The small settlement of Golden Flat was situated away out on the desert's fringe beyond Kalgoorlie, and beyond the reach of any civilizing railway. It was essentially a pioneer's field, for no deep lodes had yet been discovered; indeed, at this time the history of Golden Flat was but a few days old. Nuggety Dick, a roving prospector and miner, had been lucky enough to find rich specimens of the coveted metal on the surface of the flat during one of his perambulating journeys through the silent bush, and instead of wildly rushing back to Kalgoorlie to proclaim his "strike," he had quietly taken a note of the place and gone his way to inform his old associates, who were toiling with but little success on a worked-out alluvial patch near Coolgardie.
Such is the spirit of the bush; comradeship comes before all, and happy-go-lucky Dick had never once thought of applying for the standing reward which a shrewd Government had promised for discoveries of gold in such remote districts. Had he claimed it, a rush would have been the immediate consequence, and the chances of Dick's companions securing a favourable claim would have been reduced to a minimum; so he set out on hishigh-backed camel and rounded up the "boys," as he affectionately called them, and steered them back to the ironshot plain among the mulga scrub, which he had euphoniously, if ambitiously, termed "Golden Flat." And now, within a week after their arrival, the Flat presented every appearance of industrious energy. Further nuggets had been found all along the line of a scarcely perceptible depression in the land surface, which, nevertheless, most evidently marked the course of a very ancient waterway, long since silted up.
"It'll be an alluvial wash, boys," remarked Dick, with happy satisfaction.
"It certainly looks mighty promising," agreed a lanky and lean individual, who rejoiced in the cognomen of the Shadow. The Shadow, so called because of his rather fine outline, was the youngest of the party; indeed, he was little more than a boy in years, yet his reputation as a skilled bushman and rough rider was great, and the strength concealed in his spare figure was marvellous.
"I say, mates," broke out another typical bushman, Never Never Dave by name, popping his head out of a shaft near by, "I do believe I've struck the stuff on the ten-foot level."
He clambered out of his excavation and approached the party, who were at this moment assembled for the purpose of preparing lunch, displaying in his hand a white sugary-looking substance which he had evidently broken from the supposed wash. The Shadow gave a whoop of delight, but was immediately checked by an old miner beside him, whose keen eyes and heavily furrowed face bespoke the hardy pioneer.
"Don't yell out so soon, young 'un," he reprovedsternly. "Gold is a most deceitful phantom, and it's when you're sartin you've got it, that it ain't there."
"Eight O!" sang out the irrepressible one, rushing to get a pan of water from the soak near by. "Eight O, Dead Broke."
"When he reappeared he found them all examining the sample wash with critical interest; and as it was handed round for inspection, not a word was spoken; not a trace of joy or emotion showed in the rugged features of the men who depended so much on the result, and even the Shadow, when he handled the specimen, felt constrained to copy the tactics of his neighbours. The conglomerate stone was literally studded with gold; it required neither the pan test nor the magnifying glass to prove that.
"It's too good to last, boys," commented Nuggety Dick, with a sigh.
That broke the spell.
"I've never seen anything like it," grunted Dead Broke Dan, blinking furiously.
"Hoorah for Golden Flat!" broke out the Shadow, tossing his tattered hat into the air. "Hip, hip, hip, hoorah!"
And, taking his lead, the silent group of a few minutes before broke into a lusty cheer that echoed and re-echoed over the plains. But it had scarcely died away when Emu Bill, a somewhat silent member of the party, astonished his associates by giving vent to a groan of deep disgust.
"Look what's coming, boys," said he, nodding his head toward the west. "Hang me if it isn't the beginning of a regular rush!"
LOOK WHAT'S COMING, BOYS
"LOOK WHAT'S COMING, BOYS!"
All looked in the direction indicated, and sure enough there appeared to be ample reason for annoyance. Cresting a slight eminence surrounding the Flat, three figures hove into sight, pacing slowly alongside a heavily laden camel, and that they were coming to Golden Flat camp there could be no room for doubt.
"After me bein' so careful, too," complained Dick, sorrowfully. "Now I suppose we'll have all Kalgoorlie sprinting up before sundown."
"Look to your boundary-pegs, mates," warned Dead Broke Dan, "an' stick up your miners' rights on the corner posts. They may be bush-lawyers for all we know."
In an instant the camp awoke to action, axes and spades were seized, measuring tapes were run along the boundary lines of their holdings, new pegs were driven into position, and miners' rights flaunted in the sunshine, marking a fluttering course of six hundred yards along the auriferous bed. In the midst of the confusion the three travellers arrived, and one of them, a strongly built individual, whose entire wardrobe consisted only of an open-necked shirt, and nether garments held in position by a well-filled cartridge belt, leaving his companions by the camel, stepped forward.
"Hullo, boys," he grunted affably, addressing every one in general who was disposed to hear. "I said 'Hallo,'" he repeated sternly, after a moment's pause.
The rebuke was too much for Emu Bill, who had been calmly and leisurely engaged cutting his initials in his corner boundary-peg. He came forward quickly.
"Hallo, mate," he said, eyeing the new-comer keenly. "Mebbe ye'll excoose the boys for attendin' to Governmentregulations afore rushin' to say how mighty glad they are to see ye——"
"Ye insignificant son o' a gun," came the prompt interruption, "if ye dinna modify your insinuations, I'll—I'll, swipe the head off ye, an' it would hurt me sair to destroy ane o' my old comrades in cauld blood."
Bill, at the dire threat against his person, had languidly begun to prepare for mortal combat, but on hearing the last part of the aggressive speech, he gazed at the stranger in incredulous amazement.
"By the Great Howling Billy it's Mackay!" he yelled, seizing his erstwhile enemy's hand and shaking it vigorously. "I thought you had gone home to the old country, you tough old rooster."
"I did have a trip home," said Mackay, for it was he, smiling grimly. "But I discovered that civilization didna agree wi' me, so I came back."
By this time the rest of the miners had hastened up, and Emu Bill addressed them excitedly.
"Boys, it's Mackay!" he cried.
Nuggety Dick and his satellites hesitated a moment, then rushed forward with outstretched hands.
"What have you done with your whiskers, Mac?" they cried almost in unison.
"That's it," roared Emu Bill, looking questioningly into the now welcome visitor's face, "and it nearly caused a funeral. Hang it all, why didn't ye say who ye was? We thought you was the beginning of a rush, we did. Fetch your mates along and let us have lunch at once. After that you may stake out where you like."
"Beggin' your pardon, Emu," broke in Nuggety Dick, "I has a double-barrelled-nineteen-carat-pleasant dooty toperform." He turned to Mackay, and with grave dignity proceeded. "As discoverer o' this here Golden Flat, an' representin' the interests o' every scarecrow present, I say we welcome you and your mates wi' tearful emotion. Am I right, boys?" he demanded confidently, looking at his companions.
"Hoo-rah!" came the unanimous response.
Mackay smiled just a trifle strangely, and beckoned to Bob and Jack, who had been watching the trend of events with somewhat anxious eyes.
