"So did we," admitted Terry. "But the ground all looks alike—just common dirt!"
"Yes, even where they're actually washing gold out," said the professor. "I've seen some gold, though. I saw one miner with a pan that gave about a dollar and a half, and I saw a clean-up in a sluice that netted eight dollars."
"What's a sluice? One of those wooden troughs?"
"Yes; but lumber for them is hand-sawed and costs a dollar a yard, and people are asking as high as a thousand dollars for a claim. I believe it's cheapest to hire somebody to locate a good claim for a fellow. The Russells and Gregory and some others who have had experience are hiring themselves out at $100 a day, I understand. There goes Green Russell now."
"A hundred dollars a day! Whew!" gasped Terry.
Captain Green Russell halted in passing.
"Got here, did you?" he greeted, in friendly fashion. "Made your fortune yet?"
"We may be standing on it, for all we know," answered Harry.
"For all you know, you may," drawled Mr. Russell. "That's the trouble. The people come in here, like they do at Cherry Creek, and think the gold shows at grass-roots. But Gregory didn't find his lode by any pure luck, and the rest of us old-timers are here to teach the folks how, if they want to learn."
"Could you put me on a good claim?" inquired the professor, eagerly.