Never before, save, perhaps, when the lightning struck, had there been such excitement in the Crosby home. The farmer and his wife stared in amazement at the sight of their two sons doing a good imitation of a Highland fling, for Will had caught Jed's enthusiasm, and the two boys were singing and leaping about, "as if they were circus performers," as their mother said afterward. "Come on, Nettie, have a waltz!" exclaimed Jed. "We'll send you back enough gold for a pair of earrings and a bracelet!" "Jed! Jed!" exclaimed his mother. "Do behave yourself. You're not going to let them undertake that crazy plan, are you?" she asked of her husband. Mr. Crosby did not answer. He, too, was thinking of the golden West, and his poor farm that hardly supported him. "Of course we can go. Can't we, dad?" asked Jed. "Why, it will be the best thing that ever happened!" "It will--if we get the gold," added his brother, more soberly, for his first enthusiasm had begun to cool. "Find the gold? Of course we'll find the gold. Won't we, Mr. Harrison?" "Well, I always have been pretty lucky," replied the miner. "I always got gold when I went after it, but I didn't always keep it. If I had the money the gambler swindled me out of I'd be in good shape now." "Maybe that gambler your friend wrote about is the same one who swindled you," suggested Jed. "No. I guess Con Morton knows enough to keep away from Ted Jordan. He's looking for him, too. But I'll come across Con some day, and then I'll wager I'll make him shell out what he stole from me. But, Mr. Crosby, seriously speaking, why can't these two boys go with me? It will do them good. As Jed says, you won't need them on the farm now, and they may strike it rich. Stranger things have happened." "I don't know that I would object to having them go, in your company," said the farmer, "for I know they are good boys, and can take care of themselves. But I'm afraid I couldn't spare the money for railroad fares, and for the outfits." "Don't let that worry you," advised Gabe. "But it does worry me. You can't do anything in this world without money." "It doesn't take much to get an outfit for a gold prospector," replied the miner. "For that matter I'll undertake to see that they get what they need. I have friends enough out there to make that part easy." "But the railroad fares?" "We won't need any railroad fares." "How are you going to get out to that place with the queer name, then?" asked Mrs. Crosby. "Dizzy Gulch, you mean? That is a queer name, but it's a good one. It makes you dizzy when you stand on the edge and look down. But we'll get there all right. It's not more than eight hundred miles from here." "You can't walk that far," objected Nettie. "I know that," replied the miner. "We could, but we don't want to. We'll go on horseback." "Horseback?" repeated Jed.