Читать книгу The Last Chance: A Tale of the Golden West - Rolf Boldrewood - Страница 6

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Apparently at the same moment the guide, who is walking ahead as usual, has made up his mind as to the apparition, for he halts and walks back to the cart.

‘What the deuce is that? Who do you think they are?’

‘Well, sir, they’re a couple of “travellers,” on the same lay as ourselves—far as I can make out. They’ve no horse, nor cart—so they’ve been goin’ slow, naturally. They’ve not found our show, or they’d ’a stopped on it—or be makin’ back to raise an outfit. I can’t quite make out whether they’re goin’ on to the hill, or just on the turn-back for want of grub. We’d better act cautious with them after seein’ who they are.’

‘We ought to go over to them?’

‘That’s my idee, sir. If we head for the mountain, they’ll be sure to foller us up, thinkin’ we’ve reasons for it. It’s too late to pretend to go back. They’ve seen we were headin’ for the hill, anyway, and it won’t bluff ’em if we turn round, besides losin’ time.’

‘I agree with you,’ said the Commissioner. [47] ‘Put the saddle on the leader; I’ll ride over and talk to them.’

‘All right, sir; if they’re men to be trusted we can take ’em in as mates. We can’t hold a Reward Claim, or leastways work it, with only our two selves. There’s enough for all, if we can only get to work.’

The leading horse was saddled. On riding over to the camp of the wayfarers, the Commissioner was at once struck by its peculiar appearance. The articles scattered about the door of the bell tent were certainly not those of the ordinary miner. The towels were of better than usual quality; the bath sponges, arranged for drying, were larger than usual—other articles of the toilet similarly distinctive.

‘Pleased to see you, sir!’ said one of the young men, with a clear British accent. ‘’Fraid we can’t offer you much in the way of refreshment. Point of fact we’ve had nothing to eat for the last forty-eight hours but dried apples—they’re not so bad when they’ve been well soaked.’

‘Don’t exaggerate, Denzil!’ said his companion. ‘They’re just a trifle better than stewed boots, if you ask me. But we’re alive, which is something—though how long we shall last out is a very, very doubtful question.’

‘Permit me to introduce myself as Arnold Banneret. My mate and I are travelling due north, unless we strike something attractive.’

‘Just our case,’ said the elder of the two young men—they were neither of them far from the legal standard of manhood—‘except that we’re [48] travelling due south—isn’t it south, Denzil? I’m not much of a geographical chap, but we’re going back to Coolgardie—if we can get there. Sorry we can’t join forces—awfully so; give you my word.’

The Commissioner gazed searchingly at the strangers. Accustomed to reading faces—and in circumstances where a mistake might have cost him dear, he had often been forced to act upon a hasty summing-up of presumed character. He did so in this instance. ‘Swells out of luck,’ was his unspoken verdict. ‘Temporarily, of course. The dark one has the face, the bold and steady look, of a born explorer. He’ll go far yet. The other boy is the well-bred youth of the day, with little experience but that of Oxford or Cambridge. Athletics are chiefly in his line. But they are men as well as gentlemen, I’m convinced.’

‘Our acquaintance has been short,’ he said, ‘but may develop later on. As I have a proposal to make, may I ask whom I have the pleasure of addressing?’

‘My friend’s name is Southwater. My own name Newstead,’ said the ‘traveller.’ ‘As you say, we haven’t seen each other before, but are quite ready to consider any offer that it suits you to make.’ His friend nodded assent. ‘From present appearances the advantage seems likely to be entirely on our side.’

‘We shall see,’ said the Commissioner; ‘probably it may be mutual. In the meanwhile, will you come over and take breakfast with me? I’ll go [49] on ahead and speak to my mate.’ And he cantered off.

The young men lost no time in collecting their property, and arranging it into the ‘swags’ of the period, with a celerity to be acquired only by experience.

‘This is a throw-in!’ said the younger man to his friend. ‘I wonder who our distinguished stranger is? There was a note of authority in his manner, though nothing could be more courteous than his bearing. Looks like an army man—though we can’t be certain. But I’ll swear he’s held a command somewhere. At any rate we are sure of getting something to eat. People with a waggonette always have a stock of provisions which we poor swagmen can’t rival.’

‘Swagmen, indeed!’ laughed his friend. ‘I wonder what the girls at Brancepeth or Aunt Eleanora would think if they saw us now?’

‘Why, of course, that they always knew it would come to this. Probably turn bushrangers before we’d done. At any rate we’re not likely to be robbed. Cantabit vacuus—eh?’

