As he caught it, Andy hefted it, then examined it closely, scraping it with his knife.
“Where did you find it?” he asked, in evident excitement.
Catching his eagerness, the others closed in, asking, “What is it? What is it?”
“It’s gold—that is, it’s quartz-bearing gold.”
“Gold. Oh my, and I thought it was blood,” cried Phil, and quickly he told of the manner of the discovery.
“Pretty good work, I call it,” said Mr. Hopkins. “You set out to find some ‘bad men’ and ran onto a gold mine.”
“But it’s on Joy’s land,” declared Phil.
“But you found it,” returned the girl.
“H’m! Guess you’d better arrange a partnership, Jasper,” smiled the millionaire. “Phil found it and Joy owns it.”
“We’ll leave that to the young people,” chuckled the old settler. “But first let’s all go see the vein.”