“And we should just raise us some more beans and be happy about it. Ain't that right?”

“I know. It don't seem fair. But you got to see the big picture.”

“It ain't fair, no matter what the size of the picture. And here's what else ain't fair. You got to go tell Cleghorne that you ain't running any more cattle off this creekbed and that he better not send anyone else to do it, either. I'm a miner now. I got a going concern up in the Galiuros, and I ain't got time to sit out here protecting my cattle. So the next time I come up here and find my cattle all scattered to hell and back, I'm going to come looking for you.” He swung the rifle to Swift. “And laughing boy here, too. Now that ain't fair. Is it?”

“No, it isn't.”

“Well, there you go then. See how you like it. Now you get on out of here and let my cows graze in peace. I got to go back up Rattlesnake Canyon and get me some more gold. Maybe, when I get enough, I can buy you next time you all come up for auction. But I'll be back, and you won't know when. But, by God, I better find my cattle right here. Now go. You ain't under arrest no more. But I will shoot you if needs be.”

Tom Power headed back up the hills and waited to be sure that they were gone. They were, riding steadily east, out of the canyon and back toward the Safford road. He was satisfied for now. He had won, but it wasn't over. The rich believed the poor were created just for them to use any old way they wanted.

When the Powers found the source of the flake up in the canyon, then it would be over. They would ride into town, maybe in one of those automobiles, and they would have a lot of money. Maybe they would ride in on horseback and then buy an automobile and drive it back to the canyon. However way it worked, people would see that they were the Power family, and they were rich, and they were not to be fucked with.

Gold kept turning up, but only in small bits of flake, never more than a few dollars’ worth at a time, hardly worth the effort, except for the promise of a big strike as they moved farther and farther up the canyon and into the rhyolite and quartz country that held the promise of some rich veins.