t's what we'll do!" cried the young Indian, jumping suddenly to
his feet and toppling Rod backward off the rock upon which he was
sitting. "Come, cheer up, Rod! The gold is here, somewhere, and we're
going to find it! I'm heartily ashamed of you; you, whom I thought
would never get discouraged!"

Rod was laughing when he recovered from the playful mauling which Wabi
administered before he could regain his feet.

"That's right, I deserve another licking! We've got all the spring and
summer before us, and if we don't find the gold by the time snow flies
we'll come back and try it again next year! What do you say?"

"And bring Minnetaki with us!" added Wabi, jumping into the air and
kicking his heels together. "How will you like that, Rod?" He nudged
his comrade in the ribs, and in another moment both were puffing and
laughing in one of their good-natured wrestling bouts, in which the
cat-like agility of the young Indian always won for him in the end.

In spite of momentary times like this, when the natural buoyancy and
enthusiasm of the young adventurers rose above their discouragement,
the week that followed added to their general depression. For miles
the chasm was explored and at the end of the week they had found less
than an ounce of gold. If their pans had given them no returns at all
their disappointment would have been less, for then, as Wabi said,
they could have given up the ghost with good grace. But the few
precious yellow grains which they found now and then lured them on, as
these same grains have lured other hundreds and thousands since the
dawn of civilization. Day after day they persisted in their efforts;
night after night about their camp-fire they inspired each other with
new hope and made new plans. The spring sun grew stronger, the poplar
buds burst into tiny leaf and out beyond the walls of the chasm the
first promises of summer came in the sweetly scented winds of the
south, redolent with the breath of balsam and pine and the thousand
growing things of the plains.

But at last the search came to an end. For three days not even a grain
of gold had been found. Around the big rock, where they were eating
dinner, Rod and his friends came to a final conclusion. The following
morning they would break camp, and leaving their canoe behind, for the
creek was now too shallow for even birch-bark navigation, they would
continue their exploration of the chasm in search of other adventures.
The whole summer