"
"I reckon!" "Ye can count us in!" said half a dozen voices eagerly.
"But what's the job goin' to pay us?" persisted a Sydney man. "An' arter
we've beat off this other gang, are we going to scrub along on grub
wages until we're yanked out by process-sarvers three months later? If
that's the ticket I'm not in it. I aren't no b--y quartz miner."
"We ain't going to do no more MINING there than the bank," said Steptoe
fiercely. "And the bank ain't going to wait no three months for the end
of the lawsuit. They'll float the stock of that mine for a couple of
millions, and get out of it with a million before a month. And they'll
have to buy us off to do that. What they'll pay will depend upon the
lead; but we don't move off those claims for less than five thousand
dollars, which will be two hundred and fifty dollars to each man. But,"
said Steptoe in a lower but perfectly distinct voice, "if there should
be a row,--and they BEGIN it,--and in the scuffle Tom Marshall, their
only witness, should happen to get in the way of a revolver or have his
head caved in, there might be some difficulty in their holdin' ANY OF
THE MINE against honest, hardworking miners in possession. You hear me?"
There was a breathless silence for the moment, and a slight movement
of the men in their chairs, but never in fear or protest. Every one had
heard the speaker distinctly, and every man distinctly understood him.
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