The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-05
PrayerfuI DIGGER Of Quondong.

~ 1' tSsOl y
His name was Timothy Williams and
he worked on claim upon Quondong
( Fiat. He was not a chicken in any
sense Of the word. though there was
much about him-that was foul Timothy
had many gifts, but the gift Of prayer
was his strong suit. He loved TO 60
out in the bush Of an evening, after the
days work was done. and there, kneei-
( ing down by the roots Of q giant cur
rajong tree, he would get on surpriss ngly
familiar terms with the Creator. There
was not much on this planet thar he did
not ask the Lord TO give him at one
time or another. and he mostly wanted
his things brand-new and half-price
Once Timothy had asked the Master
very fervently for a pair Of neither gar
ments for his great hulking son, and
one Of the faithful had answered his
prayer by leaving a new pair Of mo
skins outside his camp, but il so hap
pened that son of Belial named Jack
Lynch saw the peace Offering deposited
near the soul agents premises. and he
having a pair of moles that we're more
picturesque than pleasant to look upon,
irasmuch as that portion whereon 3 man
usually sits was represented BY a hole
as big as a baby. determined to sZ-
change Though it was frosty night,
he did so, then he rolled up his own old
rags in a neat parcel and left them on
the spot after pinning the note which
he had found In the pocket Of the new
garments on the packt. In the morning
Timothy came forth as usual, bright and
early, and he saw that parcel and ne
opened the note, which ran:
Please. Tim, except this little Of
FERN from a Christian friend nd we'll
wisher, hopin them ull suite nd keep
yer warm remain a Christian friend in
need"
When he had read that note, old Tim
lifted Up his voice and chanted a hymn,
and then got off Thanksgiving prayer
that would have made a stranger think
that the Creator had recently taken to
running wholesale and retail clothing
establishment for the special benefit Of
Quondong Flat Then he undid the par
eel triumphantly in the faces Of about
a dozen Unbelievers who had gathered
roung, among whom was Jack Lynch,
dressed in the prayerful pants. AS he
cut the string he shouted: This is liv-
in testimony, boys Twin real testimony
tbs prayer is answered even in these
days Look at them pants, lock-" The
boys did look and the whole bush rang
with a howl of u1irth that made the din
goes quake in their dens as Jack Lynch-s
old pants, stiff with dust and heavy with
old age, and honorable on account of
their holiness. fiuttered in the breeze
Timothy turned them around slowly,
sadly. and solemnly and gazed into the
huge gap where the seat was not and
then a sad, slow exclamation slipped
softly through his grizzled lips, and It
sounded as much Ike well Pm
damned" as if Arizona had said it him
self.
r,L. ,,,o,,+t- ,o17.5 80, 81 So,,,,, ,7o,,--
Flat petered out, and the dry blowers
megan to look around them for fresh
alluvial fields, so when Jimmy Reed rode
through the camp on his old grey horse,
and let fall a whisper that there was
good gold to be got fifty miles away az
Winters Gully, every digger who owned
a hack, and some who did not began
securing the bush for truant horses, and
that night old Tim, who did not own a
hoof of any kind Of animal got down
by his favorite tree and prayed for a
horse, not a three-legged. ewe-necked,
backed brumby with a heart like
an oyster and d back like a broken
down barmaid, but a real horse that
would carry as much as a whole team
and travel as fast as Dave Lindsay's
best camel. Then he got on to his feet
but he did not sit down and wait for an
answer to his prayer-not much. He
just gathered up bride and saddle
from jim Ascione's tent and then struck
out for the grass gully q mile off, where
he knew one of the faithful believers
kept his horses bobbled and, having cap
tured the animal and another for HIS
SON he and his offspring departed at a
hand-gallop for the scene of the new
rush. When he got within a mile of his
destination he buried the saddles in the
earth, lit fire over the spot so that
the ashes would cover his tracks. then
he turned the horses out into the scrub
and tramped into 41inters Gully with
his son and pegged out a good claim
This yielded him 200 ounces in less than
a week, for which he duly thanked
Providence hight and morning, until
one day he discovered that his son, his
best beloved. had annexed the whole pool
end started for Melbourne to see the
up run. which caused Harry Moss to
remark. with his own peculiar poetic
smile, that it was "quite fair since he
had taught the youth to lay away from
home"