“To cover funeral expenses. He can’t live,” they said.
But I fooled them and recovered rapidly.
Lewis and I still own that mine. We came out with a good little pot of money, clean profit. The war took all of the time of both of us—but now that it’s over we are planning to go back there some day.
With our experience we feel sure that we can make much money, both in gold and diamond mining. We shall take back better equipment, power pumps, and everything this experience taught us we should have.
My adventure was satisfactory in every way. I wish I could have stuck it out six months longer. But I think the best plan would be for white men to set up their mines and work them about five months, go back home for seven months, work them another five months, and so on, thus avoiding the great dangers.
I am looking forward to the day when I can get back there, meet my Indian friends, go tapir and labba hunting with them and, above all, enjoy the wonderful thrill that comes when you spread out the residue of a jigging and pick out, here and there, a sparkling diamond!