Golden Flat
The small settlement of Golden Flat was situated away out on the
desert's fringe beyond Kalgoorlie, and beyond the reach of any
civilizing railway. It was essentially a pioneer's field, for no deep
lodes had yet been discovered; indeed, at this time the history of
Golden Flat was but a few days old. Nuggety Dick, a roving prospector
and miner, had been lucky enough to find rich specimens of the coveted
metal on the surface of the flat during one of his perambulating
journeys through the silent bush, and instead of wildly rushing back to
Kalgoorlie to proclaim his "strike," he had quietly taken a note of the
place and gone his way to inform his old associates, who were toiling
with but little success on a worked-out alluvial patch near Coolgardie.
Such is the spirit of the bush; comradeship comes before all, and
happy-go-lucky Dick had never once thought of applying for the standing
reward which a shrewd Government had promised for discoveries of gold in
such remote districts. Had he claimed it, a rush would have been the
immediate consequence, and the chances of Dick's companions securing a
favourable claim would have been reduced to a minimum; so he set out on
his high-backed camel and rounded up the "boys," as he affectionately
called them, and steered them back to the ironshot plain among the mulga
scrub, which he had euphoniously, if ambitiously, termed "Golden Flat."
And now, within a week after their arrival, the Flat presented every
appearance of industrious energy. Further nuggets had been found all
along the line of a scarcely perceptible depression in the land surface,
which, nevertheless, most evidently marked the course of a very ancient
waterway, long since silted up.
"It'll be an alluvial wash, boys," remarked Dick, with happy
satisfaction.
"It certainly looks mighty promising," agreed a lanky and lean
individual, who rejoiced in the cognomen of the Shadow. The Shadow, so
called because of his rather fine outline, was the youngest of the
party; indeed, he was little more than a boy in years, yet his
reputation as a skilled bushman and rough rider was great, and the
strength concealed in his spare figure was marvellous.
"I say, mates," broke out another typical bushman, Never Never Dave by
name, popping his head out of a shaft near by, "I do believe I've struck
the stuff on the ten-foot level."
He clambered out of his excavation and approached the party, who were at
this moment assembled for the purpose of preparing lunch, displaying in
his hand a white sugary-looking substance which he had evidently broken
from the supposed wash. The Shadow gave a whoop of delight, but was
immediately checked by an old miner beside him, whose keen eyes and
heavily furrowed face bespoke the hardy pioneer.
"Don't yell out so soon, young 'un," he reproved sternly. "Gold is a
most deceitful phantom, and it's when you're sartin you've got it, that
it ain't there."
"Eight O!" sang out the irrepressible one, rushing to get a pan of water
from the soak near by. "Eight O, Dead Broke."
"When he reappeared he found them all examining the sample wash with
critical interest; and as it was handed round for inspection, not a word
was spoken; not a trace of joy or emotion showed in the rugged features
of the men who depended so much on the result, and even the Shadow, when
he handled the specimen, felt constrained to copy the tactics of his
neighbours. The conglomerate stone was literally studded with gold; it
required neither the pan test nor the magnifying glass to prove that.
"It's too good to last, boys," commented Nuggety Dick, with a sigh.
That broke the spell.
"I've never seen anything like it," grunted Dead Broke Dan, blinking
furiously.
"Hoorah for Golden Flat!" broke out the Shadow, tossing his tattered hat
into the air. "Hip, hip, hip, hoorah!"
And, taking his lead, the silent group of a few minutes before broke
into a lusty cheer that echoed and re-echoed over the plains. But it had
scarcely died away when Emu Bill, a somewhat silent member of the party,
astonished his associates by giving vent to a groan of deep disgust.
"Look what's coming, boys," said he, nodding his head toward the west.
"Hang me if it isn't the beginning of a regular rush!"
[Illustration: "LOOK WHAT'S COMING, BOYS!"]
