Untitled Chapter

Some men were more useful alive. At dawn, Harlan lifted the first rough bar from the mold and set it into cooling water. Steam rose white. The gold gave a low sound in the water. Second bar. Third. By the end, twelve rough bars and a small pouch of dust lay on the table. Harlan's hands shook. "After the fee, net weight is two hundred eighteen ounces." Jack looked at the gold. Two hundred eighteen ounces. And that was not all the ore. Only what he had carried out. At current price, it was more than three thousand dollars. Enough to buy a small ranch. Enough to hire twenty gunmen for a month. Enough to make men who once looked down on him start bending at the waist. Jack packed the bars into leather bags and left one on the table.