It would have been hard to recognize in the two who now came forward the same young men who had inveighed so strongly against their restricted lot in the Old Country. Dressed in the negligent attire of the bush, with broad brimmed hats shading their eyes from the scorching sun, they looked like young Colonials fresh and fit for any effort that might be required of them. Their journey from the coast to Kalgoorlie had interested them exceedingly; the wide tracts of lonely bush land which stretched to north and south of the single line, gave them an impression of boundless scope which was dear to their hearts. Here surely was a country where no man need jostle his neighbour. Coming as they did from a tightly packed centre of commerce, it was little wonder that a sense of freedom entered their beings. And when they arrived at the strange hustling gold-mining city of the plains, their enthusiasm was great. Mackay had been wonderfully reticent as to his immediate plans. "Even here nothing stands still," said he, "and there may have been new gold discoveries since I left." But his inquiries in Kalgoorlie seemed to please him greatly. "It's all right, my lads," he announced to them with great goodhumour when he returned to the Exchange Hotel where they were staying pending his investigations.
"The fact is," he whispered mysteriously, drawing the boys aside, "I found gold on one o' our last expeditions before we tackled the Never Never, a good bit to the east o' this, and though we never said a word aboot it to any one when we got back, I was afraid some sandgroping fossicker had bumped across the place while I was awa'. Hooever, I've made judicious inquiry, and find there's been nary a rush in that direction, so we'll outfit at once and get a move on. I've been lucky enough to buy back my old camel, Misery, for the journey."
So they arrived at Golden Flat, Mackay never once hesitating in his course, though there were no landmarks to guide. The bushman's instinct was strong, unerringly it lead them to their goal; and now that they had reached the scene they had been picturing in their minds, the unexpected meeting with earlier arrivals disconcerted them not a little. They advanced at Mackay's call somewhat sharply; they had not quite understood the wordy discourses of the miners, and they were aggressively prepared to stand by their friend should occasion arise.
"Boys," said Mackay, addressing the odd assembly, "allow me to introduce two young friends of mine from old England—Robert Wentworth and Jack Armstrong, Bob and Jack for short—they've come out here to make their fortune, and by the Lord Harry! they'll do it or I'm a Dutchman."
With honest welcome beaming in their eyes, the rugged miners advanced one by one to greet their visitors, but Nuggety Dick must needs call them to order.
"Can't ye wait fur me to interdooce ye in civilizedmanner, ye howlin' galoots," he admonished severely. "I hiv to blush fur yer ignorance, I has." Then he hitched up his nether garments, ejected a quid of tobacco from his mouth, coughed discreetly, and began—
"As discoverer o' this 'ere Golden Flat——"
"You stop right there, Nuggety," interjected Mackay. "If ye'll take the trouble to look at the side o' that tree ahint your tent you'll observe that my autograph is carved thereon, together with the date of discovery. Now, while you go and satisfy yoursel', I'll dae the introducin'. Emu Bill"—the tall bushman stepped forward and shook hands with the lads—"is a very decent sort o' indiveedual. A bit cantankerous, saving wi' his speech, and I would hae some hope for him if he wasna sae perneeciously given to makin' poetry——"
"Get out, Mac——"
"Dead Broke Dan!" The veteran of the camp strode forward. "A guid solid and straight man who has done his best to mak' every man's fortune but his ain. Never Never Dave"—that individual with the Shadow had already anticipated the formal introduction, and was listening with delight for his qualifications—"is a weary wanderer, like mysel', only withoot my unquestionable abilities. And the Shadow"—that guileful youth suddenly became engaged in earnest conversation with Bob—"the Shadow, I say, is a youth wha's greatest misfortune is his extraordinar' habit o' neglectin' the commandment which says, youngsters should be seen but never heard. For a' that he's a guid laddie——"
"Say, boss," ejaculated the victim, smilingly, "if ye'll write that down I'll send it to my Sunday-school teacher in Melbourne."
At this point Nuggety Dick returned somewhat crestfallen.
"You were quite right, Mackay," said he. "Is there any other place in the whole country you hasn't struck your name on?"
Mackay's face relaxed into a broad smile.
"We'll divide the honours, Nuggety, my man," he answered magnanimously; and with one accord they all made their way to the tree behind Nuggety's tent to gaze at the symbol which justified Mackay's claim. There it was, cut deeply into the hard wood, and almost obliterated with enclustering moss, "J. M. 1898."
Bob examined the letters with something akin to awe. Jack laughed gleefully; the others crowding round seemed ill at ease. Mackay guessed their thoughts intuitively.
"My claim has lapsed, boys," he said quietly.
"Not by a single peg," protested Nuggety Dick. "We don't need no Government to tell us what to do. We know the ground is yours by the all-fired right o' discovery, a right which touches us right down on our most tender feelings."
"We've just struck it rich, but we'll git all the same," said Never Never Dave; and a sympathetic murmur of approval greeted his words. The bushman's code of honour is Spartan in its simplicity.
Again Mackay smiled, and all trace of hardness had gone out of his voice when he made answer.
"Boys, ye have spoken as I knew ye would speak, and it does my heart good to look at you all again, and feel that the same old sympathies are with us still. But the true discoverer of Golden Flat was the leader of the expedition who piloted his party so well until the end,and I ken he wouldna have me turn you away. No, boys, there's room enough for us all; my mates an' me will peg out claims at the end o' the lead; the chances o' strikin' the wash are a' equal." He paused, and gazed sadly at the half-obliterated inscription on the tree, unheedful of the deep appreciation with which his words were received. "If it's my good fortune to make a rise on Golden Flat," he continued, with grave solemnity, "I mean to devote it a' on an expedition into the Never Never. I want to see again that mountain which kept me back. I want to have a word with the tribe that lives behind it...."
"I'll be with you, Mac," quietly spoke Emu Bill.
"And me, fur a dead cert!" said Nuggety Dick.
"Put Never Never Dave's name on the programme," grunted that worthy.
"And mine," echoed Dead Broke Dan.
"You can bet your shirt I'll be with you," cried the Shadow.
"There's only you and me left, Jack," said Bob. "But we'll be there too."
"And now let us have lunch, boys," suggested Nuggety Dick, breaking the odd silence that ensued; and they walked away, leaving Mackay still gazing at the fateful tree with unseeing eyes.
"Poor old Mac," muttered the Shadow, sympathetically.
"Did you know him before?" asked Jack.
"I should say I did. Why, he put me on to the only paying gold show I ever worked. That was two years back. He was one o' the Coolgardie pioneers too, and, of course, every one who was there knows him."
"Ah, that was a great old time," mused Emu Bill, entering into the conversation. "Mackay made a bit o' arise then, and he might have been a rich man now if he hadn't taken the Never Never fever."
"I'll tell you what, boys," said Nuggety Dick, hastily adding a handful of tea to the boiling billy, "Mackay is the straightest man that ever chased nuggets, and this here camp will see that he doesn't tackle that miserable desert again without us skirmishin' alongside."