All looked in the direction indicated, and sure enough there appeared
to be ample reason for annoyance. Cresting a slight eminence surrounding
the Flat, three figures hove into sight, pacing slowly alongside a
heavily laden camel, and that they were coming to Golden Flat camp there
could be no room for doubt.
"After me bein' so careful, too," complained Dick, sorrowfully. "Now I
suppose we'll have all Kalgoorlie sprinting up before sundown."
"Look to your boundary-pegs, mates," warned Dead Broke Dan, "an' stick
up your miners' rights on the corner posts. They may be bush-lawyers for
all we know."
In an instant the camp awoke to action, axes and spades were seized,
measuring tapes were run along the boundary lines of their holdings, new
pegs were driven into position, and miners' rights flaunted in the
sunshine, marking a fluttering course of six hundred yards along the
auriferous bed. In the midst of the confusion the three travellers
arrived, and one of them, a strongly built individual, whose entire
wardrobe consisted only of an open-necked shirt, and nether garments
held in position by a well-filled cartridge belt, leaving his companions
by the camel, stepped forward.
"Hullo, boys," he grunted affably, addressing every one in general who
was disposed to hear. "I said 'Hallo,'" he repeated sternly, after a
moment's pause.
The rebuke was too much for Emu Bill, who had been calmly and leisurely
engaged cutting his initials in his corner boundary-peg. He came forward
quickly.
"Hallo, mate," he said, eyeing the new-comer keenly. "Mebbe ye'll
excoose the boys for attendin' to Government regulations afore rushin'
to say how mighty glad they are to see ye----"
"Ye insignificant son o' a gun," came the prompt interruption, "if ye
dinna modify your insinuations, I'll--I'll, swipe the head off ye, an'
it would hurt me sair to destroy ane o' my old comrades in cauld blood."
Bill, at the dire threat against his person, had languidly begun to
prepare for mortal combat, but on hearing the last part of the
aggressive speech, he gazed at the stranger in incredulous amazement.
"By the Great Howling Billy it's Mackay!" he yelled, seizing his
erstwhile enemy's hand and shaking it vigorously. "I thought you had
gone home to the old country, you tough old rooster."
"I did have a trip home," said Mackay, for it was he, smiling grimly.
"But I discovered that civilization didna agree wi' me, so I came back."
By this time the rest of the miners had hastened up, and Emu Bill
addressed them excitedly.
"Boys, it's Mackay!" he cried.
Nuggety Dick and his satellites hesitated a moment, then rushed forward
with outstretched hands.
"What have you done with your whiskers, Mac?" they cried almost in
unison.
"That's it," roared Emu Bill, looking questioningly into the now welcome
visitor's face, "and it nearly caused a funeral. Hang it all, why didn't
ye say who ye was? We thought you was the beginning of a rush, we did.
Fetch your mates along and let us have lunch at once. After that you may
stake out where you like."
"Beggin' your pardon, Emu," broke in Nuggety Dick, "I has a
double-barrelled-nineteen-carat-pleasant dooty to perform." He turned
to Mackay, and with grave dignity proceeded. "As discoverer o' this here
Golden Flat, an' representin' the interests o' every scarecrow present,
I say we welcome you and your mates wi' tearful emotion. Am I right,
boys?" he demanded confidently, looking at his companions.
"Hoo-rah!" came the unanimous response.
Mackay smiled just a trifle strangely, and beckoned to Bob and Jack, who
had been watching the trend of events with somewhat anxious eyes.
It would have been hard to recognize in the two who now came forward the
same young men who had inveighed so strongly against their restricted
lot in the Old Country. Dressed in the negligent attire of the bush,
with broad brimmed hats shading their eyes from the scorching sun, they
looked like young Colonials fresh and fit for any effort that might be
required of them. Their journey from the coast to Kalgoorlie had
interested them exceedingly; the wide tracts of lonely bush land which
stretched to north and south of the single line, gave them an impression
of boundless scope which was dear to their hearts. Here surely was a
country where no man need jostle his neighbour. Coming as they did from
a tightly packed centre of commerce, it was little wonder that a sense
of freedom entered their beings. And when they arrived at the strange
hustling gold-mining city of the plains, their enthusiasm was great.
