He felt reasonably certain that every man in the settlement would abandon his occupation when he heard the message they had sent by an Indian they met on the trail soon after they started.

Saunders, it must be admitted, had not sent it until Devine insisted on his doing so, for, as he shrewdly said, there was not a great deal of the lode that could be economically worked available, and he wanted to make quite sure that the Grenfell properties were on the richest of it, while the boys would be better employed working on their ranches and buying things from him than worrying over profitless claims.

He added that if the latter broke them he would in all probability never recover what they owed him.
"They'll be here, sure, bringing as much of my pork and flour as they can pack along," he said.

"It's quite likely Jim won't have raised thirty dollars among the crowd of them." "Well," said Devine, "if I'm to take the trail tomorrow I'm going right under my blanket now." He rolled it round him and lay down on a pile of spruce twigs outside the tent.

The dew was rather heavy, but he was young and strong, and it is a luxury to sleep in the open in that elixir-like mountain air.
He went to sleep at once, and it was evidently early morning when Saunders awakened him, for the moon, which had not cleared the eastern peaks when he lay down, was now high in the heavens.