Tom Hungerford: A STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS OF THE OTAGO GOLDFIELDS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 248, 31 October 1872, Page 9

Tom Hungerford: A STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS OF THE OTAGO GOLDFIELDS.

By William Baldwin.

Chapter X. — " How would tiie Wlaitakuna Commisstonership

SITIT YOU, HtJNGERFORD? "

The following morning Tom Huugerford was seated at a late breakfast with a mind ill- at ease, and looiriug thoroughly out of sorts. After falling across those friends of his in the streets, the evening before," he had accompanied them to the Princess Theatre, then recently opened; and after the performance at the theatre was over, they had all gone on together, to the Arcade to have some supper at Waters and Morton's.

They had had their supper, or rather the supper was nearly over, when a row had taken place in which all the young fellows had got mixed up, Tom amogst the rest. '. • , Some low noisy Jews, acccompanied by three or four half drunken aud wholly disreputable women, had forced their way into the room in which the yourg men were sitting, refusing to leave ifc when told to do so, and persisting in their refusal, even after they were told the room was a private pne. Then, this row had taken place ; the intrudes having been summarily ejected from the apartment.

Toe Jews themselves had been easily managed, offering; on the whole, but a fseble resistance when the affair Lad come to be one of actual physical force, but with their companions it had been otherwise. The women had fought tooth and nail, disputing every inch of ground ; and- had at last retreated wheu the arrival of fresh forces, in the shape of proprietors and waiters, had rendered the continuance of the contest no louger possible. All things considered, Tom had come out oftlie affair better than he had any fight to expect ; better certainly than did any of his companions, inasmuch as, outwardly, he -bore no sign of the fray on his person, and tin's was more than any of the others could say. But, though to "all outward appearance he had come off srathless, in reality he had suffered much bodily pain, and great agony. He bad knocked down one of his opponents and was in the act of throttling another, when Le had suddenly been set upon by a rod faced woman, large of frame, and strong of arm, who had seized him by the hair of the head, and caussd him to relax hit. hold of the Jew, an-l made him well nig!) cry aloud in his agony. Then, opportunely for him, had ,come the fri. a n ily aid t have jusfc mentioned, and he had been extricated from tbs clutches of this terrible virago ; but the extrication had not been accomplished without the -loss of a considerable quantity of his hair, which she held triumphantly as she was driven froii the room

He was thinking of it all vow, feeling very^much aunoyeci and thoroughly ashamed ia haying allowed himself to be drawn into this low pothouse row, as he termed it.

" But the fellows had no right to stay iv the rooji when they were told it was a private one," he muttered to himself trying to excuse bis conduct, though be knew well enough how weak was the excuse. He knew well enough when these people had forced their way into t!;e room and refused to leave it, the proper course to have adopted would have been to -have called iv one of the proprietors, and left the settlement of the matter tohim. Then he put up his hand to his head. " Ifc feels infernally -sore," he said, " aud no wonder ; good heavens, how that rip did punish me to be sure! and of course I couldn't raise my hand against her, rip though she was."

Of course be could not. She had no claim upon his forbearance, perhaps, for by her conduct and manner of Hie, sbe had placed herself, outside the pale of womanhood, and of. the considerations due to womanhood ; still, foraUt!mt,shewi\sawouian,aiid.liecoal(l not well raise bis hand against, her in anger. But no such consiaerafcions had restrained him in dealing wit's the Jews ; and there was some little comfort in the thought that they, at all events, had had their deserts. He was perfectly certain of this, that that particular Jew of his whom he had knocked down, aud that other fellow • whom he .had half straugled, had both got what they deserved.

He was thinking the matter over to himself, in this way, when he was interrupted by the entrance of the landlady, with a letter. " It's from the Superintendent, sir," said Mrs. Hegarty, handing him. the note, "at least, • the messenger who loft ifc said* it was." And Mrs. Hegarty was right ; it was from the Superintendent.

The note was a very sh6rt one. " I wish particularly to see you as early as possible this forenoon," that was all ifc contained.

I wonder what in the world he wishes so particularly to see me for, thought Tom, \yhen he had read over the note. Something about tbe goldfiolds/no doubt ; but, then, it was only yesterday he had met Colonel Dixon in the and nothing had passed between them beyond a few ordinary .words. The Colonel had asked him when he had tame to town, and. how long he intended to remain ; , and that was about the sura and substance of what had taken place. Stay though. He

remembered now having said at the time, in answer to Colonol Dixon's question as to the" length of his stay in town, that he meant to leave in a day or two ; and no doubt it was in connexion with this that the Superintendent wished to see him, intending probably, to ask him to become the bearer of some letter or another to Simmons. Simmon's was the officer who had temporary charge of the goldfields in those days ; aud Tom knew that letters were constantly passing between the G-ov-ernment aud Simmons upon every available opportunity. He was an available opportunity that's all. Then he put on his hat and made his way to the Government buildings.