Mackay had been wonderfully reticent as to his immediate plans. "Even
here nothing stands still," said he, "and there may have been new gold
discoveries since I left." But his inquiries in Kalgoorlie seemed to
please him greatly. "It's all right, my lads," he announced to them with
great good humour when he returned to the Exchange Hotel where they
were staying pending his investigations.
"The fact is," he whispered mysteriously, drawing the boys aside, "I
found gold on one o' our last expeditions before we tackled the Never
Never, a good bit to the east o' this, and though we never said a word
aboot it to any one when we got back, I was afraid some sandgroping
fossicker had bumped across the place while I was awa'. Hooever, I've
made judicious inquiry, and find there's been nary a rush in that
direction, so we'll outfit at once and get a move on. I've been lucky
enough to buy back my old camel, Misery, for the journey."
So they arrived at Golden Flat, Mackay never once hesitating in his
course, though there were no landmarks to guide. The bushman's instinct
was strong, unerringly it lead them to their goal; and now that they had
reached the scene they had been picturing in their minds, the unexpected
meeting with earlier arrivals disconcerted them not a little. They
advanced at Mackay's call somewhat sharply; they had not quite
understood the wordy discourses of the miners, and they were
aggressively prepared to stand by their friend should occasion arise.
"Boys," said Mackay, addressing the odd assembly, "allow me to introduce
two young friends of mine from old England--Robert Wentworth and Jack
Armstrong, Bob and Jack for short--they've come out here to make their
fortune, and by the Lord Harry! they'll do it or I'm a Dutchman."
With honest welcome beaming in their eyes, the rugged miners advanced
one by one to greet their visitors, but Nuggety Dick must needs call
them to order.
"Can't ye wait fur me to interdooce ye in civilized manner, ye howlin'
galoots," he admonished severely. "I hiv to blush fur yer ignorance, I
has." Then he hitched up his nether garments, ejected a quid of tobacco
from his mouth, coughed discreetly, and began--
"As discoverer o' this 'ere Golden Flat----"
"You stop right there, Nuggety," interjected Mackay. "If ye'll take the
trouble to look at the side o' that tree ahint your tent you'll observe
that my autograph is carved thereon, together with the date of
discovery. Now, while you go and satisfy yoursel', I'll dae the
introducin'. Emu Bill"--the tall bushman stepped forward and shook hands
with the lads--"is a very decent sort o' indiveedual. A bit
cantankerous, saving wi' his speech, and I would hae some hope for him
if he wasna sae perneeciously given to makin' poetry----"
"Get out, Mac----"
"Dead Broke Dan!" The veteran of the camp strode forward. "A guid solid
and straight man who has done his best to mak' every man's fortune but
his ain. Never Never Dave"--that individual with the Shadow had already
anticipated the formal introduction, and was listening with delight for
his qualifications--"is a weary wanderer, like mysel', only withoot my
unquestionable abilities. And the Shadow"--that guileful youth suddenly
became engaged in earnest conversation with Bob--"the Shadow, I say, is
a youth wha's greatest misfortune is his extraordinar' habit o'
neglectin' the commandment which says, youngsters should be seen but
never heard. For a' that he's a guid laddie----"
"Say, boss," ejaculated the victim, smilingly, "if ye'll write that down
I'll send it to my Sunday-school teacher in Melbourne."
At this point Nuggety Dick returned somewhat crestfallen.
"You were quite right, Mackay," said he. "Is there any other place in
the whole country you hasn't struck your name on?"
Mackay's face relaxed into a broad smile.
"We'll divide the honours, Nuggety, my man," he answered magnanimously;
and with one accord they all made their way to the tree behind Nuggety's
tent to gaze at the symbol which justified Mackay's claim. There it was,
cut deeply into the hard wood, and almost obliterated with enclustering
moss, "J. M. 1898."