"Let us drink good luck to Golden Flat, boys," cried the individual in question cheerily, coming up from behind, and seizing a pannikin of tea.
"Good luck to Golden Flat—and to its discoverer!" replied they all, standing up and drinking the toast heartily.
Shortly afterwards the three new-comers set off to peg out their claims on the golden channel, and erect their tent. The others would have accompanied them in a body to assist in the work, but Mackay, while thanking them, firmly refused their services.
"I want to initiate my partners into the rules o' the business," he explained, "an' the best way to teach them is by showing the way and watching them do it. No, no, boys, you had better go and burrow in your shafts, we'll engineer our own funeral."
The slight depression which indicated the presence of the golden channel below, ran in a north and southerly direction, and could be traced without difficulty for fully five hundred yards, after which it merged into the open plain, but the line of workings did not extend much more than halfway down this length.
"These old water-courses," said Bob, who had been thinking deeply, "must have belonged to a very ancient period, when the whole aspect of the country was different."
"And how so?" queried Mackay.
"Because," returned Bob, hesitatingly, "there are no mountains here now, no water-sheds at all, and the gold must have been carried by a flow of water from somewhere. The whole country must have been sunk under the sea, then, after a long time, upheaved again higher than it was before. The volcanic disturbances must have destroyed all its original features."
"Do you ken, Bob, my lad," said Mackay, earnestly, "I like to hear you speak like that. It shows ye've got some pro-fundity o' thought, an' I quite agree wi' your argument."
A cry of delight from Jack broke in on their geological discussion. That very eager youth had unconsciously adopted the tactics of the experienced prospector by eyeing the ground closely as he walked, and his keenness had not gone unrewarded, for he now displayed a dull yellow specimen between his finger and thumb.
"Ay, it's gold, sure enough," was Mackay's verdict, when he had glanced at it, "and it weighs fully an ounce if I'm any judge. Jack, my boy, ye'll beat us a' at this game yet. That's five pounds ye've made in the time it would take to blink an eye. You'll mak' a grand prospector, Jack. Put that bit in your pocket, and keep it aye as a memento; you'll think a lot o' it afterwards."
"But it's really yours," said the lad, refusing to take it back. "I'm not going to take everything of yours and keep all I get too."
Poor Jack was embarrassed. His was one of those generous natures which can never forget a kindness, and Mackay had behaved more like a brother than a mere friend.
"I agree with you, Jack," ventured Bob.
"Tut, tut, laddies," grunted Mackay, "we're goin' to be partners wi' equal shares—and from what I can see already I think I'm vera fortunate in having you wi' me—but first specimens should be ootside the arrangement altogether. Take the bittie gold, Jack, and I hope I'll live to see it in your ain home years after this."
They had by this time reached the end of the channel, at least so far as surface indications were concerned, and Bob once more propounded a theory.
"Is it not right to assume," said he, "that though we cannot trace the water-course any further on the surface, it must be there all the same?"
"Quite correct," answered Mackay; "but it may have changed its direction, an' it may have divided into smaller channels."
"But just here where it apparently disappears," persisted Bob, "may not some obstacle have deflected the current, or made the sand pile up and so raised the true bed upwards, making the original sides of the gully shallower at this point, and accounting for its being filled up level with the surrounding country before the deeper parts got wholly silted up?"
"Go on, my lad," prompted Mackay, patting the young man's shoulder, "allowin' what ye say to be right; what sort o' deduction do you arrive at?"
"I should think," said Bob, with growing eagerness, "that the gold would stick on the rise more than on the level, and that if we sank our shaft just over the apparent break of the channel we would most likely strike it rich."
"It seems good sound logic, Bob," commented Mackay, in reflective mood, "but as I'm a practical man and no'much o' a theorist, I'll no' venture to say whether ye are richt or wrang. One matter, however, must be determined afore I can completely side wi' ye, and that is in what direction was the creek flowing?"
Bob was for the moment nonplussed, and observing his hesitation, the man of practice seemed to be suddenly amused.
"That appears to be a tough proposition, doesn't it?" said he.
"It does," agreed Bob, still pondering over a solution to the question.
"Well, it isn't, my lad. The creek just flowed as you first allowed, in orthodox manner, from north to south. I'm vera pleased to notice how quickly you have got a grip o' things, an' I only asked the question so as to direct your attention to what must be the base o' your theory, for if the flow had been in the opposite direction the bottom would have been completely knocked oot o' your argument."
"But how can you tell how it was flowing?" asked Bob, still somewhat mystified.
"Easily enough; I had a look at Never Never Dave's shaft and paid particular attention to the nature o' the gold wash below. Every pebble o' the conglomerate stuff was water worn and mair or less wedge-shaped wi' the blunt ends facing in this direction. Now do you savvy? Observation is a grand virtue, Bob——"
"I am afraid you have been laughing at me," spoke the young man, gravely.
"I'll prove to you that I havena," came the quick response. "Jack, come here and do your geometry lesson."
Jack had been industriously searching for further treasure, but he hastened up at once.
"Now," said his mentor, "I want you to mark out a rectangle five feet six inches by two feet six inches just on the break o' that meeserable apology for a creek. We'll start sinkin' our shaft there in the mornin'."
So it came about that Bob planned the position of their first shaft, with Jack assisting; and Mackay walking a little way apart surveyed the pair with deep satisfaction.
"I can see," he soliloquized, "that my young friend, Bob, is goin' to be a vera useful acquisition, and if Jack develops along the lines in which his tastes lie, I have much need to congratulate mysel'. Who would have thought it?..."
Next after the lining out of the projected shaft came the pegging of the claims. For this four stout posts were required, thick enough when faced with an axe to present a surface at least four inches square. These were soon forthcoming, the mulga shrubs growing around being just of sufficient girth to meet with official requirements.
"And now, my lads," said Mackay, in sprightly tones, "we're going to mark out three men's ground, a hundred feet by a hundred is the allowance per man, so that means we can take a hundred yards along the creek and one hundred feet across." He began to pace off the ground as he spoke. "We can check it with a tape after," said he, "but I have done this so often that I'm no' likely to be faur oot in my calculations."
Soon the four pegs were sunk into position by Jack and Mackay, Bob at the same time scooping out with pick and shovel short rectangular trenches at each corner to indicate plainly to any subsequent observer theposition of the outlying boundaries. This done they gazed at their handiwork with serene contentment. The mercurial Mackay was once more in the clutches of the gold fever, and his companions were no whit less affected.
"Let us call it Mackay's Reward," cried Jack, at length.
That gentleman shook his head. "This claim shall henceforth be known as The Golden Promise," he said.
Next on the afternoon's programme was the erection of the tent, and Jack at once volunteered to search the scrub for the two forked upright posts required to support the ridge or roof pole of the calico structure, Mackay and Bob meanwhile arranging the various stores and mining implements which they had unloaded from the camel. That wiry animal itself was not far off assiduously chewing clumps of saltbush and spinifex grass, varying this somewhat monotonous fare by occasional mouthfuls of the mulga twigs within its reach. Five minutes, ten minutes passed, and no Jack reappeared, nor was the sound of his axe heard in the near distance. Mackay became uneasy.
