would soon be back; and then he set off, with his long strides, to lead the way to Salisbury's hotel. The boys found it as much as they could do to keep up with him.

"I guess you have been a messenger-boy in your day," said Julian.

"I was a messenger-boy for six years," replied Mr. Fay. "Of course I did not want to hold that position all my life, so I learned telegraphy at odd times, and got my promotion as fast as I was qualified for it, until at last I got where you see me now. That's the way that young men ought to do--look out for promotion."

"We received good news down there at Mr. Gibson's office," continued Julian.

"I knew you would. Have you the property all in your hands?"

"No; there is some law-business to go through with, first. We told Mr.

Gibson to go ahead with it, as he did before."

"That was the best thing that you ever did," said Mr. Fay, earnestly.

"Gibson is an honest man, even if he is a lawyer, and you will get every cent that is coming to you. Now, then, here we are. You will find this rather a different hotel from the one you first stopped at when you came here, but the old fellow makes lots of money out of the miners. There is n.o.body stays here except those who have shovelled dirt."

Mr. Fay opened the door as he spoke, and the boys speedily found themselves in the living-room of the hotel. Before they had time to look around them the chief telegraph operator walked up and laid his hand upon the shoulder of a man who sat with his back to him.

"You are here yet, are you, Banta?" said he.

"Yes," replied the miner, looking up to see who it was that accosted him. "I am on hand, like a bogus coin made out of iron pyrites; you can't get rid of me."

"I have brought some boys with me who would like to know something about the mines at which you are working," said Mr. Fay; and he proceeded to introduce Julian and Jack.

Banta speedily proved that he was a gentleman, for he straightway got upon his feet to shake hands with the boys.

"All right," said the miner; "if anybody can tell them about Dutch Flat, I am the man."

"They are going to stay here this winter, and go out with you next spring," Mr. Fay went on.

"All right," said the miner, again; "I will put them where they can dig gold so fast that you won't see anything but gold coming out of the pit."

"But they have a gold-mine up there already."

"They have? Where is it located?"

Mr. Fay could not answer this question, so he stood aside and waited for Julian to tell him the whereabouts of the mine. The boy began by asking him,

"Do you know the mine that Winkleman used to work when he was here?"

Mr. Banta started, and looked at Julian to see if he was in dead earnest. The boy gazed fixedly at him, and the miner finally settled back in his chair and pulled himself down until his neck rested on the back of it.

"Of course I know that mine," said he. "You don't think of working there, do you?"

"We thought some of trying it," replied Julian.

"Pete, what do you think of that?" asked Mr. Banta, pushing his hand against the shoulder of the man who sat nearest him, with his eyes closed, as if he were fast asleep. "Here are two boys going up to Dutch Flat next spring to work the Winkleman mine."

"Well," replied Pete, without lifting his head, "I am glad I am not going up there."

"Are the ghosts so awful thick up there?" asked Julian, who felt his courage oozing out at the ends of his fingers.

"You know something about it--don't you? The ghosts are so thick up there that you can't go down in the mine to shovel a bucketful of dirt without scaring some of them up."

"Well, you will have to excuse me," said Mr. Fay. "I should like to see what those ghosts are, but my work calls me. You will take charge of the boys next spring, will you, Mr. Banta?"

"Sure I will; but they are plumb dunces if they try to work that mine.

I will go with them as far as I can, and the balance of the way they will have to depend on themselves."

Mr. Fay said he believed they could do that, opened the door and went out, and Julian and Jack were left alone.

CHAPTER XVIII.

GRUB-STAKING.

"Sit down," said Banta, pushing chairs toward the two boys with his foot; "I want to talk to you about that mine. What loon has been so foolish as to grub-stake you?"

"Grub-stake us?" repeated Julian, for the words were quite new to him.

"Yes; he does not expect to get his money back again very soon. I mean the fellow who has furnished you with grub and tools, and such things, to work the mine with."

"We never heard that before; we did not know there was anybody who _could_ grub-stake us."

"Say, Pete, what do you think of that?" said Banta, once more pushing the man who sat nearest him. "Here are a couple of tenderfeet, come away out West from--where did you come from?"

"From St. Louis; this is as far West as we have ever been."

"Here are a couple of tenderfeet from St. Louis who didn't know that they could get anybody to grub-stake them," continued Banta. "What do you think of that?"

Pete, who had by this time got his wits about him, straightened up, pushed his hat on the back of his head, and regarded the boys with some curiosity. Julian and Jack looked at him, too, and concluded that he and Banta were partners in working a mine. He was roughly dressed, but there was a good-natured look about him that made the boys take to him at once. There were other men, dressed as miners, in the room, and they all seemed to be interested in the conversation.

"Then I reckon I shall have to tell you about this grub-staking business," said Banta, squaring around in his chair so as to face the boys. "You are going to lay in a supply of things yourselves, I suppose?"

"Yes, we are; and we shall have to depend on you to tell us what to get."