"Well, he's been out lookin' at the place where the gold gives out on Little Minóok. There's a pup just there above No. 10—remember?"
"Perfectly."
"And above the pup, on the right, there's a bed of gravel."
"Couldn't see much of that for the snow."
"Well, sir, that bed o' gravel's an old channel."
"No!"
She nodded. "Pitcairn's sunk a prospect, and found colours in his first pan."
"Oh, colours!"
"But the deeper he went, the better prospects he got." She stood up now, close to the Colonel. The Boy stopped work and leaned on the wood pile, listening. "Pitcairn told Charlie and me (on the strict q. t.) that the gold channel crossed the divide at No. 10, and the only gold on Little Minóokust what spilt down on those six claims as the gold went crossin' the gulch. The real placer is that old channel above the pup, and boys"—in her enthusiasm she even included the Colonel's objectionable pardner—"boys, it's rich as blazes!"
"I wonder——" drawled the Colonel, recovering a little from his first thrill.