"That's all we'll do at present; we'll crush it out properly in a mortar when we get home. Guess there's full twenty ounces o' gold in 'er."
There were no more such finds in the dirt, but the last few lots yielded a good deal of coarse gold, one piece weighing about four ounces.
By nightfall they had washed out the bagged ore. There it lay on a cloth before the fire, a little heap of pure gold, and beside it the quartz nugget, so to call it.
"Call me a frog-eater if there ain't full seventy ounces o' gold in that there lot—close on three 'undered pounds' worth!"
CHAPTER XXXIII
BULLION AND BUSHRANGER
"And if you doubt the tale I tell,
Steer through the South Pacific swell,
Go where the branching coral hives
Unending strife of endless lives,
Go where the rivers roll down through the sand
Under skies that are blue in a golden land."
KIPLING.
"Pull up a moment, chaps. I want ter say a word afore we strike Jago Smith's—we'll sight it over the next ridge. No blabbin' erbout the gold. The ole cove's sure ter arsk erbout our luck. You keep mum, an' leave me ter answer 'im. He's er good ernuff sort in hes way, is ole Jago, an' me an' 'im always got on well, as 'e sort er took a fancy ter me. All the same, 'im an' Ben Bolt is, or was great friends. That's why I steered clear o' the shootin the night we stayed there. 'E might 'a' cut up rusty, like. Many's the time 'e's planted the 'ranger when the p'lice 'as been 'ot on 'is trail. 'Twuddent s'prise me a bit if the kid that wus Ben's mate wus 'idin' somewheres erbout Jago's. 'E's several good plants. At any rate, there must be no blow. Bes' be on the safe side."
In a few minutes the party sighted the accommodation house at a distance of a quarter of a mile or so. They could see the old man in the front, talking to a man who held a horse by the bridle. Even as the party sighted the pair they were themselves seen. After a few hasty words with Jago the horseman threw his bridle over the steed's neck, vaulted to the saddle, and rode away briskly.
"By George, that 'ere cove's ridin' a good nag. See the style o' 'im! 'E's a beauty, 'e is; all muscle an' spirit. If ole Ben wusn't a goner, I'd say 'twas 'im on Samson; blamed if I wuddent."