Page:Allan Dunn--Dead Man's Gold.djvu/54

40 "All of which is part of the fun of it," replied Stone. "I want to get money for the things I've just recited, but the adventure of it appeals also. It's a chance. A chance to get back my own self-respect, and I'm going to take it in the hope of a glorious resurrection. I've been a good deal of a rotter and I'm going to put on the brakes. If I skid, it's in a worthy cause, if a selfish one. I'm mentally and physically decadent at thirty. I'm going to attempt the impossible—a come-back. And here's my opportunity."

"The renaissance of Jim Stone," suggested Redfern. "You don't look very decadent, Jim. A darned sight fitter than I am. I'm developing a slight pod and an indisposition to walk anywhere."

"You're married," said Stone, brutally. "Too well fed, too contented. Regular stalled-ox. Come out into the desert with us. Win or lose."

"Can't be done. Though I'll confess that Milky-Way, Mother-of-Gold wall is going to keep me awake nights. But seriously. Stone, you are taking chances you should eliminate. Do you know how many men return from the desert? Less than fifty per cent., unless they are Desert Rats. You've maybe had some little roughneck experiences, Jim, but, on his own showing, Larkin knows little of the West; Healy has seldom risked his precious hide outside the gambling room. Even with you he stayed in your shack as cook. He's soft. Three infants, you are, when it comes to bucking the desert. It's full of traps. The man who tries to cross the sea without