Burdette got the story out of him. He knows yo u killed Rice Wheeler."
"I'm sorry."
"So am I. But Liza told us she had said somethin g to him about it."
"It was nothing. I don't blame her."
"It started him asking questions. You'll have to b e careful." He took out his pipe and filled it. "Rye, yo u watch him. He's killed three men at the Crossing. He' s .. . well, he's tricky."
"All right, sir. But I don't expect to be around there."
The next morning after breakfast I rode away. Liz a did not come out to say good-bye, but I could hear he r in the next room. It sounded as if she was crying. I sor t of felt like crying myself. Only men don't carry on.
When I was turning into the lane she ran out an d waved. I was going to miss her.
It was thirty miles to Willow Creek, and it was fa r away from anywhere. Once there, I scouted along th e creek and picked a likely-looking bench. It was my firs t time to try hunting gold, but I'd heard talk of it, an d around Pollard's place in California they had taken thousands from the creeks.
The work was lonely and hard. The bench was on a curve of the Willow, and I found a little color. I san k a shaft to bedrock, which was only eight feet down, an d I cleaned up the bedrock and panned it out. After tw o weeks of brutal labor I had taken out about ninety dollars.
Not much, but better than punching cows. It wa s harder living alone now than it had been in the mountains before I met the Hetricks. They were good people , and I'd liked staying there with them, and I though t a lot about Liza. It was Liza I kept remembering. Th e way she laughed, how she smiled, and the warm way he r eyes looked sometimes.
The next week I cleaned out some seams in the bedrock and took out more than two hundred dollars in twenty minutes.
It was spotty. There was a lot of black sand mixe d in with the gold and it was hard to get the gold out.
Twice in the following week I moved upstream, workin g bars and benches to the tune of a little color here and a little more there.
My grub ran short; but I killed an elk and jerked th e meat, then caught a few fish from time to time. Livin g off the country was almost second nature to me by thi s time.
Nobody came around. Once a couple of Utes cam e by and I gave them some of my coffee. When they left , one of them told me about a bench upstream that I s hould try.
Taking a chance that they knew what they were talkin g about, I went upstream the next morning and found th e bench. It was hidden in the pines that flanked both side s of the stream, and it was above the water.
There was an old caved-in shaft there, a shovel wit h the handle long gone, and a miserable little dugout i n the bank. I found some arrowheads around. Whoeve r had mined here must have been here twenty years ago.
This was Indian country then.
When I cleaned out the old shaft I panned some of th e bottom gravel and washed out twelve dollars in a fe w minutes. The second pan was off bedrock and ran t o twenty-six dollars. Working like all get-out, I cleane d up a good bit of dust. Not enough make a man rich , but more money than I ever had before.
When I finished that week I loaded my gear and saddled up. Old Blue was fat and sassy, so we drifted bac k to the Crossing.
The old black hat was still on my head, and I wa s wearing buckskins. It wasn't trouble I was looking for , but I remembered Hetrick's warning. Outside of tow n I reined in and got out the old Shawk & McLanahan an d belted it on.
When I swung down at the bank, Burdette was coming down the street, and when they had finished weighing out my gold they counted out my money and i t came to just $462. And I still had $50 of my wages fro m Hetrick.
"Doing well," Burdette said.
"Not bad."
"So you killed Rice Wheeler?"
"Uh-huh."
"That was what you meant, then? When you sai d I should know the look of you?"
I shrugged. "Read it any way you like."
He watched me as I walked out to my home an d stepped into the leather. When I
"I'm sorry."
"So am I. But Liza told us she had said somethin g to him about it."
"It was nothing. I don't blame her."
"It started him asking questions. You'll have to b e careful." He took out his pipe and filled it. "Rye, yo u watch him. He's killed three men at the Crossing. He' s .. . well, he's tricky."
"All right, sir. But I don't expect to be around there."
The next morning after breakfast I rode away. Liz a did not come out to say good-bye, but I could hear he r in the next room. It sounded as if she was crying. I sor t of felt like crying myself. Only men don't carry on.
When I was turning into the lane she ran out an d waved. I was going to miss her.
It was thirty miles to Willow Creek, and it was fa r away from anywhere. Once there, I scouted along th e creek and picked a likely-looking bench. It was my firs t time to try hunting gold, but I'd heard talk of it, an d around Pollard's place in California they had taken thousands from the creeks.
The work was lonely and hard. The bench was on a curve of the Willow, and I found a little color. I san k a shaft to bedrock, which was only eight feet down, an d I cleaned up the bedrock and panned it out. After tw o weeks of brutal labor I had taken out about ninety dollars.
Not much, but better than punching cows. It wa s harder living alone now than it had been in the mountains before I met the Hetricks. They were good people , and I'd liked staying there with them, and I though t a lot about Liza. It was Liza I kept remembering. Th e way she laughed, how she smiled, and the warm way he r eyes looked sometimes.
The next week I cleaned out some seams in the bedrock and took out more than two hundred dollars in twenty minutes.
It was spotty. There was a lot of black sand mixe d in with the gold and it was hard to get the gold out.
Twice in the following week I moved upstream, workin g bars and benches to the tune of a little color here and a little more there.
My grub ran short; but I killed an elk and jerked th e meat, then caught a few fish from time to time. Livin g off the country was almost second nature to me by thi s time.
Nobody came around. Once a couple of Utes cam e by and I gave them some of my coffee. When they left , one of them told me about a bench upstream that I s hould try.
Taking a chance that they knew what they were talkin g about, I went upstream the next morning and found th e bench. It was hidden in the pines that flanked both side s of the stream, and it was above the water.
There was an old caved-in shaft there, a shovel wit h the handle long gone, and a miserable little dugout i n the bank. I found some arrowheads around. Whoeve r had mined here must have been here twenty years ago.
This was Indian country then.
When I cleaned out the old shaft I panned some of th e bottom gravel and washed out twelve dollars in a fe w minutes. The second pan was off bedrock and ran t o twenty-six dollars. Working like all get-out, I cleane d up a good bit of dust. Not enough make a man rich , but more money than I ever had before.
When I finished that week I loaded my gear and saddled up. Old Blue was fat and sassy, so we drifted bac k to the Crossing.
The old black hat was still on my head, and I wa s wearing buckskins. It wasn't trouble I was looking for , but I remembered Hetrick's warning. Outside of tow n I reined in and got out the old Shawk & McLanahan an d belted it on.
When I swung down at the bank, Burdette was coming down the street, and when they had finished weighing out my gold they counted out my money and i t came to just $462. And I still had $50 of my wages fro m Hetrick.
"Doing well," Burdette said.
"Not bad."
"So you killed Rice Wheeler?"
"Uh-huh."
"That was what you meant, then? When you sai d I should know the look of you?"
I shrugged. "Read it any way you like."
He watched me as I walked out to my home an d stepped into the leather. When I
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