outpost of civilization. South of here, in the whole strip from Comobabi
to the Colorado River, there's not twenty men, all told, between here and
the Mexican border--except yonder deluded wretches in the Gavilan; and
none beyond the border for a hundred miles."

"It is certainly one big lonesome needle-in-the-haystack proposition--and
no one has any idea where our find is, not within three days' ride. But
what puzzles me is this: If Zurich really got wise to our copper, he'd
know at once that it was a big thing, if there was any amount of it. Then
why didn't he keep it private and confidential? Why tip it off to the
G.P.? I have always understood that in robbery and murder, one is
assisted only by intimate friends. What is the large idea?"

"That, I take it," laughed Pete, "is, in some part, an acknowledgment
that it doesn't take many like you and me to make a dozen. You've made
one or two breaks and got away with 'em, the last year or two, that has
got 'em guessing; and I'm well and loudly known myself. There is a wise
old saying that it's no use sending a boy to mill. They figure on that,
likely; they wanted to be safe and sanitary. They sized it up that to
dispatch only two or three men to adjust such an affair with us would be
in no way respectful or segacious.

"Also, in a gang of crooks like that, every one is always pullin' for his
buddy. That accounts for part of the crowd--prudence and a far-reaching
spirit of brotherly love. For the rest, when the first ten or six made
packs and started, they was worked up and oozing excitement at every
pore. Then some of the old prospectors got a hunch there was something
doing; so they just naturally up stakes and tagged along. Always doing
that, old miner is. That's what makes the rushes and stampedes you hear
about."