"It will at least ensure the laddie's name as that o' the true inventor o' the process," he reasoned, and so the report became noised about.
At first the miners were indignant, and aggressively disposed towards the two men who had so meanly defrauded a mere boy, yet soon they calmed down.
"If there's more than one plant on the field we'll get the work done cheaper," argued some one, and of course this placed the matter in a new light as far as they were concerned.
There was no doubt as to the personality of the thieves. Early that same morning, Macguire and Wynberg, the chemist, had been seen driving off towards Kalgoorlie, and it had been observed also that the publican's head was swathed in bandages, while his companion's left arm was secured in a sling. Jack had certainly given them more than they bargained for, and the knowledge was a source of much joy to that youth, whose keen regret now was that he had not done them greater hurt.
The days slipped by, and the incident was almost forgotten before a week had passed; but the owners of the Golden Promise mine knew well what to expect. They continued their work in the shaft, digging out the refractory ore which now alone was left to them, and regularly each evening Bob kept pace with results by treating in the vat the entire amount raised in the day, and the exploitation of the mine proceeded; a little more than another week would suffice to exhaust the stratum within their boundary pegs, and then—Bob wondered vaguely whether, after all, the process had baffled the discerning powers of the chemist, and so would allow them to profit by the discovery on a larger scale.
"You need scarcely hope for that, Bob," said Mackay, "as I said before, the danger o' the discovery lay in its simplicity, and Wynberg is a man wha has had a' the qualifications his university in Germany could give him. They're vera smart mineralogists, those Germans, Bob, and nothing much will pass them. A' the same, when I get a grip o' the man I'll alter the state o' his health for a week or so. I'll——"
Mackay's anger overcame him, and he turned away abruptly to hide his annoyance.
Events soon proved how clearly he had foreseen the plans of the conspirators. That very night, Rockson, the battery proprietor, came over to the Golden Promise evidently much perturbed.
"I've got a letter from Macguire, boys," he said hesitatingly. "An' he gives me instructions to fit up a twenty-ton vat close to my stamping-mill. He says Wynberg will be out in a day or so to see it completed. I feel inclined to throw up the sponge, boys, I do; I know it is your discovery he means to work. If the blackguard didn't own so much o' the battery, I'd have nothing more to do with him; but I'm in his power, an' I must either throw everything up or do what he says."
"Don't worry about my feelings, Rockson," replied Bob, with an effort, for indeed the news had hurt him deeply. "I know you have been straight with us from the first, and if I have to lose the process I'd sooner see you work it than any one else on the Flat."