Page:J Allan Dunn--The Girl of Ghost Mountain.djvu/55

Rh "Neighbors? To folks on a mountain ten miles off and three thousand feet up! And how are we going to find the way?"

"Hell!" said Jackson with unconscious and colloquial profanity, "where a gel can climb, I can. An' what's a little space in Arizony?"

Sheridan laughed but he was paying close attention. Some lines from Kipling's "Explorer" occupied his mind. They seemed pat to the occasion:

'"Lost and waiting for you. Go.'" He repeated the words aloud.

"Huh?" queried Jackson. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, Red. I'm going to turn in. Good-night."

"Goodnight." Jackson left the verandah, the red glow of his cigarette glowing in the dark. It was stuck in the corner of his lips and his mouth was twisted in a confidential grin.

"Lost an' waitin' for you? Now what do you know about that?" he asked himself as he walked towards the bunk-house. "The Boss has struck a romantic streak. I hope it runs to pay-dirt. Me, I'm for the Big One, the one that plays the fiddle."