"You stay 'ere and dismantle the pumps, so we can send 'em back.

I 'll go to town.

We 've got to buy some stuff." Then he started off down the trail, while Fairchild went to his work.
And he sang as he dragged at the heavy hose, pulling it out of the shaft and coiling it at the entrance to the tunnel, as he put skids under the engines, and moved them, inch by inch, to the outer air.
Work was before him, work which was progressing toward a goal that he had determined to seek, in spite of all obstacles.

The mysterious offer which he had received gave evidence that something awaited him, that some one knew the real value of the Blue Poppy mine, and that if he could simply stick to his task, if he could hold to the unwavering purpose to win in spite of all the blocking pitfalls that were put in his path, some day, some time, the reward would be worth its price.
More, the conversation with Mother Howard on the previous morning had been comforting; it had given a woman's viewpoint upon another woman's actions.

And Fairchild intuitively believed she was correct.