The record-union., 1896-10-18


the Australian plains, and of his long
tramp north to his first mine-all of
which might be spun out to many most
| interesting pageS-of the life at the dig
gings, where he arrived on a Sunday to
lind an international athletic meeting in
full swing; and of all the wonder that
comes flooding on the new chum," and
| f1lngs into prosaic relief the old life
across the seas. Yes, / remembered, for
had not the first romance almost whirled
me from my feet and whirled me too off
IN quest of phantom fortune at the gold
mines?
We'll, told you what a go-ahead
place Coolgardie was; every man dead
nuts on making money, and never a mo-
ment Of rest; chokeful of brains, work
and money, and a mighty tight corner
for the man who is not particularly
| blessed with any of the three. l soon
saw there wasn't much chance for me
| there for let me tell you, Tommy, what
the engineers in Coolgardie just now
| don't know about mining isn't worth
| knowing.
! 80 l tramped out north, and got
| berth at the Scandinavian Reefs, about
a 80 miles to the northwest L was
| there exactly three months, and had
managed by that time to save thirty
pounds-of course you know the regular
wage was three-ten a week and water;
and as l could live comfortably on
pound week, / simply saved hand over
hand. We usually stopped work at
/ when on the day-shift, and one day, on
coming back to my tent, found things
in considerable disorder and my money
gone.
| of icn6 a n
rest of the miners, who had tents near
by, all came rushing up. At that very
moment my neighbor, wages man ike
myself, came running out of his tent
with the cry that he had been robbed
! We all ran to his tent and found that
| there too, as in mine, everything was IN
| confusion; but after further examina-
tion his money was found all right. The
| affair was a serious one; for there were
| only twenty three in camp at our mine,
! and one of these it seemed, must De the
thief.
| Under the circumstances all volun-
teered to let their tents be examined and
committee of three having been ap-
! pointed a search was made, but noth-
ing was found. When all was over they
| came back to my tent and made a MI
mute examination of the ground, and as
one of the three had been a tracker in
| the Sydney police, they were not unfit
| ted for the business. The traces had
been carefully removed by trailing the
sand over them, but in one corner was
| found solitary heelmark, and a pecul-
| lar one at that. For on the inner side it
had been roughly cobbled and the coarse
patch had left a clearly defined impress
| Sicn. Now, rightly or wrongly, Suspl-
cion had fallen upon my neighbor-Mac-
| naughton was his name-and, in his alb
sence his tent was searched that very
evening, and a pair of square working
boots found whose right heel cOrre-
| spcnded exactly with the heelmark in
the tent. Still, this was too slight a clew
| to build a case upon. Next day, how
ever, two of the miners who had left the
| camp little before sunrise to try lit
| tie prospecting on their own account
on their return brought back the some
what significant news that they had
| seen MacnaughtOn walking along the
edge of a lake, a mile distant, shortly
after dawn. Certain movements of his
were deemed by them SO suspicious that
they thought fit to report the circum-
stance to the committee. The latter re-
garded the information as so impor-
| tant that two Of them, including the
trNcker, slipped down to the lake. Of
| course, the rest of the camp was now at
| work, and no one was aware that any
thing was on. On reaching the side of
| the lake at the spot indicated, they
| found a clear trail running along the
| shore of salt and sand for half a mile
and stopping at large bowlder which
lay at the lakes edge.
II should mention that the lake, like
most of those in West Australia, was a.
salt one, and covered with a sheet Of
salt just like ice, but at several places
this had been broken close to the shore
and the bowlder lay half out of the
water at one Of these spots. There were
| no marks on the shore side, so one Of
the two waded into the water and dip
ping his arm. felt along the foot of the
rock. At one point his hand came in
| contact with large stone which
| seemed to block up a gap in the base Of
the bowlder. and he had to use both
| hands to lift it away. Thrusting his
hand into the opening he immediately
| touched a canvas bag. He drew it out.
and on opening it found that it contain
ed my thirty pounds, neither more nor
| less. This was brought to me without
| any stir being made, and so the first
great mistake was made. For, whether
| they, being members of such a small
| camp, disliked doing anything without
| certainty, or whether they simply de-
| sired to take the man ed-handed 7
| cannot say. AT any rate, they did not
| make any attempt to arrest him and
that same afternoon Macnaughton ex-
pressed his intention of leaving for the
| Rarrier Reef, fifty miles to the south.
| But where was the mistaken" / in
| terIupted
| "Oh that Will come out in the sequel.
| Eut they should not have removed the
money if they wanted to catch him in
/ the act. OF course it was at once seen
that he was about to play into our
| hands by visiting the bowlder where he
| had left the money, and next morning.
| when he packed up and shouldered his
traps for the southward trip one of the
| committee said that he was going that
same way to a neighboring reef. about
six miles distant, and would take the
chances of his company along the road.
| OF course there was no excuse for re-
| flsing such an offer, and the two went
! off. While those in camp awaited with
CT nsiderable eagerneSs the turn of
| events. AS for me, my practical share in
| the affair being over / determined to
get my money banked as soon as possi-
| hle, so | borrowed a horse and proceed
| ed to ride to Clearhills the nearest
| banking station. Meanwhile the two
men had left the camp and tramped off
to the south. After walking some four
| miles MacnaughtOn complained of an
| old sprain and told his companion he