CHAPTER XVI.- SPOIIED FIVE.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 234, 8 November 1873, Page 2

CHAPTER XVI.- SPOIIED FIVE.

Jff Afl ho been^lonK ill ?' asked the man who had come in irij^ Walter! *fteV be had looked closely nb the sick man in ;hes«ammock,'who made nb effort to ipoak, and seemed ilippst unconscious of his proienco. ' ' 0 ly two days. I went to look for you, as soon as ho 'ell ill, but I could not find jou. They said you had cone ,o Placer Ville.' *. b ' They -were wrong ; I was out prospecting with tome new uhums. How was he taken ?' ' Shivering und sickness,just at sundown; and light-headed during the nighr. I dared not trust myself, in this climate, though I have done some doctoring in my time in England, and was very unea-y until I made you out tin's evening.' Walter then proceeded to tell Deering how he had ventured to administer only the simplest remedies, and. Deering' approved. 4 It's fever,' he said;' the regular thing, and no mistake ; but he'll do, he'll pull through. JUas * fine constitution, I fcboukl say. Does'nt drink, now ?' • '" ' ♦Never,' said Walter ; 'eats and drinks "very little »t any time.' 'So much the better. That will stand to him now. He will be much worse than this, though ; you must be prepared for that. lie has been light-headed, you say.' • Yes, very, rambling in his talk, trying to jump out of his hummock, distressed in his mind. Went on so all niyht.' 1 Ah, indeed. You are very tired, youeself, are you not ? No rest, I suppose!'' ' Not much. There's no one here to help except Spoiled Five, who is not a bad hand at nurse-tending, only he is terribly afraid of any one who's off hi* head j about the only thing ho is afraid of, I fancy.' ' Where in Ifc?' asked Deering, looking round. 'Washing some of our clothes, down yonder,' replied Walter. ' Shall you want lo send him for anything ?' ' I think not. The case is not a complicated or a bad one, though, I daresay, itscenis so to you, who are not accustomed to this kind of fever. I will just have another look at him.' Law rence Daly was very ill indeed. The swift sudden fever which belongs to the climate and the occupation had knocked him down just forty-eight hours previously, after some preliminary menace in the way of thirst and langour. He had borne the fatigue of the journey, and the toil of tho new life in the New World, perfectly well hitherto —with unflagging strength and sp.rits, and Walter saw him succumb to this sudden illness with uncontrollable fear. His affection for Daly had grown with every day of their close association. The hard and rough life which they had slpM&d had nol. had a hardening or roughening effect upon cither of the young men, nor had the many 6eene» of hardship, violence, and severe struggle which they had witnessed blunted their feelings. It was with a keen agony which nothing in all his. previous life had ever caused him to feel, that Walter had recognised the fever in Lawrence Daly's case; and he permitted Deering to see the infinite relief which his favorable opinion afforded him with perfect frankness. This rather amused Deering. He did not believe in anything with particularly vivid faith, and in friend-hip he was a confirmed unbeliever. To ' Every man for himself,' the first half of that c\nically blasphemous proverb, he would hare accorded cordial assent; as to ' God for us all,' be did not believe in a God, and therefore it id not copcern him. He regarded Walter as a ' very soft party,' quite a novel specimen of the * digger ;' and noted, in hii quick observant way, several little precautions for the comfort of the sick . man, mode with all the ingenuity and completeness of which their means admitted. 1 Are you brothers ?' ho asked. ' No,''replied Walter ; ' we are friends and comrades. We came out from 1 England together.' 1 Ah! well —you'll go back together, as far as this fever ii/ concerned. What is your friend s name ?' Walter ,told him ; and they had some desultory talk about the place and its prospects, while Deering prepared medicine which he had brought with him, and adminitted it to Daly. ' Have you been here long ?' asked Walter of his companion, who seemed disposed to linger and talk. 