"Look there!" he boomed, and he threw the object on the table.
The dull, heavy, sodden thump had a familiar ring. Joan heard Jim
gasp and his hand tightened spasmodically upon hers.
Slowly the ends of the red scarf slid down to reveal an irregularly
round, glinting lump. When Joan recognized it her heart seemed to
burst.
"Jim Cleve's nugget!" ejaculated Kells. "Where'd you get that?"
Gulden leaned across the table, his massive jaw working. "I found it
on the miner Creede," replied the giant, stridently.
Then came a nervous shuffling of boots on the creaky boards. In the
silence a low, dull murmur of distant voices could be heard,
strangely menacing. Kells stood transfixed, white as a sheet.
"On Creede!"
"Yes."
"Where was his--his body?"
"I left it out on the Bannack trail."
The bandit leader appeared mute.
"Kells, I followed Creede out of camp last night," fiercely declared
Gulden. ... "I killed him! ... I found this nugget on him!"