Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-05-21
THE GOLD NUGGET.

1t was given to Effie to take care Of
1t was not great prize, for it weighed
only seven ounces, but it represented the
only result of strong mans toll foi
many weeks, and as nuggets go it was
considered by no means bad find"
John Archer decided that the nugget
would be safer in his little daughters
keeping than in his own. There were
thieves and lawless men at this new
[ gold rush, as at all new gold rushes, and
they would know of his prize. They
would probably try to annex it.
They would search all sorts of cunnine
hiding places in the neighborhood Of his
tent; they might even creep into the hut
at night, to feel under his pillow and
among his rough bedding for the yellow
earth that folk hated each other for. II
he caught the thief he would shoot him,
but better not to run the risk of losing
his treasure, and so he gave it to Effie to
put in her old workbox. The thieves OF
the tt diggings would be too cunning
to think of examining such an improba-
bic hiding place.
ssYou must take great care of it, dar-
ling" said John Archer. 1T is for your
mother" And Effie slowed the little
nugget away in corner of the old work
| box-which had been her mother's-un-
der the cotton and the socks she was
darning for her father. She felt duly
weighted with the responsibility. She
knew that this yellow earth was of great
value, for her father, leaving her mother,
who was very delicate, with,some friends
IN Brisbane, had come long, weary way
to find it, and she had seen his sorrow,
his despair, as day after day he had
eagerly worked with pick and spade
| without finding what he sought
Having hidden the little nugget away,
Effie came cut of the hut to look round
and see if any one was near who might
have seen her. No. No one was near
who might have seen her-only Billy the
black-King Billy, the aboriginal mon
arch. who loved rum and tobacco, and
who was chopping firewood for her.
King Billy evidently had not seen, for
he was welding the Ak with quite ex-
ceptional vigor; and if Billy had seen it
wouldn't have mattered very much, for
Effie trusted him.
The little girls reason for trusting
King Billy, the black, was somewhat
strange, and is worthy of being recorded
She trusted him because she had been
kind to him.
But Effie was only twelve.
As the child stood in the broad light.
her tumbled hay hued hair kissed and
illumined by the bold rays of the sun.
and her round, trustful blue eyes shaded
from the glare by two little brown
hands, watching King Billy at his work,
flock of laughing jackasses alighted in
a neighboring gum tree, and set up de-
moniac cachination. What made the
i'll omened birds so madly merry? What
was the joke? Efie's trust? Billy'sgrati-
tude? They failed to explain, but their
amusement was huge and sardonic-
''Drive them away, Billy" cried Effie,
and the obedient king dropped his ak
and threw faggot of wood at the tree,
which stopped the laughter and dispersed
the merry makers.
BILLY tired now," said the black grin
ming; ''too much work-plenty wood"
and he pointed to the result of his labor.
eyes, that will be enough, thank you.
You're good boy. I'll give you some
tobacco
f'Billy's thirsty"
"Then you shall have some tea"
@No tea. Rum"
'tNo, Billy. Rum isn't good for YOU"
Good for miners; good for Billy
"No, it's not good for miners" said
Effie emphatically; ''it makes them fight
and say wicked things"
Makes black feller feel good" de-
clared Billy, rolling his dusky eyes.
This last argument was effective. Effie
went into her hut-her father had re-
turned to his work-and poured little
spirits from John Archer's flask into a
'pannikin."' Billy drank the spiritswith
rolling eyes, smacked his lips, and then
lay down in the shadow of the hut to
sleep.
The long afternoon passed very slowly
for Effie. Her few trifing duties as
housekeeper were soon done. The little
hut was tidied and the simple evening
meal prepared, and some hours must
pass before her father returned. How
could she pass the time? She had only
two books-a Bible and volume of
stories for little girls, which she had
won as prize at school in Brisbane.
But she was too young to appreciate the
first, especially as the type being very
small it was difficult reading, and she
had grown beyond appreciating the
stories for little girls, having known
them by heart three years before. She
would like to have slept.
Everything around her suggested and
invited the siesta-the steady heat; the
brightness of the light without the hut;
the distant murmur of miners voices
which came from beyond yonder belt of
waffle gums; the monotonous hum of
the locusts in the forest; the occasional
fretful cry of a strange bird, and the
regular snores of the fallen king, who
siumbered IN the shade Of the hut. Even
the buzz of the annoying flies assisted
the general effect and brought drowsi-
ness.
To remain still for a few minutes
would have meant inevitably falling
asleep. Effie felt this, and remembered
the little gold nugget If she slept,
some thief might come and take it.
And SO she put on her hat, and, forsak-
ing the seductive cool and shade Of the
hut, went out into the brightness and
heat.
Archer's hut stood on the edge Of the
valley, over against the foot of the blue, (
heavily tiinbered hills. About fifty
yards distant from it, hidden among the
trees, was a high mossgrown rock, at the
base of which Effie had discovered the
smallest and sweetest of natural springs.
Thither the child ran-looking back
often to see that no one approached the
hut in her absence-to bathe her face.
In few minutes she returned, drying
her face in her apron and shaking her
wet hair in the sun. No one had come;
but King Billy was now awake, and was
slouching lazily off toward the bush.
Effie laughed as she saw him-his great
head bent forward, and his thin, narrow
shoulders bowed. She laughed to think
of his laziness, and that he should look
so tired after such very little wood
chopping.
She was still laughing at King Billy
as she opened the old workbox to take
another peep at the yellow treasure, and