“Notatrace。Guesswemightaswellbemovingtowardscamp。“Theyreturnedtogether，Cribbenstellingthedentistofagroupofantelopehehadseen。
“Wemightlayoffto-morrow，an’seeifwecanplugacoupleofthemfellers。Antelopesteakwouldgoprettywellafterbeansan’baconan’coffeeweekinan’weekout。“
McTeaguewasanswering，whenCribbensinterruptedhimwithanexclamationofprofounddisgust。“Ithoughtwewerethefirsttoprospectalonginhere，an’nowlookatthat。
Don’titmakeyousick？“
Hepointedoutevidencesofanabandonedprospector’scampjustbeforethem——charredashes，emptytincans，oneortwogold-miner’spans，andabrokenpick。“Don’tthatmakeyousick？“mutteredCribbens，suckinghismustachefuriously。
“Tothinkofusmushheadsgoingovergroundthat’sbeencoveredalready！Say，pardner，we’lldigoutofhereto-
morrow。I’vebeenthinking，anyhow，we’dbettermovetothesouth；thatwaterofoursisprettylow。“
“Yes，yes，Iguessso，“assentedthedentist。“Thereain’tanygoldhere。“
“Yes，thereis，“protestedCribbensdoggedly；“there’sgoldallthroughthesehills，ifwecouldonlystrikeit。Itellyouwhat，pardner，IgotaplaceinmindwhereI’llbetnooneain’tprospected——leastnotverymany。Theredon’tverymanycaretotryan’gettoit。It’soverontheothersideofDeathValley。It’scalledGoldMountain，an’there’sonlyoneminebeenlocatedthere，an’it’spayinglikeanitratebed。Thereain’tmanypeopleinthatcountry，becauseit’sallhelltogetinto。Firstplace，yougottocrossDeathValleyandstriketheArmagosaRangefurofftothesouth。
Well，nooneain’tstuckoncrossingtheValley，notiftheycanhelpit。ButwecouldworkdownthePanamintsomehundredorsomiles，maybetwohundred，an’fetcharoundbytheArmagosaRiver，waytothesouth’erd。Wecouldprospectontheway。ButIguesstheArmagosa’dbedriedupatthisseason。Anyhow，“heconcluded，“we’llmovecamptothesouthto-morrow。Wegottogetnewfeedan’waterforthehorses。We’llseeifwecanknockoveracoupleofantelopeto-morrow，andthenwe’llscoot。“
“Iain’tgotagun，“saidthedentist；“notevenarevolver。
I——“
“Waitasecond，“saidCribbens，pausinginhisscrambledownthesideofoneofthesmallergulches。“Here’ssomeslatehere；Iain’tseennoslatearoundhereyet。Let’sseewhereitgoesto。“
McTeaguefollowedhimalongthesideofthegulch。Cribbenswentonahead，mutteringtohimselffromtimetotime：
“Runsrightalonghere，evenenough，andhere’swatertoo。
Didn’tknowthisstreamwashere；prettyneardry，though。
Here’stheslateagain。Seewhereitruns，pardner？“
“Lookatitupthereahead，“saidMcTeague。“Itrunsrightupoverthebackofthishill。“
“That’sright，“assentedCribbens。“Hi！“heshoutedsuddenly，“HERE’SA’CONTACT，’andhereitisagain，andthere，andyonder。Oh，lookatit，willyou？That’sgrano-
dioriteonslate。Couldn’twantitanymoredistinctthanthat。GOD！ifwecouldonlyfindthequartzbetweenthetwonow。“
“Well，thereitis，“exclaimedMcTeague。“Lookonaheadthere；ain’tthatquartz？“
“You’reshoutingrightoutloud，“vociferatedCribbens，lookingwhereMcTeaguewaspointing。Hisfacewentsuddenlypale。Heturnedtothedentist，hiseyeswide。
“ByGod，pardner，“heexclaimed，breathlessly。“ByGod——“
hebrokeoffabruptly。
“That’swhatyoubeenlookingfor，ain’tit？“askedthedentist。
“LOOKINGfor！LOOKINGfor！“Cribbenscheckedhimself。“That’sSLATEallright，andthat’sgrano-
diorite，Iknow“——hebentdownandexaminedtherock——
“andhere’sthequartzbetween’em；therecan’tbenomistakeaboutthat。Gi’methathammer，“hecried，excitedly。“Comeon，gittowork。Jabintothequartzwithyourpick；gitoutsomechunksofit。“Cribbenswentdownonhishandsandknees，attackingthequartzveinfuriously。
