"Yes, you can go, Miss Hanchett," Posey quietly replied to her appeal.

"But will the rest of the men be willing?" she suggested.

"Doesn't signify," said Posey.

She did prevail on him, however, as a matter of form, to mention the
subject to his comrades; but as he never took the trouble to report to
her what action, if any, they took in the matter, she started at last,
relying altogether on his single friendship for protection. That was
no mean reliance, though, as she soon began to realize. He was an
immense fellow, six feet two in height, and broad in proportion; and
he soon proved to Dora that, however readily he had undertaken
her safe conduct, he did not lightly esteem that charge, but was
determined to aid and befriend her in every way possible. Thus at the
outset she found herself relieved of much of the embarrassment and
annoyance she had believed to be inseparable from such a journey in
such companionship. Posey himself she did not find to be companionable
in the ordinary sense of that word, notwithstanding his constant
kindness. He was of a quiet turn, reserved; of speech, rather
forbidding of countenance, and did not wear his excellent heart upon
his sleeve. There were few surface indications of the gold that was in
him. Dora was not long, however, in finding the auriferous vein; and,
to drop metaphor, she soon became conscious of a very warm sentiment
of gratitude growing up in her heart toward her uncouth guide,
philosopher and friend.

Posey's outfit consisted of a pair of powerful mules and a covered
wagon, with the usual mining and cooking utensils, and the provisions
necessary for the journey. In the forward part of this wagon, while