nother nugget within a
week. 'Birds of a feather flock together,' as my writing-book says, and
'it never rains but it pours.'"

Frank Scott came forward and made arrangements for the payment of the
sum he had offered. Within five minutes he was offered an advance of
twenty-five pounds for his bargain, which put him in good humor, though
he declined it. I may as well say here, since we are soon to bid
farewell to Bendigo, that the claim yielded him double the amount of his
investment, and though this was not up to his expectations, he had no
reason to regret his purchase.

The little crowd of miners were just separating when two new-comers
appeared on the scene. They were the well-matched pair who had met
earlier in the morning at the deserted cabin. For convenience' sake we
will call them Colson and Ropes, the former being the man who had stolen
the nugget, as he supposed.

"What's all this crowd?" said Colson in a tone of curiosity.

Ropes put the question to Tom Lewis, who chanced to be passing.

"Haven't you heard about the nugget?" asked Lewis.

"What nugget?" asked Colson innocently.

"That slab-sided Yankee, Obed Stackpole, found a nugget last night--a
regular monster--and he's been selling his claim. I bid for it, but I
didn't bid high enough."

"Where's the nugget?" asked Colson eagerly.

"In charge of the commissioner, who will send it under escort to
Melbourne."

Colson expected this intelligence. Still he looked downcast. The chance
of getting hold of it under such circumstances seemed very small.

"What did the claim go for?" questioned Ropes.

"Three hundred pounds. Frank Scott bought it."

"That's a pretty steep price."

"Yes, but there may be another nugget."

"And there may not."

"Then he'll be a loser. Of course there's a risk."

"Is the Yankee going to stay around here?" asked Colson.

"No; he and the two boys are going to Melbourne. I believe they are
going back to America."

"It's a shame that such a prize should go to Americans," said Colson, in
a discontented tone.

He would have been very glad to head a movement for robbing Obed and the
boys of the proceeds of their lucky discovery, on this flimsy ground.
But Tom Lewis was a fair-minded man.

"I don't see what that has to do with it," said he. "They found it, and
they have a right to it. Of course, I'd rather it had been me; but it
wasn't, and there's an end of it."

"Some people are born lucky!" grumbled Colson, as L