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The Golden Canyon - Contents: the Golden Canyon; the Stone Chest by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
page 52 of 158 (32%)
to change places with Tom in the middle of the day, then you can each
work half a day. You will find that plenty, I warrant."

"Did you find water, Dave?"

"Yes, plenty of it, enough for the horses and the washing too."




Chapter XI.--Hard At Work.


Tom took the first watch in the morning. Dick rendered all the
assistance he could to the men, who cut down a couple of the trees that
stood in the gorge, chopped them into eight-feet lengths, and then with
wedges split them into boards, which they smoothed up with an adze. All
were accustomed to the work, and by nightfall a deep trough was
constructed, resting upon rockers like a cradle.

Next morning the work began; two men threw the gravel and sand into the
cradle, the third kept it in motion, while whichever of the boys was off
watch brought water in two of the pails from the hole.

The horses were no trouble, finding plenty of coarse grass among the
rocks, and only requiring watering night and morning. Thrice a day the
contents of the cradle were cleared entirely out, and the gold that had
sunk to the bottom collected. Much, of it was in fine dust, but there
was also a large number of nuggets, varying in size from a pea to a
marble. Each clear-up they obtained on an average eight or nine pounds
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