Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-11-23

] For the next ten years I had vary.
! ing fortune. Sometimes l picked I'D
j i few nuggets md stored them until
L could reach civilization, when l sold
them, and banking the money. went
/ OF again III search of more seeking no
/ man or womanS company. vet carry
ing with me the memory of what might
nave been if fortune had only smiled
upon me.
! AT the end of my fifteen years so
Journ in Australia l had the sum Of
ROW III the bank and was looking for
/ ward to purchasing / section and set
Ting down rs 4 farmer after another
year of wandering
Vt this tine l WAS making bigger
Journey than l had attempted before.
and found myself hundreds of miles
from civilization, in the very heart OF
hot and arid district of upper
Queensland.
! was thirty-tive now, but looked
! with my Sunbaked face and grizzled
beard fully ten yelrs older, and had
been uamping, haIf-Starved and
thirsty, over a desert without a sign OF
water or life of any kind for the last
two days when l came about shutdown
to one of those strange ant cites which
are sometimes found in the dry Dor
tons Of this country.
For miles in front of me stretched
long streets and countless huts, reach
ing from four feet to eight in height
AZ deserted and silent-ciay huts look
ing in the distance like dry cornstaIks
and close at hand like human habita-
t1os A weird effect they had upon me-
tired out and exhausted as I was from
want of food.
Fortunately / had a plentiful supply
of tobacco, and with my flint and steel
L comforted myself with prolonged
smoke before | lay down to sleep under
the shelter of one of these hutS. There
with the moon rising over the horizon
and casting long shadows about me
from these cone buildings, l gradually
lost consciousness and had the dream
which altered all my plans of life.
[ dreamed that l saw five men strug-
Cling along the moonlit street i'll which
L lay each with a heavy load on his
back-dAggers they appeared TO be,
bringing OF their finds; they came on
until they reached the mound against
which / leaned, into which one of them
began to dig, while the others, pitch
ing their bundles down beside the dig
ger, formed themselves into a guard,
with their rIneS out and facing the.
1.0rth.
| soon discovered why they were
guarding the digger, for looking past
them l saw large tribe of aboriginals
lodging among the other huts and pre-
plring to attack the white men, who
stood there in a close ring until their
mate had hidden the gold they had
brought.
a few vigorous digs with the picllax
and spade and q portion of the clay
hut was laid bare while the five heavy
bags were hastily crammed inside and
the outer clay replaced, as the rifles
played Oh the ferociOuS but timid ma
tives. who seemed frightened to ad-
vance, after which the white men be-
gan to retreat into the open plain,
leaving their swags behind them, while
the savages giided past me with their
spears in their hands.
l saw the fight begin and end i'll the
open plain, and my five cOuntrymen fan
pierced with the shafts, while | still lay
unable to move and help them. What
happened afterwarI was too horrible
to relate in detail, but can be conjectur-
ed by any anthrOpOlogist who knows
the revolving customs Of those ferociOuS
and untamabie cannibals OF northern
Queensland 1t is sufficient to tell yOl
that even the bones were utilized, after
which the demons returned the way
they had come, TO the north, taking
with them the five SWagS, but paying
no heed to the ant hill which held the
| treasure.
The morning sun was warming the
country when / awoke, and with my
| dreIm still vivid in my mind | began
with an eager heart to demOlish my
| shelter of the night, and there, as l
| had seen them laid, | discovered the
| five bags laden with gold dust and
nuggets, enough to make me q wealthy
man at last
/ took what l could carry with me
! ship came back with a couple of
| horses for the remainder, and then
after fifteen years of absence I re-
| turned home to my native village a
| wealthy man, and of course pIid
visit to my Old sweetheart, Maud
Davis, now the wife Of the baker.
Fifteen years makes a wonderful
difference in young lovers; Maud, al
ways Of q slender build, had grown
shrewish and skinny, without Il single
| trace left of what | had been carrying
so long in my memory with tender re-
gl.et. | had altered from a slim lad
with comedy face into Il 2rjzzled and
theavy old man. we both looked at
each other for It moment ana then l
laughed as Maud Slid.
''IOr,' what an ugly man you have
grown, Frank. I'm glad l didn't wait
for you after ALL in spite of your
money"
50 was I, as I carefully wiped that
long-kept picture from the slate of my
memory.-Hume Nisbet, in London
| Sun.