"Done," said Cathro. "The matter is closed. The claim is yours. Now, that's how I like to do business; just a straight offer and a prompt acceptance. Scarlett, this is Mr. Chesterman. He takes my place. You can take him over the ranges and along the blazed track: no doubt, you'll find him a better bushman than myself. Chesterman is accustomed to carry a 70lb. swag; he'll make an excellent beast of burden. I wish you luck, Chesterman."

"But don't you think," said Mr. Crewe, turning to the horsey man, "don't you think you're rather hasty in buying for such a large sum a property you have never seen?"

"I've been on several gold-fields," said Chesterman, "and I have had good luck on all of them. My method has always been to act on the first information of a discovery. A field is always richest at the beginning of the rush, and I know by experience that the picked claims, on a new field that yields such results as this does on the first washing, are worth having. I start to-morrow. Is it possible to get a horse through?"

"No," replied the pioneer, "not the slightest chance of it. Until a track is cut, it will be quite impossible; but if you're good in the bush you can follow the blaze, when once you have struck it."

At this moment, there entered the room a very imposing person. He was quite six feet high, and broad in proportion; his frank and open face was adorned with a crisp, gold-coloured beard. He was dressed in a rough, grey, tweed suit, and carried a newspaper in his hand. Big men are not usually excitable, but the blue eyes of this Hercules were ablaze with suppressed emotion. In a voice that sounded like a cathedral bell, he said, without preface or introduction, so that the room rang again, "Listen. 'Gold discovery in the Eastern ranges. There has arrived in town a lucky digger who is said to have sold, this morning, some 800 ounces of gold to the Kangaroo Bank. It is understood that the precious metal came from a new gold-field on Bush Robin Creek, which lies somewhere Eastward of the Dividing Range. From accounts received, it would appear that a field of unequalled richness has been opened up, and that a phenomenal rush to the new El Dorado will shortly set in. All holders of Miners' Rights are ent.i.tled to peg off claims.' Gentlemen, I have been to the Kangaroo Bank," continued the giant, "and I have seen the gold myself. It is different from any sold here hitherto, barring some 70 ounces, which were brought in a few weeks ago, from the same locality. So, you see, we have had a gold rush created at our very doors. I propose that all the men present form themselves into a committee to wait upon the local representative of the Minister for Mines--that, I take it, would be the Commissioner for Lands--and urge the construction of a graded track to the new field."

"A very good suggestion," said Mr. Crewe, "a very good suggestion. For if you want to get these Government people to do anything, by Jupiter, you need to commence early. We'll go along, if you are willing, gentlemen; we'll go in a body to the Red Tape Office, and see what can be done. But before we go, let us drink the health of Mr. Scarlett, here. He has done remarkably well in bringing this discovery to light, and I ask you to drink to his continued good luck, at my expense, gentlemen, entirely at my expense."

The steward of the club, a thin, dark man, with black eyes which were watchful and merry, went quietly round the room, which was now filled with men, and took their orders. Then he disappeared.

"I think, gentlemen," continued Mr. Crewe, "that, as the oldest colonist present, I may be allowed to express an opinion. I think I may say, without fear of contradiction, that I have watched the development of many gold-fields in my time, and have benefited by not a few; and, gentlemen, from the description given by our friend, here, this new field is likely to prove the richest of them all. By far the best thing is for the younger men amongst us to go and prove the thing. I should recommend a party being formed under the guidance of Mr. Scarlett, and that it should start as soon as possible. I would go myself if I were a few years younger, and I _will_ go so soon as the track is cut. I shall see the field myself. But I am really too old to contend with supple-jacks and 'lawyers' and the thick undergrowth of the bush. I should only be in your way. I should only be a nuisance."

The quick-eyed steward, who, by a method of memory known only to himself, had retained in his mind the correct list of the strange and various liquors ordered, now appeared with a gigantic tray, on which he bore a mult.i.tude of gla.s.ses. These he deftly handed round, and then all present rose to their feet.

"Mr. Scarlett," said the Father of Timber Town. "I ask you to drink his health and continued good luck."

The ceremony over, Jack stood up.

"It's awfully good of you," he said, "to give me the credit of this new 'find,' but as a matter of fact I have had little to do with it. The real discoverer is the man who came in from the bush, some six weeks ago, and painted the town red. After doing him justice, you should pay your respects to my mate, Moonlight, who is more at home in the bush than he is in town. To him you owe the declaration of the new field. I shall be returning in a day or two, and I shall be glad to take with me any of you who care to come. I promise you a rough journey, but there is good gold at the end of it."

He raised his gla.s.s to his lips, drained it, and sat down.

"We must organise," said the giant who had read from the newspaper, "we must form ourselves into some sort of a company, for mutual strength and support."

The notion of so big a man calling upon his fellows for help did not seem to strike anybody as peculiar, if not pathetic.

"Chair, chair," cried the pompous Mr. Tonks. "I propose that Mr. Crewe be placed in the chair."

"Hear, hear."

"Unity is strength."

"Limited liability----"

"Order! ORDER!"

"Let me have my say."

"Sit down, old fellow; n.o.body wants to hear you."

Amid this babel of voices, old Mr. Crewe rose, and waited for the attention of his audience.

