faintly down into the chasm. Without raising his head he called to
Rod.

"Found anything?"

"No. Have you?"

"No--yes--but I don't think it's gold"

"What does it look like?"

"It gleams yellow but is as hard as steel."

"Mica!" said Rod.

Neither of the boys looked up during the conversation. With the point
of his hunting-knife Rod still searched in the bottom of his pan,
turning over the pebbles and raking the gravelly sand with a
painstaking care that would have made a veteran gold seeker laugh.
Some minutes had passed when Wabi spoke again.

"I say, Rod, that's a funny-looking thing I found! If it wasn't so
hard I'd swear it was gold? Want to see it?"

"It's mica," repeated Rod, as another gleam, of "fool's gold" in his
own pan caught his eyes. "The stream is full of it!"

"Never saw mica in chunks before," mumbled Wabi, bending low over his
pan.