Adventure stories; Gold -- Juvenile fiction; South Africa -- Juvenile fiction; Young men -- Fiction
"No, that will hardly do, I think," answered Mr. Blakeney. "To you,
most certainly, belongs the lion’s share. If your father had lived he
would have come here and made his fortune; and it is only right that
you, to whom your father willed, as it were, this wonderful valley,
should succeed him."
"My dear Uncle Charles," interrupted Guy eagerly, "please don’t talk
like that. What should I have done without you? You have fitted out
the expedition, planned the whole thing, brought me here, shown me how
to find the stuff--done everything, in fact. I know my father said
something in his last letter about our going halves, but that is
manifestly unfair to you, who have had the whole weight of this
discovery on your shoulders. If you like to let me stand in to the
extent of, say, one-third of the plunder, I shall be more than well
content. Even a quarter, or less, would satisfy me well."
"My dear Guy," answered his uncle, "you are talking rank nonsense, and I
can’t listen to you. What I propose is this. You shall take two-thirds
of the value of the gold, if and when we manage to get to Cape Town, or
some other market. And, mind you, we haven’t by any means marketed our
stuff yet. Of the remaining one-third, I think Tom, for all his
trouble, ought to have a share, say a quarter--or say £5,000--with which
he can make a real good start in farming some day, and build himself a
house. I think such a settlement ought to content us all."
"No, no, no, uncle!" broke in Guy. "I will never agree to any such
absurd division. You have done everything for me, and practically
carried me here and found the gold for me. Where on earth should I have
been without you?"
After a good deal more discussion, Guy remained quite unconvinced by the
quiet but weighty arguments of his uncle. Finally it was agreed between
them that the arrangement ought to be as Guy’s father had proposed, and
that the gold should be divided equally between them. Then came the
remuneration of the men. Poeskop, questioned as to what he would like to
have as his reward for showing the way to the kloof, replied that he did
not know--he would leave it to his masters. Perhaps enough money to buy
a horse, a new rifle, and ten head of cattle would be about the mark.
This, of course, his masters put aside as inadequate. Although the gold
was of little use to him--in all these years he had never attempted to
win or dispose of it--it was but fair that he should be well paid for
his secret. He had expressed a wish to return to Bechuanaland with his
new baases. It was arranged that the sum of £1,000 should be put at his
disposal, so soon as the gold was realized. With this he could buy some
land, stock it, and have enough over to purchase a wagon. As for the
rest of the men, Mr. Blakeney and the boys agreed that a hundred pounds
apiece, in addition to the wages paid to them during the expedition,
would be handsome remuneration for their services.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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