Santa Claus' Message: A Christmas Story

A CHRISTMAS STORY
BY E. FRANKLIN TREGASKIS AUTHOR OF “BOYSIE IN THE BUSH,” “SANTA CLAUS’ MESSAGE” ETC.
COPYRIGHT 1921 PRINTED BY T. J. HIGHAM BLACKBURN, VICTORIA AUSTRALIA
Twenty-foot was an almost deserted mining camp, and presented the desolate appearance of such localities: A wide valley, honeycombed by old workings, and strewn with debris. On one side stretched miles of barren ranges, denuded of heavy trees, which had been felled to feed the boilers and timber the underground workings when some of the quartz reefs had been developed, after the alluvial gold had been won. These also had petered out. On the other side of the valley were farms, for here rich volcanic soil overlay the silurian formation. Consequently, there was still a small population in the district, which accounted for the survival of a place of worship, a State school, general store, blacksmith’s shop, and, on a side road, a coffee palace. There were only two men here now seeking gold, or fossicking, as it is called. One was a relic of the sixties, known behind his back as Bushranger Bill, or B.B., who, needless to say, had never followed that occupation, and probably, had he visited the barber (who was also the local blacksmith) more regularly, would never have been so designated. The second fossicker was a man of different stamp. With his family, he lived about a mile above the township, at the head of the gully, in a comfortable, though small, cottage, surrounded by a garden. He had brought his young wife here in the early seventies, just after the volcanic land had been made available for selection, but too late to secure a holding, and here he had remained, digging, with varying results. When there was enough rain, he sluiced the old workings, and, with the aid of one of the defunct companies’ dams, could win gold during several months of the year. During the dry spells he sought old tailings and headings among the abandoned holes, and had them carted to the sluice boxes. It was a precarious existence (I use the word purposely). Still, to him, the life presented a certain fascination, and occasional “windfalls” lured him on.