“So,” said Jack, “the mine is yours again, Kalman.”

“No,” said Kalman, “not mine, ours; yours as much as mine, Jack, or not mine at all.”

“And the Company!” yelled Brown.  “Tell him about the Company.  Let the play proceed.”

“Oh,” said French, with an air of indifference, “Mr. Menzies has a company all organized and in his pocket, waiting only approval of the owner of the mine.”

“And the party will arrive in about three weeks, I think you said, French,” remarked Brown, with a tone of elaborate carelessness.

Kalman’s face flushed hot.  The eyes of both men were upon him.

“Yes, in about three weeks,” replied French.

“If it were not that I am constitutionally disinclined to an active life, I should like to join myself,” said Brown; “for it will be a most remarkable mining company, if I know anything of the signs.”

But Kalman could not speak.  He put his arm around Jack’s shoulder, saying, “You are a great man, Jack.  I might have known better.”

“All right, boy,” said Jack.  “From this time we shall play the man.  Life is too good to lose for nothing.  A mine is good, but there are better things than mines.”

“Meaning?” said Brown.

“Men!” said Jack with emphasis.

“And,” shouted Brown, slipping his arm round his wife, “women.”

“Brown,” said Jack solemnly, “as my friend Pierre Lamont would say, ‘you have reason.’”

CHAPTER XVIII

FOR FREEDOM AND FOR LOVE

The hut of the Nihilist Portnoff stood in a thick bluff about midway between Wakota and the mine, but lying off the direct line about two miles nearer the ranch.  It was a poor enough shack, made of logs plastered over with mud, roofed with poplar poles, sod, and earth.  The floor was of earth, the walls were whitewashed, and with certain adornments that spoke of some degree of culture.  Near one side of the shack stood the clay oven stove, which served the double purpose of heating the room and of cooking Portnoff’s food.  Like many of the Galician cabins, Portnoff’s stood in the midst of a garden, in which bloomed a great variety of brilliant and old-fashioned flowers and shrubs, while upon the walls and climbing over the roof, a honeysuckle softened the uncouthness of the clay plaster.

It was toward the end of the third week which followed French’s return that Portnoff and Malkarski were sitting late over their pipes and beer.  The shack was illumined with half a dozen candles placed here and there on shelves attached to the walls.  The two men were deep in earnest conversation.  At length Portnoff rose and began to pace the little room.

“Malkarski,” he cried, “you are asking too much.  This delay is becoming impossible to me.”

“My brother,” said Malkarski, “you have waited long.  There must be no mistake in this matter.  The work must be thoroughly done, so let us be patient.  And meantime,” he continued with a laugh, “he is having suffering enough.  The loss of this mine is like a knife thrust in his heart.  It is pleasant to see him squirm like a reptile pierced by a stick.  He is seeking large compensation for the work he has done,—­three thousand dollars, I believe.  It is worth about one.”