work, on Number Nine, the Swedish
women pressed my hand cordially, leaving a good-sized bill in it at the
same time, saying: "When you get through on Number Nine come back to us;
we need you." I thanked them gratefully and said good-bye.

The English girl and myself were soon settled in our little tent with
its clean new floor on the hillside of claim Number Nine. No tree was to
be seen on the long, rolling hills, and only an occasional boulder on
some summit like Anvil Peak, perched as a sentinel above us. A few wild
flowers bloomed on the tundra, and the waters of the little stream
gurgled over the soft slate pebbles that strewed its course; but the
season so far was a dry one, and more water was needed before much could
be done at sluicing. Miners were not happy at the prospect of a dry
season, which meant a stoppage of all mining operations, and eagerly
scanned the heavens for rain indications. A small force of men were at
work night and day. On Thursday, July twelfth, eleven hundred dollars in
gold dust was taken from the sluice boxes in the creek, and two days
afterwards twelve thousand dollars, with which the owner of the claim
was much dissatisfied, calling them small clean-ups.

A few hundred feet up stream, on Number Ten, the machinery of C. D. Lane
whirred constantly. On the upper end of Number Nine a small new machine
called a separator was put in by some men from New York who had taken a
lay on the claim; but this scheme was not successful.

Seeing men at work prospecting along the "benches," as the banks of a
stream or hillsides are called by miners, and having a woman's
proverbial curiosity, after my work was done I climbed the hill to
investigate. The prospectors had left after digging a hole about six
feet deep and four square, evidently having satisfied themselves as to
what the ground contained. Into this hole I descended to feel of the
cold, wet earth and inspect the walls.

The miners had reached the frost line and gone, taking with them samples
of pretty white quartz rock, as much of the debris at the bottom of the
hole plainly showed, but whether it contained gold I knew not. As yet I
was a tenderfoot; but something satisfactory was without doubt found
here and in the vicinity, as quartz claims were staked over the placer
claims the whole length of Anvil Creek that summer.

While rambling about in search of flowers during our afternoon rests, we
found many interesting spots. To the northwest,