When every eye was riveted on him, he said, "Though I discerned the importance of this discovery, I was not prepared, gentlemen, for the interest you have so warmly expressed. It is a fact that this is the commencement of a new era in the history of Timber Town. We are about to enter upon a new phase of our existence, and from being the centre of an agricultural district, we are to become a mining town with all the bustle and excitement attendant upon a gold rush. Under the mining laws, each of you has as much right as my friend Scarlett, here, to a digger's claim upon this field, provided only that you each obtain a Miner's Right and peg off the ground legitimately. But I understand that the desire is to unite for mutual benefit. That is to say, you desire to pool your interests and divide the proceeds. The first thing, then, is for each man to peg off his claim. That done, you can work the properties conjointly under the supervision of a committee, pay the gross takings into a common account, and divide the profits. In this way the owner of a duffer claim partic.i.p.ates equally with the owner of a rich one. In other words, there is less risk of failure--I might say, no risk at all--but also much temptation. Such a scheme would be quite impossible except amongst gentlemen, but I should imagine that where men hold honour to be more precious than money, none will risk his good name for a little gold. First, it must be the a.s.sociation of working miners; secondly, a company of gentlemen. Unless a man feels he can comply with these two conditions, he had best stand aside."

"It would be too late for a man to think of backing out," interrupted the bearded Hercules, "after he had turned thief by performing the Ananias trick of keeping back part of his gains: that man would probably leave the field quicker than he went, and poorer."

"Or possibly he might not leave it at all," interjected Chesterman.

"However that might be," continued Mr. Crewe, "the object of all present is, I understand, to act in unison. There will be hundreds of diggers on the field before very long, and in many cases claims will be jumped and gold will be stolen, in spite of the Warden and the constabulary. You will be wise, therefore, to co-operate for mutual protection, if for no other reason."

"Name, t.i.tle?"

"What shall the a.s.sociation be called?"

A dozen names were suggested by as many men. Some were offered in jest, some in earnest; but none met with approval. When the tempest of voices was past, Mr. Crewe said, "The a.s.sociation must have a name; certainly, it must have a name. It is not to be a company, registered under the Act. It is not to be a syndicate, or a trust. It is simply a league, composed of gentlemen who intend to stand beside each other, and divide the profits of their enterprise. If you cannot consolidate your claims, you must work them individually. I shall therefore suggest that you call yourselves The Timber Town Gold League. Your articles of agreement can be drawn up in half-an-hour, and you can all sign them before you leave this room." Here Scarlett whispered to Mr. Crewe, who scrutinised his hearers, and then said, "To be sure; certainly. Whilst Bulstrode, here, who is a lawyer and should know his business, is drawing up the doc.u.ment, Scarlett asks you to drink to the prosperity of the new league."

The suggested ceremony necessitated more speeches, but when they were finished the lawyer read the articles of a.s.sociation. Strangely enough, they were devoid of legal technicalities, and consisted of four clearly-worded clauses, dest.i.tute of legal fiction, to which all present readily subscribed their names.

That done, they drank to the prosperity of The Timber Town Gold League.

CHAPTER XXII.

Women's Ways.

Scarlett had a day upon his hands while his gold-seeking _confreres_ of the League made their preparations for the journey to Bush Robin Creek.

To loiter about the town meant that he would be pestered with questions regarding the locality of the new "field," which, until his friends'

"claims" were pegged off, it was desirous to keep secret. He decided, therefore, to re-visit the scene of the wreck of _The Mersey Witch_.

On a mount, lent him by Chesterman, he was on his way to the Maori _pa_, before the town was stirring. The road, which he had never traversed before, wound its tortuous way along the sh.o.r.e for some eight miles, and then struck inland across the neck of a wooded peninsula, on the further side of which the rugged and rocky sh.o.r.e was fringed with virgin forest.

He had reached the thick and shady "bush" which covered the isthmus, where the dew of the morning still lay cool on leaf and frond, and the great black boles of the forest giants stood sentinel amid the verdant undergrowth, when he overtook a girl who was walking towards the _pa_.

Her dress was peculiar; she wore a short Maori mat over her shoulders, and a blue petticoat fell from waist to ankle, while her head and feet were bare.

Jack reined in his horse, and asked if he was on the road which led to the _pa_, when the girl turned her merry, brown face, with its red lips and laughing, brown eyes, and said in English as good as his own, "Good morning. Yes, this is the road to the _pa_. Why, you were the last person I expected to see." She held up her hand to him, to greet him in European fashion.

"Amiria!" he exclaimed. "How _are_ you? It's quite appropriate to meet you here--I'm on my way to the wreck, to see how the old ship looks, if there is anything of her left. How far is it to the _pa_?"

"About two miles."

"What brings you so far, at this time of the morning?"

"You pa.s.sed a settler's house, half-a-mile back."

"Yes, a house built of slabs."

"I have been there to take the woman some fish--our people made a big haul this morning."

Jack dismounted, and, hooking his arm through the bridle, he walked beside the Maori girl.

"Why didn't you ride, Amiria?"

"My horse is turned out on the hills at the back of the _pa_, and it's too much trouble to bring him in for so short a ride. Besides, the walk won't hurt me: if I don't take exercise I shall lose my figure." She burst into a merry laugh, for she knew that, as she was then dressed, her beauty depended on elasticity of limb and sweetness of face rather than upon shape and fashion.