Our anxiety at this time was given an edge by the fact that the horses, having fed well, and becoming tired of the same place, were inclined to stray. It was impossible to keep them always on picket lines--the nature of the meadow would not permit it--and they soon learned to be very clever with their hobbles. Several mornings we put in an hour or so hunting them up and bringing them in before we could start work for the day. This wasted both time and temper. The result was that we drifted into partnership with Don Gaspar and Vasquez. I do not remember who proposed the arrangement; indeed, I am inclined to think it just came about naturally from our many discussions on the subject. Under the terms of it we appointed Vasquez to cook all the meals, take full care of the horses, chop the wood, draw the water, and keep camp generally. The rest of us worked in couples at the bar. We divided the gold into five equal parts. Our production at this time ran from five to seven ounces a day, which was, of course, good wages, but would not make our fortunes. We soon fell into a rut, working cheerfully and interestedly, but without excitement. The nature of our produce kept our attention. We should long since have wearied of any other job requiring an equal amount of work, but there was a never-ending fascination in blowing away the debris from the virgin gold. And one day, not far from us, two Hollanders--"Dutch Charleys," as the miners called that nationality--scooped from a depression in the bedrock mixed coarse gold thirty odd pounds in weight--over $5,000! That revived our interest, you may be sure. Most of the miners seemed content to stick to panning. Their argument was that by this method they could accumulate a fair amount of dust, and ran just as good chances of a "strike" as the next fellow. Furthermore, they had no tools, no knowledge and no time to make cradles. Those implements had to be very accurately constructed. We discussed this matter almost every evening. Yank was a great believer in improving the efficiency of our equipment. "It'll handle four or five times the dirt," said he "and that means four or five times the dust." "There's no lumber to be had anywhere," I objected. "I know where there's three good stout boxes made of real lumber that we can get for forty dollars," said Yank. "You can't cut that stuff up with an axe." "John Semple has a saw, a plane, and a hammer; he's a carpenter." "You bet he is!" agreed Johnny. "I was talking to him last night. He won't lend his tools; and he won't hire them. He'll come with them for fifty dollars a day." "All right," said Yank, "let's hire him. I'm pretty handy, and I'll stay right in camp and help him. Vasquez can go dig instead of me. We can get 'em cut out and fitted in two days, anyway. We've got the money!"