ng a pick and a shovel every day. Seeing
that his nephews wanted the runaway to be taken in, Mr. Portney at last
said he would "let it go at that."

"I'll feed you and clothe you," he added, "and if we come out all right
next spring I'll pay your passage back to Basco and give you a little
extra in the bargain. But you've got to hustle the same as the rest of
us; that is, as far as your strength and health will permit." And Fred
said he understood and was thankful for the chance, and would do his
level best. And he did do his level best from that hour forth. His
experience had been a bitter one, but at the same time it had been the
best in the world for him,--exactly what he needed.

The days which followed were busy ones. With the lumber brought in,
Foster Portney and the boys constructed three sluice boxes, which, after
completion, were set up at convenient points in the gulch, where the
water might easily be turned on and off in them. Each box was fifteen
feet long and a foot square, open at each end and at the top, the latter
having a few braces across to keep the sides stiff. At the bottom of the
box small cleats about an inch high were placed at intervals of fifteen
inches apart, the last cleat, at the lower end of the box, being a
trifle higher than the rest.

A sluice box done, it was carried to the spot selected for it and
planted firmly, with its lower end in the stream and its upper end
elevated from one to two feet. Then the upper end of the stream was run
into it by means of a water trough. The box was now ready for use. By
shovelling dirt in at the upper end and allowing the water to run
through, the dirt was gradually washed down and out at the lower end,
leaving the heavy gold to settle to the bottom and pile up along the
upper sides of the cleats previously mentioned. At night the water was
turned aside and the day's accumulation of gold was scraped away from
the cleats.

"We can do a good deal more with the boxes than we can with the pans,"
said Foster Portney. "And what washing we want to do must be done before
cold weather sets in and the gulch freezes up."

It must not be supposed that the slit in the rocks had been forgotten.
To the contrary, all hands had often spoken of it, and as soon as the
sluice boxes were finished every one in the claim turned to the place.
Two sticks of dynamite were placed in the slit and set off, and the rock
blown into a thousand fragments.

The blast revealed an