"Can we dig next to you, then?" asked Yank, nodding at an unbroken piece of ground just upstream.
The miner clambered carefully out of his waist-deep trench, searched his pockets, produced a pipe and tobacco. After lighting this he made Yank a low bow.
"Thanks for the compliment; but I warn you, this claim of mine is not very rich. I'm thinking of trying somewhere else."
"Don't you get any gold?"
"Oh, a few ounces a day."
"That suits me for a beginning," said Yank decidedly. "Come on boys!"
The miner hopped back into his hole, only to stick his head out again for the purpose of telling us:
"Mind you keep fifteen feet away!"
With eager hands we slipped a pick and shovels from beneath the pack ropes, undid our iron bucket, and without further delay commenced feverishly to dig.