As our hands were somewhat blistered, and we had as yet not discovered the first sign of gold, we readily took his advice, and upon repairing to the spot where the stockman was supposed to be at work, we found that the bottle had proved too much for him.  He was lying on his back in the place which he had excavated, with his face exposed to the sun, the shovel clasped tightly in his arms, and his snoring sounded like distant thunder.

It was with some difficulty that we at length aroused him, and got him to the cart, where he was allowed to rest and sleep as long as he pleased, and while he was thus employed, we made another discovery, which set us to wondering.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Robbery of the cart.—­Capture of steel spring.

What caused us so much surprise was the fact that during our absence the cart was visited, our provisions overhauled, a portion carried off, and one or two bottles of claret emptied.  It was evident that the thief was in too great a hurry to draw the cork, even if he had had a corkscrew, of which there was some doubt; so he had just broken the necks of the bottles on one of the wheels, and then drank to satiety.

Our visitor was no ghost-like character, who could pass through a hole and not feel inconvenienced.  According to the quantity of provisions which he had eaten and carried off, he must have possessed a human stomach of remarkable voracity.

It was very evident that we had a thief of extraordinary shrewdness to deal with, and that unless we were a little sharper we should be cheated of our gold and fleeced of our provisions—­two reflections not very comforting.

We held a long conference and debated the best way to entrap our opponent, and yet we could reach no conclusion, and were about to provide our dinners, when Rover bounded from the bushes with a piece of cloth in his mouth, which he shook and played with for some time before he would relinquish.

It was the remnant of a blue flannel shirt, and the idea struck me that our visitor had not only taken our provisions, but had stolen a portion of our clothing.  I examined the few articles which I had brought and found that my surmise was correct.  A pair of pants and a shirt were missing; but I felt glad to think that the exchange had been made, as now I considered that we had our friend on the hip.

I explained to Fred and Smith the manner in which we could track our visitor, and they agreed to assist me in trying the experiment.  I called the hound, and laid the remnant of the shirt before him.  Thinking that I meant to have a lark with him, he began to tear the flannel and play as formerly, but I touched him with a small switch and he crouched at my feet, and looked up so reproachful and timid that I was almost sorry to think I was obliged to correct him.  I steadily persevered until I impressed upon the mind of the hound that he was to follow the one who had worn the shirt, and if there was not scent enough the thief was not to blame, for the article looked as though it had seen service.