Part 19 (1/2)
”Don't think--make sure,” called Gabe. ”Here, I'll do it for you.”
He was almost as excited as the boys. The gold fever was on him again.
Taking Jed's pan, he let some more water run in it. Then with a gentle whirling motion he threw this water out by degrees, the fine sand and gravel going with it. Then there remained in the bottom of the pan a little heap of glittering yellow grains.
”Gold! It's gold!” murmured Gabe. ”Boys, we've struck our first pay dirt!”
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”Gold! It's gold!” murmured Gabe]
CHAPTER XVI
LOST
”Hurrah!” yelled Jed, capering about. ”We're in luck! Gold, Will! What'd I tell you? I knew we'd find it!” and he began dancing about like an Indian, or a cowboy celebrating a holiday.
”Oh, it's not such an awful lot,” replied Gabe, more calmly, as he scooped up the yellow grains. ”You'll have to wash out a good many panfuls before you'll be rich at this rate. Let's see how Will's is going to pan out.”
He repeated the operation, and got more of the gold. The eyes of the two brothers shone with excitement, nor was Gabe altogether free from excitement, though it was an old story to him.
”Come on, Will, let's clean up another panful,” suggested Jed.
”Hold on!” called Gabe. ”Help me get camp in shape first. It'll soon be dark. That pay dirt will keep. It's been there a good many hundred years, and it isn't going to run away in the night.”
”Hadn't we better stake out a claim?” suggested Jed, who was rapidly becoming familiar with mining terms.
”We'll prospect a bit more first,” replied Gabe. ”It may not pay us to remain here. No use cleaning up a little bit like this, when we can get big nuggets a bit further on.”
”But we're sure there's gold here,” objected Jed, ”and we don't know whether or not there's any further on.”
”Go slow,” advised the old miner. ”Come on, now, help me fix up the tent.”
The boys knew that Gabe's advice was good, and, though they felt a wild desire to remain digging gold, they realized that they must have a place to sleep, for it was getting cool at night, now that they were well up in the mountains.
The boys were up early the next morning, and each one had washed a pan of gravel before breakfast. They obtained about a quarter of an ounce of gold each.
”How much is it worth?” asked Jed eagerly.
”Well,” replied Gabe critically, ”you've made about ten dollars between you this morning.”
”And last night?”
”A little more. Say twenty-five dollars altogether.”
”Why, we'll soon be rich!” exclaimed Jed.
”Maybe, if this gravel holds out,” admitted Gabe. ”But don't be too sure. I think it's only a surface mine, the gold having been washed down from some place higher up. Now get your breakfast and then we'll do some mining, until I can see what sort of a place we've struck.”
They washed several panfuls of dirt that morning. To Jed's disappointment on several occasions the result, after a careful was.h.i.+ng and shaking, was only a few grains of the precious yellow stuff. Again they would get nearly half an ounce.