amed to admit
even to themselves. There was mingled with this feeling a sort of vague
incredulity, and a disposition to ridicule the idea that they were
actually endeavouring to wash gold out of the ground; but when Larry's
panful began to diminish, and the black sand appeared, sparkling with
unmistakeably-brilliant particles of reddish-yellow metal, they felt
that the golden dream was in truth becoming a sober reality.

As the process proceeded, and the precious metal began to appear,
Larry's feelings found vent in abrupt remarks.

"Och! av me tshoo eyes--musha! there it is--goold intirely--av it isn't
brass. Ah ye purty little stars!--O Larry, it's yerself as'll buy yer
owld mother a pig, an' a coach to boot. Hooroo! Mr Scotchman, I
misremimber yer name, wot's that?"

Larry started up in excitement, and held up between his fore-finger and
thumb what appeared to be a small stone.

"Ha! friend, you're in luck. That's a small nugget," replied McLeod,
examining the lump of gold. "It's worth ten dollars at least. I have
worked often two or three weeks at a time without coming on such a chunk
as that."

"Ye don't mane it! eh! Och! give it me. Hooray!" and the Irishman,
seizing the little lump with trembling eagerness, rushed off, shouting
and yelling, towards the camp to make his good fortune known to Bill
Jones, leaving the pan of black sand unheeded. This Ned took up, and
tried his hand at the work of washing. When done, the residue was found
to be exceedingly rich, so he and the captain proceeded without loss of
time to test their separate claims. Soon after, their obliging friend,
the miner, returned to his own claim further down the valley, leaving
them hard at work.

That night, when the bright stars twinkled down upon the camp at Little
Creek, our gold-hunters, wet and tired, but hearty and hopeful,
assembled round the fire in front of their little tent among the
oak-trees.

The entire party was assembled there, and they were gazing earnestly, as
might be expected of hungry men, into the frying-pan. But they did not
gaze at _supper_. No, that night the first thing they fried was a
mixture of black sand and gold. In fact, they were drying and blowing
the result of their first day's work at the diggings, and their friend
the Scotch miner was there to instruct them in the various processes of
their new profession, and to weigh the gold for them, in his little pair
of scales, when it should be fin