On reaching the waggonette they found the regulation meal laid out upon a board supported by tressels, a portable affair such as surveyors carry. People living much in tents are ingenious in contrivances for comfort. There were also camp-stools, equally light and effective. Corned beef and damper, with tin plates, were set out, while the inevitable ‘billy’ was boiling near a small but hot fire.

‘This is John Waters, my partner, gentlemen,’ [50] said their entertainer; ‘as a miner of experience I guarantee him.’ Here old Jack shook hands solemnly with the new arrivals, while regarding them with fixed and scrutinising eye. ‘You will find him a “white man” in the best sense of the word. After lunch I shall be happy to talk business. Allow me to help you to this excellent corned beef.’

‘Thanks awfully; we shan’t be long, I assure you—we’ve not had a square meal since we left Coolgardie. You mustn’t mind if we seem greedy. As for me, I’m ravenous, but still capable of self-restraint.’

‘Fellows grumble at a tough steak at home,’ said Southwater; ‘talk about having no appetite till 8P.M. I wonder what they would say to camp fare in Australian deserts? Lucky we didn’t fall across any blacks, or roast picaninny would have suggested itself.’

The meal concluded, at which the strangers did not, in spite of their confession, exhibit extraordinary eagerness, their entertainer lit his pipe and commenced the conference. ‘I was doubtful lest our interests might be antagonistic,’ said he, ‘but we meet now on a different footing.’

‘We should have started back to Coolgardie in half an hour,’ said Mr.Newstead. ‘Denzil and I were played out, and had resolved on turning back in preference to leaving our bones to bleach by the wayside. Your appearance decided us to reconsider. I take it you have a “show” farther on?’

‘That is the precise state of the case. Here is [51] the prospector who discovered our bonanza, and will explain.’

‘Best reef I ever seen,’ interposed the grizzled veteran—‘and I’m a “forty-niner.” So that says somethin’. If no one’s dropped across my cache (as the trappers say) there’s enough to make all our fortunes twice over. We can be t’other side of that there hill inside of twelve hours.’

‘Shortly. You understand enough of mining law, I presume, to see that though we can take up a Reward Claim, we can’t work it with two men. I see by your hands—excuse me—that the manual part of mining is not unknown to you. We must take in some one. I prefer, and so does Jack, to work with gentlemen, so I’m prepared to offer you such shares as may be further agreed between us when the allocation takes place.’

‘It sounds too good to be true,’ said Newstead. ‘You are not going to lure us into a cavern and slay us for our property, are you? But one can’t help regarding oneself as the modernest Aladdin. In any case, I say, done with you, magician or no! and so does Denzil, if I know him. Allow me to help pack, and follow, as Dick Burton used to write to his wife—the pay portion of the injunction must await developments.’

.........

The journey was resumed, the saddle was removed from the leader’s back, and placed in the waggonette, as were also the effects of the new associates. Apparently willing workers, they proved themselves cheery and entertaining companions.

[52] Unaffected in manner and simple of speech, it was yet apparent, though they conversed on perfectly equal terms with old Jack as with the Commissioner, that they had moved in the haute volée of English society.

They made no statement to that effect, but it was indirectly plain to the Commissioner, himself an aristocrat by birth and social surroundings, that such was the case. It was many a year since he had been ‘home,’ yet, nevertheless, the merry chatter of these youngsters, which, though careless, was redolent of the best English ‘form,’ was refreshing in the life of a man who, though long absent from the old country, was yet in full sympathy with her ideas and traditions. So they fared on for the long remaining hours of the day, until they reached the spinifex flat, immediately adjacent to the base of the hill which had been so long within sight, but without reaching the gradually ascending ‘rise’ which led to a plateau slightly above the level of the plain. Here they halted—to feed the horses and await the rising of the moon—after which the journey would recommence.

‘We can’t afford to take no risks,’ said the old man; ‘we might have another party comin’ along from “the Cross” way. And if they got there first—some men’s that smart, you’d a’most swear as they could smell the gold—there’d be a barney over it; and law, likely as not, which you never know how it might turn out. So I’m thinkin’ it’s best to go on, and collar right away—that’ll put an end to all bother in one act.’

[53] As the other members of the party were, more or less, excited and ardent with the thought that the tedious journey was nearly at an end, with fame and fortune almost within their grasp (for when is fortune achieved without fame following dutifully behind the triumphal car?)—the Commissioner, with the far-off cottage ready to be illumined with the glad tidings, and the children’s shouts almost in his ears; the young men, fired with the idea of a return to England with a record rivalling that of the hero who ‘broke the bank at Monte Carlo,’—no objection was raised. And when the moon, nearly at her full, rose slowly over the horizon, commencing to flood the wide bare solitudes, the plain, the hill crags, the mighty sweep of waterless silent landscape, and deserted save for themselves, it seemed a weird mockery to expect anything of the nature of wealth won from a region so far removed from the benevolence of Nature or of man.

