"Now look what you've done!"
Mac pointed out a rough knot-hole, too, that slyly held back a pinch of gold.
"Oh, that!"
Dillon slapped his hip, and settled into his place. But the men nearest the crack and the knot-hole fell to digging out the renegade grains, and piously offering them to their lawful owner.
"That ain't worth botherin' about," laughed Dillon; "you always reckon to lose a little each time, even if you got a China soup-plate."
"Plenty more where that came from," said the General, easily.
Such indifference was felt to be magnificent indeed. The little incident said more for the richness of Minóok than all the General's blowing; they forgot that what was lost would amount to less than fifty cents. The fact that it was gold—Minóok gold—gave it a symbolic value not to be computed in coin.
"How do you go?" asked the Colonel, as the two millionaires began putting on their things.
"We cut across to Kuskoquim. Take on an Indian guide there to Nushagak, and from there with dogs across the ocean ice to Kadiak."
"Oh! the way the letters go out."