But Cash did not take the challenge. "Did the report come?" he asked, as
though that was the only matter worth discussing.
Bud pulled the letter sullenly from his pocket and gave it to Cash. He
stood moodily waiting while Cash opened and read and returned it.
"Yeah. About what I thought--only it runs lighter in gold, with a higher
percentage of copper. It'll pay to go on and see what's at bed rock. If
the copper holds up to this all along, we'll be figuring on the gold to
pay for getting the copper. This is copper country, Bud. Looks like we'd
found us a copper mine." He turned and walked on beside Bud. "I dug in
to quite a rich streak of sand while you was gone," he volunteered after
a silence. "Coarse gold, as high as fifteen cents a pan. I figure we
better work that while the weather's good, and run our tunnel in on this
other when snow comes."
Bud turned his head and looked at Cash intently for a minute. "I've been
drunker'n a fool for three days," he announced solemnly.
"Yeah. You look it," was Cash's dry retort, while he stared straight
ahead, up the steep, shadowed trail.