Show BLACK i SHEEP'S f JL i O Oby GOLD 1 by by 4 4 B trice Grimshaw 4 4 b by Irwin Invin Myers V 4 4 ol Copyright by Ruches Huches MassIe Masele Co 4 4 vl t i F CHAPTER X XI I 17 17 vas as nearing ten o'clock which Is iso l In o the tte morning for tor pc people who five and Ogo Og my head carrier were at the end of a long Job had bad left the other carriers busy ng r i and watering above e had gone goneI I Into onto the flat bringing with us shovel hove pegs prospecting dish J ng ag g steel measuring tape worked j s bit among the rimes riffles made If It f sunken rocks and taken sand ravel from promising spots I out a few dishes and them hem go something like three 1 of fine gold to a dish with ts s to spare over and above e on rage about fifteen pounds worth ry rr dish we washed It was vas a able able ale ble le Jewelers Jewelers' shop you ou could He sand up with your our toes and glitter gUtter id d a right as discoverer for forand forand and nd his partner had n never ner er actu actu- oun fund J gold to peg out for tor mye myne my my- ne fie e area of a n hundred feet by I and a prospecting claim due to discoverer of ot a field forty miles any my y other other other-ot of thirty further I This left little for any one ho vho might come along troubles I I said Let them They hey meant to let me Some j 1 ground judged by what we wed wed wed d was a little richer than the I picked that measured pegged Jup up my notice and was done arden varden of the field when api ap ape aped d i would have to check and con conS he work i but for all practical 68 es s I had my ground secure sun un was high now and down airless bottom of ot the pit It had hot i so hot bot that the sweat ran ams fins down my arms and dripped rom my forehead Into my mouth oh oke-oh I said to Ogo with pleasure the neat white hat hot marked off oft my fortune We Wet pigs et-pigs t in plenty for food I 11 urn n puffing at a welcome cig f l Well shoot all you like to stop here a week For I to load a carrier or two old ld they were traveling light lighth h having eaten up a great part of ot ids ads d drew ew at his bamboo pipe i he happy at ease resting from s and nn-d unnecessary work I ed him as ns I sat perched on a amy my my face towards the long hard l y which we had climbed down ry lY ly before Ogo was looking up 1St side of ot the basin toward the 4 il hange came over o his face tace It very Jery quickly it seemed In an anit ant it t to set his features stiff like Uke frozen rozen by an Icy wind lot hat do you ou see Ogo I asked cot apt t t turning my Lend head bada he answered sitting u up p asand l Me ile see two white men New Guinea man he come yoked ked behind me now Up th the thes s slopes pes that ran to eastward I Iee see ee nothing at first Then I Isee see some see some way down the sider sides side r basin dark dots moving mo white whit whiter E r following them They cre were gost go go- st et making the best of ot their wa way y iJ d the bottom like sugar augur ants ant s i C g a bowl and very anxious t to o Ithe the sugar as quickly as pos pOSe jit It was was- beyond all nil doubt Spicer and and their carriers when i I thought of ot Spicer un und d Iron tron ron of ot all i that the brute must mown and of the silence silence pat paid d doubtless that he had kept i j 01 he had balked me once and an anet et t fallen short of ot ruining m me e well it was not astonishing that tha half halt consciously crept crep lit fl d. d my left hip and the stock o of ot f without t which no wise e t vels avels through unknown a eve ye X e said that mind my like m my Y had come to maturity on the re red d of t the War Wor There are arc tho thou thou- u near my age who will under under- r I lust lust what that means The War Wa r fl forgotten as are Its millions million S A and forgotten fl fighters but th the i shaped by It remain It r u zor tor me to re reo filling Inevitably y as murder J Spicer and rind came fairly J ht a little later when they Ml ell U within rifle rUle shot sho nothing ban me from picking off orr the tall tull an n with the awkward tread and andr r Dearth of a brute as DS little tit to 1 p 1 Fanshaw arshaV arsha V himself had been e knowledge that I should ang g for it and that If It 1 l hanged ot marry Ila Imn J did ld not hurry as I had hull done one I Id not leap onto the gravelly t t held more treasure than titan al all er of ot New Guinea ether We t 1 1 met at leIsure In dst of the glade glacis' of ot rocks rocks' rock that t the bottom ot of tIle the Pit C xon on it t fellow alwa always 8 nodded side side- I t rat und and sat sut down on u a rock rocki i In pockets sun surveying eying the flat fla l t sharp professional eye eye which My y did not miss mv my pe pegs noc n or m 17 my notice Spicer came up grinning held out his hand and quoted fatuous ly Iy y Doctor Livingstone stone I 1 presume I think that In the moment an nn Ill Ill- defined presentiment of or misfortune seized me I suppose I must have felt vaguely that