altese, Mexicans, Negroes, Indians, Chinamen, New
Zealanders, English, Irish, Scotch, Welsh, Australians, Americans,
Canadians, Creoles, gentle and simple, farmers and labourers, squatters
and shepherds, lawyers and doctors. They were all alike for a bit,
all pretty rich; none poor, or likely to be; all workers and comrades;
nobody wearing much better clothes or trying to make out he was higher
than anybody else. Everybody was free with his money. If a fellow was
sick or out of luck, or his family was down with fever, the notes came
freely--as many as were wanted, and more when that was done. There was
no room for small faults and vices; everything and everybody was worked
on a high scale. It was a grand time--better than ever was in our
country before or since. Jim and I always said we felt better men while
the flash time lasted, and hadn't a thought of harm or evil about us.
We worked hard enough, too, as I said before; but we had good call to do
so. Every week when we washed up we found ourselves a lot forrarder, and
could see that if it held on like this for a few months more we should
have made our 'pile', as the diggers called it, and be able to get clear
off without much bother.

Because it wasn't now as it was in the old times, when Government could
afford to keep watch upon every vessel, big and little, that left the
harbour. Now there was no end of trouble in getting sailors to man the
ships, and we could have worked our passage easy enough; they'd have
taken us and welcome, though we'd never handled a rope in our lives
before. Besides that, there were hundreds of strangers starting for
Europe and America by every vessel that left. Men who had come out to
the colony expecting to pick up gold in the streets, and had gone home
disgusted; lucky men, too, like ourselves, who had sworn to start for
home the very moment they had made a fair thing. How were any police in
the world to keep the run of a few men that had been in trouble before
among such a mixed-up mob?

Now and then we managed to get a talk with Starlight on the sly. He used
to meet us at a safe place by night, and talk it all over. He and his
mates were doing well, and expected to be ready for a start in a few
months, when we might meet in Melbourne and clear out together. He
believed it would be easy, and said that our greatest danger of being
recognised was now over--that we had altered so much by living and
working among the diggers that we could