to bedrock and then I’ll continue along, heading under the river. No matter where the gold came from or how long ago the ancient rivers deposited it, the placer gold can go no lower than bedrock. Might find some large nuggets down there.”
Jack hung the lantern from a spike he’d driven into the wall of the tunnel. As he lifted the light she saw what he’d made out of the collection of metal and parts.
“Is it a steam engine?” she asked, stepping closer to touch the round boiler he had riveted together. Impressive did not begin to cover it. She’d seen the boat he’d made, but this was truly marvelous. “But why have it down here? And where are the wheels?”
Jack laughed. “No wheels. I place it, then fill it then use it.”
“For digging?”
“That I still have to do.”
“Well don’t keep me guessing. What does it do, Jack?”
“It’s a steam engine, as you said, but I use the steam to melt the ice and loosen the gravel. Then I only have to gather up the load and haul it up to my Long Tom and let the stream wash away the gravel.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “That’s genius! All the mine owners will want one.”
“I hope so. My next step is to gather investors and make more from this prototype. Then I’ll sell the engine with instruction on how to use it to best effect.” Jack waved his hands. “I patented it before leaving.”
“You could sell them outright or take a percentage of all the mines that use your machine.”
Jack cocked his head.
“That’s a thought. But I’m still testing it. Perhaps, after I work out all the bugs. So you like it?”
She hugged him in answer, gratified to feel his strong arms wrap around her once more.
He didn’t release her, so she smiled up at him, basking in the close familiarity of his embrace. His grin made him look boyish. She wanted to kiss him, but she reined herself in.
“I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, partner.” He let her go and she had to stop herself from stepping back toward him as he moved to the machine.
“You’ll make a fortune.” Her smile faltered as she realized that the faster he succeeded in regaining his wealth, the more quickly he would leave her behind. The realization took all the joy from her. Her shoulders sagged.
“Come on.” He drew out a match. “Let me show you how it works.”
Lily spent the next hour waiting for the water to boil and then for the steam pressure to build, but once he had the engine up to heat, it melted the ice from the gravel like hot water through cold butter. Jack manned a rubber hose, fixed with a nozzle that helped him control the steam flowing from the end.
It was truly a wonder.
Jack extracted a wheelbarrow full of material in a matter of minutes, then released the steam and doused the fire in the boiler. He wheeled the material up to the surface and then sent it through his Long Tom, concentrating the gravel to just the heaviest matter, while the rest washed through the riffles and back into the river. She kept a sharp eye out for nuggets as he tossed away the larger pieces of waste rock.
After he had shoveled the last of the material into the box and let the water diverted from the stream wash over it, he slid a plank down across the top opening, shutting off the water. Lily helped him collect the sand and gravel that had survived the rush of water. The total barely filled his gold pan and she was disappointed to see no nuggets. He took the pan inside where he kept his washtub, right in the center of the ten-by-ten foot room. Nala appeared and then wandered out again, as he washed the concentrates free of sand. The gold seemed to grow before her eyes as the gravel fell into the catch basin. She plucked out the largest nugget, the size of an almond, and held it up toward the only light which streamed weakly through the open cabin door. The days were more and more overcast and she feared, though it was only September, that it might soon snow.
Jack extracted and measured the nuggets that were coarse and ranged from the size of a grain of rice to one as large as her thumbnail. When he finished weighing the haul, the single pan came to $2.50 worth of gold. Lily beamed with pride.
“Not folderol?” he