cles with
the gold fell through the holes upon the blanket, which held the gold,
while the sand and other matter glided over it to the bottom of the
box, which was so inclined that what passed through was washed down and
finally out of the box. Thin slats were fixed across the bottom of the
box, with mercury behind them, to catch such particles of gold as
escaped the blanket.

The stuff dug up by our friends was so nuggety that many lumps remained
in the upper box, where they were detained by their weight, while the
lighter stuff passed through, and the smaller lumps were held by a
deeper slat at the further end of the bottom of the box. When the
blanket became surcharged with wealth it was removed and rinsed in a
barrel of water, the particles amalgamating with the mercury in the
bottom of the barrel.

Sluicing requires plenty of running water with considerable fall, and
is two or three times as rapid as the method just described, but since
it was not adopted by our friends, a description need not be given.

At the end of a week Jeff, with the help of his companions, made a
careful estimate of the nuggets and sand which they had gathered and
stowed away in the cavern where they slept and took their meals. As
nearly as they could figure it out the gold which they had collected
was worth not quite one hundred thousand dollars--very fair wages, it
will be conceded, for six days' work by two men and two boys. On Sunday
they conscientiously abstained from labor, though it can hardly be said
that their thoughts were elsewhere.

Since one hundred thousand dollars in gold weighs in the neighborhood
of four hundred pounds, it will be seen that the party had already
accumulated a good load to be distributed among themselves. It may have
been that the expectation of this result caused Jeff to bring the burro
back, for with his help it would not be hard to carry double the
amount, especially as everything else would be left behind.

To the surprise of his friends, Jeff announced that it was necessary
for him to make another visit to Dawson City. It was important business
that called him thither, but he gave no hint of its nature. He hoped to
be back within two or three days, and he departed on foot, leaving the
animal to recuperate, and, as he grimly added, "make himself strong
enough to carry a good load to town."

Jeff left early in the morning. The afternoon was about half gone, when
Tim with an expression of anxious con