"I do hope the laddie hasna gone far," he muttered, throwing down the pick handle he was fitting to the steel and looking around anxiously.
"But he'll know how to get back," reassured Bob.
Mackay grunted unbelievingly. "That's aye the way wi' new chums in the bush," he declared. "They never remember that everything is alike in this country, an' that only the sun can be taken as a guide." Seizing his rifle he set off in the direction Jack had taken, Bob hastening at his heels; but they had not gone far before they were gazing at a most extraordinary spectacle. There was the delinquent indulging in fierce chase after a great yellowungainly creature which scrambled around in a narrow circle, turning at intervals to snap savagely at its tormentor, who was aiming numerous but ineffective blows at his quarry with the axe he carried. Round and round they went, and Jack's energy seemed all but spent when Mackay's hearty laugh attracted his attention.
"Ho! ho! ho!" he chuckled, walking leisurely forward and interrupting the performance. Bob at the moment could not see any reason for this display of humour, and certainly Jack did not.
"It attacked me when I was cutting a tree," explained the baffled warrior, "and every time I stopped chasing it, it turned and chased me. I suppose the brute's tired now, or it would be at me again." He wiped the perspiration from his forehead, and eyed his enemy malevolently. The object of his wrath was a peculiar crocodile-like creature with an enormously long tail, short thick-set legs, and a narrow venomous-looking head. It must have measured fully five feet in length, and was certainly ugly enough to disconcert any one who did not know the nature of the beast. Now it rested calmly by the foot of a tree, its head swaying gently and its abnormally elongated tongue shooting out and in with lightning rapidity.
"It's only a poor wee iguana, Jack," consoled Mackay. "It would dae you no harm, though I will admit it doesna look as peaceably inclined as it might; but watch me whistle to it." He strode forward, and kneeling beside the huge iguana—but as the boys noticed, beyond the reach of its sturdy claws—whistled unmelodiously a selection from a popular opera, and lo! ere the first two bars had been negotiated, Jack's recent enemy's head began to nodrhythmically with the music! and its whole body took on an attitude of satisfied repose.
"Well, I'm jiggered!" was all that Jack could say, while Bob exploded into uncontrollable mirth. Then the musician ceased his labours.
"I'm no sayin' that anybody could charm the beastie like me," he admitted with exceeding modesty. "My whustle's got a wonderfu' movin' element in it——"
"It has," agreed the pair, with unanimous promptitude, shuddering with painful emotion. The big man laughed.
"I was sure ye would coincide wi' my statement," he blandly said. "And now let us get the happy home fixed afore sundown. The darkness will be on in two shakes o' a kangaroo's tail."
On returning with the necessary saplings to the clearing they had prepared as a site for their future dwelling, they found the Shadow awaiting them somewhat anxiously.
"I was wondering where ye had got to," he remarked, apparently much relieved, "I saw some nigs in the district a couple o' days ago, and I was afraid they had scooped ye in."
"Niggers, here?" cried Mackay.
"They were both out watching me try to kill an iguana," said Jack, with a laugh.
"But you shouldn't kill iguanas," reproved the Shadow. "They never mean no harm, and they does wonderful good around a camp, killing snakes and centipedes and other crawlers."
"Oh, I'll remember next time," assured Jack; "I'll remember to run like smoke when I see one like the brute I tackled to-day. An ugly wobbly monster overfive feet long, harmless!" It was clear that Jack was by no means convinced.
That evening the entire population of Golden Flat gathered around the new-comers' camp fire, and did much to entertain the boys with their various anecdotes and reminiscences. Desperate encounters with natives, thrilling tales of the early Coolgardie days, and narratives of prospecting journeys through the waterless bush regions followed each other in quick succession. The intense heat of the day had now given place to an extraordinarily chill atmosphere, which was the more noticeable because of the sudden change, and all huddled closely to the glowing logs. But it soon became apparent that the cheerful warmth of the fire was attracting other and by no means welcome visitors, and though no one seemed to be in any way concerned, Jack viewed the innumerable pests and crawling creatures that kept forcing their way into the flames with some apprehension. The conversation had narrowed down to a wordy discussion on the possibilities of gold being found in the far interior.
"Every bushman believes that there's bound to be gold in the Never Never," reiterated Emu Bill, assisting a large-sized centipede into the fire with asang froidthat aroused Jack's horror. But he was yet to be more surprised.
"Don't move, Jack," said the Shadow's voice from somewhere behind him. "There's a black snake trying to snuggle into your trousers pocket. I'll spifflicate him in a jiff;" and he promptly gripped the intruding reptile by the tail, swung it once round his head, then cracked it as one might the lash of a whip, breaking its back in an instant.
"I suppose I'll get accustomed to it," said Jack, with a shudder.
"I'll show you how to slaughter them yourself to-morrow," comforted the Shadow.
"I say, Mackay," said Nuggety Dick, from his distant corner, "ye haven't told us about your trip to the old country yet! How did ye take to it after your ten years' Australian experience?"
But Mackay would only commit himself to one statement. "It's a grand country, Nuggety," said he, with impressive earnestness; "but it belongs to too few folk." Which enigmatical reflection seemed to give his hearers some food for thought.
During the week that followed, the work at Golden Flat proceeded apace. Sinking operations were being conducted all along the line of the auriferous wash from Never Never Dave's shaft down to the Golden Promise Claim, and red-coloured flags were almost daily making their appearance on the various windlass heads, indicating that the fortunate owners of the claims had bottomed on gold. Never Never Dave's excavation, as has been already mentioned, struck the pay gravel at the ten-foot level, and that easy-going individual was leisurely engaged scooping out the rich conglomerate-looking cement while his neighbours were yet industriously seeking for the golden channel. Nuggety Dick was the next to reach it; his ground was directly adjacent to Dave's, yet his shaft was down fifteen feet before the welcome red symbol showed at his workings, thus indicating the gradual dip of the ancient waterway. Before the week was out, however, every shaft had bottomed on the golden gravel excepting that which Mackay, Bob, and Jack were sinking. But this delay in reaching the longed-for stratum in no way disconcerted Mackay.
"The chances are," said he, "that, when we do strike it at the lower level, the wash itself will be deeper and wider."
This thought was a wonderful incentive to them all, for the gold-carrying gravel laid bare in the other workings was scarcely two feet in thickness, and, though its richness was unquestionable, its limited nature was only too apparent. Bob and Jack took their turns in the shaft with great good humour and enthusiasm, and though at first their efforts to penetrate the flinty formations encountered were almost unavailing, they quickly acquired the science of the work under the constant guidance of Mackay, who also taught them how to temper their tools for the different kinds of strata, how to drill holes for the gelignite charges so as to obtain the most efficient results. Their early training especially fitted them for this kind of tuition, and they proved very apt pupils. Mackay, though such a strong man himself, was no advocate of the supremacy of muscle even in shaft-sinking.
