"How much do you call it worth, Obed?" asked Harry in the same low tone.
"That"s hard tellin", Harry; but it"s worth ten thousand dollars easy."
"Thank G.o.d!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Harry fervently. "That will release us from our imprisonment, and enable us to go back to America."
"You are right, Harry, but the hardest job lies before us."
"What"s that?"
"To get it out without observation, and keep it secure from thieves."
"We"ll do our best. Only you give the orders, Obed."
"Then, first and foremost, we"ll cover it up again, and go up till evening, when we will secure it, and carry it to our cabin."
So said, so done. They joined Jack at the limit of the excavation.
"Is it all right?" asked the young sailor eagerly.
"Yes," answered Harry.
"Is it really a big one?"
"Yes; we can all go back to America, Jack."
"And I can once more be a sailor?"
"Yes, if you like it."
Jack was told of their plan of removing the nugget by night, and saw at once that it was a wise one.
"Shall we go to the cabin now?" he asked.
"No, Jack; it won"t do to leave our treasure unguarded. We will lounge here and make sure that no one robs us of our discovery."
[Ill.u.s.tration: Finding the Nugget.]
So they sat down, and Obed lighted his pipe once more.
A neighbor strolled up and sat down beside them.
"You are leaving off work early," he said.
"Yes," answered Obed with a yawn, "we might as well take it easy. It"s hard work--this mining."
"What luck?"
"Our luck is to come," said our Yankee friend. "How is it with you?"
"I have got out seventy-five dollars this week," answered the other complacently.
"Whew! that"s good! What do you say to swapping claims?"
"Oh, no," answered the neighbor, wagging his head jocosely. "I"m not so green. The fact is, Mr. Stackpole, I don"t want to discourage you, but I don"t believe you"ll ever see the money you put into this hole. Come now, what did you pay?"
"Five and twenty pounds."
"If you can get five pounds for it, my advice is, sell."
"I don"t know but you"re right," said Stackpole in a rueful tone. "Will you give me five pounds for it?"
"Ho, ho! I might give you five shillings, though it would be a risk."
"Then I don"t think we"ll sell, eh, Harry?"
"We had better give it away than take that sum," said Harry, carefully veiling his inward exultation.
They went to their cabin at the usual time and indulged themselves in a better supper than usual, feeling that they could afford to do so. It is wonderful how success stimulates the appet.i.te.
"I don"t know when I have been so hungry, Obed," said Harry.
"I feel the same way," chimed in Jack.
"A light heart increases the appet.i.te, boys, but sometimes I"ve felt wolfish when my heart was heavy. Fifteen months ago I was in Californy, and down on my luck. Things had been goin" contrary, and I hadn"t money enough to buy a square meal. I didn"t like to tell my friends, bein" a bit proud. One day when I was feelin" so hungry that I wouldn"t have turned up my nose at a Chinaman"s diet--rat pie--an old acquaintance met me and asked me to dine with him. Did I accept? Well, I should smile. I did smile all over my face, as I sat down to the table. You"d better calculate that I made my knife and fork fly. Finally my friend remarked, looking kind of queer, "You"ve got a healthy appet.i.te, Stackpole." I answered, "It sort of runs in our family to eat whenever we get a chance." "Good joke!" said he, laughing. But it was no joke when he came to pay the bill, I tell you."
"I"ll remember that, Obed," said Harry, smiling, "and when I invite you to dinner, I"ll first inquire whether you"ve had anything to eat for a week back."
"I generally eat for a weak stomach," returned Obed, venturing on a little joke at which the boys felt bound to laugh.
As they sat at the door of their cabin, they kept a good lookout in the direction of their claim. They could not afford, now that success was in their grasp, to have it s.n.a.t.c.hed away. But they discovered no suspicious movements on the part of anyone. In fact, no one suspected that they had "struck it rich." So poor was the general opinion of their claim, that they would have found it hard to obtain a purchaser at any price. Had there been the least suspicion, the camp would have been greatly excited.
As a rule, the miners retired early. They became fatigued during the day, and sleep was welcome. There was, indeed, a gambling saloon at some distance, frequented by the more reckless, but generally good hours were observed in the camp.
About half past eleven, Obed nudged Harry and Jack, who had fallen asleep.
"What is it?" asked Harry, in a drowsy tone.
"Hush!" whispered Obed. "Don"t make any more noise than you can help. I think it will be safe to go and secure the nugget now."
This was enough. Harry was wide awake in an instant, and he in turn roused Jack.
There was no elaborate toilet to make, for they had thrown themselves down in their day attire. They left the cabin, and by the faint light of the moon, which was just ready to retire for the night, they found their way to the claim without being observed.
Fifteen minutes" work, and the task was accomplished. The nugget was raised, and wrapped in a red bandanna handkerchief, which Obed had brought all the way from his New England home.
"It must weigh seventy-five pounds," whispered Obed exultantly. "Boys, we"re in tall luck. It was worth coming out to Australy for. We"ll keep it in the cabin over night, and to-morrow we"ll put it where it will be safe."
They gained the cabin without having been seen so far as they knew. Of the hundreds of men sleeping within a furlong"s distance, not one dreamed of a discovery which was to draw the attention of the whole colony to Bendigo. But they had not wholly escaped observation. One pair of eyes had detected them in their midnight walk.