One grizzled miner hurried out, holding a gold-pan full of nuggets, dust, and black sand.
"Put your hand into it, lady, and see what it feels like."
Alice did so, and thought it felt like any other sand, only heavier. He then selected a nugget—worth quite a sovereign—from the pan and gave it to her.
"Why did you give me this?"
"Because you are a lady."
Alice looked perplexed.
"Keep it as a souvenir," said John, so she thanked the man and slipped the nugget inside her glove. But that was not to be the limit of their host's hospitality, for, as they turned to go, he said,
"It's just about noon, and if you've walked from Dawson the lady must be near petered. Better stay and have dinner."
"We thought of dining at the road-house at Discovery," said George. "We have some ground on Chechacho Hill."
"I can give you a better feed here: moose-meat, either steak or nose, whichever you fancy. You see, lady, in the old days this was a sort of a pet locality for moose, so they stray in once in a while yet, and sometimes they don't get a chance to get away again."