Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Two Boy Gold Miners Or, Lost in the Mountains BY FRANK V. WEBSTER AUTHOR OF "THE BOY FROM THE RANCH," "BOB THE CASTAWAY," "THE NEWSBOY PARTNERS," "ONLY A FARM BOY," ETC. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1909, by CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY TWO BOY GOLD MINERS Printed in U. S. A. [Illustration: "It was burning fiercely, in spite of the drenching rain"] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. HARD TIMES 1 II. AFTER THE RUNAWAY 10 III. THE GOLD MINER 18 IV. A CURIOUS STORY 26 V. MORE HARD LUCK 34 VI. THE GOLD STRIKE 42 VII. OFF FOR THE WEST 51 VIII. THE BUCKING BRONCO 58 IX. AFTER BIG GAME 66 X. IN THE RAPIDS 74 XI. CAUGHT IN A STORM 83 XII. AT THE GOLD FIELDS 90 XIII. ON A NEW TRAIL 95 XIV. THE MARSHAL INTERFERES 103 XV. THEIR FIRST GOLD 110 XVI. LOST 118 XVII. CORNERED BY A BEAR 126 XVIII. FINDING THE NUGGETS 133 XIX. CON MORTON APPEARS 139 XX. PURSUED 145 XXI. WHAT HAPPENED TO GABE 162 XXII. STAKING THEIR CLAIMS 169 XXIII. CHEERLESS PROSPECTS 186 XXIV. LOSING THE FARM 194 XXV. THE WELCOME LETTER--CONCLUSION 200 TWO BOY GOLD MINERS CHAPTER I HARD TIMES "What's the matter, Enos?" asked a rather elderly and careworn looking woman, as she stood in the kitchen door of a small farmhouse. The man to whom she had spoken was gazing up at the sky. His clothes were patched in places, the trousers so much so that there seemed to be very little of the original material left. He did not appear to hear his wife's question, so she repeated it. "What's the matter, Enos? What are you looking up at the sky that way for?" "I was looking for a sign of rain, Debby. We need some terribly bad." "Do you see any?" "Nope. There isn't a cloud in sight, and the wind has hung in the east for nigh on to a week. Seems so it ought to bring a shower, but it don't come." "Things are pretty dry around here, aren't they, Enos?"