midday
So Hal Smith , whose duty was to wash dishes , do chores , and also to supply Clinch 's with `` mountain beef '' -- or deer taken illegally -- made it convenient to prowl every day in the vicinity of the Ghost Lake road . He was perfectly familiar with Emanuel Sard 's squat features and parrot nose , having robbed Mr. Sard of Quintana 's cipher and of $ 4,000 at pistol point . And one morning , while roving around the guide 's quarters at Ghost Lake Inn , Smith beheld Sard himself on the hotel veranda , in company with five strangers of foreign aspect . During the midday dinner Smith , on pretense of enquiring for a guide 's license , got a look at the Inn ledger . Sard 's signature was on it , followed by the names of Henri Picquet , Nicolas Salzar , Victor Georgiades , Harry Beck , and José Sanchez . And Smith went back through the wilderness to Star Pond , convinced that one of these gentlemen was Quintana , and the remainder , Quintana 's gang ; and that they were here to do murder if necessary in their remorseless quest of `` The Flaming Jewel . '' Two million dollars once had been offered for the Flaming Jewel ; and had been refused .