Thedentistfollowedhisexample，swinginghispickwithenormousforce，splinteringtherocksateverystroke。
Cribbenswastalkingtohimselfinhisexcitement。
“GotyouTHIStime，yousonofagun！ByGod！IguesswegotyouTHIStime，atlast。Lookslikeit，anyhow。
GETamoveon，pardner。Thereain’tanybody’round，isthere？Hey？“Withoutlooking，hedrewhisrevolverandthrewittothedentist。“Takethegunan’lookaround，pardner。IfyouseeanysonofagunANYWHERE，PLUG
him。Thisyere’sOURclaim。IguesswegotitTHIS
tide，pardner。Comeon。“Hegatheredupthechunksofquartzhehadbrokenout，andputtheminhishatandstartedtowardstheircamp。Thetwowentalongwithgreatstrides，hurryingasfastastheycouldovertheunevenground。
“Idon’know，“exclaimedCribbens，breathlessly，“Idon’
wanttosaytoomuch。Maybewe’refooled。Lord，thatdamncamp’salongwaysoff。Oh，Iain’tgoin’tofoolalongthisway。Comeon，pardner。“Hebrokeintoarun。
McTeaguefollowedatalumberinggallop。Overthescorched，parchedground，stumblingandtrippingoversage-brushandsharp-pointedrocks，underthepalpitatingheatofthedesertsun，theyranandscrambled，carryingthequartzlumpsintheirhats。
“Seeany’COLOR’init，pardner？“gaspedCribbens。“I
can’t，canyou？’Twouldn’tbevisiblenohow，Iguess。
Hurryup。Lord，weain’tevergoingtogettothatcamp。“
Finallytheyarrived。Cribbensdumpedthequartzfragmentsintoapan。
“Youpestleher，pardner，an’I’llfixthescales。“
McTeaguegroundthelumpstofinedustintheironmortarwhileCribbenssetupthetinyscalesandgotoutthe“spoons“fromtheiroutfit。
“That’sfineenough，“Cribbensexclaimed，impatiently。“Nowwe’llspoonher。Gi’methewater。“
Cribbensscoopedupaspoonfulofthefinewhitepowderandbegantospoonitcarefully。Thetwowereontheirhandsandkneesupontheground，theirheadsclosetogether，stillpantingwithexcitementandtheexertionoftheirrun。
“Can’tdoit，“exclaimedCribbens，sittingbackonhisheels，“handshakesso。YOUtakeit，pardner。Careful，now。“
McTeaguetookthehornspoonandbeganrockingitgentlyinhishugefingers，sluicingthewaterovertheedgealittleatatime，eachmovementwashingawayalittlemoreofthepowderedquartz。Thetwowatcheditwiththeintensesteagerness。
“Don’tseeityet；don’tseeityet，“whisperedCribbens，chewinghismustache。“LEETLEfaster，pardner。
That’stheticket。Careful，steady，now；leetlemore，leetlemore。Don’tseecoloryet，doyou？“
ThequartzsedimentdwindledbydegreesasMcTeaguespooneditsteadily。Thenatlastathinstreakofaforeignsubstancebegantoshowjustalongtheedge。Itwasyellow。
Neitherspoke。Cribbensdughisnailsintothesand，andgroundhismustachebetweenhisteeth。Theyellowstreakbroadenedasthequartzsedimentwashedaway。Cribbenswhispered：
“Wegotit，pardner。That’sgold。“
McTeaguewashedthelastofthewhitequartzdustaway，andletthewatertrickleafterit。Apinchofgold，fineasflour，wasleftinthebottomofthespoon。
“Thereyouare，“hesaid。Thetwolookedateachother。
ThenCribbensroseintotheairwithagreatleapandayellthatcouldhavebeenheardforhalfamile。
“Yee-e-ow！WeGOTit，westruckit。Pardner，wegotit。Outofsight。We’remillionaires。“Hesnatcheduphisrevolverandfireditwithinconceivablerapidity。“PUT
itthere，oldman，“heshouted，grippingMcTeague’spalm。
“That’sgold，allright，“mutteredMcTeague，studyingthecontentsofthespoon。
“Youbetyourgreat-grandma’sCochin-ChinaChessycatit’sgold，“shoutedCribbens。“Here，now，wegotalottodo。
Wegottostakeheroutan’putupthelocationnotice。
We’lltakeourfullacreage，youbet。You——wehaven’tweighedthisyet。Where’sthescales？“Heweighedthepinchofgoldwithshakinghands。“Twograins，“hecried。