“Certain!—that all splinters into dust if you try and cut it. I am sure that’s gold.”
“Ain’t much of it,” said Esau. “Take four times as much as that to make a half-sovereign.”
“Well, if we only got four times as much as that a day, it would mean three pounds a week. It is gold, and we’ve made a discovery that Gunson would have given anything to see.”
“And he’s gone nobody knows where, and it’s all our own,” said Esau, looking cautiously round. “I say, think anybody has seen us?”
“What, up here?” I said, laughing.
“Ah, you don’t know. I say, slip it into your pocket.”
“Let’s pick out the stones first.”
“Never mind the stones,” cried Esau; “slip it in. We may be watched all the time, and our finding it may turn out no good. I’ll look round.”
He looked up and ran back a little way, peering in amongst the tree-trunks and clumps of berries and fern. Then returning he went higher up the stream and searched about there before coming back.
“Don’t see no one,” he said, looking quite pale and excited at me. “I say, you’re not playing any games are you?” he whispered, looking up.