The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 100

We received the apologies with due dignity, and without placing too much stress upon what was said by the men; and at last they concluded to take their departure, but just as they got to the door, and while Fred was unlocking it, O'Shea expressed a desire to whisper a few words to my friend.

"If ye have such a thing as a thimble full of whiskey in the store, perhaps ye will give us a drink?" he said.

Fred hesitated for a moment, but at last concluded that it would be a cheap riddance by giving them a drink. He drew a couple of stiff gla.s.ses from the barrel, and they swallowed the liquor with a relish that would have delighted the heart of a manufacturer.

"Ah, how I should like to drink such stuff as that all day, and have nothing to do!" cried Pat; and he glanced fondly towards the barrel, as though antic.i.p.ating another invitation, but he didn't get it.

They still hesitated about going, and the two villains looked first at one and then at another, as though they still had a matter that they wished to speak about.

"I also have a request," whispered the Englishman, evidently mistaking his man, and thinking that Fred was a good-natured sort of person, who would comply with every wish.

"Name it," replied Fred, with some little impatience.

"Could you lend me ten pounds for a few days, until I can collect a few debts that are due me?" the scamp asked.

"No, I can't do that," rejoined Fred, opening wide the store door, "but I can let you have a few of these if they will suit you."

He raised his foot as he spoke, and administered a few energetic kicks to the fellow's posteriors, that almost took him off his feet.

"They fit well enough," cried the beggar, "but they don't suit;" and the twain were speedily out of sight, and whenever we used to see them afterwards, they would keep at a respectable distance, and look to see what kind of boots we wore.

As we apprehended no further difficulty that night, we went to bed, and got quite a comfortable nap before sunrise.

Murden, whose visit extended a day or two longer than he intended, got ready to start in the afternoon, and although he had only brought a valise with him, and a change of clothing, yet did he pretend, every time that his departure was mentioned, that he had to pack his things, and away he would go, and remain absent until he had recovered composure sufficient to face us like a man, and without a display of weakness.

With a hearty shake of our hands, and a troubled brow, Murden left us; and had he not undertaken the difficult task of driving or leading his newly-caught bird, the ca.s.siowary, which gave him trouble, and required all of his attention, he would have broken down in his leave-taking, and galloped off without daring to trust himself with words.

As for Steel Spring, he appeared delighted at the idea of leaving; for he was fond of change, and required exciting scenes to keep him out of mischief, which he was p.r.o.ne to, in defiance of the vigilant eye that Murden kept on him; and I had but little doubt, as I stood and watched their forms disappear amidst a labyrinth of tents and crazy huts, that the long-limbed wretch would have murdered him, and rejoined a gang of bushrangers, had it not been for a sort of moral fear that prevented him from committing the crime.

We felt lonely for the balance of the day, although we were extremely busy in arranging our goods, and in selling. Our store was crowded from noon until long past sunset, and then we were compelled to close and exclude the crowd, owing to our being completely exhausted, both mentally and physically, for the adding up of figures was a new kind of brain work, that had not tasked us since the days when we were schoolboys.

How many "n.i.g.g.e.r heads" we sold that day, singly, for the purpose of allowing the miners to taste our stock before they bought largely, I have no means of knowing; but fortunately for our reputation, Smith had displayed great prudence in his bargains, and his "cavendish" and "fine cut" were at length p.r.o.nounced the best that were ever brought to Ballarat, and so we got up a great sale of tobacco, and our stock ran low before we had been open a week.

Smith, and the man he had hired to freight goods, remained with us three days, and then returned, in all haste, to Melbourne for more goods, for our run of custom was so great that we found that a fresh supply of articles was needed without delay. Our partner did not need urging to return to the city, for the reader will recollect that he was recently married, and that his wife was at Melbourne.

We found, when he got ready to start, that we had taken gold dust enough to pay for our next cargo, even without drawing on our reserve fund, which was held subject to our order in a Melbourne bank.

We were sitting in our store one evening, smoking our pipes, as usual, and talking over the business of the day, when we heard a knock at the door, light and timid, as though delivered by the hand of a woman.

It was long past the hour of our closing, and we had made preparations for retiring for the night, for our hammocks were slung, and ready for occupancy, and it was seldom that we had a visitor at so late an hour.

The knock started us, and even Rover, who had been sleeping soundly, awoke with a growl, as though he scented danger, and was going to be prepared to meet it.

"Who can that be?" asked Fred, involuntarily placing his hand upon his revolver.

I was unable to answer the question, of course; but we waited in silence for a repet.i.tion of the knocking with as much anxiety as though it had been a summons of instant execution.

There was a secret gang of ruffians in Ballarat at that time, and in defiance of the vigilance of the police, they had committed many bold robberies, and even murders; and the stories told of their atrocities had awakened a feeling in our hearts that perhaps some night the villains might undertake an attack upon ourselves, knowing, as they must, that our sales were large, and that we must have considerable money on hand, which we did not deposit at the government office, for the purpose of being sent to Melbourne under military escort.

