Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-05-31
THE LITTLE
GOLD NUGGET
A Tale of the Australian Gold
Diggings.
a#NM%#NMAMNMNMAMNM~#AMAM~

"
John Archer decided that the mug
get would be safer in his little daugh-
ter's keeping than in his own.
you must take great care of it, dar-
ling" said John Archer. at is for
your mother" And EfIie slowed the
little nugget away in corner of the
old workbox which had been her moth
ers under the cotton and socks she
was darnlng for her father. She felt
duly weighted with the responsibility.
She knew that this yellow earth was
of great value. for her father, leaving
her mother, who was very delicate,
with some friends in Brisbane, had
come a long, weary way to find it.
Having hidden the little nugget
away, Etiie 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 frewood for her.
This little girls reason for trusting
King Billy, the black, was somewhat
strange and is worthy of being re-
corded. She trusted him because she
had been kind to him.
But Efiie was only 10.
AS the child stood in the broad light,
her tumbled hay hued hair kissed and
illumined by the bold rays of the sun
and her round, trustful blue eyes shad-
ed from the glare by two little brown
hands, watching King Billy at his
work, a flock of laughing jackasses
alighted in a neighboring gum tree
and set up a demoniac exclamation.
What made the i'll omened birds so
madly merry? What was the joke?
Eftie's trust? Billy's gratitude? They
failed to explain, but their amusement
was huge and sardonic.
Drive them away. Billy" cried Eff
fie, and the obedient king dropped his
AK and threw Il faggot of wood at the
tree, which stopped the laughter and
dispersed the merrymakers.
BILLY tired now," said the black
grinning. TOO much work-plenty
wood" and he pointed to the result
of his labor.
"Yes, that will be enough, thank
you. You're good boy. I'll give you
some tobacco"
"Billy's thirsty"
"Then you shall have some tea"
''No tea. Rum"
'No, Billy. Rum isn't good for you"
Good for miners; good for Billy"
mo, it's not good for miners" said
Eflie emphatically. "It makes them
fight and say wicked things"
'Makes black fellow feel good" de-
clared Billy rolling his dusky eyes.
This last argument was effective
Eflie went into her hut-her father had
returned to his work-and poured n
little spirits from John Archer's flask
into a pannikin. 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 slow.
ly for Ellie. Her few triding duties
as housekeeper were soon done. The
little hut was tidied and the simple
evening meal prepared and some hours
must pass before her father returned
How could she pass the timer She
had only two books-a Bible and q
volume of stories for little girls, which
she had won as a prize at school in
Brisbane. But she was too young to
appreciate the first, especially as the
type was very small and it was difficult
reading, and she had grown beyond
appreciating the stories for little girls,
having known them by heart three
years before. She would like to have
slept. Everything around her suggest
ed and invited the siesta-the steady
heat, the brightness of the light with.
out the hut, the distant murmur Of
miners voices which came from be-
yond yonder belt of waffle gums, the
forest, the occasional fretful cry of n
strange bird and the regular snores of
the fallen king, who slumbered in the
shade of the hut. Even the buzz of the
annoying flies assisted the general eff
feet and brought drowsiness.
TO remain still for few minutes
would have meant inevitably falling
asleep. Ellie felt this and remembered
the little gold nugget. If she slept,
some thief might come and take it. And
so she put on her hat and, forsaking
the seductive cool and shade of the hut,
went out into the brightness and heat
Archer's hut stood on the edge of the
valley over against thp foot of tho
blue, heavily timbered hills. About 50
yards distant from it, hidden among
the trees, was a high moss grown rock,
at the base of which Etlie had discover
ed the smallest and sweetest of natural
springs. Thither the child ran-looking
back often to see that no one approach
ed the hut In her absence-to bathe her