ding, every
man firing off his questions as fast as he could utter them, with no one
answering him, and no one heeding him in the general noise and
excitement. The four were trying to reach the door so as to get on the
way to their El Dorado, but a solid wall of perspiring humanity
surrounded them, through which they were helpless to make their escape.

The late arrivals, gathering a word here and there, managed to
understand that there was a great field of alluvial discovered just over
the ridge, and seeing that every one in the room was fairly well
occupied for the time being, the idea found favour among them that it
would be a useful application of the knowledge to start out at once and
peg out a few claims ahead of the others. The man to whom the idea came
whispered it to his neighbour, who happened to be the owner of the next
hole to his on the Creek, and from whom he had, at times, borrowed some
flour for his damper, when his stores had run out.

"Jim," he said, leaning his head forward and executing a portentous
wink, "git."

Jim looked at him for a moment before he realized the significance of
the tip.

"Good for you," he answered. "We'll best these----" and he used a mining
term which signified the others.

The men nearest to him, all striving to catch something of what was
going on, grasped the proposal by the tenor of his reply, and as the two
left the room, so did the half-dozen who were nearest. Then the men who
were nearest the half-dozen saw and understood and also moved, and the
motion, once set going, spread and continued until the four were only
attended by an equal number. The rest of the population of the field
were disappearing through the bush.

"Here there, hold on," one of the remaining four exclaimed, as he
started at a run for the door.

"Hell for leather," cried a second, as he set after the first.

"My----" the third began, but left the sentence unfinished as he also
started.

The fourth said nothing. He had too much handicap to make up.

When they had all gone, the four strangers stood and looked at one
another in silence.

"Better have another nip and then move on," the man who had had the
conversation with Cudlip remarked.

The host, who had gone to the door to watch the last of the residents
disappear, turned back at the mention of business.

"They've swallowed everything bar the bottles," he exclaimed.

"Then we'll move on without the nip," the man said quietly.

As t