The truth was that maybe one out of a hundred of these fumbling adventurers would ever see a trace of real gold in the bottom of their pan.The horde o... "Forty-niners" eventually turned to more lucrative endeavors like farming or ranching or even tending bar at a saloon.Way back where the source waters of the American River began its journey from the foothills of the distant mountain range, one such claim was being worked diligently by a family of seven brothers from the clan of McGregor, a. I drove past and saw that he turned his head to get a view of me as I did so.I pulled up about twenty yards past his car, parked and quickly slipped into the bushes on a well-worn path. Feeling much more comfortable I got back into my car ready to set off once more. Then I noticed his brake lights flash a couple of times, and a few moments later flash again. I was sure he was trying to attract my attention, but I didn’t want to misunderstand his intentions.I sat in the car a minute or so. The day went by incredibly slowly. There wasn’t anything for me to do but watch and observe. I clocked out at the end of my shift and went home to relax for the rest of the night. The next day I came in early. I wanted some time alone to look over things and to get the feel of everything before everyone else came in. Not long after I got there, other employees showed up as well. Apparently I wasn’t the only one that liked coming in early. This was the first time I met Brooke since she had the. All I do is wash test tubes, but I enjoy the work.”Looking at the expression on Tom’s face, Dan asked, “What do you like about it?”“There’s a kind of demand for precision that I’ve never experienced before. You measure everything. If the formula calls for a hundred milliliters of water, it means one hundred milliliters and not ninety-nine or a hundred and one. You have to check and double check everything. I kind of like it,” Tom said.It seemed to Dan that no time had passed since Tom had.