Bob examined the letters with something akin to awe. Jack laughed
gleefully; the others crowding round seemed ill at ease. Mackay guessed
their thoughts intuitively.
"My claim has lapsed, boys," he said quietly.
"Not by a single peg," protested Nuggety Dick. "We don't need no
Government to tell us what to do. We know the ground is yours by the
all-fired right o' discovery, a right which touches us right down on our
most tender feelings."
"We've just struck it rich, but we'll git all the same," said Never
Never Dave; and a sympathetic murmur of approval greeted his words. The
bushman's code of honour is Spartan in its simplicity.
Again Mackay smiled, and all trace of hardness had gone out of his voice
when he made answer.
"Boys, ye have spoken as I knew ye would speak, and it does my heart
good to look at you all again, and feel that the same old sympathies are
with us still. But the true discoverer of Golden Flat was the leader of
the expedition who piloted his party so well until the end, and I ken
he wouldna have me turn you away. No, boys, there's room enough for us
all; my mates an' me will peg out claims at the end o' the lead; the
chances o' strikin' the wash are a' equal." He paused, and gazed sadly
at the half-obliterated inscription on the tree, unheedful of the deep
appreciation with which his words were received. "If it's my good
fortune to make a rise on Golden Flat," he continued, with grave
solemnity, "I mean to devote it a' on an expedition into the Never
Never. I want to see again that mountain which kept me back. I want to
have a word with the tribe that lives behind it...."
"I'll be with you, Mac," quietly spoke Emu Bill.
"And me, fur a dead cert!" said Nuggety Dick.
"Put Never Never Dave's name on the programme," grunted that worthy.
"And mine," echoed Dead Broke Dan.
"You can bet your shirt I'll be with you," cried the Shadow.
"There's only you and me left, Jack," said Bob. "But we'll be there
too."
"And now let us have lunch, boys," suggested Nuggety Dick, breaking the
odd silence that ensued; and they walked away, leaving Mackay still
gazing at the fateful tree with unseeing eyes.
"Poor old Mac," muttered the Shadow, sympathetically.
"Did you know him before?" asked Jack.
"I should say I did. Why, he put me on to the only paying gold show I
ever worked. That was two years back. He was one o' the Coolgardie
pioneers too, and, of course, every one who was there knows him."
"Ah, that was a great old time," mused Emu Bill, entering into the
conversation. "Mackay made a bit o' a rise then, and he might have been
a rich man now if he hadn't taken the Never Never fever."
"I'll tell you what, boys," said Nuggety Dick, hastily adding a handful
of tea to the boiling billy, "Mackay is the straightest man that ever
chased nuggets, and this here camp will see that he doesn't tackle that
miserable desert again without us skirmishin' alongside."
"Let us drink good luck to Golden Flat, boys," cried the individual in
question cheerily, coming up from behind, and seizing a pannikin of tea.
"Good luck to Golden Flat--and to its discoverer!" replied they all,
standing up and drinking the toast heartily.
Shortly afterwards the three new-comers set off to peg out their claims
on the golden channel, and erect their tent. The others would have
accompanied them in a body to assist in the work, but Mackay, while
thanking them, firmly refused their services.
"I want to initiate my partners into the rules o' the business," he
explained, "an' the best way to teach them is by showing the way and
watching them do it. No, no, boys, you had better go and burrow in your
shafts, we'll engineer our own funeral."
The slight depression which indicated the presence of the golden channel
below, ran in a north and southerly direction, and could be traced
without difficulty for fully five hundred yards, after which it merged
into the open plain, but the line of workings did not extend much more
than halfway down this length.
"These old water-courses," said Bob, who had been thinking deeply, "must
have belonged to a very ancient period, when the whole aspect of the
country was different."
"And how so?" queried Mackay.
