"That's the police lot, and I guess they'll want the grub," he said. "I can't quite figure why none of them have come in for it, but you could strike them for transport on anything you took along."
The reason Esmond had not sent down to inquire about his stores was, of course, quite plain to the miners; but nobody in that settlement knew which way they had reached it or what had happened in the Green River valley, and Sewell laughed.
"I am not," he said, "a freight-ox or a dromedary, and the rest of us have already got a good deal more than any one could reasonably expect them to carry."
The storekeeper glanced at a stout deal box. "Well," he said, "I guess there's not much more than twelve pounds in there, and it's for the major--tea and coffee and some special fixings from Vancouver. If he don't get it, he and Miss Coulthurst will come right down to drinking water. The freighter couldn't take more than a half-case of whisky in for him last time, and I guess that's not going to last the Gold Commissioner long."
Ingleby, who was acquainted with the major's habits, surmised that this was very probable, but it appeared of much less consequence than the fact that Grace might also have to do without even the few small comforts it had hitherto been possible to bring into the Green River country. He no longer remembered the galling of the pack-straps or the tremendous struggle over the big divide, but laid his hand upon the box.
"We'll manage this one, anyway," he said. "I'll take it along with me."
Then, turning at the sound of a step, he saw that Sewell, who had followed apparently with the same purpose, was looking at him.
"You can't take that case," said Sewell. "My pack's lighter."
Ingleby was a trifle astonished. "I was first," he said. "Is there any special reason why you should have it instead of me?"
Sewell laughed, though his tone was not quite his usual one.
"No," he said. "If one must be candid, I scarcely think there is."
It had never occurred to Ingleby that his comrade might have set himself to gain Miss Coulthurst's favour and in a measure succeeded. He would have thought the notion preposterous in view of Sewell's opinions, and he smiled good-humouredly.
"It really doesn't matter. I wouldn't have let you have it, anyway," he said, and drew the storekeeper aside.