Leaving one of the ‘jackeroos’ (as the old man called them, apologising, however, and explaining the term) to take charge of the waggonette, the others followed the prospector for a few hundred yards until, as they came to a spot where a few stones had been carelessly thrown together, he stopped, and pointed to a stake. ‘There it is!’ he gasped; ‘no one’s been next or anigh it. I’ll go round, sir, with you and see the other ones. If Mr.Southwater’ll go back to the cart, and feed the horses, and start a fire to boil the billy, we’ll make sure that nothing’s been touched since I left here months ago. It’s not far from daylight, and [54] after a bit of breakfast we can open up the reef, and you’ll see what sort of a show it is.’

.........

‘Well, this is something what we went into the wilderness to see—not to be profane—but isn’t it exactly what one would have thought in the old, old days? This is a wilderness, and no mistake. I used to wonder what one was like when I was at school. Now I know.’

‘Wild and bare, and open to the air,’ continued Mr.Newstead. ‘It takes a lot of imagination to think of villages, towns, cities, and so on—“in this neglected spot,” as Gray’s Elegy hath it. But gold rules the court, the camp, the grove, rather more strongly than t’other imperial power. Everything else follows in its train, so they tell me—Denzil and I are too young to lay down the law on these great subjects. We’ll live and learn, I surmise, as our American friend said.’

.........

The stakes had been duly cut, sharpened, and driven in, as far as the rocky nature of the hill permitted. There was no path or track to the wondrous spot itself. The faint footsteps of a weak, overwrought, famished man left no imprint upon rock or sand.

An aboriginal tracker on the man-hunt for foe or felon might have read, from a displaced pebble, a bent or broken twig, a deeper indent from a stumbling boot, that a white man had passed that way, but no senses less keen than those of the desert roamer could have followed the tokens of travel.

‘I’d been in an’ out them upper gulches,’ said [55] Jack, reminiscent of Californian digger talk, ‘and what with bein’ tol’ble used up when I come, and dead beat afterwards, was just about stumblin’ downhill again when I spots this here openin’. It’s the last chance, thinks I, but I’d better prospect the lot afore I give in. And this is what I come on afore I’d been ten minutes at work. Reg’lar jeweller’s shop, and no mistake.’ While he was talking, his hands were not idle: he had brought a pick and shovel from the waggonette, and after shovelling back the rock and earth from the tiny shaft, commenced to break down the ‘cap’ of the reef. This was almost incredibly rich. The rock appeared to be (as the Commissioner said) half gold—indeed, in some of the specimens there was more gold than quartz.

Strings of the precious metal hung down, which, indeed, seemed to loosely unite fragments of the dull, cloud-coloured quartz—so dear to the miner’s soul—while here and there were ‘nuggets’—actual lumps of the gold. ‘This one’s not short of fifty ounces,’ said he, lifting one of four or five pounds’ weight. ‘And there’s bigger ones to come, I’ll go bail.’

‘I’ve always doubted,’ said Newstead, ‘whether my relations believed my statements about rich finds in Australia. Certainly my banking account was not such as to inspire credence. But I shall pour contempt on their incredulity after this display.’

‘I should think so,’ said Mr.Banneret. ‘And now we must have a council of war. What do you say about the next move, Jack?’

[56] ‘I vote we dolly all the gold as we can get out of the picked stone. Then, in course, the mine’ll have to be registered, and a company floated on the strength of these here specimens. It won’t take long to do that once they get to Melbourne. The Commissioner and Mr.Newstead can go back to Coolgardie with the team and waggonette, leaving us enough to go on with. There’s a “soak” not far off, and we can fill the ten-gallon keg afore they leave. A team can be sent up with all the things we want. Mr.Southwater and I’ll work on the “stope,” if he’s agreeable—feeling along the reef as we go, like. And now I’m beginning to think about summat to eat.’

The adjournment was carried nem. con. When they reached the camp Mr.Southwater had got everything in fine order. He was pleased with the idea of having to stop behind, as old Jack had told him that he was a born bushman, and would make a first-class prospector some day. Mr.Banneret said little, but, looking at the bold expression and steady eye of the young Englishman, was fully of opinion that he was destined to be a leader of men.

