"
The orders were given,--bass at five shillings a bottle, champagne
(nee gooseberry) at five pounds, Cape smoke at two shillings per two
fingers,--and, at a given signal, there was an inarticulate roar from
dusty throats, an inversion of tumblers over thirsty mouths, and a
second inversion over the ground to show that all the contents had
disappeared.
Satan, the one cat and only domestic pet of the camp, saw that there was
a general treat going on, and bustling up for his drink took a can of
condensed milk at six shillings. Other diggers came trooping in as the
news spread, and Tommy Dartmoor, who was rapidly becoming mellow, for
he drank half a tumbler of raw whisky with every one who nodded to
him, stood them refreshments galore, while the greasy Jew began to see
visions of his adopted fatherland in the near distance.
So the Kaffirs, except those who had supplies of their own, kept sober
and peaceful, while the higher order of the human race at Big Stone
Hole, after the manner of their kind, began to squabble. It was natural
for them to do so, perhaps, for the weather was so hot, and the liquors,
for the most part, more so; and under these circumstances men do not
always cast about them long for a casus belli.
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