less matter to a man who was digging out of the ground
from five to ten thousand dollars' worth of gold a day! They were busily
at work putting on a temporary roof in place of the one the fire had
destroyed.

"Lose much?" queried Ham sympathetically, as the little company came to
a halt in front of the ruins.

"Only a little worn-out clothing and some mighty poor furniture,"
laughed Dickson. "Mollie and I calculate we can fix up the roof by noon
good enough to last the few days we are likely to remain here; and the
time it takes us to do that is our only real loss. You see, we've
decided, if we get as much as twenty thousand dollars' worth of gold out
of that hole, we'll get for New York as fast as the good Lord will let
us; and it looks now as if it was good for that much, at least, before
it gives out. Why, it won't take more than a couple of days more to fix
us all right, if the gold continues to turn up the way it did yesterday!
Hope it will be your turn next."

"Same here," laughed Mrs. Dickson. "My, but it does seem good to be
digging real gold up out of the ground in handfuls. Hope that wing dam,
or whatever you call it, will be the golden key that will unlock the
door of fortune to you all."

"We all shore agrees with you thar," grinned Ham. "An' we all hopes that
y'ur luck will continue, 'til you gits enough tew send you back home in
fine style--not that we're none anxious tew see you go," he added
hastily, "'cause 'twould be 'bout as painful an operation as bein'
seperated from a sore tooth, to be seperated from that singin' apperatus
of your'n. We'll be expectin' you tew come over an' sing some more for
us tew-night."

"I certainly can't refuse, after such a compliment to my singing," she
laughed back.

"It almost tempts me tew try hitchin' up myself, tew see them tew
a-workin' tewgether as happy as tew nestin' birds," grinned Ham, as our
friends, after a few minutes' longer talk with the joyful and fortunate
couple, continued on their way. "I reckon that's 'bout th' kind of
marriage th' feller meant, when he said they was made in heaven; for th'
t'other kind 'pear tew be made in t'other place," and Ham chuckled.

That day they succeeded in building a wall of rocks, piled one on top of
the other and plastered together with clay and the branches of trees,
across the little stream itself and almost high enough to force the
water to flow in the new channel. Consequently night found them
jubilant; for no