Next week the Commissioner and Newstead started back on the homeward track, taking with them five thousand ounces of gold and specimens. There was a good deal of business to be done, as he reflected, when they reached civilisation. A Report in terms provided for by the Goldfields Act and Regulations had to be made to the Commissioner of the district, as well as a Lease to be applied for; a deposit in cash paid to the Mining [57] Registrar; a Prospecting Area had been pegged out, and must be registered, and the whole auriferous area would be floated as a company, with a hundred thousand shares of 20s. each. Machinery for a quartz mill with fifty stamps and all the newest improvements, Diehl process, etc., had to be purchased and forwarded by team at once, and provisions, tools, extra tents, bedding, books, cooking utensils—in fact, everything necessary for a large staff; with engineer, manager, metallurgist, wages men, shift-bosses, and others—the numbers in such case amounting to hardly less than fifty men to begin with. The unpretending vehicle carried a considerable amount of treasure, tempting enough to outlaws sure to be included in every goldfields rush. But both men were well armed, and not likely to surrender without a desperate struggle; the chances of an ambush were small—the open, waterless nature of the country being against such a mode of attack. Many thousand ounces of gold were indeed carried on horseback, or in the unpretending buggy of the period, without much knowledge of the same being noised abroad. Their journey to Coolgardie, and afterwards to Perth, was, in this instance, wholly devoid of incident, and Mr.Banneret had the satisfaction of banking his precious cargo without any but the officials of the institution being aware of the nature of the transaction.

The only incident of note which bordered upon risk occurred during an enforced stoppage at a stage a few miles distant from Perth. Here a large detachment of navvies had just been set down, [58] and apparently they had managed to possess themselves of more beer than was good for them. They were consequently in a state of humorous, if not aggressive excitement. This displayed itself in curious inquiry as to the contents of the portmanteau over which such jealous guard was kept. Both men were dressed in ordinary miner’s costume, and therefore lacked the prestige which in Australia ensures respect for all men presumably of the rank of ‘gentleman.’ However, a miner who had been at Barrawong just before the ‘breaking out’ of the West Australian goldfields, happened to arrive in a waggonette. He and his mate were ‘going east,’ in order to float a company for the working of a mine, which they had discovered, and declared to be of great promise. The man from Barrawong was affected almost to tears by the sight of the Commissioner, that dread and august potentate, in working man’s garb. He looked as if he wished to fall down and worship him. But, introducing his mate, he said, with a choking voice:

‘Bill, this here’s our Commissioner, same as I told yer of, when I was on Barrawong; he’s struck it rich, he tells me, and as we’re on the road to Perth, he’ll be obliged to us for a lift in our waggonette if you’re agreeable.’

‘I’ve heard of Commissioner Banneret,’ said the mate, making what he imagined to be a bow suitable to the occasion, ‘and he should have my seat if I had to walk every bloomin’ step of the road to the coast.’

‘There isn’t a man as was on the field when I [59] left,’ responded the mate, ‘that wouldn’t do the same; but there’s no call for any of us to walk—the horses are in good fettle, considerin’ the price of feed, and they’ll take the four on us—not leavin’ the portmanter behind—into Perth, flyin’.’

This settled the matter. The portmanteau, so curiously regarded, was promptly lifted into the waggonette, and, as well as the Commissioner, was driven briskly along the road to the city, Mr.Newstead being left with the baggage of the expedition to follow at his leisure, and rejoin his chief at the township. That gentleman lost no time after being dropped at the Bank of Barataria. The mineral collection was produced.

‘What name shall I enter?’ said the young banker at the counter. ‘Gold and specimens, how many ounces?’

‘Seven thousand four hundred and twenty-three, seventeen pennyweights, and ten grains.’

‘Oh!’ said the bank clerk, with an instant change of manner. ‘You’re Mr.Banneret! Very glad to see you, sir! The Bank had advice of your expected arrival. I’ll take the weights, and give you a receipt directly. Won’t keep you waiting.’

‘Well, good-bye, Captain!’ said the miner from Barrawong. ‘You’re all right now. Anything more we can do for you—drive you anywheres? Say the word.’

‘No; thanks very much! As it’s early yet, I’ll take a stroll round the town until Mr.Newstead comes up. It’s a little different from New South Wales, eh?’

[60] ‘It is that, sir. I suppose you couldn’t lay us on to the spot where that show come from?’

‘Hum! it won’t be long before we’re tracked up, I daresay. I don’t see why you shouldn’t have a chance as well as another. What is the leading hotel here, Mr.Carter?’—this to the bank clerk.

‘Oh, “The Palace.” It’s that two-storeyed place at the corner of the street. Clean, and the cookery fair. The Mining Registrar’s office is next door.’