{"product_id":"2940013243316","title":"THE YOUNG MINER","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GOLD-SEEKERS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA dozen men, provided with rockers, were busily engaged in gathering and\u003cbr\u003ewashing dirt, mingled with gold-dust, on the banks of a small stream in\u003cbr\u003eCalifornia. It was in the early days, and this party was but one of\u003cbr\u003ehundreds who were scattered over the new Eldorado, seeking for the\u003cbr\u003eshining metal which throughout the civilized world exercises a sway\u003cbr\u003epotent and irresistible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have said there were a dozen men, but this is a mistake. One of the\u003cbr\u003eparty was a well-grown boy of sixteen, with a good-humored and even\u003cbr\u003ehandsome face. He was something more than good-humored, however. There\u003cbr\u003ewas an expression on his face which spoke of strength and resolution\u003cbr\u003eand patient endurance. The readers of \"The Young Adventurer\" will at\u003cbr\u003eonce recognize in our young hero Tom Nelson, the oldest son of a poor\u003cbr\u003eNew England farmer, who, finding no prospects at home, had joined the\u003cbr\u003etide of emigrants pouring from all parts of the country to the land of\u003cbr\u003ewhich so many marvelous stories were told. Tom had come to work; and\u003cbr\u003ethough he doubtless shared to some extent the extravagant anticipations\u003cbr\u003eof the great body of Eastern visitors who hoped to make a fortune in a\u003cbr\u003eyear, he did not expect to succeed without hard toil.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis companions belonged to the same party with whom he had crossed the\u003cbr\u003eplains, under the leadership of Phineas Fletcher, a broad-shouldered\u003cbr\u003eIllinois farmer, who had his family with him. Next to Tom was Donald\u003cbr\u003eFerguson, a grave Scotchman, and Tom's special friend; a man of\u003cbr\u003eexcellent principles, thoroughly reliable, and held in high respect by\u003cbr\u003eall though not possessed of popular manners. On the other side was\u003cbr\u003eLawrence Peabody, a young Boston clerk, who had spent several years\u003cbr\u003ebehind a dry-goods counter. He was soft and effeminate, with no talent\u003cbr\u003efor \"roughing it,\" and wholly unfitted for the hard work which he had\u003cbr\u003eundertaken. He was deeply disappointed in his first work at\u003cbr\u003egold-hunting, having come out with the vague idea that he should pick up\u003cbr\u003ea big nugget within a short time that would make his fortune and enable\u003cbr\u003ehim to go home a rich man. The practical side of gold-seeking--this\u003cbr\u003ewashing particles of dust from the dirt of the river-bed--was in the\u003cbr\u003ehighest degree unsatisfactory and discouraging. He was not a bad fellow;\u003cbr\u003eand his companions, though they laughed at him, were well disposed\u003cbr\u003etowards him.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47182672330992,"sku":"2940013243316","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013243316_p0.jpg?v=1763578726","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013243316","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}