nt concern than he was of our firm. At length I got out of all
patience, for I saw that, instead of devoting his fortune to his
relatives, he was determined to have a spree, and I let him go without
another word of remonstrance.

He conducted himself precisely as I anticipated. For one week two thirds
of his countrymen suspended work, and drank cheap whiskey at Mike's
expense. His gold vanished like snow on the top of Mount Alexander at
midday, and although many of the better class of Irish visited our store
every day, and begged that we would interfere and help save a portion of
his wealth, we declined to do so; and even Mr. Brown, who was appealed
to, shrugged his shoulders, and made an oft-quoted remark that "a fool
and his money were soon parted." The most that we would do was to
promise that Mike should not buy a single sixpence worth of liquor at
our store, and we kept our word, for which we got most heartily abused
by our late employee's friends; and one day we were obliged to have two
or three arrested, owing to a display of pugilism which they made.

All things must have an ending, and to follow out Mike's fortunes, I may
as well state that he soon lost all of his money, was deserted by those
who called themselves his friends, and that he was left without the
means of buying a loaf of broad, or a glass of whiskey to keep off the
_delirium tremens_. He applied to us for employment, and we gave him
something to do; but the thoughts of his folly weighed heavily on his
mind, and one morning we found Mike hanging by his neck, in the rear of
the store where we stabled our horses.

Had he but adhered to his first resolve, of returning to Ireland, and
living in peace for the remainder of his days, his gold would have been
of some use, not only to him, but to the community; but as matters
transpired, the finding of the nugget was his greatest misfortune.

But to return to the day when our wealth was increased by a lucky stroke
of the pickaxe, and when we began to think seriously of mining claims as
means of making fortunes. In this connection we were advised by Mr.
Critchet, who, although not of a sanguine temperament, had made
considerable money in speculation as well as in digging, and was
enthusiastic when he learned that we had been amply repaid for all funds
which we had advanced.

"Now is the time to sell," he said, when he heard half a dozen
applicants make inquiries regarding the terms for our now famous cla