By the time we had got fairly at work, we were joined by Smith, who had remained behind to attend to the wants of his cattle, and the honest fellow, without a moment’s delay, lent us his powerful aid.

The novelty of seeing three strangers at work endeavoring to save the lives of unfortunate miners, began to attract attention, and we soon found that a large crowd was assembling.

Fred, in his eager and impetuous manner, appealed for volunteers; and he painted the duty that man owes to man in such fine colors, that a dozen or twenty burly fellows presented themselves, and demanded a chance to assist in the benevolent work.

It was a great triumph for us, and so Mr. Brown informed us, for he declared that he had never known the people of Ballarat so liberal before.  Just as the old Scotchman was about to leave the shaft for dinner, he requested silence, as he thought he heard the voices of the imprisoned men.

We all listened, and found that he was not mistaken, and the knowledges that I the men were alive was a sufficient incentive to urge us all to renewed exertion.

Men forgot their dinners, and worked as though their own lives depended upon their labors, and without stopping to rest or eat, we continued on until four o’clock, when we raised the poor fellows to the surface of the earth, and found, with joy, that they were as well as could be expected, after so long an imprisonment.

Shouts rent the air, and hundreds of miners rushed towards the shaft to congratulate the rescued men, and amid all the confusion, Fred, Smith, and myself walked off quietly, and sought that rest at our tent which we so much needed.

We were just engaged drinking a pot of coffee, when, to our surprise, all three of the miners, Bill, Sam, and Jack, entered our tent, without ceremony.

“We are not very rich,” Sam said, wiping his heated brow, and remaining uncovered while he addressed us, “but we can’t let three strangers, who have worked so hard for our deliverance, go unthanked.  Bill, here, has told us all about it, and how the d——­d Scotchman refused to work unless paid.  Don’t let the latter affair trouble you, ’cos we’ve settled with him, and now we want to fix things with you.”

“We are already settled with,” I answered; “it’s pleasure enough to us to know that you are both safe, and for that object we would work as hard again.”

“Would you, though?” demanded the speaker, a look of delight overspreading his face.  “Well, if I ever see my children or wife again, they shall learn to pray for you, and I would, if I knew how.”

“When the shaft caved in,” Jack said, “we had just found three nuggets of gold, and even during our extremity, we retained our hold of them.  We are not rich, as Sam states, but if you will accept of the nuggets, and keep them as a remembrance of our deliverance, we shall feel thankful.”

They laid them down and were gone before we could remonstrate, and just as they left the tent the inspector entered.