The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ) - William H. Thomes (large screen ebook reader txt) 📗

To His Claim; But He Was

Resolute, And Declared That If We Would Not Purchase His Mine He Would

Sell To The First Adventurer Who Made An Offer; And To Prevent The Man

From Sacrificing His Property, We Purchased On Speculation, And Paid Him

Just The Price He Had Given. Even After We Came Into Possession, We Did

Not Know What To Do With The Mine, For We Had No Desire To Work It

Ourselves; And, As A Large Portion Of The Allotted Ground Had Been Dug

Over, Old Miners Were Shy, And Strangers Did Not Bite Readily At The

Temptations Which We Held Out To Them.

 

For A Number Of Days The Mine Was Neglected; And During That Period It

Filled With Water, And That Was Another Good Reason Why It Could Not Be

Sold; And Jokes Were Cracked At Our Expense By Friends, Who Lounged In

The Store Purchasing Trifling Articles, In Regard To Our Speculation, As

They Termed It. We Took All In Good Part, Until One Day A Man Made An

Application To Us For Something To Eat. We Supplied His Wants, And Upon

Inquiry Found That He Was Willing And Anxious To Go To Work At A Cheap

Rate. I Proposed, Partly In Jest, And Partly In Earnest, That He Should

Be Employed Baling Out And Cleaning Out Our Mine. Fred Assented, When We

Showed The Man What We Wanted Done, And Left Him At Work, Not Expecting

That He Would Make Much Headway; But In This We Were Disappointed, For

Our Employé Made Such Diligent Use Of His Time, That In The Course Of

The Afternoon The Mine Was Free Of Water And Dirt, And Mike Announced

That He Could Commence Digging In The Morning If He Had A Few "Shores"

And Boards To Prop Up The Places Where Excavations Had Been Going On.

These We Readily Granted, And Began To Take An Interest In Our Claim

That We Had Not Felt Before.

 

"Mike," I Said, At Supper Time, Addressing Our New Acquaintance, "We

Will Give You One Quarter Of The Gold Which You Find, And Board You Into

The Bargain, But We Will Not Pay You Wages."

 

Mike Thought Of The Proposition For A Moment, And Announced His

Intention Of Accepting It Without Restriction, And At Daylight The Next

Morning He Was At Work Many Feet Below The Surface Of The Earth, Picking

Away The Dirt, And Examining It Carefully, As Though He Expected To Find

A Nugget In Every Gravel Stone That He Met With. Once Or Twice In The

Course Of The Day, We Walked Over To The Spot And Lent A Helping Hand,

For The Purpose Of Freeing The Place Of Water, And When Night Arrived,

Volume 2 Chapter 59 (Mike Finds The Large "Nugget.") Pg 96

We Had No Need To Ask Questions In Regard To The Luck Of Mike. His Face

Proclaimed That He Had Found Nothing; But I Think That He Was More

Disappointed On Our Account Than On His Own.

 

"No Luck To-Day, Mike?" Said I.

 

"Divil A Ha'penny Of Goold Have I Found Sir; But There's No Telling What

May Come On Yet. I Don't Despair."

 

Neither Did We; Although We Had But Few Hopes Of Ever Getting Our Money

Back. The Next Morning Mike Was Promptly At His Post, And We Did Not

Hear From Him Until About Two O'clock; I Was Dozing On A Lounge, Fred

Was Asleep On The Counter, And Mr. Critchet Was Mending

Stockings,--About The First Work That He Attempted To Do,--When Mike

Rushed Frantically Into The Store, Threw Himself Upon His Knees, And

Began Talking, Laughing, And Crying At The Same Moment.

 

"Glory To God And All The Saints!" He Exclaimed, After He Had Recovered

His Breath, And Then He Began To Laugh Frantically, Swaying His Body

Back And Forth, As Though It Was An Impossibility To Keep Still.

 

"It's My Opinion," Said Fred, Without Rising From His Recumbent

Position, "That You Are A Little Out Of Your Head, Or Else You Have Been

Drinking."

 

"Divil A Bit Of Whiskey Have I Touched For Two Days; But I'll Have A

Drop Now For The Purpose Of Drinking Long Lives To Your Honors. It's Me

Head That Is Affected, And Well It May Be. O, It's Little Did I Think

That I Should Come To This. Glory To God--It's Plazed The Old Woman And

The Childers Will Be."

 

He Made A Dive At The Whiskey Cask, And Drank A Pretty Stiff Nipper

Before He Could Compose Himself. We Did Not Interfere, Because We Did

Not Know But That The Fellow Might Have Escaped From The Mine While It

Was Caving In,--Accidents Of That Kind Happening Quite Frequently,--And

That Fright Had Turned His Brain.

 

"Now, Mike, Be Kind Enough To Tell Us What Has Happened," I Said,

Thinking That He Had Mystified Us Long Enough.

 

"O, Such News," He Exclaimed, Springing Upon His Feet, And Executing A

Wild Sort Of Shuffle That Would Have Delighted The Hearts Of The 'Finest

Pisantry' In The World, Had They Been Present, To Have Seen His Antics.

 

"Well, What Is The News?" I Demanded, While Fred, Too Indolent To Speak,

Lay Upon The Counter, And Laughed A Sleepy Sort Of Laugh, Without

Changing His Position.

