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Show 107 Another man reached down and yanked out my stake. "This a i n ' t kid stuff," he said, tossing i t over his shoulder. Ogilvie had been talking to the owners of the adjoining claims. He now walked over. "Do you know the penalty for pulling out a man's stake?" he roared. "And i n front of the surveyor, too?" The man laughed. "That a i n ' t no man's stake. He a i n ' t no eighteen years old." The other men chuckled. The surveyor looked at me. "How old are you, young man?" I thought faster than I had ever thought before. "My partner and I together are twenty-seven years old. It' s a partnership claim," I said. "Read the stakes." All heads turned to Ogilvie. He walked over to my f i r s t stake and read i t . "Erickson and Trattner." Then he picked up a rock and hammered i t back into the ground. "Got f i f t e en dollars to r e g i s t e r your claim?" he asked. "You b e t , " I answered. "You b e t , " Tip echoed. Ogilvie picked up his equipment and s t a r t e d to move on. "If anyone tampers with this claim-Erickson and Trattner," he said, " h e ' l l get a 'blue t i c k e t ' out of the t e r r i t o r y ." He called back to Tip and me. "If you have any trouble |
