PLUNKET'S WIDOW.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5154, 12 January 1895, Page 2

PLUNKET'S WIDOW.

iMccmillan't .VnjA-cnc.) CIIiPTJIB I. Ko-v tlicifi Pli'.:;krt'-- 'w'diw is r]s«;.l'l !sP.fl ao v.iu.-fl \/)-.y J. Ghi.uli siol, -.jabii^h thia atorjr. i BbouL'l hive dono se'loug ago but; for two reasons. First, I promised Stainper Maceaon never to reveal one portion of it so long as tho a/ore-men-tioned lady lived ; and, second, I had no desire to give that lady unnecessary pain by bringiug to her knowledge a fact or" which it was beat Bhe 'should remain ignorant. Tiio events which lam about to narrate took place many yer»raago; but, as I was n^ajlf to come extent a participator ia thsm, tho reader may take it that, ftllhoiigh my memory may ba ab fault in ono or two unimportanb detailo, the substance of the story is practically and indisputably correct. • In 1851 I, Jamoa Hash worth, left England iu the capacity of super-casgo on board the good ship Darling b'ound for Australia.' Little did we dream, as we dropped down the Channel, of tho El Dprado to which our craffc waa bearicg ue. Th9 pilot who took ua info Port Phillip was tho first to give us tho news of tho startling discovery that soon electrified the world. Within a hundred miles of Melbourne, he said, gold was to be had by bhe barrow-load for the mese ' picki&^-"Aj. This information, which was in a great measure quickly confirmed, first staggered, then intoxioated mo. . I became baref b of my senses : the gold fovor gofc^old of mo ; and, like many another good man, I deserted the post of duty to go a-hucting for the Golden Fleece at Ballarat, . " • On tho wa&-" to tlie dig(?mj?B I fell in with Jasper- Pluniey.j^ehnd com© out as first mate of 'a barqua which waa even theu lyiog in the hßrbour, and he also had deoerted, a viutim to the prevalent mania. As wo trudged along with our packo over cur Hhouldcrs, we became very friendly, and by tho time we reached tho goldfiold it was settled that we should work together as mates; At that time I was barely twenty-eight, and Plunkefr would be some , ten years older. Ho waß not what you would oall.a talkative man ; his ordinary mood was ehy andretirmcf j but he wss easily exoited, and when once thoroughly roueed his eyes flaohed and his tongue burat all control. I rather faucy ho vatist havo. had n touch o2 southern blood in his veins. When we arrived at Ballarat hundreds, nay, thousands, were already hard at work. . By day the thud of the pick was as unceasing as was the crack of the revolver by night j and I may mention here that the mania for burning powdor without the slightest pretext;, which developed itself among the diggers in the early days, waa to me one of the most inexplicable problemai.of those stirring times. We lost no time in setting up our tent, buying our licenses, and staking out au eight-foot claim -pa Golden Point. For a week we had kept steadily an it, without finding more gold than would pay our expenses, when the word was passed round that the precious metal, had been discovered in even greater quantities at Bondigo (now Sandhurst). An exodus to the new field set in, and in a couplo of days Golden Point, was all but descrtsd. A two-ounce nugget was the richest psiso we had as yet made, and tho fever waa beginning to abate a little under this course of hard work and small rosults. By this time I don't suppose there were half a dozen claims being worked on the Point. ■ .We were standing by the hoap of gravel we had taken out of our 'test claim, debating whether to follow the general stampede to Bendigo, when a stranger appeared upon the scene and came sauntering up to üb. Tea newcomer was Stamper Macedon, and, hs he is the principal figure in this little sketch, I amy as well, briefly describe him' here. At this time it would have been difficult to oay precisely what was his age, but ho could hardly have been more than fivo-and-thirfcy.. He wan a wiry-looking, active man of middle height, slight iu build, but aa tough as whipcord. His claan-shavea faco (a most unusual thing in those timesj and lopalitiea) was aa erndtionloss an r{ Hindoo god'a j his clour gray t>you looked i. youthrcuffh and through in. an instiiitj and his -vrordß were few and to the point. Stamper Macedpa was tho besfc torupored, olearoßt hended man I' ever Jcno^. 