Father Lucien was silent and Thirlwell went on: "You have been with him
for three nights. Has he talked like this before?"

"Yes," said Father Lucien, quietly. "You can be trusted. I think he is
afraid."

"Ah!" said Thirlwell, looking hard at him. "Then I wonder why the canoe
capsized. Were they drunk, or was there a quarrel? But perhaps you know
and cannot tell!"

"I do not know. Driscoll is not of my flock. He is ill and it is my
business to cure his sickness, but I can go no farther. If he has other
troubles, he would refuse my help."

"That is so," Thirlwell agreed. "There's a mystery about the capsize,
and I'm curious. You see, I met Strange's daughter and she believes in
the lode."

Father Lucien hesitated, and then went to a shelf.

"I will show you something," he said, and gave Thirlwell a small Russian
leather wallet. It was well made, but worn and stained as if it had been
soaked in water. "I found this when I undressed Driscoll," he went on.
"It is not a thing you would expect a rude prospector to carry. But I
found something else."

He held out a piece of broken stone and Thirlwell as he took it moved
abruptly. He knew something about ore and saw that the stone had come
from the same vein as the specimen Agatha had given him.