GOLD AND APRICOTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3029, 3 April 1912, Page 90

GOLD AND APRICOTS.

By J. M. Lkoatt. On the Coromandel Peninsula, in New Zealand, much gold has been found. There, too. that most delicate fruit, the apricoot, grows splendidly. Here lived a miner, by name Sam Jones, his wife and family. Sam, with a few mates, had been tributing in a mine at the Thames township, out of which much wealth had been taken in former times; but, fortune failin"- them there, they decided to try a likely spot in the hills behind Waiomo, and' sloping down to the creek of that name. ~ Sam held a manager a ticket, and was the recognised "boss" of the little company whose membership numbered but live" in all. Armed with a miner's "right," he soon had a respectable claim pegged out. The men set to work on an

outcropping reef, which gave promise of bearing the precious metal. They were sanguine of success, and attacked the work before them with a cheerful optimism. Being the oldest of the party and holding the certificate, by mutual consent Sam's advice was followed in all matters pertaining to the work in hand. He was, too, the only married man of the party, having, also, no fewer than seven children, of whom he was not a little proud. As befitting one with such responsibility, he was not without a certain quiet dignity. A man of few words, he never told funny yarns ; but, unless the vernacular were of too broad or coarse a texture in its spinning, he never let one pass without his quiet smile. He was punctuality itself as to beginning and closing work, methodical as a clock, yet kind. Let an accident unfortunately befall one of the party, and Sam was a regular. visitor at the local hospital until the patient was convalescent. If the injured man's enforced absence from the mine meant extra work to the other members of the party, it was Sain who ever took the lion's share. So Sam was not merely respected, but not a little beloved by his mates. They even felt jealous of his honour, and deeply resented the fact that, although he was a regular attendant in church of a Sunday, he had never been admitted to office in the sanctuary. But when one of the little company gave voice to this, he was quietly reproved by Sam himself remarking that the way whereby his friends could help him to such " honour was through attending church themselves. As the rebuke fell on all, it was not thereby so deeply felt by the man who voiced the complaint as otherwise it might have been. Yet this did not hinder other two of the company waiting upon the parson for an explanation, when they were informed that again and again the honour had been offered to Saan, only to be kindly, yet firmly, refused. It was shortly after Uiis essay, and one afternoon, when the men were all in attendance, that Sam's wife, Mrs Jevons, put in an appearance at the mine. She was accompanied by her oldest son, young Sam, or "Sammy," as his mother called him, to distinguish her ten-year-old from the chief of the household. Their arrival caused not a little flurry of interest among the men, not excepting Sam himself, whose face, however, bore its quiet smile, as with the others he crawled out of the mine, on the proclamation of their presence being announced in the shrill voice of Sammy. Introductions yvere unnecessary, for Sam's mates were well known to Mrs Jevons; hand-shaking was out of the question, for the men's fists were begrimed with their toil. Yet each miner, as ho emerged from the hole in the rock which marked the entrance to the drive, lifted his hat from his head, and saluted the lady with the boy by her side, gently and kindly. Last of all came Sam, who quietly remarked as the five men lined uv> in front of the two, "Well, this is a surprise, to see you two here!" Mrs Jevons responded with a cheery laugh, and said: "Sammy and I have been looking over your claim, boys, and we have a proposition to make! Would you have any objection to our planting apricot trees over it, wherever they should be likely to grow, no rental to l>e paid until the trees are bearing, and then the amount to be left to me?" The men laughed, and questioned whether it were possible for fruit trees to grow in such barren, sandy, rocky soil. They good naturedly chaffed the lady for her ' market-gardening propensities ; butgot a "Roland" for an "Oliver" each time they essayed their wit. However, in the end and through the intervention of Sum, it was arranged that Mrs Jevons and Sammy should have their will of the surface ground of the claim, cultivating the same ad libitum, planting as many trees as they cared to, but always with the provision that they should not overwork themselves. So it often befell that of an afternoon Sammy and his mother, his big sisters, and even his younger brothers, were found gardening on'the, face of the claim. The miner's would observe them as they went to or returned from work, and in many ways lightened the toil of the gardeners bv removing stubborn stones, by packing the soil about tree roots, by delving hard ground, by trenching the soil where such process was found necessary to ensure growth of the trees. And amidst all such work Mrs Jevons ever reigned as queen oi the workers, cheering and encouraging all bv her presence and efforts. Four years passed, during which time the mine, now booming and again unproductive, on tin l whole made for the miners but the proverbial "bread and butter." At the close of this period the apricot trees which had oeen planted at its beginning bore fruit, which was dulv marketed. Thereafter the men were invited to Sam's house, and received each of them a> the hands of Mrs Jevons a £lO note. Fifty pounds had l>ecn the net profit from the orchard at the close of four years, which she insisted in dividing in eoual portions to her husband and his four mates. In vain did the men remonstrate at such nrofliorate generosity. The lady was inflexible as to the ratio of division, but he it, mentioned that the youthful Sammv, his sisters and brothers were abundantly remunerated by the miners for their share in the communal toil. The following year saw the profits from the orchard, as more trees came into bearing, doubled : and, the mine improving greatlv in output, two of the men £ot married over the double prospect, and took up house for themselves. Mrs Jevons was the presiding genius at bath weddings. Tt was observed that at both wedding breakfasts at which he presided the parson rigorouslv called Sam not by the appellative beloved of his mates, but "Mr Jevons," and this marked a new departure as to Sam's social status. I Accordingly, when again, and for the third

time in Church, Sam was urged to accept office, as the voices of three of his mates went to swell the unanimous vote wherewith he was invited, he gently acquiesced, and Mrs Jevons was satisfied. _ Varied has been the fortune of the mine since then, but the orchard has never failed to yield its fruit. Its dimensions have been greatly enlarged, to the profit of its owners. Sam, with his mates and in spite of many mouths to fill, is well on the way to the possession of a competency : but in view of his prosperity, when friends whisper "gold," he is ever careful to add —"and apricots!"