Esau, gruffly. "Of course I should give you
half."

"We promised Mr Raydon not to touch that gold any more," I said; "so
don't talk or think about it. Promise me."

"I'll promise not to talk about it," he replied; "but it's no use to
promise not to think about it, because it will come. Why, I dream about
it every night."

"Then you must not," I said. "I was talking to Mr Raydon last night
about what is to be done when Mr John comes."

"Well, what does he say? Anything about the gold?"

"No," I cried, fiercely. "Of course you think about it if you are
always talking of it. He says that he thinks the best thing will be for
Mr John to have some land lower down the river at a place we passed;
that there are twenty or thirty acres of good rich soil, and that as he
will have us with him, we must learn to use axes and help him to clear
the land, and plant it with fruit-trees, and build a house on the
clearing."

"Yes; that's all right enough, only the trees take so long to bear."

"That he will help us with different things till we can manage alone;
and that before many years are gone we can make ourselves quite a good
home."

"Oh!" ejaculated Esau. "But then that will take a long time, and you
won't be able to work much, and I don't think Mr John Dempster will,
not being strong, and all the time there's enough gold up--"

"Will you hold your tongue?" I cried, angrily. "Do you want me to hit
you?"

"If you like," he said, grinning. "Don't think you could hurt me much."

"You coward!" I cried. "Wait till I get strong again."

"I shall be precious glad," said Esau, "for I'd a deal rather you gave
me one or two cracks than kept on saying the things you do sometimes.
My! how you have given it me ever since you have been ill! It has made
you raspy."

I winced a little at this, for I felt that I had been horribly
irritable.

"I can't help thinking about the gold, but I won't say gold no more as
long as I live."

I could not help laughing at this earnest delivery, and Esau showed his
teeth.

"There, I don't care," he said. "I'm happy enough here if you'll get
well. But I do wish old Gunson knew about it."

I looked sharply at Esau, for these words of his impressed me. I had
often wished that Gunson knew of what we had found, for I thought that
perhaps he was struggling on without a bit of good fortune. The
thoughts passed from my mind directly, as Esau began to make casts with
his line here a