Buck's eyes were steadily fixed on the horses.
"It makes me feel bad seeing those fellers chasin' gold, and never a color to show--an' all the while their womenfolk an' kiddies that thin for food you can most see their shadows through 'em."
The eyes of the elder man brightened. The other's words had helped to hearten him. He had felt keenly the parting with his farm after all those years of labor and association. Yet, to a mind such as his, it had been impossible to do otherwise. How could he stand by watching a small community, such as he was surrounded with, however misguided in their search for gold, painfully and doggedly starving before his very eyes? For the men perhaps his sympathy might have been less keen, but the poor, long-suffering women and the helpless children--the thought was too painful. No, he and Buck had but their two selves to think of. They had powerful hands with which to help themselves. Those others were helpless--the women and children.
There was compensation in his sacrifice when he remembered the large orders for edible stores he had placed with the merchants of Leeson Butte before leaving that town.
"There's a heap of food coming along for them presently," he said after a pause.
Buck nodded.
"I've been settin' that old fur fort to rights, way up in the hills back ther'," he said, pointing vaguely behind them. "Guess we'd best move up ther' now the farm's--sold. We'll need a few bits of furniture from the farm. That right--now you've sold it?"
"Yes. I made that arrangement. She didn't seem to mind anything I suggested. She must be a bully sort of woman. I'm sorry I didn't see her. The lawyer says she comes from St. Ellis."
"Young?" suggested Buck.
The Padre shook his head.
"I wouldn't say so. A young woman with money wouldn't be likely to hide herself in these hills."
"That's so. Guess it's the gold fetching her--the gold that isn't here."
"Gold's a cursed thing," said the Padre reflectively.
"Yet none of 'em seem to shy at the curse." Buck smiled in his slow way.
"No. Not without experiencing it." The Padre's eyes were still serious. Then he went on, "We shan't farm any up there--at the fur fort?"
Buck shook his head.
"It means clearing every inch of land we need. Guess we best hunt, as we said. We'll make out with pelts. There's the whole mountains for traps."
The other stared over at the horses, and his face was very grave. After a while he turned directly to his companion, and his eyes were mildly anxious.