in the pan.

"I'll bet you an ounce of dust that there is a good five ounces of gold
in this pan right now," declared the man, his eyes shining.

Before replying Dave took the pan and ran his fingers a few times
through the sand.

"I'll go you. Wash her out," and he handed the pan back to Hank.

Hank now took the pan to the little stream of water, where the swift
current would help in separating the gold from the sand; and in a few
minutes his skilful hands had succeeded in washing out of the pan all
the sand and gravel, except a thin layer of black sand, that was too
heavy to wash out without danger of washing out the gold with it, which
now could be seen sparkling here and there in the sand.

"Want to back out?" and Hank held the pan up in triumph in front of
Dave's face.

"Sure not. There is not over four ounces there," answered Dave, after a
moment's close examination of the sand. "Get out your magnet."

Hank now thrust one of his hands into his pocket and pulled out a large
horseshoe magnet, the ends of which he at once began passing over the
black sand in the bottom of the pan; and, since the black sand was
nearly all iron, the magnet force caused it to cling to the horseshoe
and in this ingenious manner the remaining sand was quickly drawn from
the pan, leaving a thin, a very thin layer of gold-dust lying on its
bottom.

Dave now produced a small balance from one of his pockets and the
gold-dust was quickly gathered up and weighed.

"I win! Five ounces and a half!" shouted Hank triumphantly, at the same
time giving Dave a resounding whack on his back with the flat of his
hand. "That's the best clean up we've had since we started digging here.
I reckon you boys brought us good luck," and he grinned joyously into
the faces of Thure and Bud.

"Five an' a half ounces! That's a mighty good clean up," declared Ham,
critically eyeing the little pile of gold-dust on the scale. "How often
dew you clean up a day?"

"Usually about four times," answered one of the men. "But sometimes,
when the shoveling is good, we get in another clean up or two by working
a little late."

"Wal, tew hundred an' fifty or three hundred dollars' worth of gold a
day is shore dewin' pretty well for tew men; an' I hopes y'ur good luck
continues."

"No more measuring cloth behind a counter for me, if it does," laughed
Dave. "You see Hank and I were both clerks in a drygoods store back
East; but we will both be proprietors when we