"Science beats it every time," said he. "Of course, I'm no denyin' that, where baith strength and science are combined there's a wonderfu' advantage, but it doesna often happen that a strong man physically is blessed wi' a superabundity o' mental gifts——"
Jack, of course, could not resist the interruption. "We can't allow that from you, sir," in his most sedate tones.
Mackay smiled. "I'm vera pleased to have your implied testimonial, Jack," he returned, with twinkling eyes; "but then I was aboot to remark that an exception was needed to prove any rule, an' I was to assume mysel' to be the exception in this case. No, no, mind conquers matter, and that is why you two are just as fitted to pit doon a shaft as the strongest navvy in the country." All of which the boys found to be quite in accordancewith facts when they got accustomed to wielding the pick, hammer, and drill.
"Observe any cracks in the formation," their kindly instructor would call down to them; "attack everything in the lines o' least resistance." And by following his advice to the letter they quickly discovered that gold-mining was by no means as difficult as they had imagined.
Now, just when the first week of their labours had concluded, the shaft was sunk twenty feet; a few more feet would decide whether or not Bob's theory would prove correct.
"I tell you what, mates," said Nuggety Dick that evening, "you were just a bit venturesome in sinking so far from the main workings."
"I don't think so," returned Bob, confidently. "We'll get there all right, Nuggety. Another five feet should do it." And another five feet did do it. Two days later Mackay's pick broke through the covering layer of diorite in the bottom of the shaft, and with a grunt of satisfaction he called on Jack, who was at the windlass, to lower the bucket.
"I'm sending up some specimens," he cried.
Jack gave a howl of delight; hearing which, Bob, who had been reading in the tent, rushed out, and with eyes gleaming with suppressed excitement, hurried to the shaft mouth. He was just in time to assist in the raising of the heavily laden bucket. Nearer and nearer it came to the surface. Would the wash be gold-bearing or would it be barren? The boys' agitation was intense. Their limbs trembled and their hands could scarcely retain their grip on the windlass arms. Down below stood Mackay, perspiring with his arduous toil, watching thebucket ascend with somewhat anxious eyes. The glare of the sun across the shaft's mouth made everything apparent to him, while he himself was obscured from view in the shadows. The bucket had almost reached the top; already Bob had stretched out his hand to grasp it, when a stentorian shout from below arrested the movement, and, for a space, the fateful harbinger of good or evil tidings hung motionless.
"Keep a good grip o' your nerves—an' the windlass, lads. Heave away!"
The caution came in time. It suddenly flashed upon them both that a single slip on their part, a momentary hesitation, might prove disastrous to their friend below. Again Bob stretched out his hand, his eyes caught the glisten of gold, but his grip was sure. Next instant he and Jack were gazing at a whitish mass, through which shone myriad dazzling particles of the yellow metal. A few minutes later Mackay was jerked to the surface; there was no hesitancy in the movement of the windlass now; the moment of extreme tension had come and gone. Together they sat down on the sand and examined the specimens one by one without speaking. Then Mackay rose to his feet.
"The theory was right, Bob," he said calmly. "This is the richest stuff on the lead. I don't know how much there is of it yet, but there's enough to make you glad you came out to Australia, anyhow. Run up the flag, Jack," he directed, turning to that youth, who was still joyously examining his treasures. "Let Golden Flat know that we three are right here every time." He spoke jovially, yet so quietly, that his words exercised a kind of restraint over his hearers, which he was quick to notice.
"Never mind me, my lads," he said. "You've got every reason to rejoice, but you must remember that I'm an old hand at gold digging, an' the yellow dirt doesna mak' me enthuse like it aince did." Truly enough, to this strange Scot of many moods, the excitement and risk attending discovery was everything; he viewed the rich reward likely to be his with almost stoical indifference. Indeed, he was engaged in a deep philosophical argument with Bob concerning the uses and abuses of gold as a factor in the world's history, when the population of Golden Flat arrived in a body to tender their congratulations.
"But in these days," Bob was saying, "not to have gold is held to be almost a proof of one's inferiority. The world does not judge from an intellectual standpoint. It demands wealth. No matter what brains a young man may have at home, the chances are against his ever coming to the front unaided. Gold——" Bob stopped suddenly, having become aware of a growing audience behind him.
From the group old battered Dead Broke made grave utterance.
"I believe your ideas are kerect, Bob; but from what I sees here you can thank your lucky stars that the gold has come to you early in life. Look at me an' Nuggety——"
"An' me," broke in the youthful Shadow, with affected mournfulness.
At this stage Jack came forward with a handful of fine gold slugs and coarse dust.
"I've just dollied a few samples," said he, handing his treasure to Mackay. "That should go about twenty ounces to the ton, shouldn't it?"
"Nearer two hundred, Jack," returned Mackay, smiling at his eagerness.
"We're jolly glad to know you've struck it, boys," said Nuggety Dick, earnestly. "And we hopes it will be a thicker patch than ours, for, from what I sees, we can work out our claims in less than a month."
"Well, we sunk here on the spec. o' striking it bigger on the rise," said Mackay. "But whether or no we've been successful I canna say just yet."
"I'm going to sink for a deeper patch," growled Emu Bill. "I believe we've only got a floater in our claims, an' the true bottom should be further down."
"I'd advise you to work out all the shallow ground first," said Mackay. "You never know when a rush may come sailin' along. Keep stackin' the stuff until we get a battery up; don't trouble dollyin' it—it's only wasting time."
His advice was sound, and was greeted with murmurs of assent. The water supply at the camp was daily becoming less and less; no doubt more could be tapped by sinking a deep shaft, but this would involve considerable delay, and the citizens of Golden Flat were by no means anxious to leave their congenial occupation at so early a period. By roughly grinding the cement-like wash, and rinsing off the lighter sands, fairly accurate assays could be obtained from sample specimens; but to continue such a work on a large scale would drain the soak within a week. The only feasible plan was to excavate as much of the gravel as possible in anticipation of a crushing battery arriving on the ground, which would surely be there immediately news of the Flat's richness spread abroad. And so the days passed, and the sun beat down fiercely on thetoiling band who strove with grim Nature for her treasure. Ever and anon the dull roar of exploding gelignite indicated how man was using the utmost help civilization could give in order to shatter the many refractory obstacles in his path.
At the Golden Promise Mine sinking operations were going on very successfully; three feet of the golden conglomerate had been penetrated, and still there were no signs of the dreaded barren pipe-clay formation appearing. Bob's theory had already been proved to be correct. Tons upon tons of rich stone had been raised to the surface. The actual width of the channel was but eight feet; but the amount of cubic contents held in the claim was bound to be several hundred of tons at least, even supposing the drift went no deeper than the already known three feet.
