In the Land of the Long White Cloud

Unprofitable arts had defined his interests; without the money his father made from Kiward Station, he was nothing, and his chances of managing the farm successfully himself had always been slim. Gerald had been right: Lucas had failed in every way.
    While Lucas dwelled on his gloomy thoughts, David was waking up behind him.
    “Hey, I think I fell asleep,” he reported cheerfully. “Oh man, Luke, what a view! Is that Buller Gorge?”
    Below the mule path, the river wound its way between the rocky cliffs. The view over the river valley and the mountains around it was breathtaking.
    “I suppose so,” said Lucas. “But whoever found gold here didn’t put up any signs explaining how.”
    “Then it would be too easy,” David said optimistically. “And then everything would already be gone, since it took us so long to get out here. Hey, I’m hungry! Why don’t we stop for a bit?”
    Lucas shrugged, though the path they were on was ill suited for a rest stop, being rocky and lacking grass for the horse. So they agreed to ride for another half hour and look for a better place.
    “Doesn’t look like there’s gold here anyway,” David said. “And when we do stop, I want to look around.”
    Their patience was soon rewarded. A short while later they reached a high plateau on which grew not only the omnipresent ferns but also lush grass for the horse. The Buller followed its course far below them; directly beneath their stopping place was one of the small strands of golden-yellow sand.
    “Do you think anyone’s ever had the idea to pan there?” David took a bite of bread, forming the same idea Lucas had earlier. “Could be that it’s full up with nuggets.”
    “Wouldn’t that be too easy?” Lucas smiled. The boy’s enthusiasm cheered him up. But David refused to give up that easily.
    “Exactly! That’s why no one’s tried it yet. What do you bet, they get green eyes when we pan a couple of nuggets out of there nice and easy?”
    Lucas laughed. “Try it on a strand that’s easier to reach. You’d have to be able to fly to get down to that one.”
    “Another reason no one’s tried it. This is the spot where we find our gold, Luke! I’m sure of it. I’ll climb down there.”
    Lucas shook his head, concerned. The boy seemed to have become possessed. “Davey, half of all the gold panners take the river. They’ve already been through here and have probably rested on that strand the same as we’re resting up here. There’s no gold, believe me.”
    “Now how do you know that?” David leaped up. “I, at least, believe in my luck. I’m going to climb down and have a look!”
    The boy searched for a good point of departure, and Lucas watched him, horrified, over the precipice.
    “David, it’s at least fifty yards! And it gets steep near the bottom. You can’t climb down there!”
    “Of course I can!” The boy disappeared over the edge of the cliff.
    “David!” Lucas had the feeling his voice sounded like a screech. “David, wait! At least let me tie a rope around you.”
    Lucas had no idea if the ropes they had brought along were long enough, but he pulled them out of the saddlebags, panicking.
    David didn’t wait. He didn’t detect any danger; climbing was fun for him, and he didn’t experience vertigo. However, he was not an experienced mountain climber. He could not tell whether a rock ledge was secure or likely to break, and he had not counted on the soil on that seemingly secure ledge, on which grew a patch of grass, being wet and slippery from the rain when he carelessly burdened it with his whole weight.
    Lucas heard the scream before he had finished gathering all the rope. His first impulse was to run to the cliff’s edge, but then he realized that David must be dead. No one could survive a fall from this height. Lucas began to shake and for several seconds leaned his forehead against the saddlebags that were draped over the patient horse. He did not know whether he could summon the courage to look down at the shattered body of his beloved.
    Suddenly he heard a weak, choked voice.
    “Luke…help me! Luke!”
    Lucas ran. It couldn’t be true; he couldn’t…
    Then he saw the boy on a rock protrusion maybe twenty yards below him. He was bleeding from a wound above his eye, and his leg was bent at a strange angle, but he was alive.
    “Luke, I think I broke my leg! It hurts so bad.”
    David sounded afraid; he seemed to be fighting back tears, but he was alive. And his position