ON THE YUBA RIVER On the following day Joe and his comrade fell in with a party of men who, like themselves, were on their way to the Yuba River.

They were permitted to join them, and made an arrangement for a share of the provisions.

This removed all anxiety and insured their reaching their destination without further adventure.
The banks of the Yuba presented a busy and picturesque appearance.
On the banks was a line of men roughly clad, earnestly engaged in scooping out gravel and pouring it into a rough cradle, called a rocker.

This was rocked from side to side until the particles of gold, if there were any, settled at the bottom and were picked out and gathered into bags.

At the present time there are improved methods of separating gold from the earth, but the rocker is still employed by Chinese miners.
In the background were tents and rude cabins, and there was the unfailing accessory of a large mining camp, the gambling tent, where the banker, like a wily spider, lay in wait to appropriate the hard-earned dust of the successful miner.
Joe and his friend took their station a few rods from the river and gazed at the scene before them.
"Well, Mr.Bickford," said Joe, "the time has come when we are to try our luck." "Yes," said Joshua.