The Border Legion

In the afternoon he went down into camp to strengthen the

associations he had made, to buy claims, and to gamble. Upon his

return Joan, peeping through a crack between the boards, could

always tell whether he had been gambling, whether he had won or

lost.

Most of the evenings he remained in his cabin, which after dark

became a place of mysterious and stealthy action. The members of his

Legion visited him, sometimes alone, never more than two together.

Joan could hear them slipping in at the hidden aperture in the back

of the cabin; she could hear the low voices, but seldom what was

said; she could hear these night prowlers as they departed.

Afterward Kells would have the lights lit, and then Joan could see

into the cabin. Was that dark, haggard man Kells? She saw him take

little buckskin sacks full of gold-dust and hide them under the

floor. Then he would pace the room in his old familiar manner, like

a caged tiger. Later his mood usually changed with the advent of

Wood and Pearce and Smith and Cleve, who took turns at guard and

going down into camp. Then Kells would join them in a friendly game

for small stakes. Gambler though he was, he refused to allow any

game there that might lead to heavy wagering. From the talk

sometimes Joan learned that he played for exceedingly large stakes

with gamblers and prosperous miners, usually with the same result--a

loss. Sometimes he won, however, and then he would crow over Pearce

and Smith, and delight in telling them how cunningly he had played.

Jim Cleve had his bed up under the bulge of bluff, in a sheltered

nook. Kells had appeared to like this idea, for some reason relative

to his scout system, which he did not explain. And Cleve was happy

about it because this arrangement left him absolutely free to have

his nightly rendezvous with Joan at her window, sometime between

dark and midnight. Her bed was right under the window: if awake she

could rest on her knees and look out; and if she was asleep he could

thrust a slender stick between the boards to awaken her. But the

fact was that Joan lived for these stolen meetings, and unless he

could not come until very late she waited wide-eyed and listening

for him. Then, besides, as long as Kells was stirring in the cabin

she spent her time spying upon him.

Jim Cleve had gone to an unfrequented part of the gulch, for no

particular reason, and here he had located his claim. The very first

day he struck gold. And Kells, more for advertisement than for any

other motive, had his men stake out a number of claims near Cleve's,

and bought them. Then they had a little field of their own. All

found the rich pay-dirt, but it was Cleve to whom the goddess of

fortune turned her bright face. As he had been lucky at cards, so he

was lucky at digging. His claim paid big returns. Kells spread the

news, and that part of the gulch saw a rush of miners.