"Once she knows that ring is gone, she'll be tearing up everything looking for it.  And she won't stop until they find it. She might even get the RCMP in on it, and if they do, they'll be asking plenty of questions, to say nothing about the insurance company.  They'll be asking plenty of questions of their own."

"What's this about the insurance company?" his companion asked, his uneasiness growing.

"Rich guys have everything they own insured," the tall one informed him.

"Do you think they'll find out anything about you and me?"

"You can bet on it.  They don't trust anybody, and that's a fact."

"I'm beginning to think we made a big mistake.  Maybe we ought to take it in and collect whatever reward they'll give us."

"They might not even pay a reward.  They sure won't unless they have to."

"Think they'll question us?"

"They'll question everybody they think had something to do with it.  They'll put you in one room and me in another.  They'll start hammering away at us, trying to get us all mixed up.  They'll want to know how we happened to be in that part of the lake when that Yazzie kid and Mrs. McDonald were there.  They'll ask us a dozen times where we found the ring and how we just happened to stop on the same part of the lake where Verda McDonald and young Yazzie stopped to take pictures.

"They'll ask us if we had any nets set in that part of the lake, and we'd have to tell the truth because they might find somebody who knows where we set our nets."

"I suppose you've got a better idea of getting something out of that diamond."

"You ought to know by now that I've always got a better idea." He lowered his voice although there was no one within miles of them.  "Nobody knows we've been over here, or that we were near where Mrs. McDonald dropped her coin purse.  And they sure don't know that we found that ring."

"That's what you say, but we've got that Yazzie kid to worry about.  He's smart enough to figure out that we stopped over here after they were gone.  He might suspect that we waited until they were gone to come over and look for it."

"We'd still get a reward for finding it."

"Some reward!  She'd probably give us twenty dollars apiece, or if we're lucky, we might get fifty."

"I'd settle for fifty right now."

"Who wants to do that when we can get ten or twenty times that?"

"Who's going to give that much for a stinking little stone like the one we found."

"That stinking little stone's a diamond," his companion continued.  "There are places right here in Saskatchewan where we can sell that ring with no questions asked."

"You know what that judge said the last time he had us there.  The next time we're headed for the stammer."

"I know all about that, and I'm no more anxious to get in trouble with him than you are.  But I don't like the idea of getting a ten or a twenty when we can get five hundred, maybe, or a thousand."

He whistled his amazement.  "You really think we might get that much?"

"Why would I lie to you about it?"

His companion could think of any number of times when his pal had lied to him, but he decided not to remind him of that.  They had been friends since his folks moved back to the reserve and he started school, but that didn't mean he trusted him completely.  His buddy was one who had all the ideas about making money on that diamond they found.  He just hoped the guy didn't try to beat him out of his share.

There was a brief silence while they considered the various possibilities of selling the ring.

"You don't suppose the wind'll come up and wash it out from under there, do you?"

"We probably won't have a wind like that in the next week or two."

"You've got to be prepared for anything around here, You ought to know that by now."

"I don't know why I put up with you.  You're always worrying about something.  That rock's been there for fifty years, and it'll probably be there for another fifty years without anybody but you and me knowing what's under it."

"I hope we don't have to wait that long to sell that stone."

Once Frank Yazzie finished his reports he phoned Angus McDonald and suggested that he'd like to take him fishing the next day.

"If you're a better guide than your son, I'm excited," Angus said.  "I'll probably get a real trophy."

Frank laughed.  "I don't know whether I can keep up with Robert or not."

"He's a good boy.  I'm anxious to meet his father."

The following morning Frank went to the lodge and took Mr. McDonald out on the lake.  He didn't catch as many as he did when Robert was guiding, but he had one

that weighed twelve pounds and another that weighed sixteen.  It was not until they were on the way home. however, that McDonald told the boys' dad why he insisted on having him guide.

"I've been very happy with Robert's guiding, but I saw the painting you gave Hudson.  It's a beautiful piece of work."

Yazzie thanked him.

"Have you done any more?"

"I've probably got a dozen or so around the trailer and I must've given away twice that many."

"Would you bring some of them to the lodge with you tomorrow morning?"

"They aren't all that good," Frank replied.  "My wife was gone and the kids were busy.  I started painting to keep from being bored."

McDonald was silent momentarily.  "Why don't I come over to your place and take a look at your work?"

Frank Yazzie thought about the dirty dishes in the sink and the beds that weren't made.

"How about tomorrow afternoon?" That would give him time enough to get the trailer whipped into shape.

"I've got a meeting at the mine tomorrow afternoon, and it's important that I see your art work before then.  Would ten in the morning suit you?"

Frank eyed him curiously.  He couldn't see what his painting would have to do with a meeting at the mine office, but he asked no questions.  As soon as he got home that night, he set to work.  And when the boys got there he had them help him.  By eight o'clock that evening everything looked presentable.  Not the way Grandma Roberts would have cleaned, but presentable.