Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1937-10-22
CHAPTER Is

ter to appraise its worth, ne reached
into a pocket for his prospectors
magnifying glass.
Beside him, Kay talked on Of her
hopes. She couldn't understand, she
said, why this claim didn't pan out
more values. Day after day, the out
put seemed the same-enough for ex-
penses, enough to keep the cottage go
ing and to pay Mrs. Carewe, the wo-
man of all work = but little more.
Hammond hardly heard her. Again ne
was confirming what he had confirm
ed every day since Mckenzie Joe had
pulled out-the fact this was true mug
get gold and that there was not the
slightest indication of sniper material.
That had been a serious charge. 1t
had meant that Kay was pretending
to find gold when such had not been
the case. Why she should do this,
Joe Britten had not fully explained.
He had only insisted that the tiny
flakes and nuggets were 'sniper gold"
cleaned by scraping along the flat,
ledgelike rocks of the true current of
Loon Greek, where, acting in the same
manner as the rifles of flume, these
lodges had picked up stray bits of new
metal, washed down from the hills by
spring freshets. The old prospector
had insisted that they were not true
nuggets, that the force of water, driv-
ing them between thin lodges of stone,
had to a degree flattened them and
so marked them that the eyes of his
deep experience could identify them,
thus making it impossible for them to
have come from Kay's gravel bar
claim. Hammond himself had not
been given a chance to look; Kay, in
her anger, had thrown them away.
But here was no doubt that Kay's
acquisition was true gravel gold. The
same had been true on two-score other
surreptitious Investigations. 1t was
as though Jack Hammond had put Joe
Britten on trial, and day after day
was repeatedly proving him guilty.
"Pretty good nugget" he said at
last. cit must be about a penny
weight"
Gall of which helps" the girl an
swered, with a casual shrug of her
shoulders. maybe I'll get down to
real money some day-you never can
tell"
! Nobody can, with gold mining, -
Hammond answered. After a time he
returned to his own labors, again few
erish, again driving in his intensity
He knew that this claim of his was
beginning to weaken; the nuggets
were not as large or as frequent as
when he and Joe first had slashed in
to it. Doggedly he told himself that
it could not, must not, flash out. There
must be money to keep that work go
ing above. and he knew that Kenning
could not furnish it. In truth, Ken
ming was providing little in the form
of funds; they had thrown their hold
ings into one pot, share for share.
But the cash to keep development 60
ing must come from Hammond. Ken
ming made up for his lack of it by
his advice.
Late afternoon arrived. Abstracted-
ly, as he worked, Hammond became
aware that there was great deal of
loud conversation of a joyous type
from upstream, where Olson seemed
to find new pocket only that he
might dig into another. Several OF
the more successful placer miners
from more distant claims were there,
poking about. Mrs. Joyce also was
present; for that matter, it was sell
dom that Hammond looked toward o.
sons claim without finding her some
where in the picture.
It was not a new strike, he knew
that-there was no shouting and run
ming of curious miners from other
diggings. After a time Jack forgot
the matter. Then the work day end
ed and his men made the cleanup
Hammond pouched the nuggets there
from, walked a bit with Kay on the
trail to the cottage, and finally cut
away from her that he might lead up
stream and find Kenning at the new
development dozen shafts, driv.
ing deep into the earth upon broad
front, far from the last test pit which
Mckenzie Joe had dug, over against
the slope, in the forest. This was
abandoned now and covered with
logs. Jack had not been near it since
the day Mckenzie Joe went away. Al
last, sighting Kenning on the flat, he
shouted: