Philosopher Jack, R. M. Ballantyne [mobi reader android TXT] 📗

of meat left from breakfast. Little conversation was indulged in. They were too hungry for that—perhaps too much depressed by hope deferred.

“I’ll try the banks higher up,” said Jack, rising.

“And I’ll try the bed of the stream lower down, just by way of opposition,” said Watty.

They separated, and the latter soon found himself among the boulders, where he continued to search—actively at first, but more lazily as time passed by. Presently he came to a wild spot where the stream was overhung by bushes. He turned over a small stone. Beneath it was a hole or “pocket”. He stooped quickly, and pulled out a nugget of gold about the size of a thimble. He stooped again, and, inserting his hand, pulled at something that would not come. His heart gave a jump and appeared to get into his throat, where it apparently remained, while the blood rushed to his forehead. Another pull, and out came a mass of solid gold, about the size of his own fist! A cheer rose to his lips, but he checked it. “P’r’aps there’s more!” he said. Yes, the greedy little wretch said that! But there was no more in that pocket.

Quickly turning over several more stones, he found more pockets, with nuggets of various sizes in each. In a short time his specimen pouch was pretty well lined with the precious metal.

Meanwhile his friend Jack was equally successful, the chief difference between them being that the latter washed out the earth on the banks above, and found his gold in little grains and specks, but in such quantities that he felt as if his fortune were already made. Towards evening Watty hallooed and was replied to. As they walked rapidly towards the pre-arranged rendezvous, each hit on the same idea—that of deception!

“Well, what luck?” asked Watty with a careless air that ill concealed the elation of his heart.

“Only a little dust—nothing to speak of—at least not as compared with what some fellows get,” said Jack, whose laughing eye gave the lie direct to his melancholy tones. “See here, Watty, this is all I’ve got.”

As he spoke, the hypocrite poured the glittering contents of his pouch into his tin wash-pan.

“Well, what a lucky fellow you are!” said Watty, with mouth expanded. “Just look here; this is all that I have got.”

He opened his bag and displayed the nuggets, with the big one in the midst!

Need we say that these youths found it difficult to express their joy and astonishment? The fact was evident that they had at last discovered unusually rich ground, and they travelled back to the camp to tell their lazy comrade the good news.

It was near sunset when they reached the little plain or open space at the mouth of the gorge. Here Jack turned aside to cut a stick of peculiar form, which had caught his eye on the way up, and which he meant to keep as a souvenir of their discovery and the spot. Watty sauntered slowly across the plain.

He had just reached the wood on the other side, and turned to wait for his comrade, when he heard two shots in quick succession. There was nothing unusual in this, but when he heard the Philosopher utter a loud cry, he started, cocked his gun, and ran a few steps back to meet him. Next moment Jack burst from the thicket and ran across the plain at a speed that told of imminent danger. From the same thicket there also rushed a large grizzly bear, whose speed was greater than that of Jack, though it did not appear to be so.

All the blood in Watty Wilkins’s body seemed to fly back to his heart, and immediately after it rushed to his brain and toes. Prompt action! no time to think! Life! death! Watty never afterwards could tell clearly what he felt or did on that tremendous occasion, but Jack could tell what he did, for he saw him do it.

Going down on one knee and resting his left arm on the other, in what is known to volunteers as the Hythe position, the little youth calmly levelled his double-barrelled gun. It was charged only with small shot, and he knew that that was useless at long range, therefore he restrained himself and waited.

Jack and the bear ran straight towards him.

“Up, Watty, up a tree,” gasped Jack; “it’s no use—shot won’t hurt him—quick!”

As he spoke he darted to the nearest tree, seized a large limb, and swung himself up among the branches. The bear passed under him, and, observing the kneeling figure in front, charged at once. When it was within three feet of him the youth let fly the contents of both barrels into the grizzly’s mouth. So true was his aim that about six inches of the barrel followed the shot as the bear rushed upon it. This saved Watty, who was violently hurled aside by the stock of his own gun, while the bear went head-over-heels, vomiting blood and rage amid smoke and dust and scattered nuggets of gold!

“O Watty!” cried Jack, leaping down to the rescue with his drawn hunting-knife.

But before Jack reached him, or the bear had time to recover himself, Watty was on his active legs, and sprang up a tree like a monkey. Jack caught a branch of the same tree, and by sheer strength swung himself up, but on this occasion with so little time to spare, that the bear, standing on its hind legs, touched his heel lovingly with its protruded lips, as he drew himself out of reach.

We need scarcely say it was with beating and thankful hearts that the two friends looked down from their perch of safety on the formidable and bloody foe who kept pawing at the foot of the tree and looking hungrily up at them.

“What a mercy that the grizzly can’t climb!” panted Watty, who had not yet recovered breath.

