"Course we do!" laughed Hal. "Jan's a strong digger, and I can't do
very much, as my foot that used to be lame isn't all well yet. It used
to be almost as strong as the other, but now it isn't. So you and Jan
will have to do most of the digging, though I can shovel away the
dirt. Anyhow they always have girls or women in gold camps, you know."
"They do?" cried Ted.
"Of course! They do the cooking where there aren't any Chinamen.
Mostly Chinamen do the cooking in gold camps, but we haven't any, so
we'll have to have a girl. She can be Jan."
"There's a Chinaman who washes shirts and collars in our town,"
remarked Ted. "Maybe we could get him to cook for us."
"No! What's the use when we've got Jan? Anyhow it'll be only make-
believe cooking, and I don't guess that shirt-Chinaman would want to
come here just for that. Anyhow we'd have to pay him and we haven't
any money."
"We'll get some out of the gold mine," Ted answered.
"Well, maybe we won't find any gold for a week or so."
"Does it take as long as that?"
"Oh, yes. Sometimes longer. And that Chinaman would want to be paid
for his cooking every week, or every night maybe. We won't have to pay
Jan."
"That's so. Well, then I guess she can come. But we can get my mother
or Nora to make us sandwiches and we won't have to cook much of
anything."
"That's what I thought, Teddy.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137