, and drank a pretty stiff nipper
before he could compose himself. We did not interfere, because we did
not know but that the fellow might have escaped from the mine while it
was caving in,--accidents of that kind happening quite frequently,--and
that fright had turned his brain.

"Now, Mike, be kind enough to tell us what has happened," I said,
thinking that he had mystified us long enough.

"O, such news," he exclaimed, springing upon his feet, and executing a
wild sort of shuffle that would have delighted the hearts of the 'finest
pisantry' in the world, had they been present, to have seen his antics.

"Well, what is the news?" I demanded, while Fred, too indolent to speak,
lay upon the counter, and laughed a sleepy sort of laugh, without
changing his position.

"Murderation, who would have thought of it? It's a rich man ye will be,
Mike, ye lucky divil. What will the old folks say, when they bear of it?
Glory to St. Patrick, but won't the boys stare, and call me Mr. Mike!"

I began to have an inkling of the man's meaning. I sprang from my seat,
caught Mike by his collar, and shook him for a few seconds, until I
thought that his senses were returned before I put a question.

"Mike, you devil," I exclaimed, "you have found a nugget."

"Whoop!" he yelled, springing up, and striking his feet together with
excess of joy, "I found the granddaddy of lumps."

"What's that?" cried Fred, starting from his recumbent position, and
beginning to take an interest in the conversation.

"It's a lump as big as my head I've found," roared Mike, making another
dive for the whiskey barrel, but we choked him off, and made him stick
to his text.

"Do you mean that you have found a nugget of gold as large as your
head?" demanded Fred, eagerly.

"To the divil wid yer nuggets--what do I know about nuggets? It's a lump
of pure goold I've found; as big a lump as my head, and ten times as
heavy."

We could hardly believe the news Mike imparted to us was true; but his
eagerness convinced us that he had stumbled upon something, although we
feared it was a lump of quartz, with a few streaks of gold running
through it, such as was often found in Ballarat, and which, for the want
of a good quartz-crushing machine, was thrown aside as being worthless.

"Come and see for yourselves," yelled Mike, almost out of patience at
our obstinacy in not placing implicit reliance upon his word in regard
to the matter.

"Will ye come and look at t