The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1896-07-23
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$500 =
BILLS NUGGET.
by OWEN HALL.

BY OWEN HALL
[coPYR1GHr. 1861
There were only three in our party,
Tom and me had come to Coolgardie to-
gether, being old mates, and then we
come across Bill on the field. He were q
queer chap always, were Bill. Work?
Well, won't say as ever knew a hand
On any diggin's as could beat Bill for
work, take him all around. Early and
late Bill were there whoever weren't.
de would work eating; he would work
talking-though it weren't much talk
ing you would get out of Bill. not AZ a
reg'lar thing anyhow. Why he seemed
Is if he worked of nights after he'd
turned in did Bill, and it was all gold,
every word of it. Yes, for the matter
of that he was regular whale at work,
and no mistake.
When Tom and me first come across
him Bill was down on his luck. His
tucker had just about PANIED out, and
he hadn't not a shilling left to buy wa
ter, which seeing how water were a
pound bucket at Coolgardie just then
and scarce at that, were awkward. Yes,
I reckon we were a Godsend to Bill,
that's about what we were, Tom and me,
when we offered to take him in mates.
Not but what it was right enough for us
to- Tom and me had q matter OF may
be 30 pounds between us and we were
pretty old hands at the job, but the
place were new to us, and Coolgardlc,
like most fields, had ways of it's own.
We knew Ballarat in the deep leads, and
we'd been mates at Palmer river, but
this weren't like them-not little bit.
Now, Bill, he'd been here two months
and he knew most all there was to know
about the place. and so it come about
as we went mates with Bill, and just
then Bill was mighty glad to be took by
anybody as could get bit of tucker
and bucket of water-you bet.
After all's said let's be fair to Bill. He
could work, and he did-never man
better-and if he didn't turn out not
straight as mates had ought to be, well,
after all Bill had temptations, 1reckon.
Bill wasn't to say big, but he was
strong, and as wiry as they make 'eln.
Tom and me was used to work, but bless
ye, we weren't in it not alongside OF
him at his best. He was good-looking
chap enough too, was Bill, leastways
all you could see of him, which wasn't
to say much, being he was that hairy,
and water being scarce, you could't
Gay not exactly as to color, but his eyes
-,,o,, oo,,11 eoo op1 R;11sS ouos xuoro on
of the common. Look out they did
from under his eyebrows eager and
anxious like-always eager and anx-
dous, as if he could see something rich
1ust ahNld of him.
Bill never talked much-not while he
was awake, anyhow-an,l when he was
asleep his talk didn't amount to nothing
about himself. He might been dock
in his time, might Bill, for anything
ever he said to the contrary; and he
might have been Almost anything by lis
tongue-only one thing was sure, Bill
hadn't always been a digger, no, nor yet
for so very long, neither. No, he were a
queer chap, were Bill, but take him all
round I've met sight O. worse mates in
my time.
We stopped at Coolgardie for month
and it was long enough, too. Gold there
was, admit it, but it hadn't no sort of
consistency. You might work till ye
struck gold and perhaps get a nugget or
two and thought ye had come on good
ching. and then, after you had broke
your hcart following of it up for days,
you'd as like as not kick up nugget
with the toe of your boot as you was
going to work right atop of the
ground. That was the worst of Cool
gardie. Gold there was, and plenty at
that, but duffer was just about as
likely to come across it as digger, and
q lazy chap that loafed about like Chi
naman, all eyes and no hands, had every
bit as good chance as us that worked
early and late to getit.
We were getting pretty near full up
OF this, though we were making tucker