After sending the tools up, the other man and I went up, while the man we
left in the shaft lit the fuse. We all pulled at the windlass, and he was
soon at the top. After taking off the bucket we ran up the hill about a
hundred yards to watch the result.

With an awful explosion and a tremendous shower of rocks the dynamite blew
a big hole in the side of the shaft. After driving out the smoke by
dropping large cedar bushes in the shaft, we went down again.

We filled the bucket with rocks, which were drawn up. We soon emptied the
shaft in this way. Then we went to the top and assorted the ore. I filled
a large box with the richest rocks I could find, and they were shipped the
next day.

Besides blasting for the ore, I panned a little, that is, I had a shallow
pan with a little of the dust from the shaft and some water. I washed the
dust until I had very little dust left; then I took a quill toothpick and
picked the small nuggets from the pan and put them into a small gold vial
full of water.

After staying at the mine four days, I went home, having had a fine time
"roughing it" in a gold mine.

Please send me full particulars of the "Who? When? What? Chart" as soon as
you possibly can, and also tell me whether you will send me one of those
books which you want criticised. I am eleven years old. I like to read
very much--history, travel, and adventure being my favorites. The books I
like specially are Oliver Optic's works for travels, and G.A. Henty's
works for historical facts and thrilling adventures. I like other books
also.