this defeated Spicer had lad no reasonable right to look cheerful cheer heer ful CuI i certainly none to crack Jokes nut Jut If It I did dill fe feel l anything of the sort It t was submerged b by my i personal dislike dis like Ike of ot Spicer himself I wanted to abuse him strike him What I did say was only only left many of the plums for tor you yuu Im I'm afraid Are re there plums he said foolish foolish- ly Iy y as If he hi had come up Into Imo the heart of at wild New Guinea for a walk wall HIse His us e eyes es were roving ro while he spoke I Isa saw sa saw w the them n rest on on m my pt pegs gs and for a n moment nt th they y oln opened d wide and showed as many uI ugly things s us liS the u windows Inflows of at a U convict kt jail juil It was who spoke h however we er What does It If go to the tile dish he asked He lie was sitting as ns he always did lid sit characteristically with legs flung wide apart and arms arms akimbo soft oft hat hut pulled right Into his eyes and Insolent lip stuck out Of or the f few w old old- time Ime miners remaining in III New Guinea I had always al liked the least Nevertheless less I answered him There was no use den denying ing patent intent facts About four ounces to the dish I said Spicer let out a whinnying cackle of delight but Ca on made no signI sign I suppose he said saM presently we had hod better have ha dinner It was three o'clock they had as had as I afterward heard camped eard camped part way down the crater rater on the previous night and traveled traveled traveled trav trav- since dawn daun It was by a very short hort head that I had won I hadn't dined either so we Joined our it messes messes it would have hae been con conn to New Guinea bush custom to todo do anything else And while we ate ute and drank and watched each other slyly lyly from under our eyelids there was vas Just one tl thought ought In the minds of or ever very every one one Gold Gold I But not very far from It I think was the thought of ot the he other thing that maddens too when seen that cries out too when flung upon the ground ground blood Better netter be careful of accidents inthe Inthe in the he bush hush I thought even as I pressed the he two to share my food Its a big strain train on any mans man's sel self restraint NothIng open of ot course course Id Id I'd respect that but hat but so many little sneaky ways of ot killing are possible What kept you back on the road I asked the two I wanted to know i besides this silence was Irritating Ung me They looked so well pleased with themselves had so little right to be pleased Foolery answered Cason his mouth choked by biscuit Spicer here bere wont won't realize that Im I'm leader and and Quite Incorrect bleated Spicer In n what I fancy he took to be an Oxford Oxford Oxford Ox ford accent At the de death of ot Sir Richard mchard the leadership devolved ed on me I decided that the Interests of the he would best be served by opening up what we had been led to understand was a probable gold goldfield field of ot the very very- very very very-It y You ou were out for tor cash to go on he the spree same as myself commented And If if- if you'd if-you'd you'd oud fired Just about two more shots Into that crowd of natives we met neither of us would ever have seen this place You started the whole crowd on us and then I had to shoot and we wiped them out considerably Of Ot course we lad had to go round after that The result of ot your our alleged leadership leader ship patronized Spicer being In sum that we have arrived cd after all nil the valuable ground Is pegged Yes said Cason simply and burled buried his hits face tace In his size pint-size I knew the Papuan miner too well to question him But nut there was something something some some- thing about the whole deal that I did not understand It doesn't matter I thought If It they fancy they can out me somehow or other In to the bush they've got another another another an other think coming Ive I've got the place grace gracey In spite of ot them all and Ill I'll keep It It We b bad d finished our meal now and the two newcomers without further parley went down to the tint flat and und begas began began be be- gan gas gan walking about It was fairly late in the afternoon by now nevertheless h less ss the pair started off oft on what was e evidently a brief prospecting trip I 1 heard the clink of ot pick now and then and the sharp tap of ot a 8 hammer ham ham- mer I did dill not trouble much about them I was too busy making use of ot the opportunity to wash out a 8 few tew more dishes of ot gravel gru There could be no question now of loading cars carriers car with gold for the homeward trip but I wanted at nt least a n good sample I 1 do not think I shall ever forget that hour hour ecstasy ecstasy of ot washing out dish after dish lifted almost anywhere on the flat fiat at and finding sure as day at atthe atthe the bottom of ot every one a rich sediment sedi ment meat of ot yellow ellow dust and flakes