第56章

“Iwaslookingforajob。“

“Well，it’smostlycattledownhereinthePanamint，butsincethestrikeoveratGoldGulchsomeoftheboyshavegoneprospecting。There’sgoldinthemdamnPanamintMountains。Ifyoucanfindagoodlong’contact’ofcountryrocksyouain’tfarfromit。There’sacoupleoffellarsfromRedlandshaslocatedfourclaimsaroundGoldGulch。

Theygotaveineighteenincheswide，an’Peterssaysyoucantraceitformore’nathousandfeet。Wereyouthinkingofprospectingoverthere？“

“Well，well，Idon’know，Idon’know。“

“Well，I’mgoingovertotheothersideoftherangedayaftert’morrowaftersomeponiesofmine，an’I’mgoingtohavealookaround。Yousayyou’vebeenaminer？“

“Yes，yes。“

“Ifyou’regoingoverthatway，youmightcomealongandseeifwecan’tfindacontact，orcoppersulphurets，orsomething。Evenifwedon’tfindcolorwemayfindsilver-

bearinggalena。“Then，afterapause，“Let’ssee，Ididn’tcatchyourname。“

“Huh？Myname’sCarter，“answeredMcTeague，promptly。Whyheshouldchangehisnameagainthedentistcouldnotsay。

“Carter“cametohismindatonce，andheansweredwithoutreflectingthathehadregisteredas“Burlington“whenhehadarrivedatthehotel。

“Well，myname’sCribbens，“answeredtheother。Thetwoshookhandssolemnly。

“You’reaboutfinished？“continuedCribbens，pushingback。

“Le’sgooutinthebaran’haveadrinkonit。“

“Sure，sure，“saidthedentist。

ThetwosatuplatethatnightinacornerofthebarroomdiscussingtheprobabilityoffindinggoldinthePanaminthills。Itsoonbecameevidentthattheyhelddifferingtheories。McTeagueclungtotheoldprospector’sideathattherewasnowayoftellingwheregoldwasuntilyouactuallysawit。Cribbenshadevidentlyreadagoodmanybooksuponthesubject，andhadalreadyprospectedinsomethingofascientificmanner。

“Shucks！“heexclaimed。“Gi’mealongdistinctcontactbetweensedimentaryandigneousrocks，an’I’llsinkashaftwithouteverSEEING’color。’“

Thedentistputhishugechinintheair。“Goldiswhereyoufindit，“hereturned，doggedly。

“Well，it’smyideaashowpardnersoughttoworkalongdifferentlines，“saidCribbens。Hetuckedthecornersofhismustacheintohismouthandsuckedthetobaccojuicefromthem。Foramomenthewasthoughtful，thenheblewouthismustacheabruptly，andexclaimed：

“Say，Carter，le’smakeagoofthis。YougotalittlecashIsuppose——fiftydollarsorso？“

“Huh？Yes——I——I——“

“Well，Igotaboutfifty。We’llgopardnersontheproposition，an’we’lldally’roundtherangeyonderan’seewhatwecansee。Whatdoyousay？“

“Sure，sure，“answeredthedentist。

“Well，it’sagothen，hey？“

“That’stheword。“

“Well，le’shaveadrinkonit。“

Theydrankwithprofoundgravity。

TheyfittedoutthenextdayatthegeneralmerchandisestoreofKeeler——picks，shovels，prospectors’hammers，acoupleofcradles，pans，bacon，flour，coffee，andthelike，andtheyboughtaburroonwhichtopacktheirkit。

“Say，byjingo，youain’tgotahorse，“suddenlyexclaimedCribbensastheycameoutofthestore。“Youcan’tgetaroundthiscountrywithoutaponyofsomekind。“

Cribbensalreadyownedandrodeabuckskincayusetha