“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。