A COOLGARDIE PIONEER. 163 



It was coming. I knew ifc would. I was glad 1 

 had given Mm my chair to sit upon. I thought it 

 might propitiate him. 



" All right, was it not ? '' I asked. 



^' Oh, yes. But the beggars got hold of it in 

 Melbourne, and when they knew who it was that was 



staying at , they came down in shoals. Had to 



clear out to get rid of them,'^ said Ford. 



I pacified him. Never mind how it was done. 

 That is part of an interviewer's patent which must not 

 be infringed. 



I held out a few baits to my visitor, and soon had 

 him launched on the golden topic, which is the mighty 

 engine that moves this mammon-ridden world of ours. 



'' Ah, what did I tell you last year/' said Ford. 

 ''Did I not tell you Coolgardie would turn out the 

 richest goldfield the world has ever seen ? '^ 



" You did,'' I assented. 



" Permanent, you ask. Of course it is. I never 

 had a shadow of a doubt about it myself. I tell you, 

 ' Verax/ Coolgardie is a mass of gold. The land reeks 

 with it. The mines are extending in all directions. 

 This new Londonderry mine is rich, but I do not 

 think it will pan out as well as Bayley's in the long 

 run. I know the country well, every inch of it, and 

 that is my opinion. The finds are extending north- 

 wards now, and it is in that direction there is the 

 richest gold and also to the south of cur mine. The 



