"Hey? Dreamin'? What? Look! Look!"
"That's why I brought you gen'l'men out," says the mackinaw man. "I was afraid to trust my senses—thought I was gettin' wheels in my head."
"Lord! look at the gold!"
They took about a dollar and twenty cents out of that pan.
"Now see here, you gen'l'men jest lay low about this strike." His anxiety seemed intense. They reassured him. "I don't suppose you mind our taking up a claim apiece next you," pleaded the Boy, "since the law don't allow you to stake more'n one."
"Oh, that's all right," said the mackinaw man, with an air of princely generosity. "And I don't mind if you like to let in a few of your particular pals, if you'll agree to help me organise a district. An' I'll do the recordin' fur ye."
Really, this mackinaw man was a trump. The Colonel took twenty-five dollars out of a roll of bills and handed it to him.
"What's this fur?"
"For bringing us out—for giving us the tip. I'd make it more, but till I get to Dawson—"
"Oh!" laughed the mackinaw man, "that's all right," and indifferently he tucked the bills into his baggy trousers.