"I guess that's the best arrangement we can make at present," said
Parkinson, rising from his seat. "Come and have a smoke with us, Mr.
Whitcomb?"
Whitcomb declined the invitation, and, after Hunter and Parkinson had
left, sat idly turning over the specimens of ore, until, happening to
catch Darrell's eye, he inquired, pleasantly,-"Are you interested in this sort of thing?"
"In a way, yes," said Darrell, crossing over and taking the seat vacated
by Parkinson. "I'm not what you call a mining man; that is, I've never
owned or operated a mine, but I take a great interest in examining the
different ores and always try to get as much information regarding them
as possible."
Whitcomb at once launched forth enthusiastically upon a description of
the various samples. Darrell, while careful not to show too great
familiarity with the subject, or too thorough a knowledge of ores in
general, yet was so keenly appreciative of their remarkable richness and
beauty that he soon won the boy's heart.
"Say!" he exclaimed, "you had better stop off at Ophir with us; we would
make a mining man of you in less than no time! By the way, how far west
are you travelling?"
"Ophir is my destination at present, though it is uncertain how long I
remain there."
"Long enough, that we'll get well acquainted, I hope. Going into any
particular line of business?"
"No, only looking the country over, for the present."
To divert the conversation from himself, Darrell, by a judicious
question or two, led Whitcomb to speak of the expert.
"Parkinson?" he said with a merry laugh. "Oh, yes, he's one of those
eastern know-it-alls who come out here occasionally to give us fellows a
few points on mines. They're all right, of course, for the men who
employ them, who want to invest their money and wouldn't know a mine if
they saw one; but when they undertake to air their knowledge among these
old fellows who have spent a lifetime in the business, why, they're
likely to get left, that's all. Now, this Parkinson seems to be a pretty
fair sort of man compared with some of them, but between you and me, I'd
wager my last dollar that they'll lose him on that Ajax mine!"
"Why, what's the matter with the Ajax?" Darrell inquired, indifferently.
"Well, as you're not interested in any way, I'm not telling tales out of
school. The Ajax has been a bonanza in its day, but within the last year
or so the bottom has dropped out of the whole thing, and that's the
reason the owners are anxious to sell."