"The Warden realized his former omission, and risking discovery, telegraphed:
"'Stone, gold.'
"The telegraph operator, not seeing how this could be a reply to the governor's question thought an error had been made and forwarded the message:
"'Stone cold.'
"The governor thought his friend the Warden must have gone crazy, but he was not to be outdone. He wired back:
"'Forward crow.'
"This time it was the turn of the Warden to be puzzled, and, as soon as his duties would permit, he went to the capital—almost a thousand-mile journey—taking, not the crow, but the stone filled with specks of gold. This was in 1888. Over half-a-million dollars' worth of gold was taken from Pilbarra before the end of the year.
"The richest gold field in Australia was hit on by accident four years later. This was Kimberley. Signs of gold had been found there in 1882, and again in 1886 but not enough to be worth working. In 1892 two prospectors started out to explore the region. They worked for weeks and found nothing. One of them, thoroughly disgusted, gave up the search and started for home.
"Two nights after, while camping, his horse became restless and started to plunge and kick at a wombat, near by. The prospector got up to quiet the beast, fearing he would break the picket-rope. On his way, he stumbled over a stone, which, in the light of early dawn, he saw to be rich in gold. He pegged out a claim at once, fetched his partner, and the two men took out $50,000 worth of gold in three weeks. This was the beginning of the great Coolgardie field.
"In the same region, about 24 miles away, not long after the opening of the Coolgardie field, a miner just missed wealth. There was a small camp there, but one man had no luck. While sitting dispiritedly in his dog-tent, just before going to sleep, he began to burrow with his fingers in the loose soil on which he was slouching and discovered a small pocket of gold. He was so excited that he shouted out the news to the camp.