The pool of St Branok

"We didn't think we were coming out to a place with myriads of servants to wait on us, you know."

"Even so ... Well, remember, there is always room for you at the Hall here if it gets too much for you."

"We shall have to live like the others."

"Just at the moment, perhaps."

Justin came out to join us. He looked fresh and rested. Ben asked him if he had had a good night and he replied that he had indeed. He was all ready now to start on the enterprise.

We went in to breakfast.

That day was one of great activity and discovery. In spite of Ben's warnings, Morwenna and I were a little taken aback at the sight of our new homes. Shack was an apt description. I could not quite see my elegant Gervaise fitting into such surroundings; but with the lust for gold on him, he made no complaint. This was going to be the greatest gamble of all.

There was a great deal of business to be done; and the men went off to choose their plot which they did with Ben's help; and then they staked their claim. This took some time and while they were doing it, Morwenna and I made a minute examination of our new homes. When we had recovered from the initial dismay, we began to make plans for them. We decided that we could make them more attractive with perhaps a pretty curtain at the window and a few cushions. We looked at the township, which did not take us very long for it was just one street with its wooden platform serving as a sidewalk, and the rest was scattered shacks rather like our own. We discovered the wells. There were two. We went to the store and were helped by a certain Mrs. Bowles, who ran it with her husband—two more who, I gathered, had given up the search for gold and settled for work which, while it might not bring the ultimate reward, gave them a steady living. She was very friendly and advised us as to what we should need. She was talkative and, as with most people, she was more interested in herself than in others: and once she had satisfied herself as to what part of the Old Country we had come from—no need to ask for what purpose— she was satisfied. She told us that her husband, Arthur, had come out to find gold.

She gave me a little nudge. "These nuggets the size of your fist don't grow on trees. It's one in a million that finds them. After we'd gone three months without finding more than a few specks, I said to Arthur, 'Enough's enough. What they want here is a good store ... and that's what we are giving them.' "

She told us that at home she had been a midwife. I was delighted. I looked significantly at Morwenna.

"Not enough babies born here to make it a profession," she said. "So I do it in-between-like. When I'm called Arthur or one of the women will see to the shop. It works."

We said nothing about Morwenna's condition then, but at least we knew there was an experienced woman close by. It was comforting.

During the next few days I learned a little about what life would be like here for Morwenna and me. We should be busy in the house. We had to cook which meant keeping a fire going in the outhouse-type kitchen. We had to get water from the well. We had to be ready to buy meat early in the morning, so that we got it before the flies did. We could not keep it but had to cook it immediately. It seemed that we—who had never done any domestic work in our lives—had a good deal to learn.

So had the men.

Ben explained to us that much of the gold to be found now was deep in the earth. That near the surface had already been mined. It would be found in channels which they called leads—and we must follow them. This could mean digging down to perhaps one hundred feet. It had been easier in the beginning when the leads had been close to the surface of the earth.

Shafts had to be sunk through the clay and gravel; and these shafts had to be timbered as there was a danger of the earth's falling in and burying the miners alive.

Great heaps of what they called mullock—the earth which had been dug up—made hillocks at the sides of the mine shafts.

"Windlasses used to be placed on top of these," said Ben, "but that was simply not good enough for deep sinking. There have to be men down in the mine digging and filling buckets with earth; these are drawn up by winding the windlasses. Then the soil has to be panned in the stream to see if it contains the magic metal."

Neither Gervaise nor Justin lost any of their enthusiasm at the prospect of so much hard work. This was a gamble and I had come to realize that for Gervaise there was nothing in life which he found so irresistible.

They were out all day and came back to the shacks exhausted. Morwenna and I cooked the steaks for them in the open fire in our kitchens and we learned how to make dampers. There was beer to drink for we had a saloon run by another of the disillusioned miners.

A week passed and I was surprised how much had been accomplished and how quickly we accepted our way of life.