"Why, to thaw the gravel so we can throw it out onto the dump. Then in the spring, we'll sluice out the dump and see what we've got."
"Do you mean for gold?" asked the girl in surprise, "We only hunt for gold in the summer in the sand of the creeks and the rivers."
"This way is better," explained Brent. "In the summer you can only muck around in the surface stuff. You can't sink a shaft because the water would run in and fill it up. In most places the deeper you go the richer the gravel. The very best of it is right down against bed-rock. In the winter we keep a fire going until the gravel is thawed for six or eight inches down, then we rake out the ashes and wait for the hole to cool down so there will be air instead of gas in it, and then we throw out the loose stuff and build up the fire again."
"And you won't know till spring whether you have any gold or not? Why, maybe you would put in a whole winter's work and get nothing!"
"Oh, we kind of keep cases on it with the pan. Every day or so I scoop up a panful and carry it into the cabin and melt some ice and pan it out."
"And is there gold here? Have you found it?"
"Not yet. That is, not in paying quantities. The gravel shows just enough color to keep us at it. I
don't think it is going to amount to much. So far we're making fair wages—and that's about all."
"What do you mean by fair wages?" smiled the girl. "You see, I am learning all I can about finding gold."
"I expect we're throwing out maybe a couple of ounces a day—an ounce apiece. If it don't show something pretty quick I'm going to try some other place. There's a likely looking creek runs in above here."