The Gold Hunter's Adventures by William H. Thomes

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For the first few weeks of their residence at Ballarat the ill-matched
couple did all of their trading at our store, until at length so many
stimulating luxuries were purchased by Maria, that Barney requested us
to refuse her credit, which, in compliance with his wishes, we did, and
received such a torrent of abuse from the wife for so doing, that we
wished her back to her old haunts, in Radcliff Highway, and had serious
thoughts of attempting to recover damages from the "Moral Emigration
Society" which exported her. For a woman with so fair a face, she had
the vilest tongue that I ever heard.

After the credit system was abolished, Maria transferred her favors to a
store on Gravel Pit Hill, where, for a time, she was quite a favorite,
and thrived wonderfully; but her husband got wind of her doings, and
threatened to shoot the first man that he saw taking improper liberties
with his property, and that rather dashed the spirits of the gallants,
for Barney was bold as a lion, and carried a pair of very good pistols
in his belt, in addition to a bowie knife of wondrous keenness.

The poor, depraved woman, finding that she was watched, and that her
male companions kept aloof, after the threat which Barney made, got up a
clandestine correspondence with a young fellow who was smitten with her
pretty face, and to put a stop to it Barney was obliged to break one of
his rival's arms with a pistol bullet, one morning, just as he was
putting a letter under a log that stood in front of his tent.

The wife, for the first few days, refused to be comforted, and then she
apparently forgot the matter, and seemed to care no more about it. To
her husband's surprise, she paid more attention to his comfort than
usual--remained at her tent while he was absent, forsook the company of
strange men entirely, no longer run in debt, and such a complete change
was observed in her, that the Rev. Mr. Blackburn ventured to call once,
and inquire if her sinful heart had melted. What answer Maria returned
is unknown, as the reverend gentleman never divulged; but it was noticed
that he left her tent walking quite rapidly, and that he never ventured
there a second time.

I think that it was about six weeks after Barney had broken the
gallant's arm, that he suddenly presented himself in the store, his face
radiant with happiness.

"I've got some good news for you," he said, rubbing his hands with
satisfaction.

"What is it, Barney?" I inquired; "have you found a nugget?"

"Better than that," he cried.

"Then you have found a chunk."

"No; something better than that--ten times better."

"Well, relate it. We are impatient to learn what good has befallen you."

"You would never guess," Barney said, in a mysterious manner, as though
what he had to impart would bear keeping for some time; "but," and here
his face once more beamed with smiles, "my wife has cut stick."

"What do you mean--run away?" I asked, surprised at the intelligence.

"That is what I mean. She has run off with the fellow whose arm I broke
some time since; and she not only took her clothes, but she seized every
thing of value I had in the tent. They have got six hours the start of
me, but I think--"

He paused, and seemed to consider for a moment.

"You think that you can overtake them," I suggested; "I have no doubt
but that you can, and the best horse that we own is at your disposal."

"O, bless your heart, I was not considering the subject in that light,"
he answered, "I was thinking whether I should advertise that I would not
be responsible for any debts that she contracts."

I told him that I thought he need give himself no uneasiness on that
score; but Barney was a mathematical body, and always desired to do
business on the square; and as he seemed so set upon writing an
advertisement, I furnished him ink and paper, and after a laborious
process, he wrote the following, which I copy _verbatim_.

"NOTICE.--My wife, Maria Barney, the ugliest woman that ever lived, has
left my tent and board without any justifiable cause, 'cos I use to do
all that I could do to make her pretty comfortable, and in spite of my
wishes, she would cut up like the devil, and run after other men. Now, I
want all men to notice this act of mine. I won't pay a d----d cent of
her debts, and I hope no one will return her to me, 'cos I don't want
her. JIM BARNEY."

I persuaded Barney that the announcement would be valid in law, if he
only stuck it up in the store, where it could be read by the miners, and
it may be there until this day, for all that I know.

CHAPTER LX.

MIKE FINDS THE LARGE "NUGGET."

What trifles will sometimes change the destiny of a man!

Barney, after his wife had left him so unexpectedly, earnestly desired
to give up mining and return to his first love,--the driving of cattle
and teaming. We tried to persuade him to stick 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 employe 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,
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
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
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 hoaxed or not? Is it a blarney
stone or a lump of gold that Mike has found?"

"Pull up," yelled Fred, and I heard some heavy substance thrown into the
bucket.

"I'll see you hanged first," I retorted. "You are not going to make me
draw up a fifty pound piece of quartz, and then laugh at me for my
labor."

"Pull up quick," cried Fred, in an eager voice; and I heard a howl from
the Irishman at my obstinacy.

"In the name of the saints, up wid it, good master Jim," pleaded Mike;
but I rather hesitated, strengthened in the view which I took in the
matter by the policeman.

