STRIKING LUCK
“Now, boys,” said Obed, “we have some hard work before us. Mining isn’t
like standing behind a counter, or measuring off calico. It takes
considerable more muscle.”
“I am used to hard work,” said Jack, “but you’ll have to show me how.”
“I’ll keep up with Jack,” said Harry manfully.
“You won’t have to charge either of us with laziness.”
“I believe you, boys. There isn’t a lazy bone in either of you. As I
have experience, I’ll boss the job, and you’ll have to obey orders.”
“All right, captain!” said Jack, touching his cap, with a smile.
This, then, was the understanding between the three, and it was
faithfully adhered to. The two boys, sensible of their ignorance,
were very ready to obey Obed, and he found them willing workers. They
installed themselves in a cabin which had been occupied by the man they
bought out. He gave them the use of it, having no further occasion for
it himself, and they began to keep house as one family. They lived
roughly enough, and yet, so high were all articles of food, on account
of the trouble and expense of transportation from Melbourne, that it
cost them as much as would have paid for living at a respectable hotel
at home.
All three entered upon their labours with high hopes. The first day
and the second day yielded no results, but, as Obed reminded them, a
miner needs to be patient. But when one week--two weeks--passed, and
the amount of gold found amounted to less than two pounds, all three
began to look sober.
“This is beginning to look serious, boys,” said Obed thoughtfully, as
they set about their work on the first day of the third week. “Our
claim ain’t pannin’ out very rich.”
“My store of money is panning out very fast,” said Harry, with a faint
smile.
“I’ve got less than two pounds left,” said Jack. “What are we going to
do when it’s all gone?”
“I don’t know,” said Obed, “unless we catch another murderer.”
The boys smiled, but not hilariously. They felt, as Obed expressed it,
that matters were indeed becoming serious. To run short of money nearly
ten thousand miles from home was no light thing.
“We might sell the claim,” suggested Harry.
Obed shook his head.
“I don’t think we could,” he replied. “Everybody would understand our
reason for selling--that we despaired of finding any gold--and instead
of getting twenty-five pounds, I doubt if you could get twenty-five
shillings for it. You know about how long twenty-five shillings would
last us.”
“I suppose there is nothing to do but to keep on,” said Harry.
Obed nodded. “You’ve said it,” he returned. “Let us keep up good heart,
my boys. Don’t borrow trouble. When things come to the worst we’ll
decide what to do then.”
By way of setting the example of cheerfulness Obed began to whistle
“Yankee Doodle,” and the boys joined in. It was not altogether a
successful effort, but it made them feel a little more cheerful. At
all events it attracted a listener--a tall, shabby-looking tramp, who
had been wandering about for a day or two, visiting one claim after
another, trying to raise a loan.
“I say, you’re uncommon jolly, you chaps,” he began, as he stood in a
lounging attitude watching the little party at their work.
“If we are it’s a credit to us,” returned Obed dryly, “for there isn’t
much to be jolly about.”
“Isn’t your claim a good one?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. Where’s yours, stranger?”
The tramp returned an evasive answer and shambled off.
“Do you think he’s got a claim, Obed?” asked Jack.
“No; but he’s prowling around to see what he can pick up.”
“Do you think he’s a thief?”
“I think he’s willing to be. He heard us whistling, and thought we’d
found something.”
“We are safe from robbery--for the present,” said Harry.
“Yes, there’s that advantage about being poor. It reminds me of old
Jack Pierce in our village.”
“What about him?” asked Harry.
“He read in the paper one day that a certain bank had burst. So he went
home in a hurry to see if he had any bills on that bank. He found that
he had no bills on that bank--or any other--and then he felt better.”
Harry laughed.
“It was a poor consolation, I think,” he said. “I remember hearing
a sermon from our minister at home in which he said that riches were
a great responsibility, but I don’t think I should mind taking the
responsibility.”
“That’s my idea, Harry. I am afraid there isn’t much chance of our
having that responsibility, but there’s one thing we can do if we don’t
make the claim pay.”
“What’s that, Obed?”
“We can join the bushrangers.”
“Will you set us the example?” asked Harry, smiling.
“I’m not quite desperate enough yet. We’ll try the claim a little
longer. But I’m gettin’ tuckered out. We’ll go and get some dinner, and
then start diggin’ again.”
They repaired to their cabin, and solaced themselves with food. Then
they threw themselves down in the shadow of the cabin to rest, and Obed
pulled out his pipe. This was a solace which the boys didn’t enjoy.
