This story appealed irresistibly to Mark as
a first-rate story told in a first-rate way; he divined in it the magic
quality unsuspected by the narrator--universal humour. He made notes in
order to remember the story, and on his return to the Gillis' cabin,
"wrote it up." He wrote a number of other things besides, all of which
he valued above the frog story; but Gillis thought it the best thing he
had ever written.
Meantime the rain had washed off the surface soil from their last pan,
which they had left in their hurry. Some passing miners were astonished
to behold the ground glittering with gold; they appropriated it, but
dared not molest the deposit until the expiration of the thirty-day
claim-notice posted by Jim Gillis. They sat down to wait, hoping that
the claimants would not return. At the expiration of the thirty days,
the claim-jumpers took possession, and soon cleared out the pocket,
which yielded twenty thousand dollars. It was one of the most fortunate
accidents in Mark Twain's career.
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