Part 32 (1/2)

”There was gold there.”

”Make tucker, eh?” the Prospector laughed. ”Well this'll be good enough for us. We'll put in our pegs above yours. But how you dropped on this field just gits over me. You couldn't have come straighter, not if I'd shown you the way myself.”

”Instinct,” replied Moonlight. ”Instinct and the natural attraction of the magnet.” He desired to take no credit for his own astuteness in prospecting.

Scarlett had so far said nothing, but he now invited the newcomers to eat, before they pitched their tent.

”No, no,” said the Prospector, ”you must be on pretty short commons--you must ha' bin out a fortnight and more. Me an' my mate'll provide the tucker.”

”We _are_ a bit short, and that's the truth,” said Moonlight, ”but we reckon on holding out till we've finished this wash-up, and then one of us'll have to fetch stores.”

While Benjamin and his mate were unpacking their swags and Scarlett was lighting the fire, Moonlight transferred the rest of the gold from the dish to the leather bag.

When the four men sat down to their frugal meal of ”billy” tea, boiled bacon, and ”damper,” they chatted and laughed like schoolboys.

”Ah!” exclaimed Tresco, as red flames of the fire shot toward the stars and illumined the gigantic trunks of the surrounding trees, ”this is freedom and the charm of Nature. No blooming bills to meet, no bother about the orders of worrying customers, no everlasting bowing and sc.r.a.ping; all the charm of society, good-fellows.h.i.+p, confidence, and conversation, with none of the frills of so-called civilization. But that is not all. Added to this is the prospect of making a fortune in the morning. Now, that is what I call living.”

CHAPTER XIX.

A Den of Thieves.

Down a by-lane in the outskirts of Timber Town stood a dilapidated wooden cottage. Its windows lacked many panes, its walls were bare of paint, the s.h.i.+ngles of its roof were rotten and scanty; it seemed uninhabitable and empty, and yet, as night fell, within it there burned a light. Moreover, there were other signs of life within its crazy walls, for when all without was quiet and dark, the door opened and a bare-headed man emerged.

”Carny!” he called.

A whistle sounded down the lane, and soon a figure advanced from the shadow of a hedge and stood in the light of the open door.

”We've only waited near an hour for you,” said the first man. ”If you've orders to be on time, be on time. D'you expect the whole push to dance attendance on you?”

”Now, Dolphin, draw it mild. That blame pretty girl at The Lucky Digger kept me, an' wouldn't let me go, though I told her I had a most important engagement.”

”Petticoats an' _our_ business don't go together,” gruffly responded Dolphin. ”Best give 'em a wide berth till we've finished our work here and got away.”

The two men entered the house, and the door was shut.

At a bare, white-pine table sat two other men, the sour-faced Garstang and the young fellow who answered to the name of Sweet William.

”Come in, come in,” said the latter, ”and stop barrackin' like two old washerwomen. Keep yer breath to discuss the biz.”

Dolphin and Carnac drew chairs to the table, on which stood a guttering candle, glued to the wood with its own grease.

”Charming residence,” remarked Carnac, elegant in a black velvet coat, as he glanced round the bare and battered room.

”Sweet William Villa,” said the young man. ”I pay no rent; and mighty comfortable it is too, when you have a umberella to keep out the rain.”

”Our business,” said the pugnacious-looking Dolphin, ”is to square up, which hasn't been done since we cleaned out the digger that William hocussed.”

He drew a handful of notes and gold from his pocket, and placed it on the table.

”Gently,” said Sweet William, who took Carnac's hat, and placed it over the money. ”Wait till I fix my blind.” s.n.a.t.c.hing a blanket from a bed made upon the bare floor, he hung it on two nails above the window, so as to effectually bar the inquisitive gaze of chance wayfarers. ”Damme, a bloke would think you wanted to advertise the firm and publish our balance-sheet.” Stepping down to the floor, he replaced Carnac's hat upon its owner's head, and said ”Fire away.”

Each man placed his money in front of him, and rendered his account.