and, guided by that feeling, the man who had told the strangers that they need not be afraid of being robbed, at once selected six out of the bowl, and deposited three each before Dick and Caldigate.  He helped the others all round to one each, and then was left without any for himself.  ‘I don’t care a damn for that sort of tucker,’ he said, as though he despised potatoes from the bottom of his heart.  Of all the crew he was the dirtiest, and was certainly half drunk.  Another man holloaed to ‘Mother Henniker’ for pickles; but Mother Henniker, without leaving her seat at the bar, told them to ‘pickle themselves.’  Whereupon one of the party, making some allusion to Jack Brien’s swag,—­Jack Brien being absent at the moment,—­rose from his seat and undid a great roll lying in one of the corners.  Every miner has his swag,—­consisting of a large blanket which is rolled up, and contains all his personal luggage.  Out of Jack Brien’s swag were extracted two large square bottles of pickles.  These were straightway divided among the men, care being taken that Dick and Caldigate should have ample shares.  Then every man helped himself to beef, as much as he would, passing the dish round from one to the other.  When the meal was half finished, Mrs. Henniker brought in an enormous jorum of tea, which she served out to all the guests in tin pannikins, giving to every man a fixed and ample allowance of brown sugar, without at all consulting his taste.  Milk there was none.  In the midst of this Jack Brien came in, and with a clamour of mirth the empty pickle jars were shown him.  Jack, who was a silent man, and somewhat melancholy, merely shook his head and ate his beef.  It may be presumed that he was fond of pickles, having taken so much trouble to provide them; but he said not a word of the injury to which he had been subjected.

‘Them’s a-going to Ahalala, Jack,’ said the distributor of the potatoes, nodding his head to indicate the two new adventurers.

’Then they’re a-going to the most infernal, mean, ——­, ——­ break-heartedest place as God Almighty ever put on this ’arth for the perplexment of poor unfortunate ——­ ——­ miners.’  This was Jack Brien’s eloquence, and his description of Ahalala.  Before this he had not spoken a word, nor did he speak again till he had consumed three or four pounds of beef, and had swallowed two pannikins of tea.  Then he repeated his speech:  ’There isn’t so ——­ ——­ an infernal, mean, break-hearted a place as Ahalala,—­not nowhere; no, not nowhere.  And so them chums’ll find for theirselves if they go there.’  Then his neighbour whispered into Caldigate’s ear that Jack had gone to Ahalala with fifty sovereigns in his pocket, and that he wasn’t now worth a red cent.

‘But there is gold there?’ asked Caldigate.

’It’s my belief there’s gold pretty much everywhere, and you may find it, or you mayn’t.  That’s where it is;—­and the mayn’ts are a deal oftener turning up than the mays.’