“I hope so, too,” said Joshua, “for I’m reg’larly cleaned out.”
“If I can help you any in the way of information, I shall be glad to do so.”
Joe and Bickford took him at his word and made many inquiries, eliciting important information.
The next day they took their places farther down the river and commenced work.
Their inexperience at first put them at a disadvantage. They were awkward and unskilful, as might have been expected. Still, at the end of the first day each had made about five dollars.
“That’s something,” said Joe.
“If I could have made five dollars in one day in Pumpkin Hollow,” said Mr. Bickford, “I would have felt like a rich man. Here it costs a feller so much to live that he don’t think much of it.”
“We shall improve as we go along. Wait till to-morrow night.”
The second day brought each about twelve dollars, and Joshua felt elated.
“I’m gettin’ the hang of it,” said he. “As soon as I’ve paid up what I owe you, I’ll begin to lay by somethin’.”