Will began to dig, while the men gathered about him, with eager eyes watching him. It meant a lot to them, for some of them were down to their last dollar, and a rich strike would prove a fortune to them. "Did we put 'em as deep as that?" asked Jed, when Will had removed considerable dirt and had not come upon any of the precious yellow nuggets. "Must have, but I don't remember that we went very deep." "Let me have a try," suggested Ted. "I'll soon turn 'em out." He took the pick from Will and began to dig. He went quite deeply into the ground, and turned it up for some distance in a circle. But there were no nuggets. "They're--they're gone!" gasped Will at length. "Somebody's taken them! Morton and his gang!" came from Jed. "He saw where we hid them!" "He couldn't," insisted Will. "Are you sure this is the place?" asked Gabe anxiously. "Take a good look, boys." Much depended on the two young gold-hunters. The men gazed at them anxiously. "I'm sure that's the rock," said Will. "Aren't you, Jed?" "It certainly looks like it." "Is that the only mark you went by when you uncovered and then hid the nuggets?" went on the old miner. "Now, think carefully." "No, there was another stone near the big rock," said Jed suddenly. "I remember now. It looked like a man's face. I thought at the time that it looked like Con Morton. There were two rocks close together, a big one and a little one." "Where's the little one?" asked Gabe. "It's gone." "Maybe it's the big one that's gone," suggested the old miner. "What do you mean?" "I mean maybe the big stone got displaced by reason of the storm last night. It might have rolled several hundred feet out of the way. In that case you'd be all out of your calculations. Suppose you look for the little rock?" "That's it!" cried Jed. "I thought this place didn't look just right. It's farther up." They ran up the trail a little way, and Jed gave a shout of delight. "There's the little rock!" he cried. "Now for the nuggets!" They knew just where to dig now, and five minutes later Jed and Will had uncovered their store of gold. Such a shout as went up from the men, old Gabe joining in! "We've struck a bonanza!" cried Ted. And so they had; for when they came to stake out their claims, they found the indications were of such richness that the mines bid fair to be regular bonanzas. At Gabe's suggestion they formed a sort of company, taking in the men who had come with Ted at such an opportune time. Because they were the discoverers of the gold mine, Jed and Will were given larger shares than any of the others, though there was enough for all. "Now we must write and tell dad of our good luck," proposed Jed one night, in the new camp that had been formed near the place where the nuggets were found. "And I'll mail the letter," promised Ted. "I've got to ride to the town to-morrow." CHAPTER XXIII CHEERLESS PROSPECTS