They were sensible enough to know that, whatever may be said of men,
boys only receive injury from the use of tobacco. In the resolution to
abstain they were upheld and encouraged by Obed, who, veteran smoker as
he was, did not approve of smoking.
“You’re better off without it, boys,” he said. “It won’t do you no
good. I wish I could leave it off.”
“Why don’t you?” asked Harry.
“Easier said than done, my boy. Let me see, I was only turned of
thirteen when I used to slink off to the barn and smoke, for I knew
father wouldn’t let me if he knew it. It made me sick at first, but I
thought it was makin’ a man of me, and I kept on. Well, the habit’s on
me now, and it’s hard to break. It don’t hurt a man as much as a boy,
but it don’t do him any good either. Jack, did you ever smoke?”
“No, Obed; but one of the sailors gave me a piece of tobacco to chew
once. I didn’t like it and spat it out.”
“The best thing you could do. I wish all boys were as sensible.”
In their hours of rest the three often chatted of home. Their
conversation was generally of one tenor. They liked to fancy themselves
returning with plenty of money, and planned how they would act under
such pleasant circumstances. Instead of the barren hills among which
they were encamped, familiar scenes and faces rose before them, and
the picture was so attractive that it was hard to come back to the
cheerless reality.
“Well, boys,” said Obed, at the end of an hour, “we may as well go to
work again. The gold’s waitin’ for us.”
It was an old joke, and scarcely elicited a smile now. In fact, the
boys felt that they had waited a long time for the gold. It was not,
therefore, with a very hopeful feeling that they obeyed the summons and
returned to the claim. Though of a sanguine disposition, they began to
doubt seriously whether their efforts would ever be rewarded. They had
pretty much lost the stimulus of hope.
About four o’clock, when Jack was at work with the pick, something
curious happened. Instead of sinking into the earth, it glanced off as
from something hard.
“What is it, Jack?” asked Obed quickly.
“I must have struck a rock, Obed.”
“Here, give me the pick,” said Obed eagerly.
He struck, and lo! a yellow streak became plainly visible.
“Boys,” said he, in an agitated voice, “I believe our luck has come.”
“What do you mean, Obed?”
“I believe we’ve found a nugget;” and to the boys’ intense surprise he
immediately began to cover it up with dirt.
“What’s that for?” asked Harry.
“Hush! we mustn’t take it out now. Somebody might be looking. We’ll
wait till it’s darker.”
Just then a tramp strolled up.
“What luck, friends?” he asked.
“Same as usual,” answered Obed, shrugging his shoulders. “Don’t you
want to buy the claim?”
“Not I,”--and the tramp, quite deceived by his manner, kept on his
round.
“It’s lucky we covered up the gold,” said Obed, in a low voice. “That’s
the last man I wanted to discover our good luck.”
“Shan’t we keep on working?” asked Harry, in excitement.
“I will just probe a little to form some idea of the size of the
nugget,” answered Obed.
“Then you think it is a nugget?” asked Jack eagerly.
“Yes, I think our luck has come at last, boys. I think we will be able
to pull stakes and go back home. But about keeping on now, we shall
need to be cautious. Some one might come by, and see what we are about.”
Then Harry made a suggestion.
“Let Jack go up to the top, and if any one comes he can whistle. That
will put us on our guard.”
“A good idea!” said Obed.
So Jack threw himself on the ground in a listless posture, and the
other two continued their explorations. They dug all about the boulder,
which proved to be about a foot in diameter. It was embedded in clay,
from which it was separated with some difficulty. It was encased in
quartz, but the interior was bright, glittering gold.
“It’s a regular beauty,” said Obed, in a low tone, his eyes glittering
with excitement.
“How much do you think it’s worth, Obed?” asked Harry, in the same low
tone.
“That’s hard tellin’, Harry; but it’s worth a thousand pounds easy.”
“Thank God!” ejaculated Harry fervently. “That will release us from our
imprisonment, and enable us to go back home.”
“You are right, Harry, but the hardest job lies before us.”
“What’s that?”
“To get it out without observation, and keep it secure from thieves.”
“We’ll do our best. Only you give the orders, Obed.”
“Then, first and foremost, we’ll cover it up again, and go up till
evening, when we will secure it and carry it to our cabin.”
So said, so done. They joined Jack at the limit of the excavation.
“Is it all right?” asked the young sailor eagerly.
“Yes,” answered Harry.
Jack was told of their plan of removing the nugget by night, and saw at
once that it was a wise one.
“Shall we go to the cabin now?” he asked.
