, what will we do then."

Thus Lollie indicated the unspoken thought which underlay all the
activities of the Boreland household now. They were subconsciously
counting the days until the White Chief should come to the Island with
the _Hoonah_ and, while they counted, they were beginning to fear.

During the time of this second great gale Boreland and Kayak Bill made
ready for mining by making a gold-saving device called a rocker. It
was a box-like affair four feet long, eighteen inches wide and the same
dimension in height. The front end was open as well as the top and it
was mounted on rockers like a cradle. Over the back end was a sieve or
hopper, and immediately beneath slanted a frame covered with blanket
cloth. The pay-dirt was to be poured into the hopper and running water
turned in on it. While the cradle was rocked with a jerky movement the
sand sifted down through the hopper to the slanting apron. Much of the
gold, Boreland explained, would be caught in the nap of the apron, and
in the little sag at the bottom of it, but the sand would flow on out
over the bottom of the rocker which was also lined with blanket cloth
held down by cleats nailed crosswise at intervals. The sand, being
lighter than the gold, was washed on down the length of the rocker
floor and thence out on the ground, while the cleats and the rough nap
of the cloth caught any further yellow metal.

With his Irishman's gift for seeing life through childish eyes,
Boreland made a small duplicate of the rocker for his son's use, a gift
which, in a way, was for the purpose of distracting Loll's mind from a
misfortune which had befallen Kobuk during the storm. The dog in
playing about the shed where the men were working, had knocked down the
long cross-cut saw, and the sharp teeth had fallen with full force
across Kobuk's right foreleg cutting it cruelly and, it was feared,
cracking the bone. Shane had cleansed the wound with the last bit of
antiseptic and bound it up in splints, but Kobuk's limping had brought
forth Loll's extravagant proffers of sympathy.

The first receding tide after the six-day storm found the whole party
on the beach. With the provisions under cover and the cabin repaired
all was clear for the mining. They were patrolling the beach for
prospects.

Kayak Bill and Gregg turned southward toward Skeleton Rib, as Harlan's
growing interest in the round boulders of that vicinity often drew him
there. Shane and his fa