Caroline Lockhart

“ A smile spread over Bayard's face till it became a fixed grin, and he began to swear softly. They were blithe curses of congratulation. He picked up his fishing-tackle and walked briskly back to the tent.
The Man of Mystery seemed restless after breakfast. He moved from the window to the door and watched the road through the pines as though he were expecting somebody.
"You seem oneasy, stranger," observed Old Man McPherson as he stacked the breakfast dishes to be washed at some future time.
"It's the goat," replied the Man of Mystery, tartly; "it sets heavy." ”

“ Bayard listened attentively to the story of the coming of the Man of Mystery.
"A queer customer," Dad concluded; "but a moneyed man, as you can see by the way he carries himself."
Bayard watched the old man as he skinned the goat and hung the carcass in a tree.
"McPherson and me will pack it down while the Cap'talist looks over the mines," he said, and Bayard stood looking after him as he slipped and slid down the steep trail to the cabin. ”

“ An angry silence now fell between the two old partners, which would last until morning, when they would awaken with the disagreement of the previous evening forgotten and their hearts filled with fresh hopes.
These two old men were among the half-dozen derelicts who remained in Boulder, clinging pathetically to the belief that the "busted" mining camp far back in the fastnesses of the towering Rockies would boom again. When Boulder boomed they would sell the Black Maria mine and the Toad'shead claim. ”