human
What do you mean by 'a streak of yellow'?
gpt
It don't need a heap of explaining. He's soft on mission talk.
human
If you mean that he doesn't believe in--in superstitions, and that sort of thing, if you mean he's just a straightforward, honest-thinking man--well, I agree with you.
gpt
Maybe you feel that way, he said, in a tone that jarred.
human
Say, he went on shrewdly,
gpt
I'm no sucker, I'm not one of these slobs chasin' gold they're eager to hand on to the first guy holdin' out his hand. I'm out to make a pile. I had a claim in the ballot. Maybe it's a good claim. I ain't troubled to see. Why? I'll tell you. Maybe I'd have taken a few thousand dollars out of it. Maybe a heap. Maybe only a little. Not good--with all these slobs around. He shook his head.
human
I figured I'd git the lot if I traded. I'd get the show of _all_ of the claims. See? The 'strike' ain't goin' to last. It's a pocket in the hill, an' it'll peter out just as dead sure as--well as can be. An' when it's petered out there's going to be jest one feller around here who's made a profit--an' it ain't one of those who used the sluice-boxes. No, you can believe what you like. This 'strike' was jest a devil's laugh at folks who know no better. An' master Buck has handed you something of devil's luck when he made you take that gold.