nugget!" and
he handed the big gold nugget he had found to Ruth. "And here is your
necklace of gold nuggets!" and he threw over the happy girl's head and
around her neck a long string of gold nuggets that he had strung on a
deer sinew, during the homeward journey.

Bud, during this time, had been going through the same delightful
performance with Iola.

That was the most wonderful night in the history of the Conroyal and the
Randolph households!

First, of course, after the greetings were over, the gold had to be
taken off the horses and carried into the house and piled up in the
center of the floor of the big room; and then, with all of the two
families and all of the friends who took part in the search for the Cave
of Gold, not forgetting you may be sure Mr. and Mrs. Dickson, seated in
a circle around the piled-up bags of gold, the story of the adventures
of Thure and Bud and the finding of the dead miner's marvelous Cave of
Gold had to be told.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" sighed Iola happily, when, at last, the tale was
ended. "It is just like a story out of a book; and I wouldn't believe it
at all, if I couldn't see the gold piled up right in front of me. Now,"
and her eyes looked wonderingly at the bags of gold, "how much is all
that gold worth? Is it worth a Hundred Thousand Dollars?" and her eyes
grew big with the thought of the enormous wealth that lay within touch
of her hand.

"I reckon it is," laughed Mr. Conroyal. "But, supposing we see just
about how much it is worth. Thure, you and Bud go and get the big
scales, and we will weigh it."

In a few minutes the two boys returned, carrying between them a small
platform scales, capable of weighing a few hundred pounds at a time, and
set it down by the side of the pile of bags of gold.

Mr. Conroyal now placed the bags of gold, four at a time, on the scales,
and announced their weights; and Thure and Bud, pencils and paper in
their hands, set down the amounts. When the last bag had been weighed,
all waited anxiously while the two boys added up the various amounts.
Thure was the first to finish the addition.

"Five thousand one hundred and three and a half pounds!" he yelled.

"Exactly what I got," announced Bud a moment later.

"Give me the pencil and paper," and Mr. Conroyal caught the pencil and
paper from Thure's hands. "I'll see about what that amount of gold is
worth," and he began figuring on the paper, with hands that trembled
just a little with ex