"Because," returned Bob, hesitatingly, "there are no mountains here now,
no water-sheds at all, and the gold must have been carried by a flow of
water from somewhere. The whole country must have been sunk under the
sea, then, after a long time, upheaved again higher than it was before.
The volcanic disturbances must have destroyed all its original
features."
"Do you ken, Bob, my lad," said Mackay, earnestly, "I like to hear you
speak like that. It shows ye've got some pro-fundity o' thought, an' I
quite agree wi' your argument."
A cry of delight from Jack broke in on their geological discussion. That
very eager youth had unconsciously adopted the tactics of the
experienced prospector by eyeing the ground closely as he walked, and
his keenness had not gone unrewarded, for he now displayed a dull yellow
specimen between his finger and thumb.
"Ay, it's gold, sure enough," was Mackay's verdict, when he had glanced
at it, "and it weighs fully an ounce if I'm any judge. Jack, my boy,
ye'll beat us a' at this game yet. That's five pounds ye've made in the
time it would take to blink an eye. You'll mak' a grand prospector,
Jack. Put that bit in your pocket, and keep it aye as a memento; you'll
think a lot o' it afterwards."
"But it's really yours," said the lad, refusing to take it back. "I'm
not going to take everything of yours and keep all I get too."
Poor Jack was embarrassed. His was one of those generous natures which
can never forget a kindness, and Mackay had behaved more like a brother
than a mere friend.
"I agree with you, Jack," ventured Bob.
"Tut, tut, laddies," grunted Mackay, "we're goin' to be partners wi'
equal shares--and from what I can see already I think I'm vera fortunate
in having you wi' me--but first specimens should be ootside the
arrangement altogether. Take the bittie gold, Jack, and I hope I'll live
to see it in your ain home years after this."
They had by this time reached the end of the channel, at least so far as
surface indications were concerned, and Bob once more propounded a
theory.
"Is it not right to assume," said he, "that though we cannot trace the
water-course any further on the surface, it must be there all the same?"
"Quite correct," answered Mackay; "but it may have changed its
direction, an' it may have divided into smaller channels."
"But just here where it apparently disappears," persisted Bob, "may not
some obstacle have deflected the current, or made the sand pile up and
so raised the true bed upwards, making the original sides of the gully
shallower at this point, and accounting for its being filled up level
with the surrounding country before the deeper parts got wholly silted
up?"
"Go on, my lad," prompted Mackay, patting the young man's shoulder,
"allowin' what ye say to be right; what sort o' deduction do you arrive
at?"
"I should think," said Bob, with growing eagerness, "that the gold would
stick on the rise more than on the level, and that if we sank our shaft
just over the apparent break of the channel we would most likely strike
it rich."
"It seems good sound logic, Bob," commented Mackay, in reflective mood,
"but as I'm a practical man and no' much o' a theorist, I'll no'
venture to say whether ye are richt or wrang. One matter, however, must
be determined afore I can completely side wi' ye, and that is in what
direction was the creek flowing?"
Bob was for the moment nonplussed, and observing his hesitation, the man
of practice seemed to be suddenly amused.
"That appears to be a tough proposition, doesn't it?" said he.
"It does," agreed Bob, still pondering over a solution to the question.
"Well, it isn't, my lad. The creek just flowed as you first allowed, in
orthodox manner, from north to south. I'm vera pleased to notice how
quickly you have got a grip o' things, an' I only asked the question so
as to direct your attention to what must be the base o' your theory, for
if the flow had been in the opposite direction the bottom would have
been completely knocked oot o' your argument."
"But how can you tell how it was flowing?" asked Bob, still somewhat
mystified.
"Easily enough; I had a look at Never Never Dave's shaft and paid
particular attention to the nature o' the gold wash below. Every pebble
o' the conglomerate stuff was water worn and mair or less wedge-shaped
wi' the blunt ends facing in this direction. Now do you savvy?
Observation is a grand virtue, Bob----"
"I am afraid you have been laughing at me," spoke the young man,
gravely.
