Loving it too, without ever dreaming
that they loved. To-morrow they would face the future with the
past dropping farther and farther behind. To-night it rode with
them.
Three months in that little, rough-walled hut had lent it an
atmosphere of home, which a man instinctively responds to with a
certain clinging affection, however crude may be the shelter he
calls his own. Cash secretly regretted the thirsty death of his
radishes and lettuce which he had planted and tended with such
optimistic care. Bud wondered if Daddy might not stray half-
starved into the shack, and find them gone. While they were
there, he had agreed with Cash that the dog must be dead. But now
he felt uneasily doubtful It would be fierce if Daddy did come
beck now. He would starve. He never could make the trip to the
Bend alone, even if he could track them.
There was, also, the disappointment in the Burro Lode claim. As
Bud planned it, the Burro was packing a very light load--far
lighter than had seemed possible with that strong indication on
the surface. Cash's "enormous black ledge" had shown less and
less gold as they went into it, though it still seemed worth
while, if they had the capital to develop it further.
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