Apparently at the same moment the guide, who is walking ahead as
usual, has made up his mind as to the apparition, for he halts and
walks back to the cart.
‘What the deuce is that? Who do you think they are?’
‘Well, sir, they’re a couple of “travellers,” on the same lay as
ourselves—far as I can make out. They’ve no horse, nor cart—so they’ve
been goin’ slow, naturally. They’ve not found our show, or they’d ’a
stopped on it—or be makin’ back to raise an outfit. I can’t quite make
out whether they’re goin’ on to the hill, or just on the turn-back for
want of grub. We’d better act cautious with them after seein’ who they
are.’
‘We ought to go over to them?’
‘That’s my idee, sir. If we head for the mountain, they’ll be sure to
foller us up, thinkin’ we’ve reasons for it. It’s too late to pretend
to go back. They’ve seen we _were_ headin’ for the hill, anyway, and
it won’t bluff ’em if we turn round, besides losin’ time.’
‘I agree with you,’ said the Commissioner. ‘Put the saddle on the
leader; I’ll ride over and talk to them.’
‘All right, sir; if they’re men to be trusted we can take ’em in as
mates. We can’t hold a Reward Claim, or leastways work it, with only
our two selves. There’s enough for all, if we can only get to work.’
The leading horse was saddled. On riding over to the camp of the
wayfarers, the Commissioner was at once struck by its peculiar
appearance. The articles scattered about the door of the bell tent
were certainly not those of the ordinary miner. The towels were of
better than usual quality; the bath sponges, arranged for drying, were
larger than usual—other articles of the toilet similarly distinctive.
‘Pleased to see you, sir!’ said one of the young men, with a clear
British accent. ‘’Fraid we can’t offer you much in the way of
refreshment. Point of fact we’ve had nothing to eat for the last
forty-eight hours but dried apples—they’re not so bad when they’ve
been well soaked.’
‘Don’t exaggerate, Denzil!’ said his companion. ‘They’re just a trifle
better than stewed boots, if you ask me. But we’re alive, which is
something—though how long we shall last out is a very, very doubtful
question.’
‘Permit me to introduce myself as Arnold Banneret. My mate and I are
travelling due north, unless we strike something attractive.’
‘Just our case,’ said the elder of the two young men—they were neither
of them far from the legal standard of manhood—‘except that we’re
travelling due south—isn’t it south, Denzil? I’m not much of a
geographical chap, but we’re going back to Coolgardie—if we can get
there. Sorry we can’t join forces—awfully so; give you my word.’
The Commissioner gazed searchingly at the strangers. Accustomed to
reading faces—and in circumstances where a mistake might have cost him
dear, he had often been forced to act upon a hasty summing-up of
presumed character. He did so in this instance. ‘Swells out of luck,’
was his unspoken verdict. ‘Temporarily, of course. The dark one has
the face, the bold and steady look, of a born explorer. He’ll go far
yet. The other boy is the well-bred youth of the day, with little
experience but that of Oxford or Cambridge. Athletics are chiefly in
his line. But they are men as well as gentlemen, I’m convinced.’
‘Our acquaintance has been short,’ he said, ‘but may develop later on.
As I have a proposal to make, may I ask whom I have the pleasure of
addressing?’
‘My friend’s name is Southwater. My own name Newstead,’ said the
‘traveller.’ ‘As you say, we haven’t seen each other before, but are
quite ready to consider any offer that it suits you to make.’ His
friend nodded assent. ‘From present appearances the advantage seems
likely to be entirely on our side.’
‘We shall see,’ said the Commissioner; ‘probably it may be mutual. In
the meanwhile, will you come over and take breakfast with me? I’ll go
on ahead and speak to my mate.’ And he cantered off.
The young men lost no time in collecting their property, and arranging
it into the ‘swags’ of the period, with a celerity to be acquired only
by experience.
‘This _is_ a throw-in!’ said the younger man to his friend. ‘I wonder
who our distinguished stranger is? There was a note of authority in
his manner, though nothing could be more courteous than his bearing.
Looks like an army man—though we can’t be certain. But I’ll swear he’s
held a command somewhere. At any rate we are sure of getting something
to eat. People with a waggonette always have a stock of provisions
which we poor swagmen can’t rival.’
‘Swagmen, indeed!’ laughed his friend. ‘I wonder what the girls at
Brancepeth or Aunt Eleanora would think if they saw us now?’
‘Why, of course, that they always knew it would come to this. Probably
turn bushrangers before we’d done. At any rate we’re not likely to be
robbed. _Cantabit vacuus_—eh?’