"I'll prove to you that I havena," came the quick response. "Jack, come
here and do your geometry lesson."
Jack had been industriously searching for further treasure, but he
hastened up at once.
"Now," said his mentor, "I want you to mark out a rectangle five feet
six inches by two feet six inches just on the break o' that meeserable
apology for a creek. We'll start sinkin' our shaft there in the
mornin'."
So it came about that Bob planned the position of their first shaft,
with Jack assisting; and Mackay walking a little way apart surveyed the
pair with deep satisfaction.
"I can see," he soliloquized, "that my young friend, Bob, is goin' to be
a vera useful acquisition, and if Jack develops along the lines in which
his tastes lie, I have much need to congratulate mysel'. Who would have
thought it?..."
Next after the lining out of the projected shaft came the pegging of the
claims. For this four stout posts were required, thick enough when faced
with an axe to present a surface at least four inches square. These were
soon forthcoming, the mulga shrubs growing around being just of
sufficient girth to meet with official requirements.
"And now, my lads," said Mackay, in sprightly tones, "we're going to
mark out three men's ground, a hundred feet by a hundred is the
allowance per man, so that means we can take a hundred yards along the
creek and one hundred feet across." He began to pace off the ground as
he spoke. "We can check it with a tape after," said he, "but I have done
this so often that I'm no' likely to be faur oot in my calculations."
Soon the four pegs were sunk into position by Jack and Mackay, Bob at
the same time scooping out with pick and shovel short rectangular
trenches at each corner to indicate plainly to any subsequent observer
the position of the outlying boundaries. This done they gazed at their
handiwork with serene contentment. The mercurial Mackay was once more in
the clutches of the gold fever, and his companions were no whit less
affected.
"Let us call it Mackay's Reward," cried Jack, at length.
That gentleman shook his head. "This claim shall henceforth be known as
The Golden Promise," he said.
Next on the afternoon's programme was the erection of the tent, and Jack
at once volunteered to search the scrub for the two forked upright posts
required to support the ridge or roof pole of the calico structure,
Mackay and Bob meanwhile arranging the various stores and mining
implements which they had unloaded from the camel. That wiry animal
itself was not far off assiduously chewing clumps of saltbush and
spinifex grass, varying this somewhat monotonous fare by occasional
mouthfuls of the mulga twigs within its reach. Five minutes, ten minutes
passed, and no Jack reappeared, nor was the sound of his axe heard in
the near distance. Mackay became uneasy.
"I do hope the laddie hasna gone far," he muttered, throwing down the
pick handle he was fitting to the steel and looking around anxiously.
"But he'll know how to get back," reassured Bob.
Mackay grunted unbelievingly. "That's aye the way wi' new chums in the
bush," he declared. "They never remember that everything is alike in
this country, an' that only the sun can be taken as a guide." Seizing
his rifle he set off in the direction Jack had taken, Bob hastening at
his heels; but they had not gone far before they were gazing at a most
extraordinary spectacle. There was the delinquent indulging in fierce
chase after a great yellow ungainly creature which scrambled around in
a narrow circle, turning at intervals to snap savagely at its tormentor,
who was aiming numerous but ineffective blows at his quarry with the axe
he carried. Round and round they went, and Jack's energy seemed all but
spent when Mackay's hearty laugh attracted his attention.
"Ho! ho! ho!" he chuckled, walking leisurely forward and interrupting
the performance. Bob at the moment could not see any reason for this
display of humour, and certainly Jack did not.
"It attacked me when I was cutting a tree," explained the baffled
warrior, "and every time I stopped chasing it, it turned and chased me.
I suppose the brute's tired now, or it would be at me again." He wiped
the perspiration from his forehead, and eyed his enemy malevolently. The
object of his wrath was a peculiar crocodile-like creature with an
enormously long tail, short thick-set legs, and a narrow
venomous-looking head. It must have measured fully five feet in length,
and was certainly ugly enough to disconcert any one who did not know the
nature of the beast. Now it rested calmly by the foot of a tree, its
head swaying gently and its abnormally elongated tongue shooting out and
in with lightning rapidity.
