Here a new trepidation seized him.

How would his partners receive the news of his utter failure?
HE was happy, for he had gained Kitty through it.

But they?
For a moment it seemed to him that he had purchased his happiness through their loss.

He stopped, took off his hat, and ran his fingers remorsefully through his damp curls.
Another thing troubled him.

He had reached the crest of the Gulch, where their old working ground was spread before him like a map.