Part 14 (1/2)

This particular customer was difficult to fit; pair after pair was hooked down, but none were just what he wanted As bad luck would have it, he happened to look up as I was Endeavoring to get hold of a particularly large pair which were hanging just over his head The connecting string broke, and one of the boots, iron heel-plate doards, caught hie of the nose and cut him to the bone For this purely accidental occurrence I was severely blamed, yet I never could see that I was at fault

Tom Simpson, the butcher, was a character in his way He was a middle-sized, wiry, foxy-colored , and his manner was shy He was, in fact, about the last ht However, a soht me that appearances in this connection are apt to be deceitful; the quiet, unassuerous custo a stroll together We met Wolff, who had been my mate at ”The Reef” Wolff was a th, but he was slow in movement and htest indulgence made him quarrelsome

Wolff stoppedin particular Siet back to the scene of his work, so he askedon with hih he was by no means intoxicated resented this, and e Siave him a hard slap across the face Simpson retreated a few steps, rolled up his sleeves, and stood in an attitude of defense Wolff rushed at hian to wonder as to where I would be able to borroheelbarrow for the purpose of taking ho spectacle For a fewbefore his antagonist and guarding hie-hammer blows I noticed that he was very s- Wolff uphill after hian to breathe hard and to perspire; I felt that the barrow ht not be wanted after all

Suddenly Siuard and, in as many seconds, planted six terrible blows on the latter's face

With both eyes closed, his nose strea blood, and his lips badly tattered, Wolff collapsed a melancholy object-lesson of the truth of the preacher's text: ”The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong”

About four weeks brought ood friends, but herid ofup parcels at the end ofBut I had been of so the store of rats The cat and I had beco with that devoted anieny, which were expected to arrive soon after I left, only inherited the keenness and skill of their ht not to have been a rat left, a year afterwards, in the Northern Transvaal

279

Reminiscences of a

Tom Simpson and his David-like victory over Goliath-Wolff reminds me of another man as very skilful in the use of his hands He went by the name of Saulez I know his real nah I am absolutely convinced that its conceal, very slightly built, fair-haired, and almost effeminate in appearance But he was the wickedest and h he thoroughly enjoyed using his fists, he never sought a quarrel There were four ht They were rather dreaded, for on Saturday afternoons they used to go fro for an excuse to thrash somebody In the natural course of events Saulez hts was the result He thrashed the so much as a scratch

A couple of weeks afterwards, three of the four laid in wait for Saulez and tackled hireatest ease

On another occasion Saulez struck a ized, but the man refused to be placated Saulez then offered to allow the aggrieved party to strike hi not to return the blow But there was a condition attached: if the o for” hiame in his hands, so he hauled off and struck Saulez a terrible bloeen the eyes But he soon had cause to regret his action, for he got adone by an old Australian digger named Gardiner He was the one after whom ”Gardiner's Point,” just below the Middle Camp, was named One afternoon he appeared at the Lower Cas The latter he gravely ha a square with sides of a hundred and fifty feet In the middle of this stood the local branch of the Natal Bank Gardiner then entered the bank and gave notice to the , as the site was required forwas strictly in accordance with the Mining Law The person giving notice in such a case would, of course, be obliged to pay the expenses of reer had time to recover froht-hand side of the steps leading to the bank entrance, loosened a couple of square yards of the surface ground, shoveled it into his barrow, and trundled the latter down to the nearest part of the creek After a short tied his mind, the bank need not be shi+fted Then he pulled out his pegs Here is the explanation: Most of the creek gold was crusted with flakes of ironstone, so that when nuggets were brought to the bank for sale, they used to be placed in a large ironwas done by a native always at the spot froround This practice had been followed for a very long tiold must have escaped froh the central hole in which the pestle worked The amount of the ”wash up” was three and a half ounces

Quite a large nuers were known by nicknainal patronyo will remember ”Count” Nelmapius

The title was subsequently dropped, but for years it was used, and apparently enjoyed, by the holder It may be of interest if I describe how the patent of nobility ca happened at Mac Mac, in a hostel known as ”The Spotted Dog,” which was run by old To in the bar

Quoth one ”I hear a new chum's turned up today”

”So What's his naotten It sounded like Nellapius, or Nela of that sort”

”I expect he's soner,” said old Austin; ”let's call hily, Count he becahties the papers invariably referred to this individual as Count Nelmapius

Many other nicknames come to mind as I think of those old days ”Yankee Dan,” ”Boozer,” ”Texas Dan,” and ”Old Nelly” are specie character He was seventy years of age, but was as active as a cat and as strong as a buffalo He was, except Sandow, probably the strongest man I have ever seen Bred from a navvy stock, Old Nelly had wandered over the world for ot drunk on Saturdays, and, whenever he could afford it, on other days as well For so took a fancy to ers to which youth was exposed He continually urged ested the application of his principles to himself, he would say ”Ah! lad, but oi'm different”

Whenever he had money in hand Old Nelly would spend it in drink I once asked hi His reply was ”All me loife, lad, all me loife”

I left the James Emporium with about 2 in ue used to recur regularly every fortnight So I decided to go down and ”fossick” a the Blyde River terraces Here was ”a poor man's lead,” out of which one couldeasily I thought I h to keep body and soul together So I spenta wheelbarrow, and in this I trundled down more than half a ton of wash every day to the rapid in which ed to earn about two shi+llings per day

One afternoon I saw several diggers going over to one of the terraces, where a ully

I saw that a ”rush” was in progress, so joined in The gully was short; it contained but seven clais in at one end of a clai corner opposite There was nothing to do but take up the claim in partnershi+p