"Do yon do anything in this way, Hungerforcl 1 " asked the Colonel, when the customary salutations had passed between them. He had taken a cigar box from one of his table drawers, and having selected one from tbe box, was holding ft between his lingers as he spoke.

" Why, yes sir; a little. I suppose every fellow out here smokes."

" Upon my life, then, 1 wish every fellow out hereactedas if liedid; Pcopls seem to think I shouldn't .do so, at all events. In the .old days, I smoked away in "here, as a matter of course, jnst whenever the humor seized me ; but, for the very life of me, I daren't attempt anything of the kind now. Upon "my soul, I think," if Callaghan were to find me here with a cigar in ray ' mouth, he'd think mo " — and he finished the sentence by putting his finger lip to his forehead. " I fully expsct he'd tell off one his detectives to keep an eye on me. Ido indeed." The Callaghan referred to, was the Commissioner of Police, who had lately come over from Australia to take charge of the force in Otago.

: 'I stood out against this abominable tyranny for some time," continued the Colonel ; "indeed, I considered, I was bound to do sj, because I looked upon it that the freedom of the Superintendent was at stake. But ii was no use ; the scandalised looks of the Victorians, and the thought of Callaghan's detective's were to much fcr me, and I gave in. But T still hays my smoke,' though, whe.nl feel disposed," he said, with a twinkla in his eye. " I'm off to have one now, and you maj- as well join me ; " and handing the ci^ar box to Tom, they retired to a small room in the back of Lhe building.

" I suppose, ITungerford, yuu liave heard the news of ibis new rush that's set in to your old quai-ters at Waifcahuna, eh!" commenced the Colonel, when they had sat down and lit their cigars. " Well, yes,- sh*, I heard something about it ; but nothing very definite."

" It's quite true. . We had ;i letter from Simmons jresterday, am.l ha says there are between live and six thousand mon there now,. and all doin •• well."

" Five or six thousand men ! " exclain c 1 Tom, in tones of surprise. "Well I'm glad the old place has tunlsd out trumps after all." And,, then, naturally he thought of the early •lays of Waicabun'i, when ib seemed very improbable indeed, it would aver reach its present siage of prosperity — turning out trumps, as he expressed it. W3 ourselves have seen how it had been • prospected from end to end by men experienced in this kind of work ; ajid we know that the result of all this prospecting had been very unsatisfactory ; so much so, that the old hands had all left ,1b disgusted and. very angry, speaking of it as a " duffer," and calling Rend and Hungerford all kinds of hard names. And yot, here it was now, in the- face of all this, some two or three months afterwards, suddenly turning upjan important goldfield with a population of five or six thousand persons settled down upjn it, -and all of them doing well.

" Simmons is anxious to be relieved of his duties as soon as possible," said •Jolonsl Dixon, breaking in on the

pause. "His domestic arrangements, it seems, require his presence in. Dunedin, and at his suggestion, we have decided to appoint two Commissioners of Goldfields \ ono for' Tuapska, and one for Waifcahuna. How would the Waitahuna Comrnissionership suit you, Huugerford ? The salary will be six hundred a-year with extras, in the slnpe of quarters, coal, and candlelight." Then he paused, waiting for Tom's reply.

• But the offer had come upon Tom so very unexpectedly, chat for the moment he sat silent, taken too much aback to say anything.

After reading the Superintendent's note, he had gone down to the office, believing he knew exactly what was required of him when he got there. He did, perhaps, think it somewhat odd that in the conversation which- had taken place, "the Superintendent should •have discussed with him, a comparative stranger, such, important alterations as those proposed in the management of the goldfields. What had he to do with those alterations, and why should he be taken into the Superintendent's confidence, were questions hs had asked himself at the time ? B.ut lie had explained the matter to himself, by supposing that these particulars had been confided to his .'ke.eping for the benefit of Simmons, to whom he was to retail them afterwards. He was an available opportunity ; and these items of news, were entrusted to his care, as a kind of supplement to that letter, of which he was to be the bearer.

But instead of taking the turn he expected, things had turned out altogether different ; and here hf> was offered an appointment as Commissioner of Goldfields, suddenly and unexpectedly. Should he accept the appointment 1 that was the question he bad now to decide. Yes ; he thought he ought to. Looking at it from a -pecuniary point of view, the appointment was a good one. Six hundred a-year was not to be picked up every day, not even in those golden days when money was easily made, aud when a man's services were highly prized and highly 'paid for/ His experience of colonial life was that without a large capital to 'trade upon, a man -would find it difficult to turn his hand to anything that would bring him in this sum with anything like certainty.

Then as far as his private affairs were concerned, there was nothing to interfere with, his acceptance of this offer. Whatever little capital he had brought out with him to the colony, had, for the most part, been invested iv that run he had purchased from Whitney; but it was* 110 civ the slightest degree necessary that he- himself should louk after the run personally, for he could easily get somebody else to do that for a couple of hundred a-year. He had no doubb in his mind that young Lindsay would be very glad to do ifc for that sum, or even less.

