" So she left him standing at the fence and rode away alone
down the old familiar path.
After dinner Dan set out.
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE OLD TRAIL
"... Those whose hearts and souls are big enough to follow the trail
that is nobody knows how old."
Leaving the ridge just beyond the low gap, Dan made his way down the
mountain side into the deep ravine, below Sammy's Lookout, that opens
into the hollow.
For an hour he roamed about, his mind upon his plans for the development
of the wealth that lay in the heart of the mountain. After a time, still
intent upon his work, he scrambled up the end of the little canyon,
regained the ridge near the mouth of the cave, then climbed up on the
steep slope of Dewey to the top. From here he could follow with his eye
a possible route for the spur that should leave the railroad on Garber
to the east, round the base of the mountain and reach the mine through
the little ravine on the west.
From the top he made his way slowly toward the Lookout, thinking from
there to gain still another view of the scene of his proposed operations
and to watch the trail for the coming of his mother.
Drawing near the great ledge of rock that hangs so like a cornice on the
mountain side, he caught a glimpse--through the screen of trees and
bushes--of a figure seated on the old familiar spot. His mother must
have come sooner than she intended, he thought, or else he had been
longer than he realized.
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