On reaching the waggonette they found the regulation meal laid out
upon a board supported by tressels, a portable affair such as
surveyors carry. People living much in tents are ingenious in
contrivances for comfort. There were also camp-stools, equally light
and effective. Corned beef and damper, with tin plates, were set out,
while the inevitable ‘billy’ was boiling near a small but hot fire.
‘This is John Waters, my partner, gentlemen,’ said their entertainer;
‘as a miner of experience I guarantee him.’ Here old Jack shook hands
solemnly with the new arrivals, while regarding them with fixed and
scrutinising eye. ‘You will find him a “white man” in the best sense
of the word. After lunch I shall be happy to talk business. Allow me
to help you to this excellent corned beef.’
‘Thanks awfully; we shan’t be long, I assure you—we’ve not had a
square meal since we left Coolgardie. You mustn’t mind if we seem
greedy. As for me, I’m ravenous, but still capable of self-restraint.’
‘Fellows grumble at a tough steak at home,’ said Southwater; ‘talk
about having no appetite till 8 P.M. I wonder what they would say to
camp fare in Australian deserts? Lucky we didn’t fall across any
blacks, or roast picaninny would have suggested itself.’
The meal concluded, at which the strangers did not, in spite of their
confession, exhibit extraordinary eagerness, their entertainer lit his
pipe and commenced the conference. ‘I was doubtful lest our interests
might be antagonistic,’ said he, ‘but we meet now on a different
footing.’
‘We should have started back to Coolgardie in half an hour,’ said
Mr. Newstead. ‘Denzil and I were played out, and had resolved on
turning back in preference to leaving our bones to bleach by the
wayside. Your appearance decided us to reconsider. I take it you have
a “show” farther on?’
‘That is the precise state of the case. Here is the prospector who
discovered our bonanza, and will explain.’
‘Best reef I ever seen,’ interposed the grizzled veteran—‘and I’m a
“forty-niner.” So that says somethin’. If no one’s dropped across my
cache (as the trappers say) there’s enough to make all our fortunes
twice over. We can be t’other side of that there hill inside of twelve
hours.’
‘Shortly. You understand enough of mining law, I presume, to see that
though we can take up a Reward Claim, we can’t work it with two men. I
see by your hands—excuse me—that the manual part of mining is not
unknown to you. We _must_ take in some one. I prefer, and so does
Jack, to work with gentlemen, so I’m prepared to offer you such shares
as may be further agreed between us when the allocation takes place.’
‘It sounds too good to be true,’ said Newstead. ‘You are not going to
lure us into a cavern and slay us for our property, are you? But one
can’t help regarding oneself as the modernest Aladdin. In any case, I
say, done with you, magician or no! and so does Denzil, if I know him.
Allow me to help pack, and follow, as Dick Burton used to write to his
wife—the pay portion of the injunction must await developments.’
* * * * *
The journey was resumed, the saddle was removed from the leader’s
back, and placed in the waggonette, as were also the effects of the
new associates. Apparently willing workers, they proved themselves
cheery and entertaining companions.
Unaffected in manner and simple of speech, it was yet apparent, though
they conversed on perfectly equal terms with old Jack as with the
Commissioner, that they had moved in the _haute volée_ of English
society.
They made no statement to that effect, but it was indirectly plain to
the Commissioner, himself an aristocrat by birth and social
surroundings, that such was the case. It was many a year since he had
been ‘home,’ yet, nevertheless, the merry chatter of these youngsters,
which, though careless, was redolent of the best English ‘form,’ was
refreshing in the life of a man who, though long absent from the old
country, was yet in full sympathy with her ideas and traditions. So
they fared on for the long remaining hours of the day, until they
reached the spinifex flat, immediately adjacent to the base of the
hill which had been so long within sight, but without reaching the
gradually ascending ‘rise’ which led to a plateau slightly above the
level of the plain. Here they halted—to feed the horses and await the
rising of the moon—after which the journey would recommence.
‘We can’t afford to take no risks,’ said the old man; ‘we might have
another party comin’ along from “the Cross” way. And if they got there
first—some men’s that smart, you’d a’most swear as they could smell
the gold—there’d be a barney over it; and law, likely as not, which
you never know how it might turn out. So I’m thinkin’ it’s best to go
on, and collar right away—that’ll put an end to all bother in one
act.’
As the other members of the party were, more or less, excited and
ardent with the thought that the tedious journey was nearly at an end,
with fame and fortune almost within their grasp (for when is fortune
achieved without fame following dutifully behind the triumphal
car?)—the Commissioner, with the far-off cottage ready to be illumined
with the glad tidings, and the children’s shouts almost in his ears;
the young men, fired with the idea of a return to England with a
record rivalling that of the hero who ‘broke the bank at Monte
Carlo,’—no objection was raised. And when the moon, nearly at her
full, rose slowly over the horizon, commencing to flood the wide bare
solitudes, the plain, the hill crags, the mighty sweep of waterless
silent landscape, and deserted save for themselves, it seemed a weird
mockery to expect anything of the nature of wealth won from a region
so far removed from the benevolence of Nature or of man.
