CHAPTER I.—THE MASTER GOLDSMITH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 71

CHAPTER I.— THE MASTER GOLDSMITH.

Jake Bugglas leaned over the goldsmith's bench, put the. end of his blow-pipe into the f gns flame, and impinged a little oxygenised jet upon, the^ silver buckle he was soldering. He was a thin, undersized, mbMt-faced" youth, whose head was thatched with a shock of coarse black iiaif. He possessed a, pair of spreading black eyebrows ;iponi a forehead which was -white when wtll washed, for Nature had done honestly by the top of his head, but had. -realised, when his chin was reached, the fatuity of spending more time upon the moulding and adornment of the person of Jake Ruggles. The master goldsmith was a rubicund man, with, a face Avhich Jake, in a rage, had once described as that of " a pig with the measles." But this was, without doubt, a gross perversion of the truth. Benjamin Tiescoe's countenance was as benign as that of Bncelius, and as honest as the day. Its chief peculiarity was that the brow and lashes of one eye were white, while piebald patches adiorned his otherwise red head. In " own eyes, the most important person in Timber Town was Benjamin Trescoe. But it was natural for him to think so, for he was the only man of his trade in a town of six thousand people, He was a, portly person Avho took a broad vieAV of iife^ and it Avas his habit to remark, ivhen -folk commented on his rotundity, "I am big. I don't deny it. But I canjt lie]p "myself — God A'rnighty -maeie me big, big in body, big in brain, big in appetite, big in desire to break every established law and accepted custom ; buit lam prevented from giving rein to my impulses by the eipanslveness" of my soul. That I develc.ped myself. I could go up the street and rob the Kangaroo- Bank; I could go to Mister Crewe, the millionaire, and compel him at the pistol's mouth" to transfer me tbtf hoards of Ms' lifetime j I could get blazing drunk three nights a week; I could -kidnap Varnhagen's pretty daughter, and cany her ofr to the mountains ; but my soul prevents me — I am the battleground of contending passions. One -half of me says, ' Benjamin, do these things ' ; the other half says, 'Tresco, abstain. Be magnanimous ; spare them.' My appetites — and they are enormous — say, ' Benjamin Tresco, have a real good time while jou can: sail in,, and catch a-holt of pleasuire with both hands." But my better part says, 'Take your pleasure in mutual enjoyments, Benjamin ; fix your mind on book-learaing an' the elevating arts of peace. 5 lam a bone of contention between Virtue and License, an' the Devil only knows which will get me in the end." But at the time of introduction he was quietly engraving a little plate of gold, which was destined to adorn the watchchain of the Mayor, who, after Mr Crewe, iras Timber Town's most opulent citizen.

When the craftsman engraves, he fastens Jlis plate of gold to the end of a piece of .wood, long enough to be held conveniently in the hand and as thick as the width of the precious metal. This he holds in his left hand, and in his right the graver with which he nicks, out little pieces of gold according to design, Avhich pieces fall into the apron of the bench — and, feehold! he is engraving. The work needs contemplation, concentration, and attention ; for every good, goldsmith carries the details of the 'design in his head: But .that morning there seemed to be none of thess qualities in Benjamin Tresooe. He dropped his work with a suddenness that endangered its fastenings of pitch, rapped the bench with the round butt of his graver, and glared at Jake Buggies.

"What ha' you got there?" he asked , fiercely of liis apprentice, who sat with him at the bench, and Avas now working mdustriously with a bIoAV-pipe upon the hoop of a gold ring. " Who told you to stop soldering the buckles?"

Jake turned his head sideways and looked at his master, like a ferret examining an angry terrier ; alert, deliberate, and full of resource. " It's a bit of a ring I was give to mend," he replied, "up at the Lucky Digger."

Tresco stretched out a lang arm and took the gem." Then he drew a deep breath.

