speed, for there was serious danger of discovery. It was
wonderful, this treasure of the richest ground since the days of
'49, and the men worked with shining eyes and hands a-tremble. The
gold was coarse, and many ragged, yellow lumps, too large to pass
through the screen, rolled in the hopper, while the aprons bellied
with its weight. In the pans which they had provided there grew a
gleaming heap of wet, raw gold.

Shortly, by divergent routes, the partners rode unnoticed into
town, and into the excitement of the hold-up news, while the tardy
still lingered over their breakfasts. Far out in the roadstead lay
the Roanoke, black smoke pouring from her stack. A tug was
returning from its last trip to her.

Glenister forced his lathered horse down to the beach and
questioned the longshoremen who hung about.

"No; it's too late to get aboard--the last tender is on its way
back," they informed him. "If you want to go to the 'outside'
you'll have to wait for the fleet. That only means another week,
and--there she blows now."

A ribbon of white mingled with the velvet from the steamer's
funnel and there came a slow, throbbing, farewell blast.

Glenister's jaw clicked and squared.

"Quick! You men!" he cried to the sailors. "I want the lightest
dory on the beach and the strongest oarsmen in the crowd. I'll be
back in five minutes. There's a hundred dollars in it for you if