We had a claim down among the boulders big as
a barn, at the base of the cabin, in the creek; but if
it contained any gold worth mentioning we had not
yet had any real evidence of it.
We toiled let that be understood we two together. I, of course, was not strong, and not worth much ; but he, from dawn till dark, never took rest at all. He was in earnest a thoughtful man now. He was working on a new problem, and was concerned. Often at night, by the light of the pine- log fire, I would see the severe lines of thought across his splendid face, and wished that I, too, was a strong man, and such a man as this.
Sometimes he would talk to me of myself, lay plans for us both, and be quite delighted to find that I left all to him. I think he was half glad to find I was so helpless and dependent.
It was a severe and cruel winter. I remember one Sunday I went down to the claim and found a lot of Calif ornian quails frozen to death in the snow. They had huddled up close as possible ; tried to keep warm, but perished there, every one. Maybe this was because we had cut away all the under-brush up and down the creek and let in the cold and snow, and left the birds without a shelter.
The Prince was entirely without money now, and anything in the shape of food was fifty cents and a dollar a pound. The gay gambler was being put to the test. It was a great fall from his grand life of the year before. It remained to be seen if he would