" You've begun early, voting man," he exclaimed. " Would you poach "on my preserves? The young lady whose finger that ring adorns I am wont to regard as ' my especial property, an' a half-fledged young pukeko like you presumes to cut me ' out ! You mend that lady's trinkets ! You lean over a bar and court beauty adorned in the latest fashion ! You make love to my ' piece ' by fixing up her jewels ! Young man, you've begun too early. Now, 1 look-a-here, I shall do this job nryself — , for love; — I shall deliver this ring with my own hand." Tresc.oe chuckled softly, and ; Jake laughed out loud. j The scene had been a piece if playacting. The apprentice, who knew his master's weakness for the pretty barmaid at the Lucky Digger, wa-s, as he expressed I liiniself, "taking a rise out of the boss,"

I and Tresco' s stimulated wrath was the crisis fur which he had schemed. Between the two there existed a queer comradeship which had been growing for more than two '■ 5 ears, so that the bald, rotund, red-faced I goldsmith had come to regard the shock1 headed, rat -faced apprentice more as a son' ; than as an assistant; whilst Jake would say to the youth of his "push," "Huh! rone 0' yer bashin' an' knockin' aoout fer me — the boss an' me's chums. Huh! you should be in my boots — we have our pint between us reg'iar at 11, just like pals."'

Picking" up the ring with a pair of tweezers, the master jeweller first examined its stone — a diamond — through a powerful lens. Next, with a small feather he took up some little bits of chopped gold from where they lay mixed with borax and water upon a piece lof slate ; these he ' placed deftly ( where the gold hoop was weak; over the " top of them he laid a delicate slip of gold, ' and bound the whole together with wire as I thin as thread. This done, he put the jewel upon a piece of charred wood, thrust the end of his blow-pipe into the flame of ' the gas-burner, which he pulled towards him, iand with three or^four gentle puffs through the pipe the mend was made. 1 The goldsmith threw the ring in the " pickle," a, green deadly-looking chemical in an earthenware pot upon the floor.

Tresco was what the doctors call " a man of full habit." He ate largely, drank deeply, slept heavily, but. alas ! he was a bachelor. There was no comfortable woman in the" room at the back of his workshop to call in sweet falsetto, " Benjamin, come to dinner ! Come at once ; the steak's getting cold ; " As he used to say, "This, ray domicile, lacks the female touch — there's too much tobacco ashes and cobwebs about it ; the women seem kind o' scared to come near, as if I might turn out to be a dog that bites."

The- ring being pickled, Benjamin fished it out of the green liquid and washed it in a bowl of clean water. A little filing and scraping, a little rubbing with emery-paper, and the goldsmith burnished the yellow circlet till it shone bright and new.

"Who knows?" he exclaimed, holding up the glistering gem — "who knows but it is the ring of the future Mrs T? Lord, love her! I have fortyeight pairs of socks full of holes, all washed -and put away, waiting for her to darn. Think of the domestic comfort of nearly fifty p"airs of newly-darned socks ; with her sitting stitching on one side of

the fire and saying, ' Benjamin, these readymade socks are no good ; 1 must knit them for you; in the future,' and me on the other side, smiling like a Cheshire cat with pure delight, aud saying. ' Annie, my dear, you're an angel compacted of comfort and kindness ; my love, would .you pass me a paper light, if you please?' But in the meantime the bird must be caught. I go to catch it." He slipped his dirty apron, over his liead, put on his coat and weather-beaten lint of strange outlandish shape, placed the ring in a dainty, silk-lined case, and sallied forth into the street. Timber Town burst on his benignant gaze. Over against him stood a great wooden shop, painted 1 brilliant blue: along the street was another, of bright red ; but most of ths buildings were a sober stone colour or some shade of modest grey or ; brown. One side of the street was verandahed along its whole length, and the walks on either side of the macadamised rond were asphalted. Benjamin, wearing the air of - Bacchus conrting the ~ morning, walked a hundred yards or so till he came to the centre of the town, where four streets met. At one corner stood 1 the Kangaroo Bank; at another a big clothing stop ; at the two others Timber Town's rival hostelrieis — The Bushman's Tavern find the Lucky Digger. The bank and

hotels, conspicuous amid the other buildings, had no verandahs in front of them, but each was freshly painted : The Bushman's Tavern a. slate blue, The Lucky Digger a duck-egg green.

The sun was hot ; the iron on the roofs ticked in the heat and reflected the rays of heaven. Benj.imin paused on the edge of the pavement, mopped liis perspiring brow, and contemplated the garish scene. Opposite tbe wooden Post Office, which flunked the "clothing emporium," stretched a rank of the most outlandish vehicles that ever came Avithin the categoiy oi cabs licensed to carry passengers. Some were barouches which must have been ' uncient when Victoria was crowned, and concerning which there was a legend that they came out to the settlement in the fir^t ships, in 1842 ; otheis were landaus, constructed on lines substantial enough to resist collision with an armoured train ; but the majority were built on a strange Ameri- ' cm plan, with a canopy of dingy leather and a step behind, so that the fare, after progressing sideways like a crab, descended, •at his journey's "ond, as does a burglar from "Black Maria."

