vident by the
size of their swags that they were not quite so down on their luck as
the first-comers.

They straggled up to the fire, each man with a brief crisp remark, and
swung their swags from their shoulders, loosening their billy-cans,
which they filled at the creek before setting them beside the fire to
boil. Every man had his own store of provisions with him, and as they
prepared their meal there was a constant buzz of conversation. Question
after question was asked as to the quality of the gold at the new find;
whether there was plenty of timber on the field; how about the supply of
water, and the depth of the payable dirt. Gleeson, as the discoverer,
was the man to whom most of the inquiries were addressed, and if he had
not done much work in preparing camp, he had to do more than his share
now, a fact upon which Peters was not slow to remark.

The cross-fire of questions would probably have lasted as long as
Gleeson cared to furnish answers, but another delight was suddenly
introduced by one of the new arrivals producing an accordion from his
swag, and sounding a couple of chords. At once the attention of the men
was taken off the topic of the new field; there was a want of alcohol in
the camp wherewith to rouse their spirits to the full enjoyment of their
new good fortune, but the melody of accordion and song made an excellent
substitute.

"Good boy, Palmer Billy," one of the men cried as soon as he heard the
sound. "Give us the good old Palmer stave."

There was a burst of approval from all the men as they came nearer the
fire, forming themselves into a ring round the blazing pile, some
sitting, some standing, some stretched out on the ground, but all
smoking. Palmer Billy, a middle-aged man with a face lined and tanned
by many a summer's sun, and without a spare ounce of flesh on his sinewy
frame, stood a bit apart with the accordion in his hands, his hat pushed
back, and his head on one side as he looked round the assembly. Palmer
Billy was the musician and vocalist of Boulder Creek, without a rival,
equal, or superior, albeit his musical prowess was limited to the five
chords which the key arrangement of the accordion automatically provided
for, and his vocal _repertoire_ to one song, sung to the American melody
of "Marching through Georgia," and celebrating the glories of the great
Palmer Goldfield--whence came Palmer Billy's pseudonym. His voice was
neither cultivated nor melodious--from a musical