SELLING THE CLAIM.
"Let's adjourn to the mine," said Tom Lewis, a short, sturdy
Englishman.
"Yes, let's see the place where the nugget was found," echoed another.
"All right! I'm agreeable," said Obed.
Followed by a crowd of miners, Obed Stackpole strode to the claim where
he had "struck it rich." In spite of his homely face and ungainly form
there was more than one who would have been willing to stand in his
shoes, homeliness and all. The day before little notice was taken of
him. Now he was a man who had won fame at a bound.
They soon stood around the lucky claim.
"It isn't much to look at, gentlemen," said Obed, "but looks is
deceptive, as my old grandmother used to tell me. 'Handsome is as
handsome does,' and this 'ere hole's done the handsome thing for me and
my partners, and I venture to say it hasn't got through doin' handsome
things. It's made three of us rich, and it's ready to make somebody else
rich. Who'll be the lucky man? Do I hear a bid!"
"Fifty pounds," said Tom Lewis.
"That'll do to start on, but it won't do to take. Fifty pounds I am
offered. Who says a hundred?"
A German miner offered a hundred, and Tom Lewis raised ten pounds.
A Scotch miner, Aleck Graham, offered a hundred and twenty-five.
From that time the bids rose slowly. Obed showed himself an excellent
auctioneer--indeed he had had some experience at home--and by his dry
and droll remarks stimulated the bidding when it became dull, and did
not declare the claim sold till it was clear no higher bid could be
obtained.
"Three hundred pounds, and sold to Frank Scott," he concluded. "Mr.
Scott, I congratulate you. I calculate you've made a pretty good
investment, and I shouldn't wonder if you'd find another nugget within a
week. 'Birds of a feather flock together,' as my writing-book says, and
'it never rains but it pours.'"
Frank Scott came forward and made arrangements for the payment of the
sum he had offered. Within five minutes he was offered an advance of
twenty-five pounds for his bargain, which put him in good humor, though
he declined it. I may as well say here, since we are soon to bid
farewell to Bendigo, that the claim yielded him double the amount of his
investment, and though this was not up to his expectations, he had no
reason to regret his purchase.
The little crowd of miners were just separating when two new-comers
appeared on the scene. They were the well-matched pair who had met
earlier in the morning at the deserted cabin. For convenience' sake we
will call them Colson and Ropes, the former being the man who had stolen
the nugget, as he supposed.
"What's all this crowd?" said Colson in a tone of curiosity.
Ropes put the question to Tom Lewis, who chanced to be passing.
"Haven't you heard about the nugget?" asked Lewis.
"What nugget?" asked Colson innocently.
"That slab-sided Yankee, Obed Stackpole, found a nugget last night--a
regular monster--and he's been selling his claim. I bid for it, but I
didn't bid high enough."
"Where's the nugget?" asked Colson eagerly.
"In charge of the commissioner, who will send it under escort to
Melbourne."
Colson expected this intelligence. Still he looked downcast. The chance
of getting hold of it under such circumstances seemed very small.
"What did the claim go for?" questioned Ropes.
"Three hundred pounds. Frank Scott bought it."
"That's a pretty steep price."
"Yes, but there may be another nugget."
"And there may not."
"Then he'll be a loser. Of course there's a risk."
"Is the Yankee going to stay around here?" asked Colson.
"No; he and the two boys are going to Melbourne. I believe they are
going back to America."
"It's a shame that such a prize should go to Americans," said Colson, in
a discontented tone.
He would have been very glad to head a movement for robbing Obed and the
boys of the proceeds of their lucky discovery, on this flimsy ground.
But Tom Lewis was a fair-minded man.
"I don't see what that has to do with it," said he. "They found it, and
they have a right to it. Of course, I'd rather it had been me; but it
wasn't, and there's an end of it."
"Some people are born lucky!" grumbled Colson, as Lewis walked away. "I
never had any luck."
"The nugget you found wasn't quite so valuable," returned Ropes grimly.
"No; I tugged away for nothing. My arms and shoulders are stiff enough
this morning. And now the nugget is out of our reach."
"But not the three hundred pounds," said Ropes significantly.
"The price of the claim?"
"Yes."
"That's true, but it won't do us any good."
"The Yankee will carry that with him. It's worth trying for."
The suggestion seemed to strike Colson favorably. The two held a
whispered consultation, which seemed to yield mutual satisfaction. They
were, indeed, congenial spirits, and agreed upon one point, that it was
better to make a living by knavery than by doing honest work for honest
wages. Yet there is no harder or more unsatisfactory way of living than
this. Ill-gotten gains seldom benefit the possessor, and the plans of
wicked men often fail altogether.
Gradually the two had drawn near to the claim, and at last drew the
attention of Obed and the boys.
Obed's thin face lighted up with satisfaction as he recognized the man
who had attempted to steal the nugget.
"Good-mornin', squire," he said politely. "You look kind of tired, as if
you was up late last night."
Colson eyed him sharply. "Does he suspect?" thought he. "Yes," he
answered, in an indifferent tone, "I didn't rest very well."
"Where did you pass the night?"
"'Round here," he answered vaguely.
"You look as if you had been taking a long walk."
"You are very observing," said Colson, not over pleased.
"I always was. It pays a man--sometimes."
"I hear you've struck it rich," said Colson, not caring to take notice
of the other's significant tone.
"Found a nugget, they tell me," interpolated Ropes. "How big was it?"
"Weighs about seventy-five pounds!"
"That is luck!" said Colson, with a sickly smile. He could scarcely help
groaning as he thought of his loss.
"Well, yes, it is tolerable hefty. I reckon me and the boys will be able
to take it easy for a few years. But we came near losin' it, after
all."
"How's that?" Colson asked, but he did not venture to meet Obed's
glance.
"Some skunk saw us bringin' back the nugget, and prowled round till he
thought we was all asleep. Then he got into the cabin and carried it
off. That is, he thought he did, but we was a little too sharp for him.
We tied up a big rock in my handkerchief, and I guess he had a sweet
time carryin' it off."
"Ha, ha! A good joke!" said Colson, but his laughter was mirthless.
"I thought you'd enjoy the joke, squire," said Obed. "How I pity the
poor fellow! His arms must ache with luggin' the old rock. The best of
it is we know the fellow that took it."
"You do?" ejaculated Colson, his jaw dropping.
"Yes, Harry woke up just in the nick of time and saw him scootin' out of
the cabin. If I should tell the boys 'round here, I reckon they'd lynch
him!" added Obed quietly.
"Just so," assented Colson, but his face was of a sickly hue, and taking
Ropes by the arm he hurried him away.
"That fellow's well scared," said Obed, turning to his two young
companions. "I reckon he'll make himself scarce till we're out of the
way."