“No, Jack; it won’t do to leave our treasure unguarded. We will lounge
here, and make sure that no one robs us of our discovery.”
So they sat down, and Obed lighted his pipe once more.
A neighbour strolled up and sat down beside them.
“You are leaving off work early,” he said.
“Yes,” answered Obed, with a yawn, “we might as well take it easy. It’s
hard work--this mining.”
“What luck?”
“Our luck is to come,” said our Yankee friend. “How is it with you?”
“I’ve got out seventy-five dollars this week,” answered the other
complacently.
“Whew! that’s good! What do you say to swapping claims?”
“Oh no,” answered the neighbour, wagging his head jocosely. “I’m not so
green. The fact is, Mr. Stackpole, I don’t want to discourage you, but
I don’t believe you’ll ever see the money you put into this hole. Come
now, what did you pay?”
“Five and twenty pounds.”
“If you can get five pounds for it, my advice is sell.”
“I don’t know but you’re right,” said Stackpole in a rueful tone. “Will
you give me five pounds for it?”
“Ho, ho! I might give you five shillings, though it would be a risk.”
“Then I don’t think we’ll sell, eh, Harry?”
“We had better give it away than take that sum,” said Harry, carefully
veiling his inward exultation.
They went to their cabin at the usual time and indulged themselves in a
better supper than usual, feeling that they could afford to do so. It
is wonderful how success stimulates the appetite.
“I don’t know when I have been so hungry, Obed,” said Harry.
“I feel the same way,” chimed in Jack.
“A light heart increases the appetite, boys, but sometimes I’ve felt
wolfish when my heart was heavy. Fifteen months ago I was in Californy
and down on my luck. Things had been goin’ contrary, and I hadn’t money
enough to buy a square meal. I didn’t like to tell my friends, bein’ a
bit proud. One day when I was feelin’ so hungry that I wouldn’t have
turned up my nose at a Chinaman’s diet--rat pie--an old acquaintance
met me and asked me to dine with him. Did I accept? Well, I should
smile. I did smile all over my face, as I sat down to the table. You’d
better calculate that I made my knife and fork fly. Finally my friend
remarked, looking kind of queer, ‘You’ve got a healthy appetite,
Stackpole.’ I answered, ‘It sort of runs in our family to eat whenever
we get a chance.’ ‘Good joke!’ said he, laughing. But it was no joke
when he came to pay the bill, I tell you.”
“I’ll remember that, Obed,” said Harry, smiling, “and when I invite you
to dinner, I’ll first inquire whether you’ve had anything to eat for a
week back.”
“I generally eat for a weak stomach,” returned Obed, venturing on a
little joke at which the boys felt bound to laugh.
As they sat at the door of their cabin, they kept a good lookout in
the direction of their claim. They could not afford, now that success
was in their grasp, to have it snatched away. But they discovered no
suspicious movements on the part of any one. In fact, no one suspected
that they had “struck it rich.” So poor was the general opinion of
their claim, that they would have found it hard to obtain a purchaser
at any price. Had there been the least suspicion, the camp would have
been greatly excited.
As a rule, the miners retired early. They became fatigued during the
day, and sleep was welcome. There was, indeed, a gambling saloon at
some distance, frequented by the more reckless, but generally good
hours were observed in the camp.
About half-past eleven, Obed nudged Harry and Jack, who had fallen
asleep.
“What is it?” asked Harry, in a drowsy tone.
“Hush!” whispered Obed. “Don’t make any more noise than you can help. I
think it will be safe to go and secure the nugget now.”
This was enough. Harry was wide awake in an instant, and he in turn
roused Jack.
There was no elaborate toilet to make, for they had thrown themselves
down in their day attire. They left the cabin, and by the faint light
of the moon, which was just ready to retire for the night, they found
their way to the claim without being observed.
Fifteen minutes’ work and the task was accomplished. The nugget was
raised, and wrapped in a red bandanna handkerchief, which Obed had
brought all the way from his New England home.
“It must weigh seventy-five pounds,” whispered Obed exultantly. “Boys,
we’re in tall luck. It was worth coming out to Australy for. We’ll keep
it in the cabin over night, and to-morrow we’ll put it where it will be
safe.”
They gained the cabin without having been seen so far as they knew.
Of the hundreds of men sleeping within a furlong’s distance, not one
dreamed of a discovery which was to draw the attention of the whole
colony to Bendigo. But they had not wholly escaped observation. One
pair of eyes had detected them in their midnight walk.