“It’s a bargain,” he said, briefly, and drew his arm away. “And
if we are going to do any more prospecting this evening, we had
better begin.”
He stood facing her, with his back to the bank that was the
first tiny step toward the mountain that rose dark and shadowy far
above. He had walked along there before, looking with a miner’s
attention to the lay of the land. Suddenly he uttered an
exclamation, and a light of comprehension brightened his eyes.
“I’ve got a clew to it, sure, ’Tana!” he said, eagerly. “Do you
know where we are standing? Well, if I don’t make a big mistake, a
good-sized river once rolled along just where we are now. The
little creek is all that’s left of it. This soil is all a
comparatively recent deposit, and it and the gold dust in it have
been washed down
