read a good many books upon
the subject, and had already prospected in something of a scientific
manner.

"Shucks!" he exclaimed. "Gi' me a long distinct contact between
sedimentary and igneous rocks, an' I'll sink a shaft without ever SEEING
'color.'"

The dentist put his huge chin in the air. "Gold is where you find it,"
he returned, doggedly.

"Well, it's my idea as how pardners ought to work along different
lines," said Cribbens. He tucked the corners of his mustache into
his mouth and sucked the tobacco juice from them. For a moment he was
thoughtful, then he blew out his mustache abruptly, and exclaimed:

"Say, Carter, le's make a go of this. You got a little cash I
suppose--fifty dollars or so?"

"Huh? Yes--I--I--"

"Well, I got about fifty. We'll go pardners on the proposition, an'
we'll dally 'round the range yonder an' see what we can see. What do you
say?"

"Sure, sure," answered the dentist.

"Well, it's a go then, hey?"

"That's the word."

"Well, le's have a drink on it."

They drank with profound gravity.

They fitted out the next day at the general merchandise store of
Keeler--picks, shovels, prospectors' hammers, a couple of cradles, pans,
bacon, flour, coffee, and the like, and they bought a burro on which to
pack their kit.

"Say, by jingo, you ain't got a horse," suddenly exclaimed Cribbens as
they came out of the store. "You can't get around this country without a
pony of some kind."

Cribbens already owned and rode a buckskin cayuse that had to be knocked
in the head and stunned before it could be saddled. "I got an extry
saddle an' a headstall at the hotel that you can use," he said, "but
you'll have to get a horse."

In the end the dentist bought a mule at the livery stable for forty
dollars. It turned out to be a good bargain, however, for the mule was
a good traveller and seemed actually to fatten on sage-brush and potato
parings. When the actual transaction took place, McTeague had been
obliged to get the money to pay for the mule out of the canvas sack.
Cribbens was with him at the time, and as the dentist unrolled his
blankets and disclosed the sack, whistled in amazement.

"An' me asking you if you had fifty dollars!" he exclaimed. "You carry
your mine right around with you, don't you?"

"Huh, I guess so," muttered the dentist. "I--I just sold a claim I had
up in El Dorado County," he added.

At five o'clock on a magnificent May morning the "pardners" jogged out