The times., 1899-06-18
AN AUSTRALIAN MINERS LUCK.
In His Despair Finds Nugget Big
as n BNby's Head.

Correspondence Of the Cornhiil Nlasazine)
This man had reached the very last of
his resources without finding a speck of
gold, and although men in such extremity
are always kind and helpful to each other
he could not expect anyone to share such
fast dwindling stores with him. There was
nothing for it, therefore, but to turn back
on the morrow, while a mouthful of food
was still left. and to retrace his steps as
best he might to the nearest port He
dwelt with good deal of rough pathos on
the despair of that last days fruitless
work, which left him too weak and ex-
hausted to carry his heavy tools back to
the spot they called camp" So he just
flung them down and, as he said stag
gered'' over the two or three miles of
scrub covered desert, guided by the smoke
of the campfire. Next morning early, after
a great deal of sleep and very little food,
he braced himself up to go back and fetch
his TOOLS though he carefully explained
that he would not have taken the trouble
to do this if he had not felt that his rick
and barrow were about his only posses
sions, and might fetch the price of meal
or two when it came to the last.
| have often wondered since if the i'm
preston OF the divine mercy and goodness
which was so strong in that mans mind
Just then has ever worn of He dwelt
with self-accusing horror on how he had
rallied at his luck. at fate, at everything,
as he stumbled back that hot morning
over his tracks OF the day before. The
way seemed twice as long. for, as he said.
his heart was too heavy to carry" At
last he saw his barrow and pick standing
up on the fiat plain little way off. and
was wearily dragging on toward them,
when he caught his toe against a stone
deeply imbedded in the sand and fell
down. His voice sank to a sort of awe
struck whisper. as If he were almost at
confession, as he said, We'll, ma am, IL
you'd believe me, cursed awful. l felt as
If it was too hard altogether to bear. To
think that / should go and nearly break
my toe against the only stone in the dis
trict, and with all those miles to travel
back So lay there like Jobs friend and
cursed God and wanted to die. After
bit felt like passionate child who kicks
and breaks the thing which has hurt him.
and had to beat that stone before could
feel quiet. But 1t was too firm in the
sand for my hands to get it up; so in my
rage | set out quite briskly with the pick
to break up that stone, if it took all my
strength. 1t was pretty deep set in the
ground, l assure you. ma'am; but at last
1 got it up, and here it is-solid gold and
nearly as big as a babys head. Now,
ma am. l ask you, did deserve this?"
He almost banged the rather dirty-look-
ing lump down on the table before me as
he spoke, and il certainly was wonderful
sight. and a still more wonderful weight
He told me he had searched about the
neighborhood of that nugget all day, but
there was not the faintest trace of any
more gold. So. as he had no time to lose
on account of the shortness OF the food
and water supply. he just started back to
the coast, which he reached quite safely,
and came straight down to Perth in the
first steamer. The principal bank had ad-
vanced him $500 pounds on his nugget.
but it would probably prove to be worth
twice as much. I asked him what he was
going to do. and was sorry to hear that he
intended to go back to England at once and
set up a shop or farm-I forget which
among his own people. OF course, it was
not for me to dissuade him, but l felt it
was pity to lose such a good sort of man
out of the colony for he was not spending
his money in champagne and card-playing.
as all the very few successful gold-finders
did in those first days