"It's little gold that was ever taken from this claim, sir," he said,
"although it has paid one or two proprietors by speculation. The soil is
not of the right kind for large nuggets."

"How big is it?" I asked, addressing those who were some thirty feet
below me.

"About as large as your head," was Fred's reply.

"Is it solid?" I demanded.

"It looks to be! But don't stand there asking questions, when you can
satisfy yourself. Round up the bucket."

I began to think that the Irishman's dream was true, and that the
whiskey had not taken possession of his senses.

Fred was not in the habit of indulging in practical jokes; and I finally
concluded that I might as well satisfy myself whether a stone or a lump
of gold was in the bucket. I wound up the windlass, while the policeman
peeked down the long, dark shaft, eagerly watching for the bucket, to
see what it contained.

"Do you see any thing?" I asked, when I thought that it was near enough
to get a glimpse of its contents.

Before I could repeat the question, the eyes of the patrolman glared as
though starting from their sockets, and his face flushed scarlet.

"Up with it, in the name of goodness," my companion shouted, leaning
over the shaft, and grasping the rope that held the bucket in one hand,
and attempting to pull it up, regardless of the rough windlass that I
was working at.

"Can you see it?" I demanded, resting from my labor for a moment, and
glancing down the shaft.

"Don't stop, sir," cried the policeman; "up with it, or the devil may
carry it off before our eyes."

I did not feel so superstitious; and in spite of the warning managed to
get a glimpse of the lump that had almost turned the brains of the
Irishman and Fred.

At the first glance, I almost let go my hold of the windlass, I was so
overpowered. My eyes appeared to blur over, and my brain grew dizzy. I
did not seem to possess the strength of an infant, and for a moment I
paused, and tried to rally my senses.

My heart beat so wildly that I thought it would burst, for the single
glance that I had cast towards the bucket revealed to me a sight that
would have driven half the miners of Ballarat crazy, and the remaining
portion frantic with delight, provided, of course, they had seen and
owned what I saw.

CHAPTER LXI.

THE RESULT OF GROWING RICH TOO RAPIDLY.

My officious friend lifted the nugget from the bucket and laid it before
me, and for a few minutes I gloated over and passed my hand over its
unequal surface, and weighed it in my imagination until I was roused
from my reverie by those in the shaft.

"Send down the bucket, so that we can get up," shouted Fred; "we don't
want to stop here all night!"

I hurried to relieve my friend, and by the time that he was safe out of
the shaft, and the bucket had re-descended for Mike, I was comparatively
calm.

Fred and myself shook hands over our prize, and then lifted it, and
sought to form some idea of its weight, in which we were aided by the
official of the law.

"It will weigh forty pounds," cried Fred, after a moment's handling.

"More than that, sirs," answered the policeman, with a dogmatical air
that was charming to us, because every additional ounce made us richer.

"I've seen a few nuggets since I've been stationed here, and I had
oughter know about such things," he continued, turning our prize over
and over, and scrutinizing it with the air of a connoisseur. "Do you
see, there's not an ounce of quartz stuck to the whole piece, and gold
is awful heavy when it comes in the lump style."

We assented to his remarks without a word of opposition. We could have
listened to him for hours, it seemed so good to have him extol, instead
of depreciate, the nugget.

"How much, then, do you think that it will weigh?" I demanded.

"Well," replied the officer, after a moment's pause, and another lifting
operation, "I should say about fifty pounds, if my opinion was asked.

"If my advice was asked," the officer continued, in a patronizing
manner, "I should say, take that nugget to the government reception
office without delay, and after it is weighed, get a certificate of
deposit. That is my advice, but my opinion may not be worth much, one
way or the other."

We agreed that his advice was good, and that it would be wisdom on our
part to accept of it without delay, for it was rather dangerous having
so much gold in a store, when the town was swarming with thieves.

There was one person, however, who did not seem to like the proposition,
and that was Mike. He had a faint suspicion that the project was
intended to defraud him of his rightful claim to one quarter of the
nugget, and his face showed the feelings of his heart, while we were
talking of the matter.

"Is it moving ye intend to do?" he demanded, eyeing the gold as though
it had been guilty of a treacherous act.

"We are going to remove it to the government office for safety," I
replied.

"For safety?" repeated Mike. "Where could it be more safe than under me
eye, or under me head while I slept. Ough! don't bother, but let me
carry it to the store, where we can cut it up, and I can get me
quarter."

"You wouldn't spoil such a nugget as that by cutting it up, would you?"
cried the policeman; "it is the finest specimen of gold that I ever saw,
and should be preserved."

"Faith, if that is the case," muttered Mike, "it might just as well have
remained in the pit, for I don't see what good it will do us."

