approached the bottom.

"We have been right up to the top; the ponies could go anywhere. It is
narrow in places, but we have passed many worse on the way; the cliffs
never close up, so even at the worst places there is room for them to
get along with their loads."

"What is it like at the top?"

"Level ground along to the drop of the cliffs, hills behind it to the
south."

"Well, it is a comfort there is a way down into the valley. Anyhow,
since you have been gone, we have been fossicking about, and there is no
doubt about the gold; it is the richest place any of us have ever seed."

"Have you found water, Dave?"

"No, that is the one thing bad, we shall have to go out to fetch water,
but maybe if we dig in the center of the channel we shall find it. The
best place to try will be at the end, right under where the waterfall
comes down in winter. There is most always a deep hole in the rock
there, where the water and stones and so on have come down and pounded
away the bed rock. We found where the gold comes from too. There is a
big quartz vein running right up the face of the cliff there; it is just
full of gold. You can see it sparkle everywhere. Some day, when the
Indians is all wiped out, fellows will bring machinery and powder, and
will have one of the richest mines in the world. However, that don't
concern us. I reckon there is enough in this gravel under our feet to
make a hundred men rich. Now, Boston, what do you think is the best