 

"Murderation, Who Would Have Thought Of It? It's A Rich Man Ye Will Be,

Mike, Ye Lucky Divil. What Will The Old Folks Say, When They Bear Of It?

Glory To St. Patrick, But Won't The Boys Stare, And Call Me Mr. Mike!"

 

I Began To Have An Inkling Of The Man's Meaning. I Sprang From My Seat,

Caught Mike By His Collar, And Shook Him For A Few Seconds, Until I

Volume 2 Chapter 59 (Mike Finds The Large "Nugget.") Pg 97

Thought That His Senses Were Returned Before I Put A Question.

 

"Mike, You Devil," I Exclaimed, "You Have Found A Nugget."

 

"Whoop!" He Yelled, Springing Up, And Striking His Feet Together With

Excess Of Joy, "I Found The Granddaddy Of Lumps."

 

"What's That?" Cried Fred, Starting From His Recumbent Position, And

Beginning To Take An Interest In The Conversation.

 

"It's A Lump As Big As My Head I've Found," Roared Mike, Making Another

Dive For The Whiskey Barrel, But We Choked Him Off, And Made Him Stick

To His Text.

 

"Do You Mean That You Have Found A Nugget Of Gold As Large As Your

Head?" Demanded Fred, Eagerly.

 

"To The Divil Wid Yer Nuggets--What Do I Know About Nuggets? It's A Lump

Of Pure Goold I've Found; As Big A Lump As My Head, And Ten Times As

Heavy."

 

We Could Hardly Believe The News Mike Imparted To Us Was True; But His

Eagerness Convinced Us That He Had Stumbled Upon Something, Although We

Feared It Was A Lump Of Quartz, With A Few Streaks Of Gold Running

Through It, Such As Was Often Found In Ballarat, And Which, For The Want

Of A Good Quartz-Crushing Machine, Was Thrown Aside As Being Worthless.

 

"Come And See For Yourselves," Yelled Mike, Almost Out Of Patience At

Our Obstinacy In Not Placing Implicit Reliance Upon His Word In Regard

To The Matter.

 

"Will Ye Come And Look At The Beautiful Piece Of Goold Wid Me? And Thin

Perhaps Ye'll Belave Without Further Words. But Remember--One Quarter Is

Mine."

 

We Told Mike That We Would Stick To Our Word, And That He Should Have

His Share Even If He Had Found A Lump As Large As His Body. The

Assertion Satisfied Him, That We Intended To Deal Honestly By Him; And

Leaving Mr. Critchet To Tend The Store, We Walked Towards Our Claim, The

Purchase Of Which, On Our Part, Had Excited The Ridicule Of More Than

One Of Our Friends.

 

On Our Way, Mike Related The Manner In Which He Found His Treasure. He

Said That He Had Worked Steadily For An Hour Or Two, And Had Not Found

The First Sign Of Gold, And That He Stopped For A While To Rest And

Smoke His Pipe, And Also To Trim His Lamp; That He Fell Asleep, And

Slept For An Hour Or Two, And Dreamed That He Was Sitting On A Nugget Of

Gold That Was As Large As His Father's Mud Cabin In Ireland, And That He

Was Wondering How He Could Get It Up The Shaft, When He Was Awakened By

A Drop Of Water Which Trickled From The Ground Overhead, Striking Him On

His Nose.

 

He Started Up, And Thought How Pleasant It Would Be If His Dream Would

Only Come True; And Rather By Accident Than Design He Let The Point Of

Volume 2 Chapter 59 (Mike Finds The Large "Nugget.") Pg 98

His Pick Fall Into The Earth Where He Had Been Sitting. The Dirt Gave

Way, And He Thought By The Dim Light Of His Lamp, That He Saw Something

Glisten.

 

Once More He Struck The Ground, Threw Aside A Little Dirt, And Then He

Imagined That His Dream Had Come True, For The Bright Gleam Of Gold Was

Before Him.

 

"Me Heart Was In Me Mouth," Mike Continued, "And I Did Not Pretend To

Use Me Spade Or Me Pick For Fear That The Goold Would Vanish From Me

Sight. I Threw Myself Upon Me Knees, And Dug With Me Fingers, And Hardly

Dared To Breathe For Fear That I Should Lose It; And When I Had Freed It

From The Dirt, And Attempted To Lift It Up, O! Didn't It Seem Good To

Have It Howld Back, As Though It Didn't Like Being Dragged From Its Bed

So Early In The Morning!

 

"I Worked It Clear Of The Soil; And Then Me Heart Was Too Full To Stay

There Any Longer. I Had To Run To The Store And Ease Me Heart. But Mind,

Honeys! Fair Play In The Division, Ye Know. Mind The Honor Of An Irish

Gentleman, Who Is Too Modest To Spake For Himself."

 

Mike's Idea Of Modesty Was About On A Par With The Natives Of Australia,

Who Think They Are In Full Dress When The Only Article Of Wearing

Apparel That They Can Boast Of Is A Hat, Or A Cast-Off Stocking, Thrown

On The Roadside By Some Blister-Footed Adventurer On His Way To The

Mines.

 

We Pacified The Man A Second Time; And By This Period We Were At The

Shaft, And Ready To Descend. Fred Insisted Upon Going First, And After

Him The Irishman, While I Hailed A Passing Patrolman, And Got Him To

Extend The Same Favor To Myself, When I Got Ready To Be Lowered In The

Bucket.

 

"Well, Fred," I Shouted, "Have We Been