over the river we go," said Stella. "But the question is, how?"

"I'll swim it," said Bud. "And if I find any trace of them over there,
I'll holler."

Bud threw his guns on the bank and plunged into the water, and in a few
minutes was across, for so near the headwaters it was not wide.

They saw him scouting along the shore, and presently he waved his hand
at them, and pointed to the ground.

"He's found them," said Kit. "But how are we to get over?"

Kit ran up and down the shore, and soon found several logs, which he
towed to where Stella was waiting, and fastened them together into a
raft.

"There you are," he said. "Climb aboard, and I'll ferry you across."

Stella did so, and in a few minutes they were on the other side.

Bud showed them the tracks of Singing Bird, and they followed them into
the woods.

Close beside the track was a huge stump of a sycamore tree, and Stella
elected to sit down beside it and wait until they returned, as she was
pretty tired. The boys passed on with the warning to fire her revolver
three times if anything should alarm her.

As she sat beside the stump, she picked up a stick, and began poking in
the earth at her feet. As she did so, there was a rumbling sound beneath
her, and the world seemed to be slipping from her. This was followed by
a rush of earth and a clatter of stones, and Stella went down with it.

She did not fall more than ten feet, however, before she stopped, a
little shaken but unhurt.

When she had recovered somewhat, she looked about her.

Then she gave a little shriek of joy. It seemed as if she had fallen
into a regular nest of pure gold, for the glittering grains were
everywhere about her, on her clothes and in her hair.

Suddenly she recalled everything. She had found the mother lode that the
Indian girl had told of.

Drawing her revolver, she fired three shots, the danger signal, and
immediately it was answered by three shots, but from the side of the
river she had just quitted.

This surprised her, but in a moment she heard a shout. It was Ted.
Evidently thinking that something might befall her, he had followed, and
in a few moments she heard him splashing in the water.

"Hello!" he cried.

"Here I am, Ted," cried Stella, and in a moment she saw his face
outlined above her in the opening of the hole.

"How the deuce did you get there?" he asked.

"Oh, I just dropped in to take a look around, and what do you think I
found? I've found gol