The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ) by William H. Thomes (books to read in your 30s TXT) 📕

You Think That I Do Not Feel Very Keenly The Situation In Which My Own

Thoughtlessness Has Placed You?"

"We Have No Doubt That Your Motives Are Good," Replied Fred, "But We

Know That You Will Listen To Reason, And After A Few Words Of

Explanation Will Agree With Us That Our Course Is Right."

Murden Looked Incredulous, And Puffed Away At His Pipe Vigorously; But

He Muttered, "Go On," And We Discovered That He Was Softening Rapidly.

"It Is Evident," Fred Went On To State, "That The Disaffected Portion Of

The Miners At This Place Think That We Are In League With Government In

Endeavoring To Force The Tax Upon Them, And, To Revenge Themselves,

Undertake To Burn Our Store. This We Must Prevent."

"That Is What I Told You In The First Place," Interrupted The

Lieutenant. "We Must Have A Police Force Around The Store, And Shoot

Down Every Suspicious Character That Approaches During The Night."

"Such A Course Would Soon Make The Mines Too Hot To Hold Us, And Instead

Of Getting Sympathy, We Should Get The Undying Hatred Of Every Man In

Australia. No, No; We Must Meet Violence With Kindness, And Instead Of

Making Enemies, Make Friends."

"Go On, And Tell Me How You Will Act To Do So," Cried Murden.

"It Is Very Simple: We Must Watch For Those Who Seek To Harm Us, And

Convince Them Of Our Friendship," Responded Fred, Earnestly.

"By Hanging Or Shooting, I Suppose," Replied Murden.

"Neither One Nor The Other Method Should We Adopt. We Will Keep Watch,

And If An Incendiary Seeks To Fire Our Building, We Will Seize Him, And

Convince Him That We Are Favorable To His Cause, Or That We Mean To

Remain Neutral During The Coming Struggle, And Then Set Him Free To

Return To His Friends With The News."

"Hadn't You Better Throw In A Glass Of Liquor, And A Few Plugs Of

Tobacco?" Asked The Officer, Sarcastically, Never Having Heard Of Such

Kind Of Treatment To People Who Were Disposed To Be Vicious.

"Your Suggestion Is Good, And Shall Be Acted On," Replied Fred,

Pleasantly. "Have You Any Other?"

"No, But I Wish To Tell You That You Are Laboring Under A Mistaken Idea,

And That You Will Regret Your Benevolent Motives. Such A Course As You

Describe Might Answer Very Well If The Population Of Ballarat Was Made

Up Of High-Minded And Honorable Men, And Not The Refuse Of The Old

Countries, Whose Crimes Have Outlawed Them, And Whose Greatest

Inclination Is To Be In Mischief."

"You Forget," Said Fred, "That This Tax Movement Originated With The

Best And Most Intelligent Men At The Mines, And That The Class Of People

You Have Described Are Bushrangers, Or Else Men Who Live Upon The

Community Without Work. If Ever The Miners And The Government Do Have A

Collision, You Will Be Surprised At The Respectable Ranks That The

Former Will Show."

"I Have No Doubt Of It," Responded Murden, Dryly.

"Under These Circumstances, We Must Think That It Is Better To Depend

Upon Ourselves Than Upon The Police For Protection, Because The Instant

That The Latter Are Arrayed On Our Side It Will Be Known All Over

Ballarat, And Then Our Business And Reputation Will Be Lost."

"Then You Are Really Serious?" Queried Murden, After A Moment's Thought.

"Quite So, For It Is Our Only Hope To Escape Persecution," Returned

Fred.

"Well, Perhaps You Are Right," The Officer Said, "And I Will Consent To

Follow Your Suggestions; But I Claim The Privilege Of Assisting You In

Your Watch."

"That We Are Quite Willing To Accord, And As It Is Past Twelve O'clock

We May As Well Begin It, For There Is No Knowing How Soon Our Enemies

May Steal Upon Us."

To Prevent The Dog From Giving An Alarm We Tied Him Up, And Then

Extinguished Our Lights, And Carefully Walked Around The Building,

Keeping Well In The Shade, So That If Any One Was Approaching We Could

Be Informed Of The Fact, And Be Prepared To Give A Warm Reception. The

Night Was Very Quiet And Warm, And The Only Sounds To Be Heard Were The

Humming Of The Thousands Of Insects That Filled The Air, Or An

Occasional Howling Of Some Dog, Tied Up During The Temporary Absence Of

Its Owner, Or The Loud Snoring Of Steel Spring, Who, Taking But Little

Interest In Matters That Did Not Concern His Stomach Or Himself, Went To

Sleep At An Early Hour In The Evening With His Head Resting On A Herring

Box, And His Long Legs On A Barrel, And Such Doleful Sounds Did He Emit

From His Nasal Organ, That Even The Horses Were Kept In A State Of

Perpetual Irritation, And Were Inclined To Refuse Their Provender.

Occasionally On The Heavy Night Air Would Come A Dull Sound, Like A

Splash Of Water, Which Showed That Some Industrious Miners Were Trying

To Keep Their Claim Clear, And For That Purpose Were Bailing Out Water

Day And Night.

