right now. I reckon we've got all th' gold th' Lord
intended us tew git, an' now we'd better git for home."

"Well, if that was the Lord's work, He has been mighty accommodating to
wait until we got all the gold we need," and Mr. Conroyal smiled. "I was
thinking last night that we had about enough, and had better be starting
for home. Mighty curious place, that Cave of Gold; and I have been
wondering quite a bit how the gold got into it; and this is about the
way I figure it out:

"Thousands of years ago, how many thousands God alone knows, there must
have been a great river pouring through Lot's Canyon, with its bed
hundreds of feet below the present bottom of the canyon; and, at that
time, there must also have been a powerful stream of water flowing
through this gulch, and emptying into the river in Lot's Canyon, through
a great hole worn through the solid wall of rock, which is now
completely hidden under the rocks that have fallen down into the gulch
during the ages since both rivers dried up. Now, in making that turn,"
and he pointed to where the Golden Elbow had been, "I figure that the
water struck a soft ledge of gold-bearing rock, and gradually scooped
out a big cave right in the point of the turn, and, of course, as the
gold was washed out of the rock, it would fall to the bottom of the
cave, and, being in quite large chunks, it was too heavy for the action
of the water to carry it out of the cave, while the water would carry
out nearly all the other dirt and gravel, thus leaving the bottom of the
cave covered with gold nuggets, the way we found it. And, after the
river had dried up, rocks from the arch at the entrance to the cave
would fall off, and little by little fill up the entrance and form the
big arch we found. Now, that's about the way the gold came into the
cave, according to my figureing. What's your idea, Rad?" and Mr.
Conroyal turned to Rad Randolph.

"I think that you've hit it about right, Con," answered Mr. Randolph.
"But, now that there is no hope of getting any more gold out of that
cave, I am getting powerful anxious to make a start for home with what
we have got. Let's go back to the Big Tree at once and get agoing
homeward as soon as we can."

"Hurrah for home!" yelled Thure, starting for the opening out of Crooked
Arm Gulch. "I'd rather see home now than another Cave of Gold."

In a few minutes all were back in the camp under the Big Tree; and
preparations for the start homeward wer