"It's only a poor wee iguana, Jack," consoled Mackay. "It would dae you
no harm, though I will admit it doesna look as peaceably inclined as it
might; but watch me whistle to it." He strode forward, and kneeling
beside the huge iguana--but as the boys noticed, beyond the reach of its
sturdy claws--whistled unmelodiously a selection from a popular opera,
and lo! ere the first two bars had been negotiated, Jack's recent
enemy's head began to nod rhythmically with the music! and its whole
body took on an attitude of satisfied repose.
"Well, I'm jiggered!" was all that Jack could say, while Bob exploded
into uncontrollable mirth. Then the musician ceased his labours.
"I'm no sayin' that anybody could charm the beastie like me," he
admitted with exceeding modesty. "My whustle's got a wonderfu' movin'
element in it----"
"It has," agreed the pair, with unanimous promptitude, shuddering with
painful emotion. The big man laughed.
"I was sure ye would coincide wi' my statement," he blandly said. "And
now let us get the happy home fixed afore sundown. The darkness will be
on in two shakes o' a kangaroo's tail."
On returning with the necessary saplings to the clearing they had
prepared as a site for their future dwelling, they found the Shadow
awaiting them somewhat anxiously.
"I was wondering where ye had got to," he remarked, apparently much
relieved, "I saw some nigs in the district a couple o' days ago, and I
was afraid they had scooped ye in."
"Niggers, here?" cried Mackay.
"They were both out watching me try to kill an iguana," said Jack, with
a laugh.
"But you shouldn't kill iguanas," reproved the Shadow. "They never mean
no harm, and they does wonderful good around a camp, killing snakes and
centipedes and other crawlers."
"Oh, I'll remember next time," assured Jack; "I'll remember to run like
smoke when I see one like the brute I tackled to-day. An ugly wobbly
monster over five feet long, harmless!" It was clear that Jack was by
no means convinced.
That evening the entire population of Golden Flat gathered around the
new-comers' camp fire, and did much to entertain the boys with their
various anecdotes and reminiscences. Desperate encounters with natives,
thrilling tales of the early Coolgardie days, and narratives of
prospecting journeys through the waterless bush regions followed each
other in quick succession. The intense heat of the day had now given
place to an extraordinarily chill atmosphere, which was the more
noticeable because of the sudden change, and all huddled closely to the
glowing logs. But it soon became apparent that the cheerful warmth of
the fire was attracting other and by no means welcome visitors, and
though no one seemed to be in any way concerned, Jack viewed the
innumerable pests and crawling creatures that kept forcing their way
into the flames with some apprehension. The conversation had narrowed
down to a wordy discussion on the possibilities of gold being found in
the far interior.
"Every bushman believes that there's bound to be gold in the Never
Never," reiterated Emu Bill, assisting a large-sized centipede into the
fire with a _sang froid_ that aroused Jack's horror. But he was yet to
be more surprised.
"Don't move, Jack," said the Shadow's voice from somewhere behind him.
"There's a black snake trying to snuggle into your trousers pocket. I'll
spifflicate him in a jiff;" and he promptly gripped the intruding
reptile by the tail, swung it once round his head, then cracked it as
one might the lash of a whip, breaking its back in an instant.
"I suppose I'll get accustomed to it," said Jack, with a shudder.
"I'll show you how to slaughter them yourself to-morrow," comforted the
Shadow.
"I say, Mackay," said Nuggety Dick, from his distant corner, "ye haven't
told us about your trip to the old country yet! How did ye take to it
after your ten years' Australian experience?"
But Mackay would only commit himself to one statement. "It's a grand
country, Nuggety," said he, with impressive earnestness; "but it belongs
to too few folk." Which enigmatical reflection seemed to give his
hearers some food for thought.