“Unfortunately my father cannot afford to buy one, for he had just expended the last of his available money in building a comfortable house for my mother and sister, who were coming out to live with us—and now they can’t come! My father has gone East to try to borrow the necessary money, but if he should fail,—why, then I don’t know what we shall do. So you see why it is that I am so particularly anxious to find a gold-placer—though, of course, it is most unlikely that I shall be able to do so; especially as I don’t know anything of gold-washing.”
“I see,” said Percy. “How much money will it require to buy a pumping-engine, and to start up the mine again?”
“Five thousand dollars, perhaps,” replied Jack. “Besides the cost of the pump, there is likely to be a great deal of work to be done in the mine after the water is taken out,—replacing timbers, and cleaning out the drifts, which are very apt to cave in after a prolonged soaking.”
“Well,” continued Percy, “if we should find a placer, is it likely to be worth that much?”
“There’s no telling,” replied Jack. “But if we find one at all, we want to find one worth more than that, because, you see, there’s your share to come out.”
“Our share!” exclaimed Percy. “Oh, we don’t want a share.”
“No,” I chimed in. “Ours is a pleasure-trip. We don’t want a share.”
“That wouldn’t be fair,” said Jack. “If you do part of the work you must have part of the pay—if there is any.”
“Well, I don’t see that,” Percy objected. “We neither of us know anything about prospecting. As for myself, I couldn’t tell the difference between native gold and native brass—if there is such a thing.”
“Which there isn’t,” said Jack, laughing.