Leaving one of the ‘jackeroos’ (as the old man called them,
apologising, however, and explaining the term) to take charge of the
waggonette, the others followed the prospector for a few hundred yards
until, as they came to a spot where a few stones had been carelessly
thrown together, he stopped, and pointed to a stake. ‘There it is!’ he
gasped; ‘no one’s been next or anigh it. I’ll go round, sir, with you
and see the other ones. If Mr. Southwater’ll go back to the cart, and
feed the horses, and start a fire to boil the billy, we’ll make sure
that nothing’s been touched since I left here months ago. It’s not far
from daylight, and after a bit of breakfast we can open up the reef,
and you’ll see what sort of a show it is.’
* * * * *
‘Well, this is something what we went into the wilderness to see—not
to be profane—but isn’t it exactly what one would have thought in the
old, old days? This _is_ a wilderness, and no mistake. I used to
wonder what one was like when I was at school. Now I know.’
‘Wild and bare, and open to the air,’ continued Mr. Newstead. ‘It
takes a lot of imagination to think of villages, towns, cities, and so
on—“in this neglected spot,” as Gray’s _Elegy_ hath it. But _gold_
rules the court, the camp, the grove, rather more strongly than
t’other imperial power. Everything else follows in its train, so they
tell me—Denzil and I are too young to lay down the law on these great
subjects. We’ll live and learn, I surmise, as our American friend
said.’
* * * * *
The stakes had been duly cut, sharpened, and driven in, as far as the
rocky nature of the hill permitted. There was no path or track to the
wondrous spot itself. The faint footsteps of a weak, overwrought,
famished man left no imprint upon rock or sand.
An aboriginal tracker on the man-hunt for foe or felon might have
read, from a displaced pebble, a bent or broken twig, a deeper indent
from a stumbling boot, that a white man had passed that way, but no
senses less keen than those of the desert roamer could have followed
the tokens of travel.
‘I’d been in an’ out them upper gulches,’ said Jack, reminiscent of
Californian digger talk, ‘and what with bein’ tol’ble used up when I
come, and dead beat afterwards, was just about stumblin’ downhill
again when I spots this here openin’. It’s the last chance, thinks I,
but I’d better prospect the lot afore I give in. And this is what I
come on afore I’d been ten minutes at work. Reg’lar jeweller’s shop,
and no mistake.’ While he was talking, his hands were not idle: he had
brought a pick and shovel from the waggonette, and after shovelling
back the rock and earth from the tiny shaft, commenced to break down
the ‘cap’ of the reef. This was almost incredibly rich. The rock
appeared to be (as the Commissioner said) half gold—indeed, in some of
the specimens there was more gold than quartz.
Strings of the precious metal hung down, which, indeed, seemed to
loosely unite fragments of the dull, cloud-coloured quartz—so dear to
the miner’s soul—while here and there were ‘nuggets’—actual lumps of
the gold. ‘This one’s not short of fifty ounces,’ said he, lifting one
of four or five pounds’ weight. ‘And there’s bigger ones to come, I’ll
go bail.’
‘I’ve always doubted,’ said Newstead, ‘whether my relations believed
my statements about rich finds in Australia. Certainly my banking
account was not such as to inspire credence. But I shall pour contempt
on their incredulity after this display.’
‘I should think so,’ said Mr. Banneret. ‘And now we must have a
council of war. What do you say about the next move, Jack?’
‘I vote we dolly all the gold as we can get out of the picked stone.
Then, in course, the mine’ll have to be registered, and a company
floated on the strength of these here specimens. It won’t take long to
do that once they get to Melbourne. The Commissioner and Mr. Newstead
can go back to Coolgardie with the team and waggonette, leaving us
enough to go on with. There’s a “soak” not far off, and we can fill
the ten-gallon keg afore they leave. A team can be sent up with all
the things we want. Mr. Southwater and I’ll work on the “stope,” if
he’s agreeable—feeling along the reef as we go, like. And now I’m
beginning to think about summat to eat.’
The adjournment was carried _nem. con._ When they reached the camp
Mr. Southwater had got everything in fine order. He was pleased with
the idea of having to stop behind, as old Jack had told him that he
was a born bushman, and would make a first-class prospector some day.
Mr. Banneret said little, but, looking at the bold expression and
steady eye of the young Englishman, was fully of opinion that he was
destined to be a leader of men.
Next week the Commissioner and Newstead started back on the homeward
track, taking with them five thousand ounces of gold and specimens.
