“And so are you for drinking,” replied Ned. “You’re always on the lookout for water.”
“Well, we must drink a great deal in such a thirsty land.”
“Yes, and we must eat a deal to keep up one’s strength,” said Ned. “I can’t help getting hungry when we’re walking about so much. I suppose it’s because I’m growing fast.”
“Yea, that’s it,” said Chris, smiling. “I get very hungry too. It’s all right; I won’t laugh at you any more. I say, what lots of those little gophers there are here. Look there; why, there must be about a hundred up on that patch of sandy ground. Watching us to see if we’re coming, and ready to pop into their holes.”
“I see them. There’s one of those little round tots of owls sitting there too just outside the burrow. It’s quite comic to see the gophers living so sociably with the little owls.”
Chris gave a shout just then, and the colony of little burrowing animals resembling the marmots of the Alps disappeared into their holes with an accompaniment of angry warning whistles, just as a huge eagle came sailing along overhead, swooping so near that a good marksman could easily have brought it down.
“Seems a pity to go away from a place where there’s so much to see,” said Chris, after a time. “And what for? To find gold. Well, it’s only yellow metal. We might stay here and find some.”
“Or silver,” said Ned.
“Yes, or lead, or antimony.”
“Or coal,” cried Ned.