"Reckon I"ll have a smoke," he said. "I brought the old man a plug of new stuff Marmot was cracking up. I"ll just try it and see how it goes."
He walked away to get the tobacco, and Mrs. Taylor sat where she was, under the verandah just in sight of the corner of the paddock where a small patch was railed off from the rest, with a white-flowering pa.s.sion-vine growing luxuriantly over the slim fence which surrounded it. She looked across at it with eyes that were dim and moist; but it was not the memory it recalled that made her emotion come welling up.
The look that had been in Tony"s eyes as he turned away, the change that had come over his face as she asked her purposely pointed questions, and the recollection of the fair face of Ailleen and the crafty meanness of d.i.c.kson"s, all combined to stir her feelings.
"The wretched selfish creature!" she muttered to herself.
"The--the--beast!"
But she carefully refrained from making any further comment on the matter to Tony during the remainder of the time he was at the Flat; and when he rode away the following morning, full of enthusiasm for the discovery he and his digger companions were going to make, and promising general happiness to everybody as soon as he returned with his team-load of nuggets, as he expressed it, he had no idea that she attributed his gaiety and light-heartedness to a spirit of bravado which sought to hide the real state of his feelings. But her intuitions had struck the truth.
When the thought of it forced his attention, or when a reference such as she had made to Ailleen revealed it to him in spite of himself, Tony winced under the sting of the girl"s bearing towards him. Ordinarily he flung himself into his work with the more ardour; he had gone into the reckless gamble with Gleeson because as he neared Birralong it came to him that the gold he had found was useless to him in the face of Ailleen"s coldness--useless, that is, for the purpose he had at first desired it, for the purchase of a home to offer to her.
The question Mrs. Taylor had asked him, and the introduction of d.i.c.kson"s name before the mention of Ailleen, re-awakened not only the smart he was suffering from, but also a suspicion which had come into his mind--a suspicion that d.i.c.kson and his wealth were not entirely dissociated from Ailleen"s change of manner. As he rode away from the Flat, setting out on a journey which might lead him to riches greater than those of his rival, Tony for the first time in his life wished for closer sympathy between some of his brothers and himself, so that he might have made a confidant of one, and enlisted his help in ascertaining whether matters between Ailleen and d.i.c.kson really were as he feared. But there was neither bond nor sympathy between him and the home-staying members of the Taylor family. He was vainly trying to recall any one of whom he could make use in that respect when there rode out upon the track in front of him young Bobby Murray. Here was the one person in the district he would care to use, for he had ample a.s.surance of Bobby"s admiration for him, and had, on his part, done many a good turn for the youngster one way and another. He coo-eed and waved his hand, and Bobby, looking round, turned his horse and rode to meet him.
"I was just riding in to have a yarn with you," he called out as he came near. "I was hurrying to catch you before you started, for they said you were off to the diggings before midday. I want to join your party, if you"ll have me."
"Want to join us, do you? Why, what"s in the wind now?" Tony asked in surprise.
"Oh, I don"t know. I"m full of the selection, and they all say you"re going to strike it rich again, so I thought it was a good business to join in with you, if you want another in the party."
"Well, we don"t," Tony replied. "You see, we"re broke as it is, and we have to get even our stores on credit, and if we don"t strike anything, it will be enough for us to do to clear our own score. But if we have another to help to eat the stores, they won"t last us any longer, and there"ll be a bigger tally to settle."
"I"ll pay my own share, and a bit over if need be," Bobby said quietly.
"You will?"
"Certainly. Why not? I don"t want you to take me on as a loafer. I"ll do my share at the graft and bring in my share of the tucker and tools.
That"s fair, isn"t it?"
"It"s fair enough for me," Tony answered. "And if the others don"t object, why, I suppose you can join the camp."
"They won"t object," Bobby said quickly. "I told them last night, and they said if I was a mate of yours, and you said so, I could join, tucker or no tucker."
It put an end to the chance of having a friend in the enemy"s camp to report progress when he returned, and tell him whether his suspicions were well or ill founded; for even if he did not agree to Bobby"s joining the camp, that would not prevent his leaving the district and following them, while it would certainly put an end to any claims on Bobby"s kindly services. On the other hand, if Bobby came with them, he might learn a lot about what was said around Birralong on the subject of Ailleen and d.i.c.kson, and with that in his mind Tony gave his consent.
When they reached the township, they found that the others had everything ready for a start, Bobby"s share in the tools and the tucker being made up with the others, as though his joining had been settled long before he met Tony.
When they had all set out and had disappeared over the hill, riding away to the west, Marmot stood at the door of his store with Smart, watching the dust that floated where their horses moved.
"I would have told him, only I couldn"t get him by himself; for it seems a bit queer to me, what with Yaller-head going out to Barellan and young d.i.c.kson going bail for Bob Murray"s stores," the storekeeper said. "It ain"t no business of ours, Smart--it ain"t no business of ours; but I"d as lief have seen him and Yaller-head in double harness as any."
"And why not?" Smart asked.
"Well, there"s a cause in it all--a fust cause, maybe. Tony ain"t the chap to put off so easy, and what gets me is why does she go out there while he goes off here, and never a word to either, and both of them thick as twins since they were kids? And now here"s d.i.c.kson puts up the dibs for young Murray to get away; d.i.c.kson--a chap that wouldn"t give away the bones of a dead sheep. It may be best for Tony in the end, mind you. Never was a married man myself, but I"ve seen those as was, and--well, you"re an experienced hand yourself," Marmot said, waving his hand to Smart, whose domestic differences contributed many an item of discussion to the _habitues_ of the verandah.
The reference was not pleasing to Smart, and he did not reply.
