Abruptly John stopped, declaring that he had come to the end.  He had carefully followed the direction of the compass and had covered the last quarter-mile.

Blankly the Go Ahead Boys looked all about them.  They now found themselves on the side of a low hill which itself seemed to be part of a mountain.  At their left were ledges and great rocks that had been worn away by storms or the action of the air and sun.  In whichever direction they looked, however, they were unable to discover anything that seemed to indicate a claim.

“I tell you we’ve come to the wrong place,” said George, easily the most discouraged of the band.  “There isn’t anything here and I knew there wasn’t all the while.”

“Why did you come then?” demanded John irritably.

“I didn’t want to break up the party,” responded George.

“What shall we do now?” asked Fred, whose distress of mind was manifest in the tones of his voice.

“There’s nothing to do but quit,” said George.  “It’s a wise man that knows when he has had enough and I’ve had all I want.”

“Q.E.D.,” said Grant dryly.

“What do you mean by that?” demanded George.

“You know what it stands for,” answered Grant.  “All I meant was that you proved what you started out to prove.”

“What is that?” demanded George.

“Why that you’re a wise man and know when to quit.”

“But honestly, Soc, isn’t that the way you feel about it, too?” demanded Fred disconsolately.

“‘Honestly,’ Fred,” retorted Grant mockingly, “it’s not the way I feel about it.  I’m not going to give up.  Did you ever hear the story of Bruce and the spider?”

“Only a few times,” laughed John.  “I think you have told us about how he was hiding in a cave and how he watched a spider that kept on trying to swing himself across a corner.  I believe that he failed a good many times but finally succeeded.”

“Good for you, String,” laughed Grant.  “I wasn’t quite sure that you got the point.”

“I get the point, all right,” retorted John, “when you’re able to make it plain.  All the same,” he added, “what are we going to do next?”

“I’m not so sure,” said Grant slowly.  “Probably we’ll have to stay here a few weeks and keep on trying to find the right spot.”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Fred blankly.  “I wouldn’t stay here a few weeks for all the money there is in every mine in Arizona!”

“This is the time and this is the place when the majority have got to rule,” said Grant quietly.

“If the majority want to stay here and look a little longer for Simon Moultrie’s claim then I guess the others will have to stay too.  There’s going to be no journeying across the desert or back up the gulch and the canyon by any party of one or two.  We’ve had enough Go Ahead Boys get lost.”

“Don’t be so proud,” retorted Fred. “You haven’t been lost, but it wasn’t any fault of yours.  It was simply your good luck.”