Next morning he again went to inspect the mill stream and there
he found a piece of the shining stuff bigger than any he had found
the day before. Marshall picked up the piece, and when he felt it
heavy in his hand he began to feel a little excited.
Could it really be gold? he asked himself. Marshall did not know
much about gold, but he knew that it was heavy, and that it was
fairly soft. So he bit and hammered it with stones, and finding
that it was easily beaten out he at last decided that it was indeed
gold.
So he mounted his horse and rode off to Sutter to tell him of
his wonderful discovery. It was a pouring wet day in January, and
when Marshall reached the fort he was soaked through. But he took
no thought of that, and marching right into Sutter's office with
something of an air of mystery asked for a private talk.
Sutter wondered what had brought Marshall back from the mill, and
he wondered still more at the mysterious air.
Soon he understood. For Marshall took out a little bag, and emptying
what it held into his hand, held it out to Sutter.
"I believe this is gold," he said.
"It certainly looks like it," said Sutter in surprise.
Then Marshall told how he had found it in the mill stream, and that
he believed there were tons of it.
Sutter was a very great man in the countryside, and he had things
which no one else dreamed of having.
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