Covered with dust and grime, and blackened by powder smoke, Bob and Jack were working together one morning in the large chamber they had made in the lower workings, and Mackay stood patiently by the windlass awaiting the call to raise the boys from the danger below, for they were firing a difficult charge. They had grown quite accustomed to the use of gelignite by this time, and, as Mackay proudly informed Emu Bill, they never once had had a misfire.
On this occasion, however, some delay had occurred owing to the fuse which Mackay had sent down becoming detached from the cap. He always arranged the charges on the surface, calculating the number of plugs required, and the length of fuse necessary, when he finished drilling the holes below, leaving the boys to insert the charges and see them properly fired. At last came the warning from Jack—"All ready!"—as he slipped his foot in the loop of thewire rope which was hanging in readiness. In a few seconds he was on the surface, while the rope was again rapidly lowered for Bob, who was even then lighting a match to apply to the fuse. The two on top heard the match scratch on the box, and immediately thereafter the familiar sputtering of the fuse echoed to their ears, but still no sound from Bob! Yet the faint, insidious odour of the burning fuse crept up to their nostrils, and they knew that something had happened. Mackay's face grew livid.
"It's only a sixty seconds' fuse," he muttered hoarsely. "Stand by the windlass, Jack. I'll slide down the rope."
Jack seemed to awake from a stupor. "I'm lightest," he cried; and threw himself at the rope without waiting for Mackay to brake the windlass barrel.
The iron arms of the windlass spun round, a few more loose coils only remained on the barrel. The brawny Scot hesitated not an instant. He rushed at the gyrating bar, and received the shock of the descending steel on his bared chest. The windlass rope held firm. Another revolution, and it would have run off the barrel and dashed the boy who clung to its strands to a certain death beside his companion. It was all over in a few seconds. Not knowing how his impetuous action had nearly caused certain disaster, Jack slid down the rope with lightning speed, and almost immediately his steady call—"Heave away!"—was heard. And now came the trial of strength where all the science in the world could not assist; only twenty seconds' grace, a double load on the windlass, and twelve plugs of one of the most powerful explosives known beneath! But Mackay was equal to the task. The windlass arm spun round once again, and on the fifteenth second Jack swunginto view, his foot resting in the loop, one lacerated hand grasping tightly at the rope, and supporting in his right arm the blood-dripping form of Bob, his comrade. Mackay reached out his strong arm, and drew them both to safety just as a thunderous explosion occurred which hurled tons of massive rocks to the shaft mouth and beyond.
Five minutes later all three were seated in the tent repairing their bruises, and making sundry comments on the occurrence. Bob's face was almost deathly pallid, and the blood still trickled from a deep gash in the back of his head; it appeared that just after he had applied the match to the fuse a portion of the iron roof of the excavation had given way, hurling him unconscious to the ground.
"I remembered no more," said he, "until I found myself in the tent here."
"It was a vera close shave, my lad," said Mackay, with suppressed emotion. "I'm no goin' to expatiate on Jack's quick action in the matter, but he maist certainly saved your life. It needed some nerve to gang doon on top o' a burnin' charge o' dynamite."
Bob smiled affectionately at his companion, and reached out his hand; and Jack, flushing almost guiltily, was forced to show his cruelly torn fingers.
"And, Bob," said he, almost tearfully, "it was Mackay——"
"You stop, right there, youngster," interrupted that gentleman, "I'll tak' nane o' the credit from you. You deserve it a', my lad. I'm proud o' you, I am. Now, I think you'd both be the better o' a rest. I'll go up and see how the other boys are getting on. I hope none o' the grinning hyenas noticed anything."
But the "grinning hyenas" had noticed, and Mackay met them in a body immediately he went out of the tent. There was the Shadow, Nuggety, Emu Bill, and company hastening forward, dismay showing plainly on their features.
"What's happened, Mac? Any one killed?" they shouted.
"Calm yoursel's, boys, calm yoursel's," adjured Mackay, "there's been no serious damage done. But I'll need to timber the roof o' the drive before we do any more work below; a bit o' it fell and gave young Bob a nasty crack on the cranium just as he fired a heavy charge. Jack got him out a' richt, but it vera nearly was a funeral."
Very sincere were the sympathetic expressions of the group. The unassuming attitude of Mackay's mates, as the boys were called, their happy temperament, had endeared them to the dwellers on Golden Flat, and now they trooped into the tent, and, in their rough kindly way, congratulated the pair on their escape, much to Jack's confusion. No truer-hearted men could be found than those battered pioneers of the desert land. Their life amid Nature's grim solitudes is one filled with unceasing cares, unseen dangers lurk for ever in their lonely path, their stern, set faces are but the result of bush environment which insidiously yet surely marks its victims with her stamp of immobility.
"You'll be all right in a day or so, Bob," spoke Nuggety Dick, cheerily, after examining the wound.
"If ye'll let me, I'll take your shift until ye're better," said the Shadow, hesitatingly; "I can't do much in my own shaft now without a mate, it's too deep for me to work alone."
Bob thanked him gratefully. "I hate to keep things back," said he, "and if Mackay has no objections——"
"Don't worry about that, Bob," broke in Mackay; "I'll mak' use o' the Shadow until ye are well again, unless he misbehaves vera badly."
That same afternoon a new discovery was made by Emu Bill, which had the effect of raising the excitement of the camp to fever heat. Having continued his shaft down through the supposed bottom of the golden wash in his claim, he suddenly came upon a strange soapy grey deposit, not unlike putty in appearance.
"That proves we hasn't struck bottom yet," was his verdict, as he examined the odd formation keenly; "there's no pipeclay about that, there isn't." Then his eyes blinked and stared and blinked again. "Howlin' blazes," he murmured gently to himself, "this will give the boys a shock, it will." He had carelessly broken a piece of the clayey mass between his finger and thumb, and behold, the line of fracture showed golden yellow, and in the dim candle-light innumerable dazzling pin-points of colour gleamed throughout the entire specimen. In a few moments he was on the surface, bearing the cherished find in his hand. "I have got something, Nuggety," said he, addressing his partner, "that shid make ye gasp."
Nuggety gasped in anticipation, then uttered a yell of delight as his eyes beheld the glittering specimen.
"Is it a new level, Emu?" he asked eagerly.
Emu Bill nodded. "Round up the boys," said he. "It'll give them mighty encouragement to hiv' a look at this here bonanza." Nuggety rushed away at once, and Bill ventured another gaze at his treasure. But somehow he did not seem to derive as much satisfaction from thisobservation. "Hang it," he growled, closing his hands tightly over the specimen, "I could ha' sworn I saw more gold than that in it at first."
In a few short minutes he was surrounded by an enthusiastic throng.
"Nuggety says you've struck a new level, Bill," they cried almost with one voice.
"I hiv' that," said Bill, with calm satisfaction, "an' from what I can see, there'll be thousands o' tons o' the stuff in our grounds, an' it's just crammed wi' gold."
