am stared in
astonishment up the gulch to where it made a bend, like a crook at the
elbow in a man's bent arm. "Thar's th' Golden Elbow," and he pointed to
the bend; "an' this shore must be Crooked Arm Gulch. Wal, this is what I
call luck! Hurra!" and he swung his hat around his head and yelled at
the very top of his strong lungs; and every man there joined with him in
the yell; and the rocky walls of the narrow gulch echoed and reechoed
the sound, until it seemed as if a hundred men were shouting their
joyous yells of triumph.

"Too bad it is so late in the day that we must put off exploring the
gulch until to-morrow," Mr. Conroyal lamented, when the excitement had
somewhat quieted down.

"Oh, dad, just let us see if the cave is really there!" begged Thure.

"Impossible. See how swiftly the dark shadows of night are gathering. We
must hasten back to Lot's Canyon at once. In fifteen minutes it will be
too dark to see our way plainly. Come on, everybody. I reckon the Little
Woman is some curious to know what has been happening up here," and,
smiling happily, he started back toward the opening, followed by all the
others.

When they again reached the ground at the bottom of the Big Tree, they
found Mrs. Dickson alone. She said that Pedro had asked permission to go
back to where the grizzly bear had been filled to get a chunk of bear
steak for their supper, and had hurried off, taking one of their rifles
with him, as soon as she had said yes. She was nearly wild with joy,
when told of the find they had made, and vowed that she would go with
them in the morning, when they started out to look for the Cave of Gold,
in spite of the seemingly dangerous climb along the big limb of the Big
Tree.

Half an hour later Pedro returned with a big chunk of bear meat, which
was soon roasting on wooden spits placed around the blazing camp-fire.

That was as joyful an evening as the night before had been gloomy. Even
the saturnine spirits of Pedro seemed greatly affected by the general
hilarity; for his sallow face was all smiles and his little black eyes
snapped and twinkled, as he passed hither and thither among the men, and
he was very careful to place the pan in which he washed the dishes
within easy hearing distance of every word they might utter. Indeed, it
seemed almost impossible for him to tear himself away from the sound of
their voices; and, when he was compelled to go to the little spring they
had discovered some twenty