little burro. The camp consisted of a few
tents and of men who merely had thrown their blankets down here and
there, as if to cook their suppers and rest till morning. The great
majority had come afoot, many without even pack animals; a sprinkling
of horses and mules were staked out, at pasture; and speedily Mr.
Grigsby led the burro aside, to stake him out, too. He laid back his
ears, stretched out his shaggy head, and made short runs at the other
animals near him, until he had cleared a grazing spot all his own.
Then he hee-hawed triumphantly, and lay down for a luxurious roll.

Mr. Adams and Charley tossed the bedding to a place which appeared as
good as any other, for sleeping, and got out the "grub" and cooking
utensils.

"Charley, you're expected to supply the wood and water, and help me
with the camp chores generally," directed his father. "We'll let
Grigsby do the hunting and camp locating and burro tending, and I'll
cook and wash dishes. That will be our regular system. How about it,
Grigsby?"

"Sounds like a pretty good arrangement," agreed the Fremonter, tersely.
"But I'm perfectly willing to chip in wherever necessary."

"Get some wood, Charley," bade Mr. Adams. "That's first. There's the
axe." And he proceeded to sort out the food, while Mr. Grigsby busied
himself with the bedding.

Charley seized the axe from amidst other tools, and lustily chopped
wood from a tree which already had been half demolished by other
campers. In fact, it looked as though very soon no trees would be
left, along this trail; which was a great pity.

Having brought enough wood, he took an iron kettle and trudged to the
river. Several miners were at work, along the banks, and on a bar in
the middle; one was working right where Charley arrived--a low place,
like a miniature gully, where the soil was bare and sandy clay. He had
dug a small trench, and was shoveling some of the loose dirt into his
gold pan.

Charley could not help but watch, for a moment.

"Are you getting anything?" he ventured.

The man appeared to be a rough fellow, unshaven and tanned red, in
faded blue flannel shirt, old trousers belted with a leather strap, and
bare feet. But when he smiled, and pausing a second, answered, he
spoke in a pleasant voice, with as good language as from Charley's
father or any other cultured person.

"Oh, a few pinches. See----?" and he swirled his pan level full of
water, until the water and much of the di