Possibly you may think this was a very material. and sordid view for Tom to take of the matter ; but when wt come fully to know the history of his life, as we shall do byo-aud-bye, we. wjll see how it was that the acquisition of money came to be a matter of more than ordinary consideration to him. But is this apojogy necessary ? Que voulez vous mon ami. The days , we live iv axe very material days, and if it is sordid to give to money our first and chief consideration, who amongst us is not sordid ?

It is true we are told that the uses of adversity are sweet, -and so they are no doubt ; but, who amongst us, 1 should like to know,"e",ver cares to tesl ihe sweetnes3 by practical experience? Is it not rather a fact that we ad-jiii to ourselves that prosperity is sweet, and that the good things resulting from prosperity are very pleasant ? Is it not a recognised code in our colonial morality that we arc to put money in our pulses as quickly as ever we can ; no matter whether we put it in them honestly or not, provided we •Jo put it in them, and put it in them quickly ?

But his thoughts were not wholly mercenary ; and passing through his mind were other* considerations besides the amount of salary he was to receive. He was thinking of his relatives at home ; thinking how pleased they would all be, they and his friends, to hctir of his advancement ; aud he was blinking of one such relative in particular, one who would, he well knew, rejoice at his good fortune, with a joy that was as pure and as unselfish as her own heart.

Aud he felt flattered at being sebcteM as worthy to fill the position, and all the more flattered inasmuch as the selection had been made without any solicitation whatever on his part.

Then there was the power and authority with which it would be in vested; there was something alluring, in that to a young man. Young or old, we all of us- feel a pleasure in knowing that our word is law, our nod the signal for obedience. It is true he knew well, no one better, that the men he" was invited to go amongst, were a sturdy lot of fellows who cared very little for nods aud becks ; but he knew equally well, that at heart they' had a strong feeling of respect for anything like properly constituted authority. If the man w'>o went amongst them as a Commissioner had firmness of purpose, and pluck, and tact, and some little knowledge of the- details of his business; if he possessed something of these qualities, I say, and carried himself as if he did, then he would be respected and warmly supported. But did he possess these qualifications ? could he— "Well, Hungerford. what do you say ?" asked the Superintendent, interrupting his thoughts. Well, he scarcely knew what to say. For the last few minutes he had been slitting silent, thinking of it all, but as yet he had come to no very definite conclusion one way or another.

" The truth of the matter is, Cole lei Dixon, 1 scarcelyknovv what to say," he replied. " One thing, however, I may say, and that is, that I feel very thankful to you for your kindness in thinking of me. Honestly, I™sbould like well enough to accept the appointment, but the fact is I'm afraid to do it, It's a very difficult position to fill, and I've had scarcely any experience about mining, and." —

" Say mtbins: further about that, Hungerford," said the Colonel, interrupting him ; "if you have no other objection to make I'll look upon the thing as settled. We at all events are quite satisfied as to your fitness," he continued, and you may rest assured that if we were not, the appointment would never have been offered to you."

" Well, sir, I can only say I'll do tny best to justify your good opinion."

" Well, that's settled then. Your appointment will appear in tke next " Gr.izette." Now, about starting. You must get away as quickly as possible. Let me see. This is Tuesday. Will you be ready to start on Friday?" •

Tom said he would and rose to depart. "If you've nothing better to do Hungerford, you'd -better come down ■to me this evening." " I should be very glad, sir, but I'm engaged to spend the evening with Colouol Fitzherbert."

" With Colonel Fitzherb.ert, eh ! Ah, to be sure, he's got two pretty daughters, hasn't the ? Well I'm a lonely old bachelor, and can't hold out any such inducement as that to a young fellow, to come and see me."

"By the bye," he said, when they got buck into the office, "we intend appointing a gold receiver for each of the goldfields, at a salary of four hundred a year aud quarters. If you Lappen to know of anybody fitted for the appointment, we will be very glad to consider favorably your recommendation "

Turn when he got back to his lodgings, sat down and wrote the following letter to his friend Henry Fitzherbert.

Dunedin, Sept. 17th, 1801. Dear .Fitzherbert,

I have just accepted the appointment of Commissioner o£ O olUfields ior Waiiahuiui There is a gold receiver also to be appointed. The \fny will be four hundred, a year and so;ne extras. The Superintendent iisk.nl me if I knew of anybody I could surest for the billet, and your namo at ones occi.r ed to me.

T!.ir>k the matter over, and if tlie.tlii.ig suits you, 1 have no doubt it can ba Managed. You can let ma have an answer t. -niyhfc. I need not say old fellow, I hope the answer will b 3 in the aiiirnv.tive. Youis tinceroly. Thomas HuiVgehfoud.