"Free gold!" he said, triumphantly.
One glance of a trained eye sufficed.
"That's the stuff, sure enough. But you didn't find much of it, eh?"
"Where do you get that idea?"
"The grains are big enough to pan easily. If there was much of it, you wouldn't have left the place without cleaning up a good stake."
"There is plenty of it. But I had to get out."
"Why, then?"
"To save my skin. An' I couldn't get back there."
"Back where?"
"Where I found it."