By noon the riffles were filled with gravelly mud, and Harry decided that they should be cleaned. So the water was turned off. Now for the test! "I see yellow! I see yellow!" asserted Terry, running from cleat to cleat, and eyeing the deposits against each; and indeed it did seem to him that the little dikes glistened roguishly. "You see more than I do, then," retorted Harry, rubbing his long nose. "What I see is more panning, after all, to sort that stuff." They dug the lodged stuff out with their knives, and panned several cleatsful at a time. Harry found a nugget (small one); little by little the gold left in the pans increased (hurrah!), until, at the wind-up---- "How much, do you think?" demanded Terry, excitedly. "Mighty near an ounce, and the nugget besides; say $40." Harry's dirty face was abeam. "And we've washed as much dirt in half a day as we could pan by hand in a week. At this rate we'll soon have both claims skinned to the rock, and'll need others. But I reckon we can find 'em, or buy 'em." "Looks as though we were going to be powerful rich, doesn't it?" said Terry, awed by the very thought. "We'll fill our oyster can." "Shucks!" remarked Harry. "I saw one sluice where they'd cleaned up $138 in a day--but there were four men working it, and they had more loose dirt than we've got. Our dirt's mostly rock. Anyway, we'll lay aside that $100 we owe Father Richards and have something to show extra before he and mother and the Stantons come in." However, the afternoon clean-up netted them, although they had dug the dirt from a deeper place which looked very promising, scarcely color! And when early, before breakfast, in the morning, Terry sallied out to survey about and plan for a big day, to his astonishment the rivulet was dry, except for a dribble! CHAPTER XIV PAT CASEY HELPS OUT He hastened back to the cabin with his eyes popping. "Our water's gone!" "What!" "It is. There's not enough to fill a tin cup!" "Great Scotland!" And setting aside the skillet and dropping his fork, Harry rushed out to see for himself. "Wonder if the blamed thing's drying up," he hazarded. "Well, we've got a pailful for drinking and cooking, anyway. And after breakfast we'll try to find out what's happened." They had not yet explored the little draw down which the water drained; it was shallow and uninteresting; but they did not need to go far to find out "what had happened." Around the shoulder of the first bend they arrived at a branch draw on the other side of their low hill, and were in the midst of some more claims. Water from a spring had been feeding the little draw and the branch draw both; but now a sluice had been set up, taking away so much that there was none left for the little draw. Several men were at work with the sluice. They paid no attention to their visitors until Harry interrupted the nearest. "Look here. You men have taken our water."