mountains densely covered by cedar-brakes, but not one shaped like
a pack-saddle. That did not deter us. Appearances are deceptive. A
pack-saddle, like beauty, may exist only in the eye of the beholder.

I and the grandson of the treasure examined those cedar-covered hills
with the care of a lady hunting for the wicked flea. We explored every
side, top, circumference, mean elevation, angle, slope, and concavity of
every one for two miles up and down the river. We spent four days doing
so. Then we hitched up the roan and the dun, and hauled the remains
of the coffee and bacon the one hundred and forty-nine miles back to
Concho City.

Lee Rundle chewed much tobacco on the return trip. I was busy driving,
because I was in a hurry.

As shortly as could be after our empty return Goodloe Banks and I
forgathered in the back room of Snyder's saloon to play dominoes and
fish for information. I told Goodloe about my expedition after the
buried treasure.

"If I could have found that three hundred thousand dollars," I said to
him, "I could have scoured and sifted the surface of the earth to find
May Martha Mangum."

"She is meant for higher things," said Goodloe. "I shall find her
myself. But, tell me how you went about discovering the spot where this
unearthed increment was imprudently buried."

I told him in the smallest detail. I showed him the draughtsman's sketch
with the distances marked plainly upon it.