The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-02-10
THE MYSTERY OF BALARAT.
BY CAPTAIN CARNEs.

gold diggings of Balarat, six of lis rath-
er above the ordinary miner, i'll that we
were neither convicts, gamblers, nor
quarrelsOme fellows. We chose place
remote from other crews who worked
the more easterly claims, and found no
lncumbrances save in lone man who
seemed to be n hunter, and whom we,
at first, looked upon with distrust, until
his generosity won upon our gratitude.
Every day or two he came down to our
camp with brace of birds, or haunch
of kangaroo, and only with the greatest
amount of urging could we get him to
accept remuneration.
"Why does it matter, ,boys?" he would
say; "the bush is swarming with game.
and enough is enough. There is no
where to sell it, and what should want
of moneyW
He always repeated this last question
with the bitterest intonation. or at least
| got that impression on my mind. Af-
ter some months ofacquaintanceship we
persuaded him to come into our messs,
and urged upon him the expedicncy of
his mining with us.
"Make fortune" Brace said.
"Make fortune, Masters, and Wen
return to the world and see the sights"
What lurid glow came into the
mans eyes.
"Why should L? Why should We?
The world don't miss us-not in the
least, unless we are such sad rascals that
she is afraid of us, and then the missing
We could only guess Mt his history
He was not an illiterate, not ill-favored.
Probably some disappointment in love
or business had soured his disposition,
and made misanthropc, or recluse, of
him. 1t seemed that he gave up his old
roaming life by inches; staying with us
at first for few days, and by and by
for week or two; then reversing ii al
together, being absent from our mess
now and then day at time, His in
separable companion was an immense
black bull dog, and half believe that
we urged Masters to Join us as much for
the sake of the animal as his own. The
brute was awake, snuffing about the
cabin, outside and insidc-although but
seldom disturbing us in this way-his
wakefulness usually assuring lis of his
watchfulness.
Masters was fellow of Hcrculcan
proportions, swarthy almost as mulat-
to, and the apathy that seemed to per
wade his nature when we found him in
the desolate regions of Balarat, sooi
gave way to an avaricious fire, which
the others failed TO notice, and which
was 10th to mention, lest should pre-.
judice some one against him.
After three months labor each of us
had accumulated handsome deposit
Each one had his leathern pouch fol
holding the precious mental and in &
little cellar place under the cabin roo
we hid our treasures, until such time ~
the accumulated amount should war
rant journey to Melbourne.
One morning, just after breakfast
Masters gave howl of rage, exclaimina
that he had been robbed We all sprung
up lively, only to make like discovery
The pouches were mostly filled will
sand, with small amount of dust on top
We looked at each other in baffiet
amazement, calculating GLOW? When
BY whom?"
Our cabin was close by where w,
worked. No one could possibly hav,
been near it, besides the huge watch-dos
would not let stranger approach tin
premises. For several nights he hat
travelled over and about us all night
snufflng the air, going outside and com
ing in at will, for we felt safer with hin
for door-keeper than with all the bolt
| and bars in creation.
For several nights after that. Master
and Dick Brace watched lust outsid,
the door with rifles cooked in thei
hands, until / showed them the ridicu
lousness of the proceeding by exclaim
ing, 'Doing picket duty over empt,
pouches? What an idea. As if In,
thief would return after the leather
boys"
They were considerably confused a
they realized their misplaced zeal, an,
betook themselves to their couches lik
sensible men.
None of MS seemed to mind the tficl
that fortune had played lis, exceptin,
Masters. ''It isn't any use to go OF
working-my old life is BETTER" and al
though we tried to our utmost, we coul,
not move him. 'FWhat good is there il
digging and then lose it all at onceY'
"But," returned Digdy, 1--WE dom
mean to lose it again; we will each on
hide in secret and separate place thel
If one loses, the rest can make II up t.
him."
Masters swarthy face worked as h
heard the generous fellows plan, but Il
a moment he shook his head. He struQ
gled off into the wilds, coming ever
few days with game, which he not un
frequently broiled for us, while we wer
digging up the dirt in the mines. Tn
dog, for the most part, hung around Tn
camp. If he started with his master h
would soon return. ~ dare not hay
him along with me-" Masters explained
'now that he has got safe home. III
is too spirited. He would tackle
drove of dingos, and so lose his life."
"lsn't 1t about time for us to organic
q picket guard?" asked Digbv, on
evening at meal time. "The devil ma
fly away with our wallets when the
! are half full, this time"
Hardly" returned the boys, eth
old fellow don't descend 10 petty In
. canu aa I hava haapd no,o.,l - -. !.