"There may be gold down here," thought the youth, and resolved to investigate. It was no easy matter to reach the bottom of the gully, and he had to make use of a rope for that purpose. Then traveling along the bottom of the opening proved laborious and his progress was necessarily slow. Mark had been hunting around a good two hours when he came to a spot where a large and somewhat flat rock had blocked a portion of the landslide. Under the flat rock was an opening several feet wide and almost as high as his head. How deep it was he could not tell from the outside. His curiosity was excited, and he lit a bit of tallow candle he carried and walked into the opening a distance of several yards. It was smaller inside and he had to walk along with bent head. Then he came to where several sharp rocks stuck out in a semicircle, with a good deal of sand and dirt underneath. He placed his candle on a rock and began to examine the interior of the cavern. The sand looked as if it contained gold, and he took some in his hand and held it close to the light. "Gold, beyond a doubt!" he murmured. "This spot ought to pay very well. It may be every bit as good as the spot the others are now working. No use of talking, California is certainly the land of gold!" He continued to hunt around the cavern, finding evidences of loose gold on all sides of him. Then, with a small crowbar he was carrying, he pried up several of the rocks, taking care not to disturb any which might bring the roof down on his head. One rock in particular was hard to move, but Mark kept at it, and presently it fell away, revealing a dark pocket several feet in depth. The young gold hunter took his candle and held it down in front of him. "Eureka!" Mark gasped out the word, as a dull, yellowish lump lying on some sand below caught his eye. His hand began to tremble so that he let the tallow candle fall into the hole. It went out, leaving him in darkness. "A nugget, I'll wager my head!" he murmured and reached down into the hole. Soon he had hold of the lump and with an effort he raised it up and placed it on the floor of the cavern. Then he took it in both hands and stumbled to the outer air with his find. The sight before him almost took away his breath. He held in his hand a nugget that was almost pure gold. It was of good size and heavy, and he knew it must be worth at least five thousand dollars, if not much more! CHAPTER XXIX A FORTUNE IN NUGGETS Mark continued to look at the nugget with great interest. It was the largest find made in that territory and his joy knew no bounds. "Perhaps there are more of them," he told himself. "If so, our fortunes are made." At last he placed the nugget on one side of the cavern and felt down in the hole for what was left of the candle. It was only a tiny mite, and before he could do more than take a second look at the hole it went out, leaving nothing but a patch of grease behind.