'I did not hear of you until last week, when Spoiled Five told us of the accident at Snake Gulch.' 1 Tint was a bad busines. T have been in the connty threemonths —a long time for me. I'm a regular rolling stone,, and according have gathered no moss, though I'm always rolling in search of it. I shall roll down New Mexico way next.' ' Is it not rather a short trial to give a place, to stay thereonly three months?' 1 Yes; but it is not so much the place as myself I give the trial to. I came up with the intention of digging, but I could not stand it; and you are all so confounded healthy here, it seems to ngree with you all so well, there's not much to bo done in doctoring. An odd fever, like our friend's here, or a blasting *m»»h like the Snake Gulch'business, is about all that's going; and these things are too accidental in their character to give one solid encouragement' ' Especially if one is a rolling stone,' said Walter smiling. ' Just so I'll be going now. Keep him cool and quiet. I shall look in in the morning.' So saying, Deering went out of the hut, and tooK his way down the valley, now twinkling .ill over with lights, towards the'cluster of huts surrounding the store, whence the sounds ot anything but select revelry, and fun both fart and furious, were borne towards him. They were welcome to Deering, who was a cautious gambler, and in the habit of picking up not a little jof that kind of moss, of which he denied the possession, among the miners, from whose uproarions assemblages he was rarely absent, though he had no fancy for sharing their serious tjil. Walte 1 Clint and Lawrence Daly had frequent 1 j heard of him, during the three months ho had passed in that part of the county; stories of his luck at monte and euchre, and of bis skill ns a doctor, had re.iohed them ;' but he. was m-tilnow peisonally unknown to them. Walter returned to the side of his friend, partner, and patient, who was still Blumbering in the uueasy, fitful sleep of the fever. • What had I better do ?' he muttered. ' I could not leave him. He will he much worse, very b*d indeed, this Deering says, and I dare not leave him. And yet it is not safe to keep the gold. Spoiled Five has warned me twiie. The wagons start on Thursday; I must make up my mind by then.' His face troubled by more than the grief of Lawrence Daly's illness as he sat beside the hammock, far into the night. Daly rambled less than on the previous night; the medicine had calmed him to some extent, but there was no rational talk between them Towards morning Walter himself slept soundly, and was routed only by the clog's vociferous welcome of an arrival atfthe door of the hut. He had thrown himself on the top of a locker, which stood under the -window of Daly's room, and contained the greater portion of their worldly goods, and hud fallen asleep with nis head in an angle of the wall. He sprang ug, aching and confused, and with a horiid sense of having neglected the sick man. Had he been asking vainly for water? Had he been suffering untended T Apparently neither. His appearance was unchanged, and Walter, after a glance at fhim, admitted the person who had knocked. ■ This was a short thick-set man, very lame, with a shock head of red hair, and only one eye. The blind side of his face was much disfigured by a rupged scar, which traversed tho cheek bone, and by the loss of the eje,which had evidently been destioyed by an accident, and in place of which there was now an ugly seam, ciooked and leadenhued The rifiht and sound side had a pleasnnt expiession, and the one bright brown eye had sui prising contradictory meriinent in it, confirmed by the uninjured handsome mouth and strong white teeth. From the fingers of the left hand all the ends were missing; they had suffered 'iy the same accident which had cri] pled him and destroyed his eye ; and the circumstance had inspired the wits of the diggings with the happy idea of calling him Spoiled Fives.

