dy taking the least notice of the remark, union Mills stretched out
his legs more comfortably and took out his pipe. He had scarcely done so
when the Right Bower, wheeling suddenly, set off in the direction of the
creek. The Left Bower, after a slight pause, followed without a word.
The Judge, wisely conceiving it better to join the stronger party,
ran feebly after him, and left Union Mills to bring up a weak and
vacillating rear.

Their course, diverging from Lone Star Mountain, led them now directly
to the bend of the creek, the base of their old ineffectual operations.
Here was the beginning of the famous tail-race that skirted the new
trader's claim, and then lost its way in a swampy hollow. It was choked
with debris; a thin, yellow stream that once ran through it seemed to
have stopped work when they did, and gone into greenish liquidation.

They had scarcely spoken during this brief journey, and had received no
other explanation from the Right Bower, who led them, than that afforded
by his mute example when he reached the race. Leaping into it without a
word, he at once began to clear away the broken timbers and driftwood.
Fired by the spectacle of what appeared to be a new and utterly
frivolous game, the men gayly leaped after him, and were soon engaged
in a fascinating struggle with the impeded race. The Judge forgot his
lameness in springing over a broken sluice-box; Union Mills forgot his
whistle in a happy imitation of a Chinese coolie's song. Nevertheless,
after ten minutes of this mild dissipation, the pastime flagged; Union
Mills was beginning to rub his leg when a distant rumble shook the
earth. The men looked at each other; the diversion was complete; a
languid discussion of the probabilities of its being an earthquake or a
blast followed, in the midst of which the Right Bower, who was working
a little in advance of the others, uttered a warning cry and leaped from
the race. His companions had barely time to follow before a sudden and
inexplicable rise in the waters of the creek sent a swift irruption of
the flood through the race. In an instant its choked and impeded channel
was cleared, the race was free, and the scattered debris of logs and
timber floated upon its easy current. Quick to take advantage of this
labor-saving phenomenon, the Lone Star partners sprang into the water,
and by disentangling and directing the eddying fragments completed their
work.

"The Old Man oughter been here to see this