What The Cat Dragged In — Janet Dawson

Hattie Ballew is a gold miner in California's Mother Lode. She works a claim with her brothers, and enjoys the company of her cat Little Bit, who pilfers things from the cabin and the surrounding woods.

As Hattie finds out in this short story, the lust for gold leads to violence â€" and murder. And Little Bit may drag in a clue.