It'll be thought he was stunned by it, an' drowned in the water as it
rose.'
'Man, it's terrible. Two brothers! My sin is findin' me out, Joe Rogers!
'Shut up cant, d'you hear! It served him thunderin' well right. What'd he
want to come pokin' into the mine at all fer? What the devil did the
other one interfere in what didn't concern him fer? But we've got it in
spite of 'em.' Rogers had plunged his hands into the skin bag.
'All, Rogers, all!' For the moment Shine's cupidity triumphed over his
fears. 'Every blessed ounce. All the stuff I've been puddlin' away in the
floor o' that drive fer weeks. An' the nugget, ain't it a beauty--ain't
it a beauty? An' to think I've been shepherdin' that daisy fer ten
shifts!
Dick crept closer and, peering through a slit in the great hollow trunk
of the tree, saw that Rogers was handling the contents of the bag. On his
knee lay a gleaming mass that the boy knew to be a beautiful nugget.
'What devil's luck brought that young fool to the 'T' drive?'
'He must 'a' heard you splashin'. You wasn't careful.'
'Ez careful ez I could be. I had to scoop the stuff outer holes in the
wet floor o' the drive where I'd puddled it away in the mud.'
'Ain't there a chance fer him--not a single hope?'
'Oh, yes, but it's a bad un fer us if he recognised you. There's the
chance o' him recoverin', an' draggin' himself out o' the water.
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