Page 145 - In A New World

CHAPTER XXVI.

A THIEF'S EMBARRASSMENT.

When the thief left Obed Stackpole's cabin with his booty his heart was
filled with exultation. He had been drifting about for years, the football of

fortune, oftener down than up, and had more than once known what it was
to pass an entire day without food. And all this because he had never been

willing to settle down to steady work or honest industry. He had set out in
life with a dislike for each, and a decided preference for living by his wits.
Theft was no new thing for him. Once he had barely escaped with his life in

one of the Western States of America for stealing a horse. He had drifted to
Australia, with no idea of working at the mines or anywhere else, but with

the intention of robbing some lucky miner and making off with the
proceeds of his industry.

Well, he had succeeded, and his heart was light.

"No more hard work for me," he said to himself joyfully, "no more
privation and suffering. Now I can live like a gentleman."

It never seemed to occur to him that a thief could by no possibility live like
a gentleman. To be a gentleman, in his opinion, meant having a pocketful

of money.

He would like to have examined the nugget, but there was no time, nor was

there light enough to form an opinion of it. Besides, Obed and the two boys
might at any moment discover their loss, and then there would be pursuers

on his track. He could not hide it, for it was too large, and anyone seeing
what he carried would suspect its nature and character.

The responsibility of property was upon him now. It was an unaccustomed
sensation. This thief began now to dread an encounter with other thieves.

There were other men, as well as himself, who had little respect for the
rights of property, and this he well knew.