Tho double-furrow plough is fast coming into uio in til parts of Great Britnin. Wo find in tho English Farmer a detailed report of tlie l«st Smithfield Club Cattle f 1)OW, from wliicli wo extract the following description of a doublefurrow plough, and tho results obtained by its use : — Chief of nil other novelties made, perhaps, within the last two or three years, is the double-furrow plough, and the special machine made by Messrs James and Frederick Howard, of Bedford, who are the largest agricultural implement makers in England, combines the best points yet obtained. The ploughman has merely to release a lever handle, when by the onward progress of tho horses, the shares are lifted out of tho ground, which greatly facilitates tho turning. To show the great saving of labour effected by the use of this implement, an instance of a farm of 320 acres cultivated in thefour course system is given. In this case, there would be 80 acres to plough for w-heat, 80 heres f'-p barley, and 80, say thrice, for roots or green crops, which- together make 400 acres to bo ploughed, being 100 days' work for eight horse* witli four single ploughs. The same work would be done in' the same time by five horses w ith two double p'oughs.thereby setting two men and two horses at liberty to be employed in other work. These 100 days for two men and two horses cannot be valued at less than 10s a day which gives- £50 gained,' or übout 3& per acre per annum. On a farm using sixteen horses with eight single ploughs, ploughing eight acres dailv, twelve horses in iour triple teams and four double ploughs would do the Mime work, leaving two men, two boys, and two bora 1 * to do other labor." tis considered by The Farmer that, seam should, for 4 heavy work, supersede the horse altogether. 'I he engines aro ready to start into a fre»h field in a moment tiiey have Mopped work, and remove th*uis«'he6 and the, whole of the apparatus without any additioiml in* uh! or animal labour

A curious ease was lately brought before one of Iho French tribunal* Eighteen years ago «i young man named Enpo wt» condemned in contnmaciam to ten ) oars' penal serv.tiiJo for forgery and puilh'Z lenient committed n> Pins. Ho liar? mi«mpror>nnti' l so. tie 4000J", bat ho \oluntnrdy confe.ntMl hn guilt a few day* iifterww !?, making recitation at tho samo time of the sum wlreh si ill rennine 1 in his hands. The manned* of tho ofli.v in winch ho wsi employ ed, who entertained nn excellent ooin'nn of !nm, w.is anxious to hush tho matter up, but (lie poluv insisted upon his prosecution. Ei iptj aroide 1 anv-i , and enlisted in a ca\ dry regiment under the name of Lem utre, a former school- fellow. He served for three year*, and bore the be*t of character*, but, being off Ted a clerkship in the Ai ue, he deserted The real Lemattrc was arrested on th"> e'la'go, but had no difficulty im prowng b.n innocence and Enpe was again condemned in contitmaciam to ten years' hai d 1 ib >ur for usurping a name winch di 1 not br'ong to him He, in the meantime had been gaining the esteem of h • employer, at who«e instance he contiacted a nnirrtngc under the nnme of LemnJ r , by which he was still known. His wife died soon after their marmge, but her parent* w^rc «o much attached to him th.it they bequeathed him some property, mid obtained for him a moio \alunble appointirent in i manufactory at Fismos. Here he nude a »>eeond marriage which also proved a happy one, nnd he STined on t!ie hig'i ro&l to fortune. One day, while he was talking with the nUt ion master on the platform, a train r-rived, the engine driver of which happened to be the real liMimltre, who reco; n scd Eripe and cc oiniced him to the police. He was at once arrested, and it is needle"* to say that the matter created immense excitement in the district. He na^ anaigned mwi tie c'inrgeof forgery, but he did not attempt to deny his identity, and ho very wisely based hn defence nn the ground tii.it he had lived honestly since, the commission of his first fault 18 years ago, asserting what iw the literal truth, that hf could not hare discontinued tlie u»e • of the name un )cr winch he h.id enlisted without botrawng himself, lie moreover begged the Court to remember that in two yenr>' time he would have been nble to plead the itatut" of limitation*, and his case, w a- strengthened by tiie presence of his second wife and her fmnilr, who entreated the Court to take a len cnt view of his conduct. A petition was signed by more than 1,200 inhabitants of Fisnies, who bore testimony to his excellent character, and the jury returned a verdict of acquittal, which was reeeivod with loud and unchecked applause. — Pall Afall Gazette. Tlie Dunedin Sl'<r issu a premonitory caution asramst over speculation either in now in lustrie?, new cotnpmies, or new ventures of any description, and re.nai'ks :—": — " The wor-t of a state of commercial feeling snc'i as leads to such evtrava^ance is the tendency to treat all projects as pure speculations. Those which "are- really legi'imate enterprises are liable to be dragged into the whirlpool with mere bubble schemes. This is alrrost the inevitable result, and can only be guarded naaitut by individual prudence. Tho measure of thi« prudence is not difficult for each m.