We succeeded in explaining to the capricious gentleman what we intended
to do, and pacified him by promising that he should have his share in
ready money before night, if he desired it; and I will do Mike the
justice of saying that he did, most emphatically, and other men would
have acted in the same way.

By the time that we had concluded to deposit our treasure at the
government office, considerable of a crowd had collected in the vicinity
of our claim, and was admiring the nugget, and wishing, with all their
hearts, that it belonged to them, and that they could be so fortunate.
We even began to receive proposals for our claim, and prices were
offered that we never dreamed of asking.

"Now is the time to sell," whispered our tempter, in the shape of the
policeman.

"Don't dispose of the mine for any consideration," cried Mike; "I'm
sartin that I know where another nugget is hid, and I'll have him out,
by the blessing of St. Patrick."

"Sell while the excitement lasts," continued the tempter; "I never knew
of two nuggets being found close together."

"It's our fortunes we'll make out of the mine," Mike exclaimed. "I'll go
back to Ireland, buy land, and be called 'the squire,' and drink
buttermilk twice a day, and ate paraties every meal. I'll have a still
of me own, and make the real poteen whiskey, and drink punch, instead of
water, and smoke 'bacca, instead of cabbage leaves. Won't I keep open
house, and none shall be more welcome than an Australian miner!"

"Will you have a pig?" asked some one in the crowd.

"A pig!" repeated Mike, with intense scorn; "I'll have a dozen of them,
and each one shall be fatter than ye."

A roar of laughter followed Mike's sally, and the questioner, who
thought that he could ridicule the honest Hibernian, instantly subsided,
and was seen no more.

We intended to send to the store for the purpose of getting a stout
bucket, into which we could put our nugget and carry it to the office;
but Mike would not listen to the suggestion for a moment. He shouldered
the precious lump of gold, and marched through the streets, as proud of
his charge as though the whole of it belonged to him, and he knew where
he could get another just like it.

A crowd of miners followed at our heels, and such a mixture of tongues
was never heard, except at the construction of the tower of Babal.

Followed by this motley crew, we passed along the streets, amidst shouts
and congratulations, until we gained the government reception office.

"There," cried Mike, throwing down his load upon the counter of the
office, much to the astonishment of the clerks; "plase weigh that, and
see how much it comes to, for I want me quarterings."

The clerks did not comprehend his words, although they did understand
the meaning of his action; and while a couple of police officers, who
were stationed at the building, drove from the room all those not
interested in the matter, we watched the large scales that were to tell
us to a farthing how much the nugget was worth.

"Well," cried Mike, "can't ye spake, and let us know how much me
quarterings come to?"

The clerk, who was figuring, looked at the speaker with silent contempt,
and did not even condescend to reply, much less hasten his movements.

"Your nugget," said the clerk, at length, addressing Fred and myself,
"weighs just fifty-one pounds two ounces, and if there is no quartz in
the interior of the lump--and I think that there is not--at the present
price of gold it is worth, in round numbers, about two thousand five
hundred pounds sterling. A pretty good day's work, sirs."

"Say it again," cried Mike, all ready for another Irish break-down.

The clerk repeated the amount with much amiability. He had just learned
that Mike had an interest in the nugget, and his respect for the man
increased in proportion to his wealth.

"Two thousand five hundred pounds sterling," repeated Mike, in
amazement. "Who would have thought that there was so much money in the
world? I'll ate nothing but paraties, and drink nothing stronger than
buttermilk and whiskey hereafter. Two thousand pounds and five hundred
of 'em to make the figures look a little odd. Ough! murder, won't the
old woman and the childers be plased to see me riding home in an
illegant coach and four, dressed like a lord!"

The subject was one of so much importance that Mike, in defiance of the
dignified-looking clerk, indulged in a hornpipe, and was only brought to
his senses when told that he would be locked up by the policemen as a
lunatic, unless he was more quiet.

"I'll be like a lamb," he replied; and then, after a moment's quiet, he
leaned over and whispered to the clerk, in a confidential manner,--"If
the nugget is worth two thousand five hundred pounds sterling, pray,
what is me quarterings worth? Answer me that, if ye can."

We did not give the clerk time to make the calculation, but offered
Mike, on a venture, a sum equivalent to two thousand seven hundred
dollars for his quarterings, while we concluded to run the risk of the
interior of the nugget being filled with quartz. Mike accepted the
proposition without delay, and merely taking a certificate of deposit,
we returned to the store, counted out in sovereigns the amount that was
due Mike, made him put his cross, in the presence of Mr. Critchet, to a
paper certifying that he had been paid in full, and with the gold in his
pocket, off he started for his nearest countrymen, for the purpose of
treating every Irishman that he met, and getting rid of his sudden
wealth as soon as possible.