Along the footpaths walked, in a leisurely manner, a goodly sprinkling of Timber Town's .citizens, with never a ragged figure amongst them. The girls and women neatly and tastefully, if brightly, dressed ; their faces gay like their clothing. The men, less careful of appearance, wore tweed suits, mostly readymade, and hats of any style. Perhaps the seediest-looking citizen " on the block " was Tresco himself, but what he lacked in tailoring he made good in serene benignity of countenance. His features, which beamed like the sun shining above him, were recognised by all who passed by. It was, " How do, Benjamin? Bobbing up, old party?" " Morniu', Tresco. You remind me of the rooster that found the jewel — you look so bloomin' contented with yourself." "Ah! Goodday, Mr Tresco. I 'hope I see you well. Remember, I still have that nice little bit of property for sale. 'Take you to see it any time you like."

With Benjamin it, was, " How do, ginger? In a hurry? Go it — you'll race the hands round the clock yet." "Good morning, Mr Flint. Lovely weather; yes, but hot. Now, half a pint is refieshing, but you lawyers have no time — too many mortgages, conveyances, bills of sale, to think about. I understand. Gcod morning." " Why, certainly, Boscoe, my beloved pal Did you say ' half ' ? I care not if it's a pint. Let us to the blushing Hebs of the bar."

Tresco and his friend Boscoe entered the portals of the Lucky Digger. Behind the bar stood a majestic figure arrayed in purple and fine linen. She had the development of an Amazon and the fresh face of a girl from the shores of England. Through the down on her cheek " red as a rose was she."

Tresco advanced as to the shrine of a goddess, and leant deferentially over the bar. Never a word spoke he till the re-s-plerdent deity had finished speaking to two commercial travellers who smoked cigars, and then as her eyes met his, he said simply, " Two pints, if you please, miss."

The liquor fell frothing into two tankards ; Boscoe put down the mor.ey, and the goddess withdrew to the society of the bagmen, who talked to her confidentially, as to their own familiar friend.

Tresco eyed the group smilingly, and said, " The toff 5 are in the cheese, Boscoe. You"d think they'd a monopoly of Gentle Annie. But wait till I get 011 the job." Boseoe, a wizened little tinsmith, with the grime of his trade upon him, looked vaoiiously to his front, and buried his nose in his pot of beer.

"Flash wimmen an"t in my line,"' said he, as he smacked his lips, "not but this yer ain't a fine piece. But she'd cost a goldmine in clo'es alone, let alone brooches and fallals. I couldn't never run it." Here one of the gaudy bagmen strt-tehed out his hand, and fingered the barmaid's rings. The girl seemed nothing antoyed at this awkward attention, but when her admirer's fingers stole to her creamy erin. she stepped back, drew herself up with infinite dignity, and said with perfect enunciation, " Well, you have got an impudence. I must go and wash my face."

She was about to leave the bar ■when Tiesco called after her, "My dear, one minute." From his pocket ,he drew the dainty ring-case, and held it out to the girl, -who took it eagerly. In a moment tbe gem was on her finger. '• You dear old bag of tricks!" she exclaimed. '"Is it for me?'"

" Most ccitainh;." said Benjamin. ."One moment."' He took the ring between his forefinger and thumb, as if he Avere a conjurer about to perform* glanced triumphantly round, the bar-room, held the girl's hand gallantly in his, deliberately replaced the ring on her finger, and said: '"With this ring I thee wed ; with my body I thee worship : with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

" Thanks, I'll take the ring,*' retorted the barmaid, with mock annoyance and a toss of flier ihead; "but. really, I can't be bothered with your old parcasa."

" Pleating delusion," said Tresco, unruf- ; fled. "It's ytur own ring." j A close, quick scrutiny, and the girl had recognised her furbished jewel.

''You bald-headed rogue!" she exclaimed. But Tresco had A T anished, and nothing but his laugh came back through the swinging

glass door. The bagmen laughed too. But Geutle Annie regarded them ' indignantly and in scornful silence, Avhioh she broke to say : " And now I shall go and wash my face."'