What ore had been blown out by?
the blast had been gathered up slick and clean.
"A bagful of that stuff," said Merry, "would mean a whole lot in dollars and cents.

Somebody has been 'high grading.'" "And he dropped a little of his swag as he went off with it," added Clancy, stepping off a few yards from the ledge and pointing to a bit of ore that lay on the ground.

"There is some of the fellow's loot," Clancy went on.

"It lies gold side up, and shimmers in the sun like a double eagle." He looked at the sample for a few moments, and then slipped it into his pocket.
"Finding is keeping," he grinned.

"This ought to pay you back, Chip, for the five you gave McGurvin in exchange for stuff that was actually worth about ten cents." Frank ran past Clancy for a couple of rods straight out into the valley.
"It was a thundering bad leak, Clan," he called, stooping down and gathering in another ore sample.