CHAPTER XVI
LOST
"Hurrah!" yelled Jed, capering about. "We're in luck! Gold, Will! What'dI tell you? I knew we'd find it!" and he began dancing about like anIndian, or a cowboy celebrating a holiday.
"Oh, it's not such an awful lot," replied Gabe, more calmly, as hescooped up the yellow grains. "You'll have to wash out a good manypanfuls before you'll be rich at this rate. Let's see how Will's isgoing to pan out."
He repeated the operation, and got more of the gold. The eyes of the twobrothers shone with excitement, nor was Gabe altogether free fromexcitement, 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 bedark. That pay dirt will keep. It's been there a good many hundredyears, and it isn't going to run away in the night."
"Hadn't we better stake out a claim?" suggested Jed, who was rapidlybecoming familiar with mining terms.
"We'll prospect a bit more first," replied Gabe. "It may not pay us toremain here. No use cleaning up a little bit like this, when we can getbig nuggets a bit further on."
"But we're sure there's gold here," objected Jed, "and we don't knowwhether or not there's any further on."
"Go slow," advised the old miner. "Come on, now, help me fix up thetent."
The boys knew that Gabe's advice was good, and, though they felt a wilddesire to remain digging gold, they realized that they must have a placeto sleep, for it was getting cool at night, now that they were well upin the mountains.
The boys were up early the next morning, and each one had washed a panof gravel before breakfast. They obtained about a quarter of an ounce ofgold each.
"How much is it worth?" asked Jed eagerly.
"Well," replied Gabe critically, "you've made about ten dollars betweenyou 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 toosure. I think it's only a surface mine, the gold having been washeddown from some place higher up. Now get your breakfast and then we'll dosome mining, until I can see what sort of a place we've struck."
They washed several panfuls of dirt that morning. To Jed'sdisappointment on several occasions the result, after a careful washingand shaking, was only a few grains of the precious yellow stuff. Againthey would get nearly half an ounce.
"I think I'll make a rocker," said Gabe, at length. "We can do it fasterthen, and find out if this is going to pay."
"What's a rocker?" asked Will.
"I'll show you."
From some pieces of a box, in which some of their camp stuff was packed,Gabe constructed a sort of rude cradle, on rockers. The bottom of thebox, which was rather shallow, was covered with a number of crosssticks, nailed to it like the cleats on a gangplank.
The box was filled with gravel and water. The water ran out of the lowerend, carrying most of the dirt and gravel with it. The gold, beingheavier, settled to the bottom, and was prevented from flowing away bythe cleats. After about two hours of this work or "rocking," so calledbecause the cradle is rocked from side to side, Gabe gathered from thebox nearly a handful of pure gold grains.
"There! What do you think of that?" exclaimed Jed. "Have we struck abonanza or not?"
"I can't tell yet," replied Mr. Harrison cautiously. "It may peter outany minute, but it's good so far."
The miner's fears were realized. As the day wore on the result of thevarious "clean-ups" was less and less, until, after the cradle had beenfilled several times, the result was only a mere pinch of gold.
"Let's dig over a wider space," suggested Jed.
"No," said the miner, "it's just as I thought, there was only a smalldeposit of gold there, and we've cleaned it up."
"Then there isn't any use in staying here?"
"Not unless we can find another deposit."
They hunted for it without success, remaining for several days in theplace of their first strike. Then the miner decided they should continueon up into the mountains.
"The gold is above us," he said. "We've got to climb up to it."
They broke camp, packed their supplies on the backs of the horses, andstarted forward.
"Well, we made some money, anyhow," said Jed. "Our first attempt wasn'tso bad."
"Yes, we cleaned up a few hundred dollars," admitted Gabe, "but that'shardly enough to pay our expenses for the time we spent. We'll have tohave better luck than that, and I believe we will."
"I wish we could send word to dad," added Will.
"Better wait until we make a real strike," suggested Mr. Harrison. "Nouse raising false hopes."
They journeyed on for several days in a lonely part of the mountain,meeting no one. They had some luck, but not much, and the boys began tofear they would never reach a place where they could make a permanentcamp, and dig gold in quantities sufficient to make it pay. But Gabe wasnot discouraged. He was too old a hand at the game of gold hunting.
"Boys," said the old miner one morning, as they were preparing to breakcamp, and travel on, "suppose you stay here for a few hours? I want totake a little side trip, and as it's rather dangerous I'd rather you'dstay here. I want to go up that mountain," pointing to one, off to oneside, "and see if I can't see some new signs. I'll be back in a littlewhile, so wait here for me."
Removing the pack from his horse, and with only his rifle, pick and pan,the old miner set off. The boys, for want of something better to do, dugup some gravel and washed it in their pans, but with no success. Itserved, however, to pass the time.
"Say, don't you think it's about time Gabe came back?" asked Will, as helooked up at the sun, and noted it was nearly noon.
"That's so. He has been gone longer than he said he would be," answeredJed. "But he'll come back. Let's try digging over here," and he went toa new spot.
He was encouraged by finding a few grains of gold, and then he and Willset feverishly to work, but they had no great success.
"My! But I'm hungry!" exclaimed Jed, several hours later. "Why!" heexclaimed, as he looked at his watch, "it's three o'clock, and Gabeisn't back yet!"
"Let's get grub," proposed Will. "Maybe he's struck good pay dirt, andhe hates to leave."
They ate their meal, and again went back to their gold pans, but theyfound no yellow metal. The sun sank lower and lower. It was gettingdark, and there were no signs of the old miner. The boys lookedanxiously at each other.
"Maybe he's hurt," suggested Will.
"Maybe," admitted Jed, accepting his brother's rather gloomy view, whichwas something new for him.
"Had we better go look for him?"
"I don't know. He told us to stay here until he came back."
"But if he's fallen, and can't move, he'd want us to go for him."
"That's so. Let's go. Get your gun, Will, and put plenty of matches inyour pockets. We may want to light a torch. Tie the horses so they won'tstray."
The two boys were soon walking up the mountain path that Gabe had takenearlier in the day. It was fast getting dusk, and they were veryanxious. The trail was a winding one, and twisted and turned in everydirection. At first they could see the marks made by Gabe's horse, butthe hoof-prints soon disappeared.
"Guess we'd better go back," suggested Will, after they had tramped foran hour. "There's no sign of him. Maybe he went on another trail, and isback at camp now. Anyhow, we can't see any more," for it was now quitedark.
"All right," agreed Jed. "Back to camp it is."
They turned, and thought they were taking the same path they had used incoming up. But they had not traveled far before they were made awarethat it was not the right one.
"I don't remember that we passed this big rock before," said Jed,pausing near one, which, even in the darkness, they could see wasperched on the edge of a deep gully.
"Me either. I won
der if we're on the right trail?"
They paused and, lighting matches, looked about them. They wereobserving lads, and it did not take them long to arrive at theconclusion that they were on a totally different path.
"Will," said Jed solemnly, "we're lost on the mountain, that's all thereis to it."
"Lost! What are we going to do?"
"Stay here until morning, I guess. See if you can find some wood, andwe'll build a fire. This rock will make a good shelter."