Up before the crack of dawn, the excited crew had their belongingspacked and out the door! For breakfast today, Mammy pulled out her special,pancakes, waffles, omelets, and bacon crackling to the sound of the merrychatter. "Coffee was on the house!" Mammy declared, and the localstipped her generously. Back to their claimed spots they went and so thenew day was rewarded with the sun displaying a...

The group of miners, now a bit larger as the enthusiastic mood of the few spread far and wide. All the time spent indoors together, made a close pact and off they headed with tools in hand to venture into a new day.Back in the canoe, Black Hat Jack and the Goldsmith moved up stream to a creek bed they had discovered before the rains. The familiar blue black slates and schists through the creek...

The rain poured for several weeks, an unusual amount, the locals said. All the anticipation and cooped up feelings were talked over daily at Mammy's café. Goldsmith found the time began to change his outlook on these local people. What once he found to be curt, rude detachment, he began to understand as discouragement and hardships.  He thought of his own comfortable childhood, his complaints...

Barely escaping the torrential downpour, Goldsmith entered his small cabin with great anticipation. The little wood stove still had a few coals from the morning fire, and he quickly gathered his wood for the night. The glass door on the stove flickered orange and yellow rays of warmth as the tired but happy explorer fell fast to sleep.The rain poured and poured day after day. This was much to the...

The week passed by so quickly that the Goldsmith had to ask a local what day it was. All the excitement of preparing for a possible exploration on the river bed sent a buzz throughout the whole village. Helpful hands would show up here and there offering their meager supplies. “As it stands, ” Goldsmith commented to a local, who now regularly showed up to join him at his table at Mammy’s....