"'Listen here,' says he, an', seein' he was in earnest, I let him
run on.

"'How much do you value that claim o' yourn at?'

'"Hard tellin',' says I. 'If she holds out like she run last fall,
there'd ought to be a million clear in her."

"'How much'll you clean up this summer?'

"''Bout four hundred thousand, with luck.'

"'Bill,' says he, 'there's hell a-poppin' an' you've got to watch
that ground like you'd watch a rattle-snake. Don't never leave 'em
get a grip on it or you're down an' out.'

"He was so plumb in earnest it scared me up, 'cause Mexico ain't a
gabby man.

"'What do you mean?' says I.

"'I can't tell you nothin' more. I'm puttin' a string on my own
neck, sayin' THIS much. You're a square man, Bill, an' I'm a
gambler, but you saved my life oncet, an' I wouldn't steer you
wrong. For God's sake, don't let 'em jump your ground, that's
all.'

"'Let who jump it? Congress has give us judges an' courts an'
marshals--' I begins.