The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-12-05

lady lived; and, second, 1 had no desire
to give that lady unnecessary pain by
bringing 10 her knowledge a fact Of which
It was best she should remain ignorant.
In 1851, /, Jamems Haworth, left En-
gland in the capacity of supercargo OH
board the good ship Darling bound for
Australia The pilot who took US into Port
Phillip was the first to give US the news
Of the startling gold discovery that soon
electrified the world. The gold fever got
hold of me, and. like many another good
man, l deserted the post Of duty TO 90
a-hunting for the golden fleece a Ballarat-
On the way to the diggings 1 fell in with
Jasper Plunket He had come out as first
mate of a bark which was even then lying
in the harbor. and he also had deserted,
victim to the prevalent mania. When we
arrived at Ballarat hundreds, nay, thou
sands. were already hard at work. BY
day the thud of the pick was as unceasing
as was the crack of the revolver by night;
and 1 may mention here that the mania
for burning powder without the slightest
pretext, which developed itself among the
diggers in the early days, was to me one
OF the most inexpicable problems of those
stirring times. We lost no time in setting
up our tent, buying our licenses and stalk
ing out an eignt-fOot claim on Golden
Point. For a week we had kept steadily
at It, without finding more gold than would
pay our expenses, when the word was
passed round that the precious metal had
been discovered in even greater quantities
al Bendigo now SandhursO. An exodus
TO the new fed set in, and in a coupe Of
days Golden Point was all but deserted A
two-Ounce nugget was the richest prize We
"A x~aNr Il nd H1 f1rra~ vrrn n
ming to abate little under this course Of
hard work and small results. By this
time l don't suppose there was half a
dozen claims being worked on the Point.
We were standing by the heap Of gravel
we had taken out of our last claim, de-
batting whether TO follow the general
stampede to BendigO, when a stranger ap-
peared upon the scene and came saunter-
ing up to us. The newcomer was Stamper
Macedon, and as he is the principal figure
in this little sketch, I may as well briefly
describe him here. At this time 1t would
have been difficult TO say precisely what
was his age. but he could hardly have
been more that five-and-thirty. He was
wiry-loOking, active man Of middle hight,
slight Of build, but as tough as whipcOrd
His clean-shaven face Ga most unusual
thing In those times and lOcalities) was as
emOtionless as a HindOO gods; his clear
gray eyes looked you through and through
in an instant, and his words were few
and to the point. Stamper MacedOn was
the best-tempered, clearest-headed man I
ever knew. 1 never saw him put out by
misfortune, nor exhibit any sign of Ella
ton at an unexpected streak of good luck;
neither have / known him to betray the
slightest symptom of surprise, save upon
one occasion. Although / have had more
to do with him. perhaps. than any man
living. he always remained something of
an enigma to me. Where he originally
hailed from 1 never learned; but, from
observations he let fall at one time and
another. / gathered that he must have
been pretty well all over the world, and
he possessed a knowledge Of men and
things in general far beyond his years 1
think that is sufficient to introduce to the
reader the man who strOlled leisurely up
to us with a straw in his mouth, as
Plunket and l stood debating the vital
question of migration.
What luck, mates?'' he asked careless
", letting his pack fall TO the ground.
''None-at least none worth mentioning"
1 replied dismally.
why don't you wash out your dirt?
1t looks likely stuff" he went on, taking
up handful Of the gravel.
Because 10 isn't worth while. What's
the good Of pudding and grading all day
for pinch of dust, when there are solid
Jumps as big as your head to be got for
the digging, if you only know where TO
look for it?" l rejOined dolefully. 1--WE
were just talking Of clearing out for Ben
digo when you came up. Golden Points
worked out"
Without troubling to reply Macedon de-
Hberately loOsed the string Of his pack
took out a tin prospecting-d dish, filled 1t
with the gravel and carried II down 10
the creek. while Plunket and 1 watched
him in silence. After washing the dirt for
a few minutes he looked it carefully over
and then, fiinging away the contents Of
the dish. he cody rejoined US.
Don't YOU think You're a pair of
precious fools?'' he observed, looking at US
keenly.
why should we?'' asked Plunket, open
ing his lips for the first time.
did you ever hear the fable Of the dog
who dropped his bone for its shadow"
''weH?'
We'll. there's two dogs in this case"
What do you mean?" I asked.
IF you want it put palmer here it is
Here's gold under your very noses" kick
ing the gravel. This is paying dirt. I
reckon" measuring the heap with his eye,
THE three of us could wash that pile in
ten days. 1t pans out well. / calculate
on nothing less than two ounces a day.
Two ounces is eight pounds; ten times
eight Is eighty; and eighty pounds certain
IN ten days at Golden Point is a darned
sight better bone than the Lord knows
what at Bendigo. Now, amt it?''
Plunket and L nodded. l don't think
either OF us had the slightest notion Of
will We at once instinctively recognized.
In the vacillating state Of mind we were
IN, the knowledge that fate had thrown in
our way somebody to guide us, somebody
more determined than ourselves, came to
us as a welcome relief Even in any cir
cumstances L don't think we should have
had chance against Macedon, for when
he had once set his mind on a thing. he
could, by sheer force of will twist men
about like puppets
What have you bottomed on-rock ?"
was his next question, as he peered into
the hole.
mo, pipeclay," 1 answered.
'Humphp' was all he said
How it came about I hardly know, but
from that hour Stamper MacedOn was nor
only a partner with US, but the recognized
leader Of the firm. We bought a cradle
from a party just starting for BendigO.
laid in al the pr0curable stones we could
and the next morning we were hard at il
washing the dirt. by which time. save for
ourselves. Golden Point was utterly de-
serted. The stuff PANIED out quite as wei
as MacedOn had anticipated: and by the
time we had washed the last bucketful we
had twenty-five ounces of the precious
metal safely slowed away in a corner of
our tent.
WHAT'S the next novel, asked Plunket.
as we took out the dust from the last Grad
ling
Were going to stake out two more
claims. one on each side Of this, for pre-
caution" replied Macedon cOGl.y.
why for precaution.' when there isD't
soul on the Point besides ourselves % 1
asked in amazement.
There soon will be-" went on Macedon
quietly. 'and we're going to shepherd
those two claims Now listen here: Won