“Yes. I know that's right. I just said it. Now. Here comes the complication. As he was selling his share to you, he was also buying another one-quarter share from a Mr. Elwood. He had paid for it and had a receipt for it. Not sure why he was doing that, but that's what he did. That's a mystery not yet solved.”

“And that means what?”

“Remember what I said about the ‘that share of the mine owned by Mr. C. P. Tucker’? Since he had paid for the quarter share owned by Mr. Elwood, and even though the purchase had not been recorded, Mr. Tucker was then the owner of Mr. Elwood's share.”

“We would be interested in buying that share as well, if that's where you're going.”

Samuels smiled. “That's not where I'm going. You already own that share. You bought the share owned by Tucker. Legally, that share is his one-quarter share plus Mr. Elwood's one-quarter share. That makes you half owner of the mine, and for no more money than you had already spent.”

“Half owners?”

Mr. Samuels smiled. “You are. Yes.”

“And no extra money?”

“None required, sir.” He handed over the papers to Jeff. “Your deed to one-half interest in said mine. I require only your signature on this piece of paper.”

Jeff took the papers and leafed through them, trying to read but too flummoxed to actually comprehend. “Half owner. And if Mr. Bowman is found to be guilty, you're three-quarters owner.”

“Well, I'm obliged to you.” Jeff looked around at his three sons and Samuels. “Sorry about the guns,” he said.

Samuels tipped his hat. “I get those all the time.”

The Powers now owned half interest in the mine in Kielberg Canyon. Another quarter was owned by Bowman, who was now in jail for the killing of C. P. Tucker. And the final quarter was owned by Ed Lyman, a butcher in Bisbee. The mine was now in the control of the Power family, as Bowman and Lyman were both absentee owners.

The family began spending more and more time at the mine. On any given day, at least one would be working it. They sold a portion of their cattle to buy another string of burros, and they used the burros to power a stamp mill that crushed the rock and separated the ore from the bearing stone by simple gravity. They could then load the burros with ore and take them down the trail through Rattlesnake Canyon to Klondyke, where the ore could be moved to Safford by truck.

They had not struck it rich, but the burros allowed them to increase the amount of ore the mine was delivering to the extent that Jeff could see that if they had more transport, they could make decent money off the gold, which was a much more stable commodity than cattle.