It's just possible that Porter took the Gold Hill fork and didn't go on to McGurvin's." "He wouldn't do that, Chip." Clancy answered.

"If he had wanted to go to Gold Hill he would have turned north from the mine and taken the shorter road through Ophir." "Unless," Frank qualified, "he had reasons for not wanting to pass through Ophir.

Porter might have thought that we would use the telephone if he went that way, and have some one stop him." "Tell you what we can do," Clancy suggested, taken somewhat with Merry's logic and yet not quite satisfied to recede from his own position, "we can go on to McGurvin's; then, if we don't overhaul Porter on the road, or pick up any clews at McGurvin's, we can come back and take the Gold Hill fork from here.

We can get over the ground like an express train with these machines, and can ride circles all around that horse that carried the prospector away from the mine." "Good!" agreed Frank.

"We'll see how long it will take us to get to McGurvin's.