"Looks promising, Jack," he said, with the enthusiasm of an old miner. "There are little granules of quartz mixed up with the sand, and a particle or two of iron. But that don't prove there's gold. We'll just try a little experiment."
He emptied a few handfuls of the soil into the pan, filled this with water from the stream, and moved the pan to and fro so as to give the water a concentric motion, Jack and the chief watching him with equal interest. Every now and then Mr. Martindale would cant off a little of the water, which carried off some of the lighter sand with it.
"What you may call a process of elimination or reduction," he said.
"Reductio ad absurdum, uncle?"
"I hope not. Guess you're smartening up, Jack."
"Call it survival of the fittest, then."
"Of the thickest, I'd say. This washing carries off the useless light sand, and leaves the heavy stuff behind, and it's in that we'll find gold if at all."
After nearly half an hour's patient manipulation of the pan, there was left in the bottom a blackish powder and some coarse grains of quartz, with just enough water to cover them.
"Look at that, my boy," said Mr. Martindale. "First time you've seen anything of that sort, I guess."
"But where's the gold, uncle?"