There was a good deal of business to be done, as he reflected, when
they reached civilisation. A Report in terms provided for by the
Goldfields Act and Regulations had to be made to the Commissioner of
the district, as well as a Lease to be applied for; a deposit in cash
paid to the Mining Registrar; a Prospecting Area had been pegged out,
and must be registered, and the whole auriferous area would be floated
as a company, with a hundred thousand shares of 20s. each. Machinery
for a quartz mill with fifty stamps and all the newest improvements,
Diehl process, etc., had to be purchased and forwarded by team at
once, and provisions, tools, extra tents, bedding, books, cooking
utensils—in fact, everything necessary for a large staff; with
engineer, manager, metallurgist, wages men, shift-bosses, and
others—the numbers in such case amounting to hardly less than fifty
men to begin with. The unpretending vehicle carried a considerable
amount of treasure, tempting enough to outlaws sure to be included in
every goldfields rush. But both men were well armed, and not likely to
surrender without a desperate struggle; the chances of an ambush were
small—the open, waterless nature of the country being against such a
mode of attack. Many thousand ounces of gold were indeed carried on
horseback, or in the unpretending buggy of the period, without much
knowledge of the same being noised abroad. Their journey to
Coolgardie, and afterwards to Perth, was, in this instance, wholly
devoid of incident, and Mr. Banneret had the satisfaction of banking
his precious cargo without any but the officials of the institution
being aware of the nature of the transaction.
The only incident of note which bordered upon risk occurred during an
enforced stoppage at a stage a few miles distant from Perth. Here a
large detachment of navvies had just been set down, and apparently
they had managed to possess themselves of more beer than was good for
them. They were consequently in a state of humorous, if not aggressive
excitement. This displayed itself in curious inquiry as to the
contents of the portmanteau over which such jealous guard was kept.
Both men were dressed in ordinary miner’s costume, and therefore
lacked the prestige which in Australia ensures respect for all men
presumably of the rank of ‘gentleman.’ However, a miner who had been
at Barrawong just before the ‘breaking out’ of the West Australian
goldfields, happened to arrive in a waggonette. He and his mate were
‘going east,’ in order to float a company for the working of a mine,
which they had discovered, and declared to be of great promise. The
man from Barrawong was affected almost to tears by the sight of the
Commissioner, that dread and august potentate, in working man’s garb.
He looked as if he wished to fall down and worship him. But,
introducing his mate, he said, with a choking voice:
‘Bill, this here’s our Commissioner, same as I told yer of, when I was
on Barrawong; he’s struck it rich, he tells me, and as we’re on the
road to Perth, he’ll be obliged to us for a lift in our waggonette if
you’re agreeable.’
‘I’ve heard of Commissioner Banneret,’ said the mate, making what he
imagined to be a bow suitable to the occasion, ‘and he should have my
seat if I had to walk every bloomin’ step of the road to the coast.’
‘There isn’t a man as was on the field when I left,’ responded the
mate, ‘that wouldn’t do the same; but there’s no call for any of us to
walk—the horses are in good fettle, considerin’ the price of feed, and
they’ll take the four on us—not leavin’ the portmanter behind—into
Perth, flyin’.’
This settled the matter. The portmanteau, so curiously regarded, was
promptly lifted into the waggonette, and, as well as the Commissioner,
was driven briskly along the road to the city, Mr. Newstead being left
with the baggage of the expedition to follow at his leisure, and
rejoin his chief at the township. That gentleman lost no time after
being dropped at the Bank of Barataria. The mineral collection was
produced.
‘What name shall I enter?’ said the young banker at the counter. ‘Gold
and specimens, how many ounces?’
‘Seven thousand four hundred and twenty-three, seventeen pennyweights,
and ten grains.’
‘Oh!’ said the bank clerk, with an instant change of manner. ‘You’re
Mr. Banneret! Very glad to see you, sir! The Bank had advice of your
expected arrival. I’ll take the weights, and give you a receipt
directly. Won’t keep you waiting.’
‘Well, good-bye, Captain!’ said the miner from Barrawong. ‘You’re all
right now. Anything more we can do for you—drive you anywheres? Say
the word.’
‘No; thanks very much! As it’s early yet, I’ll take a stroll round the
town until Mr. Newstead comes up. It’s a little different from New
South Wales, eh?’
‘It is that, sir. I suppose you couldn’t lay us on to the spot where
that show come from?’
‘Hum! it won’t be long before we’re tracked up, I daresay. I don’t see
why you shouldn’t have a chance as well as another. What is the
leading hotel here, Mr. Carter?’—this to the bank clerk.
‘Oh, “The Palace.” It’s that two-storeyed place at the corner of the
street. Clean, and the cookery fair. The Mining Registrar’s office is
next door.’