“And the account that you read was perfectly correct.  I remember the circumstance well.  It was soon after my recovery from the wound inflicted at the hands of Black Darnley.  A man rushed into my tent one afternoon with his eyes apparently starting from their sockets, and his whole appearance that of a crazy man.  He was breathless and speechless for a few minutes, but I at length obtained information that two miners had come across a nugget of gold so large that half a dozen men were unable to lift it from the shaft.  I hurried to the spot, and as I went along hundreds of people were flocking to the scene.  The news spread like fire upon a prairie.  Saloons and rooms were deserted—­miners crawled from their shafts—­sick men forgot their ailments—­even gamblers desisted from playing for a short time, in their anxiety to look at the largest lump of gold that had ever been discovered.

“When I reached the opening of the shaft I found many hundred people present, and fresh arrivals were joining the crowd every moment.  I organized a force, and drove the excited throng from the opening of the mine, for I feared that the chambers which had been excavated would not stand the pressure, and that those above and below would be buried alive.

“After I had succeeded in my efforts, we set to work and raised the mighty nugget to the surface, but instead of its weighing two or three hundred pounds, it weighed one hundred and ten.  But it was a splendid lump of gold, almost entirely free from quartz and dirt, and of rare fineness and purity..  The finders were overjoyed, as well they might be, and guarded their treasure with great care until they saw it safe in the custody of the government agent.  A gentleman from Melbourne, who was on a visit to the mines for the purpose of collecting rare specimens of gold, offered the lucky finders four thousand pounds for the nugget, but they got an idea into their heads that it was worth more, and declined.”

“And was that the largest nugget ever found?” I asked.

“As far as my knowledge is concerned.  At the other mines I have heard that immense pieces have been found, but I consider the rumor as exaggerated.”

“You would be greatly surprised if we should happen to discover a piece worth as much,” I remarked.

“I think I should,” answered the inspector, dryly, slowly filling his pipe, and apparently dilating on the subject mentally.

“Well, we will not pledge ourselves to make such a strike as the one you have related, but we will guarantee to get more gold than two thirds of the miners at Ballarat,” Fred said, confidently.

The inspector shook his head.

“You don’t know the kind of work that you will have to undertake,” he said.  “In the first place, you have got either to buy a claim, or begin digging at some spot where no one would think, unless a new arrival looking for gold.  All the dirt that you wanted to work out would have to be carried to the water, and you can see that our lakes and rivers are not very extensive.