He cautiously unclosed his hand, and proffered the wonderful stone to Never Never Dave, who examined it keenly, then passed it on to his next neighbour without a word, eyeing Emu Bill reproachfully the while. Strangely enough, no one seemed to appreciate Emu's find but himself; but he smiled and chuckled enough for them all. The last man to examine the specimen was Mackay; he was the latest arrival, having been down below, timbering the tunnel in the shaft which had given way so inopportunely, when the great news reached him.
"An' what's this ye've got, Bill?" he said, receiving the fateful fragment from old Dead Broke Dan, who sighed deeply as he handed it over. "What is it you're playin' at?" he demanded, after a first cursory glance.
"It's all straight, Mac," broke in Bill, eagerly. "It's a fair sample, an' there' lots more o' it, too."
Mackay eyed the speaker with fast-rising disgust. "Dae you ken, Emu," said he, slowly, "if it werena for the fact that I got a' the wind squelched oot o' me the day, I would lay violent hands on ye for puttin' up such a meeserable joke on your friends."
Poor Emu Bill looked dazed. "Why, what's wrong wi'the gold?" he asked feebly. "Surely you ain't goin' to tell me I doesn't know gold from iron pyrites——"
"Poor old Emu must ha' got a touch o' the sun to-day," grunted Never Never, sympathetically.
With a snort of indignation, Bill clutched back his specimen from Mackay, gave one glance at it, then subsided in the sand.
"You're right, boys," he announced from his lowly position in weary dejected tones; "I'm as mad as a hatter."
Not a trace of the yellow metal showed in the stone he now held in his hand.
"I would ha' sworn I saw gold in that stuff," he continued pathetically. "No, no, Emu Bill's finished. Crack me on the head, boys, for Heaven's sake, an' bury me quick."
"An' me too," groaned Nuggety. "I saw the gold, as I'm a livin' sinner, I did."
A glint of joy flashed into Bill's eyes at the words, and he struggled to his feet.
"Come down into the shaft, Mackay, and have a look for yourself," he said. "I do believe the curious stuff is so delicate it can't stand the light."
Still somewhat dubious about Emu Bill's professed honesty of purpose, Mackay was not slow to avail himself of the opportunity of judging for himself whether or not the new formation really did carry visible gold. Then, noting the truly distressed countenance of his old acquaintance, he relented.
"I believe ye did think ye saw gold, Emu," said he, before placing his foot in the sling preparatory to descending the shaft, "an' though I dinna expect to see anyglittering bonanza down below here, I'm sort o' convincedyousaw it right enough. It's the sun, Emu, my man; that's what it is."
Bill shook his head feebly; it was all beyond his comprehension.
"I'll come down after you, Mac," he said. "It's a mighty funny stuff, and you need to break it before it shows colour."
By this time every man in the camp was around the windlass; even Bob, with his bandaged head, had put in appearance, and Jack and the Shadow were also there. Quickly the windlass ran out, and deposited Mackay at the new level exposed, and while the rope went up again for Bill he lit a candle and peered cautiously around. He was looking for snakes, the bite of a certain variety of which induces strange hallucinations. Observing nothing in the shape he dreaded, he heaved a sigh of relief, and turned his attention to the soapy-like stratum from which Bill had broken his wonderful specimen. Only a dull grey muddy deposit was visible. With a jerk and a rattle the haulage rope came down again, and Emu Bill arrived at his side.
"I see nothing, Bill, my man," grunted Mackay.
Bill said not a word, but, taking his pick, smote furiously at the deceiving substance, and as it became disintegrated great gleaming streaks and sheets and scintillating points of gold seemed to show all over it.
"Can ye see anything, Mac?" inquired the wielder of the pick, pausing in his labours, and glancing eagerly at his companion.
"I'm simply flabbergasted," came the slow response."There seems to be enough gold there to stock a second Bank o' England."
He picked up a piece of the strange formation which showed dazzling yellow lines across its newly broken face, and examined it closely and intently; he rubbed it with his finger, and the brilliance vanished.
"We'd better take up some o' the best-looking bits," he suggested.
Bill laughed. "Why, the hanged stuff won't show a colour on top," he said.
But they decided to chance it all the same, and accordingly Mackay arrived on the surface bearing the result of his investigations tightly wrapped in an old handkerchief, and when the package was opened up a cry of admiration broke from all beholders, so beautiful, indeed, did the specimens appear.
A hoarse call from the underground interrupted their scrutiny.
"For Heaven's sake, boys, put a chain on that there mirage, until I get a look at it."
And while two men went to the windlass and began to haul Bill to the surface, a gradual change began to take place in the nature of the specimens. The yellow sheen grew darker and darker until it shone like bronze, and in this state Bill viewed them on his arrival. Slowly yet surely the bronze shades merged into a strangely variegated purple hue, and, while the onlookers stared aghast, this gradually evolved into the original clayey aspect of the formation surrounding it.
"Well, I'll be jiggered!" ejaculated the Shadow.
"It's just a mirage," said Bill, grimly.
The rest of the miners did not care to place on recordthe state of their feelings, their usually fluent enough speech failed them on this trying occasion. Mackay broke the silence.
"There can be no doubt aboot the gold being there, boys," said he, "an' in sufficient quantities to make a' oor fortunes—if we could only catch it before it vanished." He stopped, absolutely nonplussed.
Bob, who had not yet spoken, advanced and scrutinized the now wholly dulled ore fragments with alert eyes.
"I don't know that I can help you," he said quietly, "but I should like to try. Anyhow, it's more in my line than yours, for I've studied chemistry a bit."
"What do you make of it, Bob?" asked Mackay, quickly.
The reply came promptly from the lips of the thoughtful student.
"The formation contains gold in an unstable state, but more so gold in solution, both of which oxidize on contact with the air."
To say that Bob's words created extreme interest would be a very mild statement of fact. His audience was comprised of gold-miners of very varied experience and knowledge, yet none of them had ever heard of such a tantalizing deposit as that they had now encountered.
"I may be wrong," continued Bob, "but I don't think there was any mistaking the colours on the stones before they regained their normal aspect. I've seen the same thing often in the laboratory. It was simply Purple of Cassius, and you'll get the same result by dissolving a small piece of gold in nitric and hydrochloric acids."
"But what about the real gold which was there atfirst?" inquired Emu Bill. "It was yellow enough, or I'm colour blind."
Bob looked a trifle puzzled. "I should say it was an unstable chloride or sulphide of the metal," he ventured at length. "A combination which very seldom occurs in Nature."
"I'm o' the opinion that Bob's right," spoke Mackay. "This country's full o' odd formations and no one has ever bothered studying them yet."
"If you can save this stuff afore it melts, Bob," grunted Nuggety Dick, "there's bound to be a fortune waiting for you right here; for the clay most likely covers the whole flat."
"I'll take these specimens with me now," decided Bob, "and try some experiments with them;" and he gathered up the deceptive samples and made his way back to the tent, leaving the wondering assembly still in a maze of doubt.
"I do believe he can do it," grunted Emu Bill.
"He's got the finest balanced brain-box I've seen since I struck this howling wilderness," commented Never Never Dave.
