--I don't believe I'll have any money until Mrs. Robinson pays
me. I'll take her work home right after breakfast."

"A light lunch will do for me, mother. I can get some grub from one of
the miners, if I run short."

This was true enough, for the gold-diggers would share their last crust
with a hungry traveler.

The meal was soon over, and, with a small package of bread and bacon,
and a piece of pie, saved from the day before, Fred Stanley started off
to look for work.

CHAPTER II

SEEKING A JOB

From Piddock, where Fred lived, to New Strike was about eight miles,
over the mountains. It was a hard journey, but the boy set off on it
with a light heart, whistling merrily, for he was hopeful of getting a
job, and he knew that if he did, there would be more happiness at home,
since there was a dire shortage of money.

"I ought to get at least five dollars a week and my board," thought
Fred. "If I do, I can save nearly four and send it home, and that will
help out a lot. Poor dad, it's hard for him to be crippled the way he
is. And I wish mother didn't have to work so hard. She is getting more
gray than she ought to. I wish there was some work in Piddock. If I get
a job over here I'll have to stay all the week, and can only go home
Saturday night. But there's not much doing in Piddock."

This was true. The town had once been quite an important one, but the
diggings near it had been exhausted, and the mining population had, in
a large part, moved away. There were some mines in the vicinity, that
were still worked, but they did not pay very well.

Shortly after Mr. Stanley's accident Fred had secured a place in the
general store in Piddock, but, when the population diminished there was
hardly enough work for the proprietor himself, and he had to discharge
Fred, though he regretted it, for the boy was bright and quick, and a
great help to him.

After that Fred tried in vain to get a steady position. He worked for a
few days driving a team for a man, and occasionally did odd jobs for one
of the merchants in town, or for some of the residents, but the pay was
poor, and he seldom had three full days' work a week.

He had heard of the unexpected prosperity that had come to New Strike,
and, knowing that there is usually plenty of work in a new mining camp,
he determined to go there and see what he could find.

As Fred reached the mountain trail, leading to New Strike, he saw that
it had been well traveled. On