"What is it?" asked Harry, in a drowsy tone.
"Hush!" whispered Obed. "Don't make any more noise than you can help. I think it will be safe to go and secure the nugget now."
This was enough. Harry was wide awake in an instant, and he in turn roused Jack.
There was no elaborate toilet to make, for they had thrown themselves down in their day attire. They left the cabin, and by the faint light of the moon, which was just ready to retire for the night, they found their way to the claim without being observed.
Fifteen minutes' work, and the task was accomplished. The nugget was raised, and wrapped in a red bandanna handkerchief, which Obed had brought all the way from his New England home.
"It must weigh seventy-five pounds," whispered Obed exultantly. "Boys, we're in tall luck. It was worth coming out to Australy for. We'll keep it in the cabin over night, and to-morrow we'll put it where it will be safe."
They gained the cabin without having been seen so far as they knew. Of the hundreds of men sleeping within a furlong's distance, not one dreamed of a discovery which was to draw the attention of the whole colony to Bendigo. But they had not wholly escaped observation. One pair of eyes had detected them in their midnight walk.