"Nugget!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the commissioner, fixing his eyes for the first time on the burden which Mr. Stackpole carried. "Bless my soul! you don't mean to say that you have found a nugget of that size!"

"That's just what we've done," answered Obed.

"When did you find it?"

"Well, we took it from the mine about midnight. We found it in the afternoon, but calculated we'd better take possession when there wasn't so many lookin' on. I say, Mr. Commissioner, I don't think it would agree with me to be a rich man. I got broken of my rest last night, from havin' the nugget in the cabin."

"You ran very little risk. No one could have found out that you had it in your possession," remarked the commissioner.

"That's where you are mistaken, commissioner. We came near being robbed of it only an hour after we brought it home."

"Bless my soul! How did that happen?"

"A pesky thief sneaked in, and carried it off, as he thought."

"How could he think he carried it off when he did not?"

Upon this Obed explained the trick to which he had resorted, and the commissioner laughed heartily.

"Do you know the man--the thief, I mean?" he asked.

"Yes, it is, a man that has been prowlin' round the camp for some weeks, not doin' anything, but watchin' for a chance to appropriate the property of some lucky miner. I'd like to see the fellow's face when he opens the handkerchief this morning, and finds the rock."

"It appears you have lost a handkerchief, at any rate," said the commissioner, with a smile.

"He's welcome to it," answered Obed, "if it will comfort him any. I brought it away from home two years ago, and now I can afford to buy another."

By this time the nugget had been carried into the office and exposed to view.

"It is a splendid specimen," said the commissioner admiringly. "It is certainly the largest that has ever been found in this camp."

"Has any been found before?" asked Harry.

"Yes; six months ago a Scotch miner, named Lindsay, found one weighing twenty-two pounds and some ounces."

"Is he here now?"

"Yes, and without a shilling."

"Didn't his nugget benefit him any then?" asked Harry.

"It became a curse to him. He obtained some thousands of dollars for it, and all went in three months."

"How did he get rid of it?"

"In drinking and gambling. Two months since he drifted back to the camp in rags. He did not have money enough to buy a claim, but being a good practical miner he got a chance to work a claim on shares for another man, who had just come out from Melbourne, and who knew very little of mining. I hope you will make better use of your money. Are these boys your partners?"

"Yes, Mr. Commissioner, they are equal partners. What's one's luck, is the luck of all."

Meanwhile the commissioner was weighing the nugget on a pair of scales.

The three awaited the result with great interest.

"It weighs seventy-four pounds and four ounces," he announced. "My friend, it will be famous in the annals of Australia. If I am not mistaken, when it is known it will create a stampede to our mines."

"About how much do you think it will realize?" asked Obed.

"At a rough guess, I should say fifteen thousand dollars. It may be more and it may be less."

Obed Stackpole's rough face was fairly radiant.

"I say, boys," he remarked, turning to Harry and Jack, "that's a pretty good day's work, isn't it?"

"I should say so, Obed."

The commissioner made out a receipt, which Obed put away carefully in his pocket.

"That's better than carrying the nugget round," he said.

"I suppose you will go to Melbourne," said the commissioner.

"Yes, we shall start in a day or two."

Here Obed paused, for it occurred to him that there were practical difficulties in the way of carrying out his plan.

"That is," he added slowly, "if we can raise the money. I suppose we can't borrow on the nugget?"

"No, but I can suggest a way out of your difficulties. You can sell your claim. It will realize a good round sum, as the one from which the nugget has been taken."

"That's so, Mr. Commissioner. Thank you for the suggestion. Boys, there is still some business before us. We'll realize something extra, it seems. I don't care how much, if it's only enough to take us to Melbourne."

Just then a miner entered the office, and seeing the nugget instantly made it his purpose to report the lucky find throughout the camp. The effect was instant and electrical. Every miner stopped work, and there was a rush to the commissioner's office to see the nugget. All were cheered up. If there was one nugget, there must be more. Confidence was restored to many who had been desponding. Obed and the two boys were the heroes of the hour, and the crowd came near lifting them on their shoulders, and bearing them off in triumph.

Obed felt that this was a good time to sell the claim.

"Boys," he said, "we struck it rich and no mistake. How rich I don't know. There may be other nuggets where this came from. But I and my partners want to go back to America. The claim's for sale. Who wants it?"

CHAPTER XXIX.

SELLING THE CLAIM.

"Let's adjourn to the mine," said Tom Lewis, a short, st.u.r.dy Englishman.

"Yes, let's see the place where the nugget was found," echoed another.

"All right! I'm agreeable," said Obed.