k muddy
portion till nothing was left but sand and stones.

These latter were picked out and thrown away; more washing followed,
more little stones were thrown out, and at last there was nothing but a
deposit of sand at the bottom, in which gleamed brightly some specks and
scales of bright yellow gold.

Norton finished his pipe, and then led the way farther up the stream, to
stop at last by a rough pine-wood shed thatched with boughs.

"This is my mansion," he said. "Leave the sledges here, and we'll go
and see the rest."

The stream turned and twisted about here in a wonderful way, doubling
back upon itself, and spreading about over a space of three or four
miles along the winding valley where the tiny mining settlement had been
pitched--only some six or seven huts among the dwarfed pine-trees in
all, the places being marked by fallen trees and stumps protruding from
the ground.

They were all made on the same pattern, of stout young pine-trees with
ridge-pole and rafters to support a dense thatching of boughs, and
mostly with a hole left in the centre of the roof for the smoke of the
fire burned within to escape.

The two strangers were received in a friendly enough way, the rough
settlers chatting freely about the new-comers' prospects, showing
specimens of the gold they had found, and making suggestions about the
likeliest spot for marking out a claim along the bank.

The result was that before the day ended, acting a good deal under
Norton's advice, the young men had marked out a double claim and settled
where their hut should be set up, so as to form a fresh addition to the
camp.

"You ought to do well here," said Norton. "There's gold worth millions
of money in this district for certain; but the question is, can you
strike it rich or only poor? If I thought I could do better somewhere
else I should go, but I'm going to try it fairly here."

"We'll do the same," said Dallas; and, the weather being brilliant and
the air exhilarating to a degree, they set to work cutting pegs for
driving down to make out their claim, Norton reminding them that they
would have certain applications to make afterwards to the government
agency, and then began to cut down small trees for building their
shanty.

To their surprise and delight, four of the neighbours came, axe-armed,
to help, so that the task was made comparatively easy.

At the end of a week a rough, strong, habitable home was made, door,
window, shutter