Na L' L ture amazingly had done Its work My claim might be the better for sluicing later on but at the moment one could collect enough to make any man crazy drunk with lust gold-lust out of ot the simple washing ashing of a dozen dishes I washed them collected the gold It was about thirty live ounces and put it awn away In one of ot my swags for and Spicer were cre now returning from what I 1 took tol to be a fruitless quest and I 1 did not want them to see my mI marvelous gains They came straight up to me evidently evidently evidently evi evi- dently according to a preconceived plan They looked tired und and dirty discouraged dis discouraged too Spicer's mouth mD dragged open and there was n a nasty look 1001 about his pretty blue e eyes Ci that I had seen more than once before Well Weil Baa Ban he began ly it U seems that the only thing we can an do doSay doSay do do- Say that again 1 Interrupted and sa say It right Mister Amo Amory he be corrected with scornful emphasis The only thing we can do Is to peg out what's left leCt and go back You understand the mining laws of the country I suppose S was my an an- s I 1 do If It he doesn't put In Were not going to visit the mines Trines department this trip trip- The best est thing you can cnn do Is to come back with us Youve You've got the loan loan of us over the whole business and nId well we'll all be safer toge together ber That fancy shooting of r has made the bush a bit lively live ly I reckon I reflected Cason was undoubtedly undoubted undoubted- ly Iy In the right Joining forces farces and carriers would be best for every everyone one We could tr travel trel el faster taster tog together lh r because because be be- cause there would be plenty of ot hands to cut n a road wh when n- n wanted i more safely because the na natives would be beslow beslow slow to attack a n big body of ot p people opie There was nothing that I need stay for now that I had pegged my claim i iI I had bad only to go down to Port Part Moresby Moresby Mores Mores- by and get It granted Yet and yet when the next day came when the tents had been struck and the carriers' carriers loads louds portioned out and the long hard upward tramp was beginning I could not do away with a sense of ot Ill-defined Ill anxiety On the I surface ever everything was right I had won the race taken the treasure with his callous greed disregarding disregarding disregarding garding everything In life but gain Spicer greedy too were both de de- de- de That was well What then troubled me mC As far as I could define the matter It t was this i they did not really mind Ine Inexplicable that Unsatisfactory that The thought It was not a fear tear nothing so definite stayed with me through the greater part of ot the trip down to the river Nothing occurred to deepen It nothing on theother the theother theother other hand happened to make to-make make It less I could not help observing that my two white companions were almost nervously anxious lest I should leave their sight There is a streak of vanity vanity van van- ity In every man wan i my streak led me meto meto meto to conclude that the two of ot them valued my company company In In view of ot the dangerous country we were traversing more more than I had supposed Yet the puzzlement the anxiety were still alive somewhere submerged In my mind I did not altogether under under- stand Cason who was endlessly troubled by Spicer's futile attempts to be regarded regarded re reo re- re as leader lender had given orders that no one white or black should should leave the main party without his knowledge It cost me nothing to obey him i I knew that In the in-the the Papuan bush divided authority spells disaster disaster dis dis- aster and whatever opinion I might have e held of In his private capacity I knew him to be the best of bushmen On one afternoon we had been climbing for some hours ln ha having tak taken takena ll lla a route sll slightly different from that of the outward trip and Intending to cut across a n ridge This way brought us os Into a bit of new country i and so It was as that emerging suddenly on the top of ot the ridge we came without any w warning right upon one of ot the villages of the tribe The people had bad h heard us long before before be be- fore tore their women pigs babies and collections of skulls were no doubt already carried oft off Into the bush We fou found d the men awaiting us plucky chaps that they were were thIrty thirty or or forty naked creatures decked In In feathers and shells and dogs' dogs teeth armed with the formidable bow of ot the rangers that can shoot you through at a hundred hundred hundred hun hun- dred yards and tine the the stone club t that nt smashes a skull as ns easily as a spoon smashes an egg Not much to stand against out rifles rIfles but but they didn't know rifles there was the trouble i and and myself were equally disinclined to stake a u massacre by byway byway byway way of ot teaching them TO BE CONTINUED |