"Bob can do anything with chemistry," said Jack, proudly. Then they went their several ways, all pondering deeply.
No more work was done that day: it would have seemed like tempting Providence to continue further operations after two such thrilling happenings had taken place. Bob quietly set about his task of analyzing the troublesome specimens, then quickly discovered that he required a stock of various acids and alkalis to aid him in his efforts.
"We're a' running short of stores anyhow," said Mackay. "We'd better send some one into the township with the camels, and you could get the chemicals required at the same time."
He straightway went and broached the matter to Nuggety Dick and his satellites, and it was promptly arranged that old Dead Broke Dan should be despatched with the team at once. It was by this time near the hour of sundown, and the various camel bells of the party could be heard faintly tinkling in the eastward distance.
"I'll round them up in a jiff," volunteered the Shadow, starting off at a jog trot.
"I'm coming too, Shad!" shouted Jack, and together they entered the scrub, and were soon lost to sight. They had not gone far, however, before the Shadow stopped and listened with something like dismay showing in his face. The bells seemed to be receding into the distance rather than coming nearer.
"I've never heard o' them brutes travelling so fast," he said discontentedly, and they increased their pace to a determined run, which they kept up for fully ten minutes. The bells sounded distinctly nearer now, but that the camels were on the march was plainly evident to the Shadow, whose ear was acutely trained to judging distances by sound.
"I reckon I know what's wrong, Jack," said he. "Some wretched niggers have got them in tow. It's very lucky we came out to-night."
"Is it?" asked Jack, doubtfully.
The Shadow laughed joyously. "We'll have a grand circus on our own to-night, if there ain't too many of them."
"But," said Jack, "we haven't even a rifle with us, and they'll have their spears and boomerangs, won't they?"
"I've got something that will skeer the beggars quicker than any shooting-iron," replied the Shadow. "See, look at this——"
He extracted from some secret recess in his meagre wardrobe a small curiously shaped piece of wood, about six inches long and two inches or so broad, tapering to a fine edge all round.
"That's a ghingi, Jack; I just hitch a bit o' string on to the end, and whizz it round in the air, an' it howls like a dyin' dingo."
"But what good does that do?" Jack persisted, by no means enlightened.
"What good does it do?" echoed the Shadow. "Why, when they hear the screech o' the ghingi-ghingi, they'll either vanish right away or come to hear what it says. The ghingi is their devil, you know, but only the sorcerers o' the tribes can make it speak. I made this here ghingi myself, and, by thunder! it can yell like a good 'un, it can."
The Shadow was evidently quite delighted at the prospect of making use of his handiwork, and as they strode along he managed to infuse Jack with a considerable amount of his enthusiasm. It was now as dark as an Australian night could be, but the steadfast radiance of the myriad stars somewhat neutralized the gloom of the shadows and reflected an eerie sort of half light over the motionless tips of the mulga scrub. At last they were almost up on the clanging bells, and if there had been any doubt in Jack's mind concerning the accuracy of hiscompanion's surmise as to their unusual clangour it disappeared utterly when he heard the droning chant of the aborigines mingle with the rhythmic peals. They had reached a small clearing in the scrub which permitted an uninterrupted line of vision for nearly half a mile, but before leaving the sheltering timber they hesitated, and peered anxiously across the intervening sand plain, and there in the midst of it, darkly discernible, moved the ghostly camel train.
"Now for it," muttered the Shadow, getting the ghingi ready for action. "We must round up them camels afore they get into the bush country again."
He whirled his device quickly around his head, and at once a strange moaning broke upon the air. Faster and faster he spun it round, and the moaning increased to a weird wailing shriek which penetrated across the plain with shivering intensity. At once the bells ceased their clamour and vague cries of alarm echoed back to the boys.
"Let us chase 'em up with it," exclaimed the Shadow, throwing all caution aside. "When they hear the ghingi comin' nearer they won't wait to argue long."
Together they made a wild burst over the ironshot flat, the ghingi sending forth varying notes of wailing terror as they ran. In their excitement they had not calculated on the nearness of the natives, the silence of the bells perhaps somewhat confused them, but they halted when they found themselves almost on the tail of the last camel, a huge animal which the Shadow had no difficulty in recognizing by its unusual size. All this time the harsh unmusical cries of the disquieted aborigines rent their ears, but apparently the dusky band had not yet decided to give up their stolen charges.
"Judging from the volume o' music let loose there must be 'bout half a dozen o' the beggars," whispered the Shadow. "Here, Jack, take this blooming ghingi, and let her rip. My arms are about busted. I'll do a bit o' a yell myself and see what happens."
Jack seized the string of the syren and whirled with a will, and from the lips of the Shadow there issued a most lugubrious groan, which seemed to combine in it all the horrors that any demon of darkness could have conjured up. That seemed to decide matters; with screams of terror seven or eight stalwart blacks broke away from a point where they had been huddled ahead of the camels; their dark forms were just visible as they fled, and they made a somewhat ghost-like spectacle. Jack gave a low chuckle of delight.
"Your voice fetched them, Shadow," said he.
"Keep the ghingi whizzing, Jack, keep it whizzing!" came the agonized reply. "I couldn't do it again for all the gold in Australia. My throat's burst, it is."
Their concerted action was now prompt and effective. In a trice the Shadow had a grip of the nose-rope of the leading camel, and had turned the unwieldly train on a backward course. Once more the bells rang out their noisy clamour, yet still the ghingi sounded loud and shrill, and still the jarring cries of the stricken warriors echoed in reply from a not too remote distance. The adventuresome pair were not yet out of all danger. Indeed it soon became evident to them that the mystified aborigines were not altogether willing to accept the warning call of the ghingi as a reason for the total abdication of their plunder. Their discordant cries were just a bit too close to be pleasant.
"If they rush us, Jack," the Shadow hoarsely whispered, as he tugged at Misery's nose-rope, "we'll have to make a bolt for it."
Jack grunted a sympathetic affirmative. "I can't swing this wretched old ghingi much longer," he said.
Even while he spoke the savages seemed to decide on a definite course of action; their yells suddenly grew louder and nearer. It was very probable they had observed the boys through the gloom, and were thus awakened to a knowledge of the ruse by which they had been deceived. Anyhow there could be no doubt as to their intentions; they meant to recapture the camels, and that right speedily, and yet the Shadow was loth to leave his charges.
"They'll get us when we enter the scrub," said he, with dismal resignation. "The beggars won't tackle us in the open. I reckon we'll have to do a scoot, Jack."
Jack had already arrived at that conclusion; but now, as he rested from his labours for an instant, a bright idea seized him. They were scarcely a hundred yards from the edge of the timber; whatever was to be done must be done quickly. Without a word he rushed back to the rearmost camel, and hastily secured the tongue of the bell encircling its neck by passing it through a loop in the leathern thong which hung loose for that purpose. Moving hurriedly on he silenced each of the jangling bells in the same way, and for a short space the cumbrous train proceeded in absolute quiet.