“Snakes, I forgot about that!” Nick seized the shovel again and continued his labors with energy. Roy, still clinging to the nugget, was finally brought to the surface. What had seemed the beginning of a tragedy had turned into a stroke of marvelous luck.
“Here’s how it was,” Roy explained, as he sat on the ground. “I heard some one yell overhead, and—”
“That was Silent,” Nick interrupted.
“And then the next thing I knew a clod of earth hit me on the shoulder. I thought some one was kidding me. The next second the walls started to cave in. A big chunk slid off and buried me up to my knees. I yelled, and tried to get out quick, and then I saw this nugget in the hole where the dirt had slid from.” He held the odd-shaped rock in his hand and gazed at it. “Yes, sir,” he went on, “I saw the nugget and made a grab for it. Then the whole world hit me on the head and shoulders, and the rest you know.”
“Yes, we know,” murmured Teddy.
“It’s an ill wind that blows nobody no good,” Nick orated. “An’ it’s a bum landslide that don’t uncover somethin’. Well, Roy, you sure have had your initiation as a miner.”
“Personally, I’m going back to camp and remove some of the initiation,” Roy answered, with a laugh. “I suppose you waddies will be right here?”
“We’ll be right here,” Teddy replied. “Where there’s some gold there’s sure to be more. What you going to do with the nugget, Roy?”
“Take it to the assay office.”
“That’s a good idea,” Silent approved. “Leave it there to be tested.”