"We"ve got to watch it," Marmot went on, failing to notice that Smart had not replied--"we"ve got to watch it. There"s a drama in all this, if we only knew it, a panorama of human play-acting. Maybe it"s as well I held my tongue, but all the same, young d.i.c.kson ain"t running straight if he"s getting open-handed, that I will swear."
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FINDING OF PETERS"S REEF.
For a couple of weeks the four who had set out from Birralong full of enthusiasm for the proving of the theory Palmer Billy had formed, wandered along the course of the creek where they had previously found gold. Palmer Billy insisted that as the gold must have come from a reef before it became embedded in the loose gravel of the stream, the proper way to seek for the reef was to follow up the stream, prospecting wherever there was a sign of sand or gravel in the bed, and keeping a sharp look-out for any outcrop of rock which might contain quartz. The mother-reef whence the gold had been washed must be higher up the stream, he argued, and if once they found that, they would be in possession of more wealth than any of them had ever dreamed of possessing. In the mean time, as they ascended the creek, and consequently approached the site of the reef, it was only reasonable to suppose that more pockets and patches of gold-bearing sand would be discovered. Some might be as rich as that upon which they had chanced at first; and then, even if they did not locate the mysterious mother-reef, they would be able to make good wages, and be able to return to the township and clear off their score with Marmot before setting out to more recognized auriferous areas.
For two weeks they followed up the creek, tracing its course even when it looped back upon itself so as to leave a tongue of land barely twenty yards across between the bends. The bed, as they progressed, was rocky, but free from quartz, and very little sand was found in the crevices of the rock, while only a few specks of gold now and again rewarded their perseverance and their toil.
As soon as the sun was up they were at work, and, except when they stopped for meals, they worked incessantly till sundown, the fascination of chance, the prospect of striking at any moment a patch of alluvial which would, by its richness, wipe away all memory of earlier disappointment, keeping them steadily going. At sunset they made their camp for the night, and slept, rolled in their blankets, lulled to sleep by the rippling stream flowing only a few yards away. As the first sign of dawn was heralded by the melodious twitters of the bush birds they were astir; the ashes of the fire, still smouldering, were raked together, and the billy set to boil, while they spread their blankets out to catch the first rays of the sun, and performed their simple toilets in the running stream. Day after day they worked along the creek, never finding anything more than specks of gold, and never seeing any token of the reef Palmer Billy was so sure must be somewhere near the higher reaches.
The stream had led them into more hilly and rugged country, sometimes flowing between high and steep banks, but more frequently through open country gradually ascending to higher levels. The size of the stream was steadily maintained, and no tributary rills were found to run into it, the long season of drought having apparently dried them all up. The fact that the volume of water did not diminish suggested that the stream had its origin in a series of springs higher up. Instead of this, however, they emerged one day on to a small patch of level land, from one side of which a steep, thickly wooded hill rose, and towards the centre of which a shallow, reed-grown pool formed the commencement of the stream. It was entirely different to what any one had expected, and as they traversed the area of land, covered with rank vegetation, they saw how in a rainy season it would be a peaty swamp formed by the drainage from the hills around.
A more complete overthrow of Palmer Billy"s theory could not have occurred. The miles of country they had patiently journeyed over at the slow pace necessitated by the constant fossicking and prospecting, had been practically barren of gold, and the head of the stream, which the leader had always maintained would be found in a series of springs bubbling up in stony country, and surrounded by rocks, streaked and veined by quartz, had been found to be a small pool in the middle of a partially dried-up swamp.
Palmer Billy for once was silent as the camp was made.
"It"s no good," he grumbled, when, with pipes alight, they lounged round the fire after the evening meal. "It"s no good. We"ve struck a duffer.
It"s the old yarn. When we had a pile we didn"t know how to keep it from the sharks, and now--well, we"ve struck a duffer."
"We"re not through yet," Peters remarked, after a moment"s silence.
"Not through?" Palmer Billy exclaimed, his raucous voice taking to itself a touch of scorn. "What do you call this? Are you going to take this up as a selection and grow pumpkins? Do you think there"s any gold in this mud-pan? Did you ever see nuggets in a swamp of reeds? There"s not an ounce of sand or gravel to the acre. How are you going to work it? Mine? Sink a shaft and drive tunnels? Not through, you call it, and never more than a colour to the dish after fourteen days and more of graft. I"m full of it. There was more of a show on Boulder Creek."
""Kick at troubles when they come, boys,"" Tony chanted from the other side of the fire.
"Wot price that?" Palmer Billy interrupted. "Singing a digger"s song on a darned dirty mud-heap. It"s a blasphemy."
"Why?" Peters asked quietly.
"Why? Because there"s no gold in it, that"s why," Palmer Billy retorted.
"No; but there may be under it," Peters answered.
Palmer Billy rose to his feet, and stood with the firelight playing on his rugged face and figure as he turned towards Peters.
"Oh, there may be some under it! Oh! Very good. Then I suppose you"re going to mine, and sink a shaft and tunnel, and----" the humour of it was too much for him, and he broke off in a loud laugh, which ended in a set of expressions not quite relevant, but calculated to relieve his feelings.
"I"m going to prospect in the morning all the same," Peters said, as quietly as before.
"Yes; why not? Let"s try the hill," Tony exclaimed.
"Young fellow, you"re a boy in most things, not forgetting age," Palmer Billy began; "but in mining you are a baby in a cradle; you----"
"I"m not so sure," Peters interrupted. "It"s up the hill I"m going to prospect in the morning."
"All right," Palmer Billy answered, with a fierce energy. "Then I"ll mind camp and go fishing in the lagoon. Maybe I"ll catch a dinner, anyhow."
But in the morning he had recovered somewhat from the bitterness of the disappointment he felt at having his theory, elaborated in many a yarn around the camp-fire on the way up the creek, shattered by the discovery of the swamp.