Roy Norton

“ Vance, with his long stride, unaware that his mishap had been observed, and angry at the escape of his horse, had disappeared, cursing as he went. The prospector stood for a long time to make certain that he had gone, his face grim and impassive in the moonlight, his huge body conveying intent menace and waiting to advance.
“The fire, Tom!” he ordered quietly. “Wait! Let me see!”
He bent far forward, cautiously treading on the edge of the road and staring at the dust.
“You can light it here,” he said, in the same, quiet tone. “Right here. There's a clean track in the dust over there. ”

“ She was almost hysterical in her eagerness to act; but Josh, who for an instant had been transfixed by astonishment, now frowned, and his lips drew to a harsh line.
“No! No!” he said, very quietly. “Just take it cool! I saw his face. I know him. We've got to make sure; surer than we could be by your belief that he was the man. Steady! Wait a minute or two till he's had time to get clean off the road. The dust—the dust, don't you see, will finish all we need to know. The road is as dusty as the trail to death. ”

“ By the spring season it had become' a “regular mine,” with a small stamp mill, hoist, and picked staff of men, and the partners worked long hours. They still dwelt in the little cabin they had come to regard as home and from whose door they could see the rolling smoke from the boiler stack that peeped above the rocky wall of the glen. Tom, to the prospector's disgust, announced that his first ten thousand dollars should go to the insurance company that had paid Vance's loss, as a “conscience fund.” And then, as spring itself was passing to summer, came news that brought Josh back to the chase. ”