Every night, since we had grown in importance and wealth, we had slept with our revolvers under our heads, and beneath our pillows were small bags of gold dust, and gold and silver coin; and when men begin to collect riches, they will defend them and watch over them with more tenderness than any thing else that they possess.

Again we heard the knock upon our door, and, we thought, a low groan; but it might have been the wind. The hound was snuffing at the door, and uttered a low wail, as though mourning for the dead. Two or three times he trotted towards us, and then returned and scratched at the woodwork with his claws, as though anxious to get into the street.

"I can stand this no longer!" cried Fred, c.o.c.king his revolver, and starting up. "I will see who is at the door if a dozen robbers are waiting outside."

He started towards the door as he spoke, and I followed him. Just as we were about to draw the bolts, another knock, but much fainter, and a low, death-like groan, fell upon our ears.

We started, and hesitated about proceeding; but Rover looked up into our faces with such an expression, as though to encourage us to see what the matter was, that we determined to investigate, and no longer suspect a trick.

We withdrew the bolts and suddenly threw open the door, and as we did so, the body of a man fell inward, and lay at our feet motionless, although by our lights, dim as they were, we could see that our midnight visitor was covered with blood.

CHAPTER LII.

THE ATTEMPT TO MURDER MR. CRITCHET.

We were surprised and somewhat startled at the intrusion, but we did not stop to exchange surmises, or to ask questions. A man was lying at our feet, badly wounded, and was bleeding freely from half a dozen cuts or stabs.

We considered that our first duty was to attend to him, and defend him, if necessary, from a fresh attack of a.s.sailants, and that after his wounds were dressed, and he was able to answer questions, then we could investigate the circ.u.mstances connected with his mysterious appearance at our door, and, if possible, bring to justice the perpetrators of the wrong.

Before we moved the now insensible body, we looked out and endeavored to discover if persons wore loitering near; but all was quiet, and not a soul was to be seen. We hastily closed the door and bolted it, and then moved the wounded man to a mattress that we kept for Smith to sleep upon when he was with us, and as we did so, and the light fell upon his features, we were surprised to discover that our visitor was our nearest neighbor, an elderly Englishman by the name of Critchet, who, in company with his nephew, a young fellow of dissipated habits, was working a mine about a quarter of a mile from our store. The young man's name was Follet; and while we had never had any conversation with him, excepting while selling a few articles which he required from the store, we had taken a strong prejudice against him, although upon what ground we could not really tell.

He was one of those kind of men who never look you full in the face while speaking, and if indeed you caught his eye, it was only for the sixteenth part of a second, and by accident at that. He had the name of being a desperate gambler, and once Mr. Brown had called our attention to him, and remarked that he had lost more money at card playing than he made honestly, and wondered if his uncle supplied his extravagances.

The latter owned the claim which he was working, and employed the nephew at a fair salary, and that was all that we knew of the connection between them, excepting that we had seen them talking together in an excited manner quite frequently, and only the day before we had heard them quarrel on some subject that we did not care to listen to, for it did not concern us.

Report had often reached our ears that Mr. Critchet had made quite a fortune with his claim, and that he was very prudent in his expenditures; but as he had never disputed our prices, and paid what we demanded without a word of complaint, we placed no reliance upon the a.s.sertions.

After our first expression of astonishment was over, we set to work without delay to ascertain what injuries the old man had sustained. We removed his vest and s.h.i.+rt, and found a small cut near the region of his heart; but upon probing the wound we found that the blow, evidently intended to be a fatal one, had been misdirected; that a rib had received the point of the knife, and saved the old man from instant death.

A further examination revealed two more stabs, one on the right shoulder and the other on the left breast, both of which were bleeding profusely, and had so weakened the old man that he fainted the instant he found that he was likely to receive a.s.sistance.

We went to work and cleansed the wounds of blood, and then stopped the bleeding by applying balsam and lint freely, and over all we put pieces of adhesive plaster, which we had used before for cuts, and found very efficacious.

In the present instance it served to keep the lint in its place, and I have no doubt that it was mainly instrumental in saving the life of Mr.

Critchet, for it prevented the insects from irritating the wounds and causing inflammation.

A dose of weak wine was poured down our patient's throat, and then we sat by his side until morning, before he recovered his consciousness, and was able to speak.

"I've foiled the young scamp," he muttered, as he looked around the store, and then suffered his glance to rest upon our faces. "He thought that he could get the old miner's dust; but he missed his aim, and I shall yet live to punish him."

"Of whom do you speak?" I asked, bending over his form so that I could hear him more distinctly, for he spoke rather low and incoherently.

"There were two of them," the old miner continued, not noticing my interrogation; "I know there were two of them, because I could hear them whisper, and feel for the gold; but I cheated them, and shall live."

The old man attempted to laugh, but the effort sounded like a death-rattle, it was so faint.