CHAPTER 11.

Otago Witness, 5 December 1900, Page 29

CHAPTER 11.

One night the two men were at work in the claim, every corner of which was lit by the brilliant electric light. They had got pretty deep into the paddock now, and the returns improved every week. Douglas was at the nozzle, and an old Irishman, with a round back, was clearing the stones from the mouth of the elevator. Graham was standing by a valve, which he was working, and directed b}^ signs the movements of the nozzle in the claim below. Suddenly Robin heard the malicious laugh of the Portuguese, Joey, who was the manager's odd man. He was standing on the bank above, with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders drawn up, and he swayed to and fro, calling out ugly things to the old Irishman, whom he delighted to torment. His shrill voice rose above the rush of the water and the rattling of stones in the elevator. " Hey, Humpy ! there's a letter in the hut for you from your girl. Shall I bring it and read it to you? It is from the owld cook on Dallamore station, I know. She's been missing the sight of your beautiful phiz all the'toime since you left the old claim." The man took no notice of the little wretch on the bank, but Robin's indignation was boiling. He knew that if Graham could hear him he would soon turn him off, but meanwhile his coarse remarks grew viler. At last Robin,

hearing a particularly odious jest about the Irishman's deformed back, turned the nozzle straight against the Portuo'uase, who had gone round to the bank above his victim. The rush of water knocked him over, and he rolled down the bank and landed on a heap of stones that had been cleared from the elevator. I Robin knew he had overdone his punishment then, and, dropping the nozzle, he ran to lift him. At the same moment Graham turned off the water and leaped down. The man was only stunned, and presently, opening his eyes, he commenced a volley of curses on " The Swell.' | " Drop that, Joey ! You got less than yoii deserved," cried Graham, who now heard why his mate had soused him. " Get out, you little viper," he added, dragging the furious creature to his feet; " and if ever I hear of you talking to O'Donnell in that style again, Til thrash you, and out you'll go besides. O'Donnell, you ought to have let me know how things were, and you could have .had Strang's ln.it instead of being next door to that little beast," he said kindly to the man, whose excitement had brought on a terible fit of coughing." " Graham warned his friend to keep a sharp lookout on -the Portuguese whenever he went over to Donovan's, because a few glasses of drink made him perfectly mad. " He looks like a fellow who would use his knife on little provocation," Robin said ; "but I daresay he will forget about this before he sees me again. Little devil." - The next day, in Donovan's bar, Joey declared his intention of " doing for " The Swell, and of getting even with Graham, who was nearly as odious to him. " Better not try, Joey," said one man. " The Swell could chuck you across the river as easily as you can swallow your cordial." " Then there's always that rope waiting for some people I know," said another, with a grin. But Joey resolved to bide his time. Not long afterwards, Mr Rainford happened to stroll round the paddock one night before turning in. Going round the bank to the boxes, ""he found Joey lying on the tailings beside the tail box^ in which his hands were groping. The perforated iron was lying on the gravel, and Joey was removing the matting in which the gold was bedded. " Ha !" thought the manager, " this acounts for the small quantity we get in that box. I suppose he crawls off and washes the stuff out." The noise made by the pumping elevator had prevented Joey from hearing his footsteps, so the thief was caught redhanded. Mr Rainford dragged the creature to his feet, turned him towards the open flat, and said one word : " Get \" And Joey got. The manager involuntarily lifted his foot to speed him off, but with a contemptuous laugh he replaced the plate in the box, and went down into the claim. He told the men that he had sacked the Portuguese, and if he showed face on the ground again, he was to be kicked out, literally. Joey hurried off to his hut and gathered his few possessions into a bundle. Then he made tracks up the river to a Chinaman he knew who worked along the beach some miles farther up. He knew that he had better lie low for a while.

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