The Tenderfoots

THE beginning of the week after the clash with the claim jumpers found the routine which the owners of the "Little Jean" hoped to maintain through the winter catching its stride. True, Bromley was out of the activities for the time being; but even as a cripple he contributed his part by refusing to let Philip or Garth make a trip afoot to Leadville on the slender chance of being able to persuade a doctor to cross the ranges in the perilous edge of the closed season. As to this, however, a second snowfall, coming almost upon the heels of the first, shut them off conclusively from the outer world, and their isolation was complete.

"It's perfectly all right," Bromley maintained cheerfully. "I'm doing fine -- couldn't be doing any better if I had all the doctors in Leadville. The only thing that nags me is the fact that I'm tied down and can't pull my weight in the boat."