They followed the trails across country at the usual swinging gait
of honest men, and they knew they had six hours to make fifteen miles
over the hills. They passed near Quaker Hill, Red Dog, and You Bet,
keeping away from people as much as they dared to, but not obviously
avoiding anyone.
At You Bet, Gold Run and Dutch Flat they had taken the precaution to
show themselves for several days past; so that no one should notice
their reappearance. They were not unknown in this region, and there were
men at You Bet who could have identified them as Nevada City jail-birds.
There was O'Leary, for example, who had been in jail with them. But in a
country filled with gamblers and sporting men, where the chief end of
man is to get gold and to enjoy it forever, it is not deemed polite to
enquire too closely into people's antecedents. These men, evidently
native-born Americans, bore the good Anglo-Saxon names of Collins and
Darcy. What more could you ask? They perspired freely, and their packs
were evidently heavy; but men who collect specimens of quartz are likely
to carry heavy packs, and the day was hot.
At You Bet the men separated, Darcy striking out for Gold Run with all
the gold, and Collins making for Dutch Flat, which is farther up the
railroad.
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