"And would you mind," says the dealer, his hand fairly trembling to get
hold of it, "just letting me have a squint at that gunny-sack full of
dust you have in your clothes?" I didn't require any hint from Ag that
it was my place to be violent. With one loud holler I landed on my ear
on the floor and kicked the poker table on top of the dealer. More'n a
half-dozen men hopped on to me, and we had it for fair all over the
place. I gave 'em the worth of their time before they got me in the
corner.

"Whew!" says Aggy, wiping his brow, "this is the worst attack he's had
yet."

"Just what I was telling you," says the dealer, very confidential and
earnest. "You want to get him away from here quick--I've had some
experience in those kinds of cases, and when I see your friend's face,
I knew you wanted to get a move on."

"It's dreadful, ain't it?" says Ag. "I believe you're in the right
about it--but, say, I feel that I'd ought to pay for the lamp he
busted."

"Not at all," says the dealer, as generous as could be. "Not at all!
That's an accident might have happened to any gentleman. Now, I'll
just take a friend along, and we'll sail right out to your place. Can
you drive there?"

"Oh, yes!" said Aggy. "The roads ain't anything extra, but you can
make it all right."

So away goes the four of us that afternoon. Ag and me, we felt leary
of the fourth man at first. He let on to be considerable of a miner,
but after a bit we sized him up.

"Did you ever," says Aggy whilst they was talking this and that about
mines, "did you ever run your pay dirt through a ground-sluice rocker
that was fitted up with double amalgam plates, top and bottom, and had
the apron sewed on to a puddle board that slanted up, instead of down?"

"Why, sure!" says that feller, judging from Aggy's tone of voice that
this was the proper thing to do. "We didn't use to handle our dirt no
other way out in Uckle-Chuckle county."

"Is that so?" cries Aggy, very much surprised. "Well, do you know that
very few people do?"

"It makes me tired," answers the man in a knowing way, "to think of the
way some folks mines. Now that you've called my attention to it, I
don't recollect that I've heard of anybody using a ground-sluice rocker
the way you speak of, since I left old Uckle-Chuckle county." And here
I got a little violent again, because I can't conceal my feelings as
well as Ag. I had to have several attacks on the way out when Ag was
br