\n to establish (or Iknni^c'f. an 1 to guard ngunst tlu effects of improvidence in v>theri. it i» better that lie should net rather wilhui its limits than exeaed them. One cause of panics is that capital, through overdone enterprise, hns been withdrawn from fTPrydav reproduc'ivo industry, and invested in (hnt winch, from tlie nature of things, enn yield no return for a great 'eig'h of time. The prudent test is, can it be spared from biwmes« 9 If it were merely the surplus that was invested — that amount which is over -md nbove what is absoltitelr ro quired for business — no mjurv would accrue; but tins i? seldom tie ea*e When men buy shares on spi culation, an I cill^ beg'ii to be made before they liavo sold them, many find U di(H"iilt to meet them as well as their legitimate engagements, and when once the pinch begme panic «ets in, and no one can snv where it will end. It begun in Vienna, i extended to Wiill-slreet, New York ; but how it will affect London, and ultimately the colo ues, we cannot csy. Virbnm yap " It wn* a peculiarity of a "Dickem"baby to be always cutting teeth. Whetlier tiiev nerer came, or whether they did'nt, or w'let'er th-v c.vnc and went away again, is not in c«id»'nee; but it hal certainly cut enough, on tho showing d i's moth<r to nvke a handsome dental provision for the sign ol the Bull and Mouth. All sorts of objects weie impressed for the rubbing of its gums, notwithstanding that it nlnavs earned dandling »t its waist (which trat immediately under its chin) a bone rini, lar?e enough to have represented ; t'r<? rosary of a vonng nun. Knife-handles, umbrella-tops, tho hrndsof walking-sticks selected from the stock, the fmgt n of the funilv, nutineg-grateip, crust', 'the hard <• of doors, and the cool knob* on tlie tops of pokers, were rniong the common*^ insfcrumeriJuindiseriminaJriynppl ed for the bubr'-" relief. The amount of eleetricilT that must have been rubbed out; of it in a week is not to be ra'culnted. Still itt irolher alwivi sad, "It was coming through, and then the child would be hmelf," and still it never did come through, and the c'nld continued to be s m body else. What w weilth? Wea ih is whatever men can realise from nature for their sustenance and enjoyment. Labour is what reilivs it Pru lenee saves irom it, nnd the savings become capital, which help to extend and multiply tho operations of labour, an i thus creates moro capital. The wealthy are composed of those who have inherited property from others, those who have acquired it accidentally, and those who have realised it fo»* themselves. Tlie poor, in like manner, are composed of those who have inherited poverty from others, t u)-c w 10 hare become poor through accident, and those who h ive brought poverty upon thomselve*. Tho most familiar mile of producing poverty is by idlene-ts. Amm will not w >rk ; he realises no wealth ; lie is of course poor. Or ho squanders in some absurJ manner the earning w'nc'i he does realise, -md thus remains equally poor ai if ho di 1 not work. The poverty arising from idleness will only bo curable, as it has ever been since the beginning of the woild, by industry. That which comes from wastefulness will only be cured by economy. V detective says the Australasian especially bilious at having to do extra duty (owing to so many charitable persons being around on Sunday last), w«3 asked by an acquaintance how it was there had been so few burglaries lately. Ho acknowledged that busines* in his way had been of lato rather dull, adding reproachfully, "It's all through thnt Prisoners' Aid Society! Ai old hand finds it safer and easier to borrow £5 from the society, and not repay it, than to steal that, amount of pro^rrtv " No wonder things are dull. One of the 'cutest an I most characteristic operations we ha^e heird of was perpetrated bj a fellow in this county a few weeks ago. Ho was desirous of paving his debts bv going into bankruptcy, and being short of the necessary funds for the purpose, he borrowed the amount from a friend, and returned the amount among tlie debts ho owed to be discharged.