kingly to myself that I was just a little glad
I had found no gold and that I hoped the others had been equally
unfortunate. The thought of working day after day in that furnace heat
was too much for me.

My hopes were fulfilled. All came in that night tired, hot, dirty, and
discouraged. Not one of the eight of us had raised a sign of colour.

"Well," said Bagsby philosophically, "that's all right. We've just got
to go higher. To-morrow we'll move upstream."

Accordingly next day we turned at right angles to our former route and
followed up the bed of the canon ten or twelve miles toward the distant
main ranges. It was, in general, rather hard scrabbling for the horses,
though we footmen did well enough. Sometimes we crossed wide flats,
resembling the one we had just left; again, where the canon narrowed, we
had actually to stumble in the rocks of the stream bed. Twice we forded,
and twice we had to make great climbs up and down again in order to get
by points that came boldly down to the river. It was curious to see the
nature of the country change. The pines on the mountains to our right
and left seemed to push down nearer to our level; the grass turned
green; the stream narrowed and became swifter; the sky seemed to turn
bluer; and from the ranges breathed a cool, refreshing wind.

About four o'clock we camped. The flat was green; little clumps of cedar
pushed out across it; the oaks had given place to cottonwoods; we had
now to make acquaintance with new birds. But what particularly
interested us was the fact that at this point the high canon walls at
either side broke into rounder hills that opened out widely, and that
from among them descended many ravines, barrancas, and dry washes.

The following morning we went prospecting again. My instructions were
for the dry washes in the sides of the hills. Accordingly I scrambled up
among the boulders in the nearest V-shaped ravine. I had hardly to look
at all. Behind a large boulder lay a little cuplike depression of stones
in which evidently had stood a recently evaporated pool of water, and
which, in consequence, was free from the usual dusty rubble. In the
interstices between the stones my eye caught a dull glitter. I fell on
my knees, dug about with the point of my bowie knife, and so unearthed
small nuggets aggregating probably a half ounce in weight.

Although mightily tempted to stay for more, I minded our agreement to
report promptly the first discovery, and