Twice Did We Patrol Around Our Store, And Yet Saw Nothing Of Danger Or

Any Suspicious Circumstance. Hour After Hour Passed Away, And We Began

To Grow Dozy From The Effect Of A Hard Day's Work, And We Sat Down

Within The Building, And Thought That We Would Refresh Ourselves With A

Few Whiffs From Our Pipes; But While Filling Them, A Low Growl From

Rover Startled Us. In An Instant I Was By The Dog's Side, And Quieted

Him With A Word, And During All The Confusion That Ensued That Night,

The Hound Did Not Disgrace His Training.

The Sound That Had Started The Dog Appeared To Us To Proceed From A Tent

Some Distance Off; But We Were Not Certain In That Respect, And Listened

Attentively. For A Few Minutes All Was Quiet, And Then We Distinctly

Heard The Cracking Of A Stick, And Then All Was Still For The Space Of

Five Minutes.

We Cautiously Moved, So That We Could Observe Every Portion Of The

Building, And Yet We Saw Nothing That Deserved Notice, And We Began To

Think That Our Imaginations Were Running Riot, When A Repetition Of The

Cracking Sound Once More Occurred.

"Some One Is Under The Building," Whispered Fred.

Our Store Rested Upon Two Small Hillocks, Which Was An Advantage During

The Wet Season, For The Water Was All Carried Off Towards The River, And

The Constructor Of The Store Had Rightly Judged That It Would Flow Under

The Building, And Leave The Front Part Perfectly Dry. It Was, Therefore,

Very Easy For One Or More Persons To Crawl Along The Rough Gulf Which

The Water Coursed Over, And Stopping Under The Former, Kindle A Fire

That Would Give Us Great Difficulty To Extinguish In The Absence Of

Engines And Scarcity Of Water.

We All Listened Attentively, But No Sound Was Heard, And We Began To

Fear That The Flames Might Already Be Kindled, And That The Incendiaries

Had Made Their Escape. Smith And Murden Agreed To Creep Down One Side Of

The Building, While Fred And Myself Undertook To Guard The Other.

With This Understanding We Parted Company, And Cautiously Reached The

Gulf, So That We Could Look Under The Building, And There, Sure Enough,

We Saw That Ample Preparations Had Been Made For Smoking Us Out, For A

Pile Of Kindling Nearly A Foot High Was Raised, And Two Men, Who, When

They Spoke, Did So In Whispers, Were Busy Adding To It.

"There, There's Enough," Cried One, "To Set Fire To All The Shanties In

Ballarat. Light The Match, And Let's Be Off, Or The Dog Will Be Snuffing

Around, And Then We Shall Have The Fellers About Our Ears."

"Faith, There's Mighty Little Fear Of That, For Don't You Hear 'Um Snore

As Though They Hadn't Slept A Bit For A Month. Pile On The Stuff, And

Let's Have A Rousing Fire While We Are 'Bout It," Replied The Other; And

His Voice Sounded Familiar To Us, Although Who The Speaker Was We Had No

Idea.

"You Forget That Firewood Is Dear At Ballarat," And He Chuckled As He

Spoke, As Though Amused At The Thought.

"Thin We'll Have It Chaper Before Long," Returned The Other; And By His

Language We Knew That He Was An Irishman.

They Worked For A Few Seconds, And After A Match Was Lighted And Thrust

Into The Pile Of Kindlings, And Then The Incendiaries Crawled Towards Us

As Fast As Possible, For The Purpose Of Escaping, And Getting Clear Of

The Flames, Which Already Began To Shoot Up And Crackle, As They

Gathered Headway.

As The Heads Of The Incendiaries Emerged From Beneath The Building, And

Even Before They Had Time To Gain A Footing, We Threw Ourselves Upon

Them, And Pinned Them To The Earth In Despite Of The Powerful Struggles

Which They Made To Escape; Failing In Which, Their Hands Sought For

Their Knives, But We Saw The Movement, And Succeeded In Defeating It.

"Yield In Peace," Cried Fred, "Or You Will Fare Worse," Addressing His

Antagonist, The Irishman, Who Replied With An Oath, And A Fierce Thrust

Of A Long Knife.

"Is That Your Gratitude?" Continued Fred, Who Easily Avoided The

Meditated Blow. "Then I Will Begin In Earnest."

He Drew His Revolver From His Pocket, And Struck His Opponent A Heavy

Blow On His Temple. The Irishman Uttered A Groan, And Remained

Motionless, And Then Fred Rushed Towards Me To See What Assistance I

Needed; But I Fortunately Required None, For The Man I Had Taken Charge

Of, After Being Frustrated In His Attempt To Use His Knife, Remained

Perfectly Quiet, And Appeared Disposed To Surrender On As Good Terms As

He Could Make.

"Never Mind Me," I Cried, As Fred Joined Me; "I Will Take Charge Of This

Fellow, And Blow His Brains Out If He Makes An Attempt To Escape.

Extinguish The Fire Before It Gains Headway, And Don't, Above All

Things, Raise An Alarm."

Fred Crawled Under The Building, And In A Few Seconds Had Scattered The

Firebrands So That All Danger Was Passed, And In The Latter Work Smith

And Murden Rendered Good Service; For The Lieutenant Quickly Had A

Couple Of Buckets Of Water On Hand, Which He Had Brought From Our "Sink

Hole," And In A Very Few Minutes All Traces Of The Fire Were Destroyed.

"Have You Got The Scamp?" Asked Murden, Crawling From