"Yes," I answered; "I see that his tent has been removed; and I supposed that he had gone." "When I woke up this morning," continued the married man, "and saw that he had left between two days, I was never more surprised in my life." "Indeed!" I had a good deal of respect for Tom, and fancied he had the same for me. I thought we should work together, as long as we stayed on the diggings; and for him to leave, without saying a word about his going, quite stunned me. My wife, however, was not at all surprised at it-- when I told her that he had gone away. She said she expected it; and only wondered he had had the cheek to stay so long. "I asked her what she meant. By way of reply she brought me this nugget." As the man finished speaking, he produced from his pocket a lump of gold--weighing about eighteen ounces--and held it up before my eyes. "But what has this to do with your partner's leaving you?" I asked. "That's just the question I put to my wife," said the man. "And what answer did she make?" "She said, that, after we had been about a week working in the claim, she was one day making some bread; and when she had used up the last dust of flour in the tent, she found that she wanted a handful to sprinkle over the outside of the damper--to keep it from sticking to the pan. With her hands in the dough, she didn't care to go to the store for any; but stepped across to Tom's tent to get a little out of his bag. There was no harm in this: for we were so well acquainted with him, that we knew he would not consider it much of a liberty. My wife had often before been into his hut, to borrow different articles; and Tom knew of it, and of course had said, all right. Well, on the day I am speaking of, she went in after the flour; and, on putting her hand into the bag to take some out, she laid her fingers on this here lump of yellow metal. Don't you see it all now? It's plain as a pike-staff. Tom had found the nugget, while working alone in the claim; and intended to keep it for himself, without letting either of us know anything about it. He was going to rob us of our share of the gold. He has turned out a damned thief." "Certainly it looks like it," said I.