pores of which
the quicksilver was squeezed, leaving the pure gold behind. Any
trifling quantity of the former that might still remain was afterwards
evaporated on a heated shovel or pan.

An expert worker in average ground could gather and wash a panful of
dirt every ten minutes. There were few places in Bigbear Gully that
would not yield two shillings' worth of gold to the panful, so that in
those early days, while the surface soil was still fresh, a man could,
by steady work alone--without incidental nuggets--work out gold-dust to
the value of between five and six pounds sterling a day, while,
occasionally, he came upon a lump, or nugget, equal, perhaps, to what he
could procure by the labour of a week or more.

Many, however, of the more energetic miners worked in companies and used
cradles, by means of which they washed out a much larger quantity of
gold in shorter time; and in places which did not yield a sufficient
return by the pan process to render it worth while working, the cradle
owners obtained ample remuneration for their toil.

The cradle, which Frank and his comrades saw working not far from the
pan-washer, was by no means a complex affair. It was a semi-circular
trough hollowed out of a log six feet long by sixteen inches diameter.
At one end of this was a perforated copper or iron plate, with a rim of
iron or wood round it, on which the dirt was thrown, and water poured
thereon, by one man, while the cradle was rocked by another. The gold,
earth, and small gravel were thus separated from the larger stones, and
washed down the trough, in which, at intervals, two tranverse bars were
placed; the first of these arrested the gold, which from its great
weight sunk to the bottom, while the gravel, and lighter substances,
were swept away by the current. The lower bar caught any particles
that, by awkward management, might have passed the upper one.

Having satisfied their curiosity, and learned from an obliging miner the
method of washing the gold, our adventurers returned to Jeffson's store,
and there spent the night in discussing their plan of procedure. It was
decided, first of all, that they should stick together and work in
company.

"You see, mates," observed Joe Graddy, after the others had given their
opinions, "this is how it stands. I must stick by Mister Allfrey,
'cause why, we've bin pullin' in the same boat together for some time
past, an' it's nat'ral for to wish to continue so to do.