d stop if all Ballarat was at loggerheads."

We were soon seated upon such articles as were handy, and after the
first cravings of our appetites were satisfied, we renewed the subject
of mining.

"All the miners," Fred remarked, "are not obliged to work so deep
beneath the surface."

"If they do not, their chance of finding gold is exceedingly slim,"
replied the inspector. "I have known stout, lazy fellows pick around on
the surface of the earth for weeks, and not earn enough to find
themselves in food. To be successful a shaft has to be sunk."

"And yet, according to your own showing, gold is not always struck by
such a method."

"True, and I can easily explain why it is so. Mining is like a
lottery--where one draws a prize, hundreds lose. We might dig deep into
the earth where we are seated, and it would surprise no one if we took
out gold by the pound; and yet no one would think of laughing if we did
not earn our salt. The case would be so common that no notice would be
taken of it." We sat and listened to the inspector's words in silence,
and began to think that we had better have remained in Melbourne and
entered into business of a more substantial nature.

"I know of a dozen cases," the inspector continued, "where not even
enough gold has been found by industrious men, who have sunk shafts, to
make a ring for the finger; and yet not one rod from the place where
such poor success was encountered others have grown rich, and left
Ballarat well satisfied with their labor."

"But we have certainly read of men taking a nugget from these mines
weighing over a hundred pounds," I said.

"And the account that you read was perfectly correct. I remember the
circumstance well. It was soon after my recovery from the wound
inflicted at the hands of Black Darnley. A man rushed into my tent one
afternoon with his eyes apparently starting from their sockets, and his
whole appearance that of a crazy man. He was breathless and speechless
for a few minutes, but I at length obtained information that two miners
had come across a nugget of gold so large that half a dozen men were
unable to lift it from the shaft. I hurried to the spot, and as I went
along hundreds of people were flocking to the scene. The news spread
like fire upon a prairie. Saloons and rooms were deserted--miners
crawled from their shafts--sick men forgot their ailments--even gamblers
desisted from playing for a short time, in their anxiety to look at the
lar