The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-08-10
THE NUGGET.

was not great prize, for IL weighed only
seven ounces, but it represented the only
result of strong mans toll for many
weeks, and as nuggets 90 1t was consid-
cred by no means bad "find."
John Archer decided that the nugget
would be safer in his little daughters keep
ing than in his own.
II he caught the thief, he would shoot
him, but better not to run the risk of los
ing his treasure
And so he gave IL to Effie to put in her
old workbox. The thieves of the T
diggings would be too cunning to think Of
examining such an improbable hiding
place.
"You must take great care of it, darling"
said John Archer 1T IS for your mother"
And Efiie slowed the little nugget away in
corner of the old workbox-which had
been her mother's-under the cotton and
the socks she was darning for her father.
Having hidden the little nugget away,
Effle came out Of the hut to look around
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 monarch, who loved
rum and tobacco, and who was chopping
some firewood for her.
was welding the ak with quite exceptional
vigor, and if Billy had seen it wouldn't
have mattered very much, for Ef1ie 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 Ei1ie was only 12
As the child stood in the broad light, her
tumbled hay hued hair kissed and illum-
ined 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 q neighboring gum
tree and set up demoniac cachiunation.
What made the ill omened birds so madly
merry2 What was the joker Effies trustP
Billy's gratitudeP They failed to explain,
but their amusement was huge and sar-
donic.
"Drive them away, Billy" cried Efrle,
and the obedient king dropped his AK and
threw a fagot of wood at the tree, which
stopped the laughter and dispersed the
merrymakers.
"Billy tired now," said the black, grin
ning-"too much work-plenty of 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 to-
bacco."
"Billy thirsty"
"Then you shall have some tea"
mo tea. Rum"
mo, Billy, rum isn't good for you"
GOOD for miners; good for Billy"
mo, it's not good for miners" said Eflie
emphatically; 1T makes them fight and say
wicked things"
"Makes black feller feel good, )" declared
Billy, rolling his dusky eyes
This last argument was effective. Effie
went into her hut-her father had returned
to his work-and poured a little spirits
from John Archer's flask into a "panni-
kin" Billy drank the spirits with rolling
eyes, smacked his lips and then lay down
In the shadow of the hut to sleep.
The long afternoon passed very slowly
for EfIie Her few trifing duties as house
keeper were soon done. The little hut was
tidied, and the simple evening meal pre-
pared, and some hours must pass before
her father returned. How could she pass
the timer
She had only two books-a Bible and a
volume Of stories for little girls, which she
had won as prize at school in Brisbane.
Archer's hut stood on the edge OF the val
ley, over against the foot of the blue, heav-
lily timbered hills. About 80 yards distant
from it, hidden among the trees, was high
moss grown rock, at the base of which Eff
fie had discovered the smallest and sweet
est 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. Eflie laughed as she saw him,
his head bent forward, and his thin, mar
row shoulders bowed.
She was still laughing at King Billy rs
she opened the old workbox to take another
peep at the yellow treasure and to make
sure that the heat hadn't melted it away.
And it was quite slowly that the laugh
died from the pretty eyes and mouth
quite slowly, because of the moments it
took to realize and accept a misfortune so
terrible-when she lifted the coarse socks
and looked and saw no little gold nugget
saw nothing
Then horror and great fear grew in the
blue eyes, and pale agony crept over the
childish face and made it old, and the poor
little heart seemed to stop beating.
Effie said nothing and made no cry, but
she closed her eyes tightly for moment
snd then looked in the box again.
No, it was no Illusion. The little nugget
was not there. The first gold her father
had found, which had been intrusted to her
care, which was to have been taken to her
mother, it was gone.
She put down the box quite quietly and
walked out into the day, but the sun was
shining very strangely and mistily now,
and the blue sky had grown black, and the
trees seemed to move weirdly, and the To-
Gusts had ceased bumming from fear, but
the strange bird was somewhere near,
shrieking brokenly: "What will father sayY
What will father say2"
But as the child stood there despairing
her sight grew clearer, and she saw black
figure among the trees, and she was con-
scious Of pair Of dusky eyes watching her
through the leaves
Then only she remembered, and she knew