Then, in a few words, Bess reminded the audience of the object and work of the club. Of what it had done in the past six months, they could judge by the evening's entertainment; the secret of what its members would do in the future lay hidden in the boys themselves. She added a few tender words, referring to the member who had left them, and then, after saying that the essays were the work of the boys, and that she had not even seen them, she introduced as the first reader, Master Philip Cameron.
Phil rose with a rather sheepish giggle, hastily smoothed down his scalp-lock that would stand aggressively erect, bowed to the audience, and announced his subject.
"GOLD.
"Gold is a yellow metal that we are all familiar with, though not as much so as we should like to be. It is used for money and for ornaments, and is very precious. It is found in a great many places in the world, and a great deal in a place, but people always wish there was some more of it. The most interesting place to us is in California. It was discovered there in 1848 by three men, partly Mormons. It was their daughter that found it and picked it up and said what a pretty stone. They tried to keep it a secret, but of course they couldn't, and pretty soon everybody was going to California.
"At least, not everybody," explained Phil conscientiously, as he looked up from his paper, "but ever and ever so many people." Then he resumed,—
"The State was soon full of people, and it was admitted to the Union.
"There are a good many ways of gold-mining. Sometimes the mines are in veins in the hard rock. Then the miners bore down to them and dig out the rock, and break it up fine to get out the gold, just as they do silver. Another way is to find it in the loose sand in the bottoms of rocks and in gravel. When the miners first went out, they used to take a little gravel in a dish with some water, and shake it hard, so a little would slop over each time. The gold was heavy, and would sink and stay after all the rest had gone. They called it 'panning out well' when there was a lot left in the dish. Now they turn brooks to run over a row of troughs with holes scooped out in the bottoms, and the gold drops into the holes, and the other stone goes on. Then there is hydraulic mining. They turn a stream of water against the side of a hill and wash it all down to start with, and then they put it through the troughs just the same way.
"Gold is soft when it is pure, so they have to mix it with other metals to keep it from wearing out. They call that alloying it. We tell how pure gold is by the number of carats. Twenty-four is pure, but eighteen is very fine.
"I have only one thing more to say. When you say a person has 'sand,' or courage, that comes from gold-mining. When a miner saw a certain kind of sand, he always knew that gold was mixed with it underneath."
And Phil sat down, amidst a hum of applause.