Joan was so eager she felt she could not wait for the pause that followed. Buck laughed.
"Something happens, same as it did yesterday," he went on. "Oh, it's big--it sure is!" he added. And he turned again to his contemplation of the hills.
But Joan promptly recalled his wandering attention.
Then, as he saw the look of perplexity in the wide violet eyes, he went on to explain--
"You ain't heard? Why, there was a washout on Devil's Hill, where for nigh a year they bin lookin' for gold. Y' see they knew the gold was there, but couldn't jest locate it. For months an' months they ain't seen a sign o' color. They bin right down to 'hard pan.' They wer' jest starvin' their lives clear out. But they'd sank the'r pile in that hill, an' couldn't bring 'emselves to quit. Then along comes the storm, an' right wher' they're working it washes a great lump o' the hill down. Hundreds o' thousands o' tons of rock an' stuff it would have needed a train load of dynamite to shift."
"Yes, yes." Joan's eagerness brought her a step nearer to him. "And they found----"
"Gold--in lumps!" The girl's eyes widened with an excitement which the discovery of the precious metal ever inspires.
"Why aren't you there?" Joan demanded suddenly.
"Can't jest say." Buck shrugged. "Maybe it's because they bin lookin' fer gold, an'--wal, I haven't."
"Gold--in lumps!" Again came the girl's amazed exclamation, and Buck smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Sure. An' they kind o' blame you for it. They sort o' fancy you brought 'em their luck. Y' see it came when you got around their hut. They say ther' wasn't no luck to the place till you brought it. An' now----"
"Oh, I'm so glad. I'm so glad I've brought them----"
But her expression of joy was never completed. She broke off with a sharp ejaculation, and the color died out of her cheeks, leaving her so ghastly pale that the man thought she was about to faint. She staggered back and leant for support against the wall of the barn, and Buck sprang to her side. In a moment, however, she stood up and imperiously waved him aside.
There was no mistaking the movement. Her whole manner seemed to have frozen up. The frank girlishness had died as completely as though it had never been, and the man stood abashed, and at a loss for understanding.