The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ), William H. Thomes [best story books to read .txt] 📗

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

Volume 2 Chapter 60 ( The Result Of Growing Rich Too Rapidly) Pg 103

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.

 

I Urged Him For Half An Hour To Let The Larger Portion Of His Funds

Remain In Our Hands, But He Was Obstinate, And Feared Trickery. I Then

Endeavored To Persuade Him To Deposit All But A Hundred Sovereign In The

Government Office, But Strange To Say, He Was More Fearful Of The

Government Concern Than He Was Of Our Firm. At Length I Got Out Of All

Patience, For I Saw That, Instead Of Devoting His Fortune To His

Relatives, He Was Determined To Have A Spree, And I Let Him Go Without

Another Word Of Remonstrance.

 

He Conducted Himself Precisely As I Anticipated. For One Week Two Thirds

Of His Countrymen Suspended Work, And Drank Cheap Whiskey At Mike's

Expense. His Gold Vanished Like Snow On The Top Of Mount Alexander At

Midday, And Although Many Of The Better Class Of Irish Visited Our Store

Every Day, And Begged That We Would Interfere And Help Save A Portion Of

His Wealth, We Declined To Do So; And Even Mr. Brown, Who Was Appealed

To, Shrugged His Shoulders, And Made An Oft-Quoted Remark That "A Fool

And His Money Were Soon Parted." The Most That We Would Do Was To

Promise That Mike Should Not Buy A Single Sixpence Worth Of Liquor At

Our Store, And We Kept Our Word, For Which We Got Most Heartily Abused

By Our Late Employee's Friends; And One Day We Were Obliged To Have Two

Or Three Arrested, Owing To A Display Of Pugilism Which They Made.

 

All Things Must Have An Ending, And To Follow Out Mike's Fortunes, I May

As Well State That He Soon Lost All Of His Money, Was Deserted By Those

Who Called Themselves His Friends, And That He Was Left Without The

Volume 2 Chapter 60 ( The Result Of Growing Rich Too Rapidly) Pg 104

Means Of Buying A Loaf Of Broad, Or A Glass Of Whiskey To Keep Off The

_Delirium Tremens_. He Applied To Us For Employment, And We Gave Him

Something To Do; But The Thoughts Of His Folly Weighed Heavily On His

Mind, And One Morning We Found Mike Hanging By His Neck, In The Rear Of

The Store Where We Stabled Our Horses.

 

Had He But Adhered To His First Resolve, Of Returning To Ireland, And

Living In Peace For The Remainder Of His Days, His Gold Would Have Been

Of Some Use, Not Only To Him, But To The Community; But As Matters

Transpired, The Finding Of The Nugget Was His Greatest Misfortune.

 

But To Return To The Day When Our Wealth Was Increased By A Lucky Stroke

Of The Pickaxe, And When We Began To Think Seriously Of Mining Claims As

Means Of Making Fortunes. In This Connection We Were Advised By Mr.

Critchet, Who, Although Not Of A Sanguine Temperament, Had Made

Considerable Money In Speculation As Well As In Digging, And Was

Enthusiastic When He Learned That We Had Been Amply Repaid For All Funds

Which We Had Advanced.

 

"Now Is The Time To Sell," He Said, When He Heard Half A Dozen

Applicants Make Inquiries Regarding The Terms For Our Now Famous Claim.

"Don't Hold Back, And Say That You Don't Believe That The Mine Contains

Another Nugget. That Won't Do In Ballarat. Speak Up With Confidence, And

Tell About The Richness Of The Mine, And Your Disinclination To Sell.

That Will Only Make People More Eager, And You Will Get Better Terms."

"But We Don't Believe That The Claim Will Ever Pay Another Dollar," I

Replied.

 

"What Is That To You?" He Retorted. "Didn't You Buy Without

Expectations, And Haven't You Ever Purchased A Lottery Ticket And Drawn

A Blank? A Claim Is A Lottery, And One Of The Most Treacherous Kind.

Sell While You Can, And Try Another Site."

 

We Remembered Of A Purchase That We Had Made In California, When A

Shrewd Fellow Sold Us His Worked-Out Claim For Two Hundred Dollars, And

We Were Laughed At For Our Greenness. We Felt A Desire To Retaliate, But

We Had Been Taught In New England Schools That Two Wrongs Did Not Make

One Right, And We Banished The Plan From Our Minds Of Urging People To

Buy Our Mine On The Plea That It Was Rich Beyond Comparison. If It Was

Desired, We Determined That It Should Be Bought Without Extolling

Claptrap Of Any Kind.

 

While We Were In This Frame Of Mind, A Stranger Entered Our Store, And

Expressed A Desire To See The Nugget Which Had Turned Half The Heads In

Ballarat.

 

He Manifested No Disappointment When Told That It Was At The Government

Office, And After Asking A Few Questions, Boldly Made An Offer For Our

Claim That Was Greatly In Advance Of What We Had Anticipated.

 

There Was A Moment's Hesitation On Our Part, And We Were Strongly

Tempted To Close The Bargain; But Better Thoughts Came To Our Aid, And

We Declined The Offer, On The Ground That He Offered More Money Than The

Mine Was Really Worth, And More Than He Could Possibly Get Back.

Volume 2 Chapter 60 ( The Result Of Growing Rich Too Rapidly) Pg 105

"That," Replied The Would-Be Purchaser, "Is My Lookout. I Know The

Condition Of The Mine, And What Has Been Taken From It. If My Offer Is

Accepted I Am Willing To Pay The Price That I Mention, And Whether It

Repays Me Or Not Is None Of Your Affair."

 

It Would Have Been Cruel To Disappoint The Man, And As Money Was Our

Object, And He Was So Anxious To Do Us A Service, We, With Great

Magnanimity, Accepted Of One Thousand Dollars In Gold Dust, And Gave The

Purchaser A Deed Of The Claim.

 

"A Good Day's Work!" Cried Fred, Rubbing His Hands, As Soon As The

Stranger's Back Was Turned. "A Dozen Or Twenty More Such, And Then, Hey

For Home!"

 

We Had Made, As Fred Said, A Good Day's Work For The Firm, For, Of

Course, Smith's Interest Was Equal To Our Own, And He Shared In Any

Speculation That We Might Enter Into; But While I Am On The Subject, I

May As Well Tell Of A Money-Making Operation That Entirely Eclipsed The

Above Transaction, Even Including The Finding Of The Nugget.

 

I Was In Melbourne, One Time, Having Run Down From The Mines For The

Purpose Of Buying A Few Articles Which We Wanted Forwarded By Express,

And While I Was Dodging From One Store To Another, I Saw That The Stock

Of Flour Was Rather Low, And That, Unless Fresh Arrivals Soon Augmented

The Small Quantity On Hand, The Price Must Go Up. I Made A Few Cautious

Inquiries, And Found That The Dealers At Sydney Were Not Much Better Off

Than Those At Melbourne, And It Occurred To Me That Soon A Speculation

Movement Would Begin, And That We Might As Well Have A Hand In It As To

Let Others Make All The Money.

 

As I Said Before, I Made Careful Inquiries, And Discovered That Two

Ships Were Daily Expected, One From Chili, And The Other From New York,

And Both Were Loaded With Flour. No Vessel Was Expected From England

With Grain On Board, Although It Was Not Known For Certainty.

 

Upon This Intelligence I Pondered For An Hour Or Two, And Then Resolved

To Try My Luck In The Way Of Speculation. Flour Was Selling At Fair

Prices, I Think, Although, Owing To The Non-Publication Of A Price

Current, And To The Absence Of An Exchange, No Two