Mark Twain's partner, Higbie, discovers that a recent find is actually a "blind lead" and consequently available to be claimed. They file a claim and have ten days to do a reasonable amount of work on the claim and they will become millionaires.

Mark and his partner, Higbie, row out to the big island in Mono Lake and nearly get stranded without food or water. They manage to get back to shore through a storm that threatens to turn them into a mass of soap suds.

Mark Twain's description of Mono Lake and environs. Personally, I find the area very picturesque.

The story, or rather a story of the elusive Whiteman Cement Mine. There are a couple of other stories about this mine available on the web that offer variations from this version. Cement Gold Mine of Mammoth Mountain

A lesson in quartz milling for the extraction of silver from the mined ore bearing quartz. I wonder how many of the people involved suffered from mercury poisoning.

Capt John Nye proves to be an invaluable traveling companion. Then, we learn just how devious the operators of silver mines can be.

A practical joke played on "an emigrant".

Mark and company return to consciousness and resume their old vices. Then, on to Carson City.

Lost and alone in a storm, our travelers try some anecdotal techniques for starting a fire, but fail. Then, to sleep perchance to dream.