Page:Allan Dunn--Dead Man's Gold.djvu/213

Rh Lyman told me. He rambled a good bit but I've pieced it together. The main thing is that he traced the gold along the dry bed of the creek, getting coarser all the way, till he came to the butte. He and his partners thought they saw traces of masonry walling up a low cave where the water had originally issued. They figured that the gold was once washed out of the butte by the water through this cave. Then the Apaches arrived on the scene and they took shelter on the top of the butte. Later they found a way inside and out again. Never mind that part of the story. But there's water inside the butte, plenty of it, springs and reservoirs. And there's gold. Oodles of it."

"How do you get inside the place?" asked Healy.

"I'll show you that when we get there," said Stone. "But we'll need wood for light. I've got two electric torches but wood will help."

All hands made light work of packing the burros and breaking camp. Healy worked with the rest, handing the lighter articles to Harvey who made up the packs and threw the hitches. The gap to the west seemed the nearest and they hurried up the deep gully to the mesa level and worked north until they judged they were over the opening that had been closed by the upheaval. From the edge they picked out Teapot Rock with its white saucer and checked off the compass direction. There was hardly need for this. Depressions in the ground, the upthrusts of distorted fault-rocks, plainly traced the course of the ancient stream and farther back, where