“But he can watch and keep us here all night,” said Jack, “and we have no means of killing him. I fell and lost my gun in escaping, and yours is doubled up. We’re in for a night of it, my boy. Why didn’t you do what I bade you, get up into the tree with your gun when you saw us coming, and then we could have shot him at our leisure?”

“Why didn’t you lend me your own cool head and clear brain,” retorted the other, “and then we might have done something of the sort? But surely the shot I gave him must tell in the long-run.”

“Pooh!” said Jack, “it’s not much more to him than an over-dose of mustard would be to a cat. However, we’ve nothing for it but to wait. Perhaps Buckley may have heard our shots.”

In this conjecture Jack was right. The gold-miner was enjoying an unsocial cup of tea at the time, and fortunately heard the distant shots and shouting. Buckley was a prompt man. Loading his double barrel with ball as he ran, he suddenly made his appearance on the field, saw at a glance how matters stood, and, being a good shot, put two balls in the bear’s carcass with deadly effect. Grizzly bears are, however, remarkably tenacious of life. This one at once turned on his new foe, who, getting behind a tree, re-loaded as quickly as possible. As the animal passed he put two more balls in its heart and killed it.

“Splendidly done!” cried Jack, leaping to the ground and shaking Buckley by the hand, as he thanked him for his timely aid. Almost in the same breath he told of their unexpected good fortune.

“Now, then,” he added, “we’ll cut off the claws of this fellow as a trophy, and then to camp and supper.”

“Stop a bit, not so fast,” said Wilkins, who had descended the tree and was sitting on the ground with a most lugubrious countenance; “we must gather up my nuggets before going. Besides, it strikes me there’s something wrong with my ankle.”

This was found to be too true. In scrambling into the tree Watty had sprained his ankle badly, and in jumping down had made it so much worse that he could not bear to put even his toe to the ground. He was compelled, therefore, to accept the services of Jacob Buckley, who carried him into camp on his back.

Despite his sufferings poor Wilkins rejoiced that night with his comrades at their good fortune, and it was long before he or they could cease to talk over future plans and take needful rest. At length Buckley rolled himself in his blanket, and lay down.

“Poor fellow,” said Jack, seeing Watty wince a little, “does it hurt much?”

“Yes, rather, but I’ll be all right to-morrow. Now, Jack, I’m going to sleep. Do me a favour before turning in. Just make a pile of my nuggets close to my pillow here, with the big one on the top. There, thanks.”

“What a covetous little wretch you are becoming!” said Jack with a laugh, as he lay down. “Have a care, Watty, that you don’t become a miser.”

Watty made no reply, but in the night, when he thought his comrades were asleep, he was overheard muttering in a low tone: “Yes, my dear old dad, you shall have them every one, big ’un as well; at least I’ll send you every rap that they will fetch. Not that you need it. You’re rich enough as it is, but this will show you, perhaps, that my first thoughts after my first luck were of you.”

A long sigh followed the remark. Looking up soon afterwards, Jack saw that Watty was sound asleep, with the point of his nose reposing on the big nugget.

The poor lad’s idea of a sprain was not quite correct. Instead of being “all right” next day, he found himself to be hopelessly lame, and was unable to move from the camp for a couple of weeks. During that period Jack and Buckley went forth to the new diggings every morning, and returned at night laden with gold, so that in a short time they had gathered as much as they could conveniently carry. Then they resolved to go for their comrades and return with them to continue their labours at what they named Grizzly Bear Gulch. As Watty was still unable to walk without great pain, they made a sort of litter of a blanket between two poles. In this contrivance they carried him, with their gold and their other belongings, back to the old diggings.

But here, on arrival, they found a wonderfully altered state of affairs.

“Immediately after you left,” said Captain Samson, over a cup of tea, while Polly, who presided, listened with sympathetic delight, “we bought a new claim or two, without much hope, however, of bettering our circumstances. One of these claims we bought for you, Jack, with part of the money you left in our charge, one for Buckley, and another for Wilkins. Well, these claims all turned out splendidly, and we’ve been makin’ our fortunes ever since! As you were off prospecting, as much for our benefit as your own, we agreed that it was the least we could do to work a little for you, so we gave your claims a rummage day about, and thus we’ve made your fortunes too, or part of ’em anyhow. We’ve bin sendin’ home bills of exchange too, and knowin’ your wish to help your father, Jack, I took upon me to send a small sum to him with your love. I did right didn’t I?”

“Right!” exclaimed Jack, seizing the captain’s hand and squeezing it; “need you ask? I’m only sorry I didn’t dig the gold out with my own hand, and enclose the bill in my own letter. How much did you send?”

“Only 1000 pounds,” replied the captain.

“Come, don’t joke. I’m anxious to know, because he was very hard up when I left.”

“More shame to you for leaving him, my young Philosopher,” returned the captain, “but I tell you the