1 never saw 'him pufc out by nrisfortuuo, nor oi'hibib any f ign of dlation.dtim uiioxpected Gtreak of good 3uck; neither have I known him betray the slightest symptom o? Durprij.e, save upon one occasion. Although I have had more to do with liiin, perhaps, than any man living, ho alwftjs remained something of an enigma to mo. "Where ha originnlly hailed from I mevex 1 karnod ; but, from ofeervationu Lie let fall at one time Bncl another, I siithflroQ thafc he taußl; havo been pretty well all over tho world, a:id he pososassd a knowledge of men/-an<) things in general far beyond liia yeara. I think' that is sufflcuuiti -to i'atrotince to the reader tho man who strolled leisurely .up to ua'with a ctray ia hss mouth, ap Plunket. and ' I stood debating the vital question of migration. ... "What luck, mateo ?" he asked carelessly, letting hio pack fall to tho ground. "None— at Ions!-, "ii'one worth mentioning," I replied dismally. ' • " Why don'S you wash out your dirt ? It loolt's likely Bluff,;' I '; he jsvonfc on, .taking up a handful oJ" the 'f^ri\vi!l. ' " Bacauso i". isn't w.or'fch'.-wlxilo, Wlml'a tho good of pud Jl ing- and cradling all day for a pinch oi! dust', When there are oolid lumps »s big aa your head to be got for the ' digging, iE you only know where to look for it?" I rejoinfid dPkfully. "Wewete juat talking of clearing out for Bsndigo when "you camo up. Golden. Point's worked put. Without; troubling to reply Macedon deliberately- looned the Bteinff oif hia pack, took, out a tin prospocting-didh, filled; it with gravel, n^d.,cnrried. ib down tothe craefr, whiie.PlUnket nad; I watched him .in silonce. After washing the . dirb- for a few minutes', ho looked it carefully over, and tben, flinging away tbo contants oi tUodiah, he coolly. rejoiced bs. "Don't you tninb: you're a pair of precioua foola? "ha otserved, looking at uskcouly. ■ ''' '.■!»■■. ' " Why should we ? " anked Plunket, opening his lipßfor tha first timb. . " Did you ever hear the 'fable of tha dofj who dropped hia bone tor it3 shudow?" '. ■■■■■. •■•••■•■ • " Well?" . ' " Wollj there'a two djogs in this case." ■ "What do you meats ?'' I i^sked. . "If you want \t puiiisig plainer, heve it ia. Here's gold tindei 1 your very rio&GB," kioking'th'e gravel. " Ttiis is paying dirt. I reckon " (measuriag Iho heap with hio eye) "the three' of us could wash that pile in teri days. It pans out well. ' I calculate oa nothing leoa thon two ouneeo a day. Two ounces i<3 eight pounds; ten time3 eight is eighty ; and eighty pounda certaia in ten days at; Golden Point is a. darned 'sight bettor bono than tho'' Lord knows what at Beniiigo. JTott, ain't it ?" ■Piunket and I noddod. I don't think either of its had the slightest uotiou of! j contradiofcing this stranger, -whose aup«nor I will v/ej at once instinctively recognised. In the'vneillatißg state of mind we were i in, tbo lmowltidge that fate had thrown in our way ootnobociy to gui(3e ua, eomebocly more determined than ourselves, came to uh ao a -wolcouje relief. Even in any circumstances I don't think wo should have had a chance against Macedon,, for when he had once net his miud on a thing ho could, by sheer forco of will, twist men about like puppets. " What iiavo you bottomed on—rock ? " was hia next question, as he peered into the hole. " No, pipaclay," I answered. " Humph ! " was Bilbo aaid. How it came nbout I .hardly know, but from that ho.ur Slamper'M^ce.don "W&3 not only a partner with üb, but tho recognised leader of tho firm. Wo bought a cradle from & party just starting for Bondigo, laid ill all tho procurable stores w.e could, and the next morning we were hard at it yraainvg thu d\tb, bj which time, auve for ourcelve.4, Golden Point was utterly deserted. The stuff panned out quite as well as Macedon had anticipated ; and by the