Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-09-14
so hear you are going to leave us, Mick

. We'll, we'll have to leave the luck TINT
come to us, but we II be off to-morrow nloa .
God f'
What luck that = asked
Its the good hole we rot down bolov
what the last Why, thought tber
wasn't speck in it,
Indeed. and there wos M, ,;l .ho H..
, tub was washed and if we didn't GOT rue
ounces of gold out of that. NAV never, -
'Precisev.' said | .Well am oI,d =,
hear Of it, OF course. vhile that losts ro,
won't leave it to go after anv nen, d;cainas :,
Indeed, but we will Didn't ,ve 6;re II,
horse and cart. and won't we have IN nov r.,
it whether we 20 or not . f' w
We'll, please Yourself of courso said
but a man that would leave n bole tbot o;,o,
two ounces to the tub to 90 to n now d;oS;nn
would do ANYTHING Hero I took soSore
whiifs in succession, to enable me to comnre.
hcnd the absurditv az sroh a tl;.s
upon it Mick. Continued "a lid oPeho ~ .h.
hand is generally worth t,yn in thn brst, ."' an
pecially in the bush of Austral;,
Well, that's true for Won renl;od Mr.
Shannon but YOU see, we know wo,n do
well at korong, and we'rc thinking that we
might sell the hole below A fine thing IL
would be for man that stays in the place,
Il see &; YOU want me to buy it. said
Deed we do not, expect YOU d like it YOUR
self But Tim was saving last night that
we d give you the first chance of it. for we
know you d have done the same by us.
And how much do you want for it,
is il likely we'J ba ,sL;,r ,,r;oo ., .
friend like yourself, Sure YOU can give MS
what you think it's worth
Not liking this, however. | ouestionod Mr.
Shannon again and after about five minutes
perseverance, | succeeded in getting out of
him that he wanted three ounces Of gold
(then worth about..G g. on the diggings) for
the hole The price did not suit me, and 7
therefore declined the purchas. Mr.. SLAM
non, however, being pressing, | agreed t.,
mention the matter to sam Drinkwater. who
knew would be glad of such an opportuni-
| ty, though doubted extremely whether he
could find the purchase e-money So with this
understanding my visitor took his departure.
having arranged to call upon me again that
Now the fact is. that had always had n
| lurking doubt of Mr.. Shannon. he was so
very polite. Ny conviction was, that the
con slant smile which illuminated his duskv
countenancc, was but habtual contraction
of the muscles. and ;ko tLo Lie, ,;,,,nns o,
pennyshow, no guide whatever to what
was going on within. still hate to he sus-
piciols without cause, and had never had
real cause to suspect Mr. shannon of anv-
thing dishonest He was an unexcentiona-
BILE neighbor when sober and very amusing
after little whiskey; and don know what
more you could expect under the circumstan-
ccs.
According to my promise, went after din
ner to Sam Drinkwater. to tell him of Mr.
on"nnon liberal offer found Sam with
ms III i''nas IN MS nreeches pockets seated on
tne u 'runk OF a tree, and whistling profanely.
nc nodded shortly In reply to my sautation,
at,u wen. on whistling lie did not even
oher me pipe, put hxed his eyes, and SEEM
l.S,y MS attention, on the fragments of a
PICK, which he had smashed probably the day
before Mr. Drinkwater was evidently very
miserable. After some trouble, | overcome
MS cH inert,f and got him up in my tent,
"here ! unioided to him what the reader al
Icauy Knows My narrative did interest
MN " .it.ie' ana he stopped whistling, until
! mentioned the demand OF three ounces, when
lie wnlstled louder than ever.
.Ot course | knew there was something
sad sam, getting up excitedly. 'Why, l
maven got one ounce, much less three
;r,,,;nuh n,un you mako anything last week =
1us' as niuch as VIII pay my rent and
NuSn'hg' ne replied The reader is no doubt.
aware that these items demanded no outlay
from -hr' Drinkwater.
~, am sorry ior 1t, Sam, said but
.niiiH ga johnson Will lend you the money
II you chooSe--ilere comes Shannon
ina' gentleman entered the tent as spoke,
anu having prevailed upon him to take u seat
4 explained to him the sad state of my friend
'''", N'''hces'
upon my conscience, wish could give
nun Tue lole-so do, observed Mr.. Shan |
non ; but travelling's mighty dear in this
country, and what with rho Nnur ni 80,
and other combustbles for the Journey, we'll
want every penny we can get
suppose you ii let Sam wash tub to try
the hole, SAID |.
vi course we will, but the gold will be |
ours.
On certainly. Well, Sam, what do Won
say We can manage it somehow. can
get you the three ounces where mentioned,
on security OF your tent and tools and one
hard days work, if the hole keeps good, will
free you again
My traps are not worth three ounces
said Sam.
Never mind, I'll be your security. Wbv.
you pay the money in two DAYS YOU know,
at latest
All right said Sam; accent. Rut 7
know how it will be- Directly Get into |
the hole, all the gold will have disappeared l.,
What do you mean by thatl' cried Shan |
nan, looking very red. If YOU mean to saw |
that I'm dece,yine ve'-- W say
'Oh bother, said (; Sam means that his
luck is 50 bad that when there is gold in a
hole he can't find it.
Yes that's il said Sam
Iv1sr,th,r surnr;sod ,b.. Shannon ,.,,,,
have exciteI LnseIr so naoJiessi~ nn o,,ou o',ii
altogether account for tho M s:;,r "b. m eoIiu yi
bited Unycysr ,I. ,'i ~. PASSION ho eAhi-
and it was agreed that sam shnnId ,r,,p
hole next morning and If ,Ls rial a"I
satisfactory. he should nav tIe ro, rao'ot
once, and 50 enable Shannon and Iii. unr; as
to set off for the n.,v di,g;m,Sa, pa. 'N'i
On the followin, n niternoon 'L','4oc
o'clock, finding NV Iabnr vnrv r,'roI,,,;, ,ou'
and tarlinr t6crscaro u"P'Gduo'mo,
down to the side of Sans new 1urcbaso ~