to be cricks an' yo' cricks branches an' yo' land would die o'
thirst an' the same thing 'ud happen here. Co'se we'd all be gone
when all this tuk place, but he said as how I'd live to see the
day when you furriners would be damaged by wash-outs down thar in
the settlements an' would be a-pilin' up stacks an' stacks o' gold
out o' the lands you robbed me an' my kinfolks out of."

"Shet up," said Arch Hawn sharply, and the boy wheeled on him.

"Yes, an' you air a-helpin' the furriners to rob yo' own kin; you
air a-doin' hit yo'self."

"Jason!"

The old man spoke sternly and the boy stopped, flushed and angry,
and a moment later slipped from the room.

"Well!" said the colonel, and he laughed good-humoredly to relieve
the strain that his host might feel on his account; but he was
amazed just the same--the bud of a socialist blooming in those
wilds! Arch Hawn's shrewd face looked a little concerned, for he
saw that the old man's rebuke had been for the discourtesy to
strangers, and from the sudden frown that ridged the old man's
brow, that the boy's words had gone deep enough to stir distrust,
and this was a poor start in the fulfilment of the purpose he had
in view. He would have liked to give the boy a cuff on the ear. As
for Mavis, she was almost frightened by the outburst of her
playmate, and Marjorie was horrified by his profanity; but the
dawning of something in Gray's brain worried him, and presently
he, too, rose and went to the back porch. The rain had stopped,