'Just arrived, I reckon?'
'Yes, I have only just come in. Doing well here?'
'Nothing to grumble at. Where have you been working last?'
'I tried my luck on several places on the Yuba, but could not get a claim worth working.'
'You won't get one here without paying for it, I can tell you; pretty stiff price, too.'
'I reckon to work by the day for a bit, till I have time to look round. I want to see what men are making before I buy in.'
'I reckon you are about right, mate. Men who are in a hurry to get a share of a claim generally get bitten. Besides, before a man with a claim takes a partner in, he likes to know what sort of a chap he is to work with. Didn't I see you come in half an hour ago with a cart with three horses?'
'Yes.'
'Pretty bad road, eh?'
'No road at all; I just followed the line they had cut for the teams of the storekeepers. Though the cart wasn't half full, it was as much as the three horses could do to get along with it.'