"You see, it isn't my claim."
"The dickens it isn't!" Reade retorted.
"Why, you---you gentlemen didn't plan to take me in, did you,"
asked Ferrers, opening his eyes very wide in his amazement over
the idea. "You see I---I can't contribute my share of the brains,
along with a pair like you," continued the guide. "Look at you
two---engineers already! Then look at me---more'n twice as old
as either of you, and yet I'm only a cook."
"You're an honest man, aren't you, Jim?" demanded Reade.
"Why, there's some folks who say I am," Ferrers slowly admitted.
"And we're among those who believe that way," Tom continued.
"Now, Jim, you're with us, and you've every right to be a partner
if we find anything worth taking up in the mine line."
"But there ain't no sense in it," protested the guide, his voice
shaking with emotion. "You don't need me."
"We need a man of your kind, Jim," Tom rejoined, resting a very
friendly hand on the guide's shoulder. "Listen to me. Hazelton
and I are engineers first of all.
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