"'Be quiet, boy!' I said, raising my hand as though to give him a
cuff, with the result that the half-sovereign slipped out of it and
fell into the gulf below.

"'Oh, bother,' said I, 'it's gone.'

"'There, Dad,' said Harry, 'that's what comes of letting your angry
passions rise; now we are down to four and nine.'

"I made no answer to these words of wisdom, but scrambled down the
steep sides of the claim, followed by Harry, to hunt for my little
all. Well, we hunted and we hunted, but the moonlight is an uncertain
thing to look for half-sovereigns by, and there was some loose soil
about, for the Kaffirs had knocked off working at this very spot a
couple of hours before. I took a pick and raked away the clods of
earth with it, in the hope of finding the coin; but all in vain. At
last in sheer annoyance I struck the sharp end of the pickaxe down
into the soil, which was of a very hard nature. To my astonishment it
sunk in right up to the haft.

"'Why, Harry,' I said, 'this ground must have been disturbed!'

"'I don't think so, father,' he answered; 'but we will soon see,' and
he began to shovel out the soil with his hands. 'Oh,' he said
presently, 'it's only some old stones; the pick has gone down between
them, look!' and he began to pull at one of the stones.

"'I say, Dad,' he said presently, almost in a whisper, 'it's precious
heavy, feel it;' and he rose and gave me a round, brownish lump about