“Indeed I do,” replied the miner, smiling.
“Then our fortins is made a’ready—all but—”
“Not quite; you forget the price of our outfit,” said Frank.
“No doubt, I did,” answered the seaman, a little subdued.
“And the price o’ grub,” added Douglas; “not to mention clothing, which we shall want very soon, I fear, for the tear and wear of this kind of work is considerable. Why, I found to-day, when I took a stroll at noon, that they charge five pounds sterling for a flannel shirt, and four pounds for a pair of boots, and everything else is in proportion; so, you see, our thirty-six pounds won’t do much for us at that rate. However, I admit that we have reason to be satisfied with the day’s work.”
“You certainly have,” said their friend the miner; “for it is very seldom that beginners do so much. And now I would give you one piece of advice before I go, which is, that you appoint one of your number to cook for the rest. More men are killed, I believe, by eating half-cooked victuals, than by hard work. They come in fagged and wet at night, cook their grub hastily, bolt it, and then lie down to sleep in damp clothes. Of course they soon break down. Our party have kept very fair health in the midst of great sickness; and I believe it is chiefly owing to the fact that, on first setting to work, we appointed one of our number, who had a talent that way, to attend to the cooking department. We relieved him of a great deal of the hard labour, but gave him his equal share of the profits. The consequence has been that we are all in first-rate health, and dig more energetically than our neighbours.”
“Has there then been much sickness here of late?” asked Frank.
“A great deal, and I fear there will be much more when the rains set in; but let me urge you again to take my advice about appointing a cook.”
“That,” said Joe Graddy, “is just wot we means to do, Mister wot’s-yer-name?”
“Stewart,” said the miner.