broader, certainly not much taller—not at all
bronzed, and without one single scar in his
face after all he had done and seen. He never
fixed his eyes upon me in a penetrating sort
of way, to see if I should do for the Diggings,
nor gave me any impression I had expected
as to the man he had become, and all he was
to do. I felt much disappointed in him. Still,
all in a pleasant way. But what especially
vexed me, if I may use so strong an expression,
was the many questions he asked me about
several fellows who had been with us at old
Tucker's, but had turned out no great shakes,
while he never even alluded to his travels and
adventures, nor to the gold diggings. I began
to doubt if he were going there, fancying I
must have misunderstood Waits, or that
Waits must have been misinformed.

After my second cup, and having been
quite unable to do more than crack my egg
all to smash over the top, I could endure the
perverse suspension no longer:

"Oh, by the bye," said I, as if suddenly
recollecting the matter, "I wanted to talk
with you a little about Australia."

"So I understood by your note," said
Arrowsmith. There he stopped. "Well,"
continued he, after a minute, and looking up
from his plate, "talk away!"

"I should rather wish," said I, "to hear
you speak on the subject, as you are so much
more conversant with it, and have a fund of
information on the subject."

"I don't at all know that I have any such
thing," said he; "in fact, I have only
recently determined to go. I have simply
made sure in my own mind of the two main
points."

"And what are they?" said I, eagerly,
upsetting, I regret to say, my egg all over
the cloth, caused by the dog.

"Why, that there's no doubt about the
gold," said he, "and also that men may have
it for the digging—provided" (here Arrowsmith
did look rather hard at me) "they can
get there with tools and so forth, and are
able to work hard, and hold out until they
succeed."

"Oh yes," said I; "but you know all about
the best ships to go in, the fares, the sort of
outfit, the various tools, engines, and
implements."

"I can only say that I have taken my
cabin already, in the Rodneyrig, which sails
on the twentieth of next month from the
East India Docks," said he; "and as to
tools, implements, and engines, I consider
them, for the most part, mere matters of
speculation."

"I don't understand you," said I; and I
certainly did not.

"I mean," said he, "that the proper tools,
engines, and implements, may not be known
here, or circumstances may cause changes on
the spot, which cannot well be foreseen; and
if they are known to those who deal in such
things, there may be so large an importation
of them in Australia as to supersede the
trouble of taking them. The increased
expense of purchasing them there may not
exceed, or even equal, that of the purchase
here, with the packing cases, carting, wharf
dues, douceurs to storekeepers' men and
ship-stowers, the freight, duty on arriving in
Australia, carriage ashore by boats, porterage,
warehousing for a time, and so forth."

"The deuce!" said I.

"On the other hand," proceeded Arrowsmith,
stretching himself, with legs out and
his arms thrown up in the air, "there may be
a large demand for all tools and implements, so
that they may be worth enormous prices at
the time we arrive; in which case of course
it will be fortunate for the man who has
taken out a considerable stock, because he
could select what he needed for himself and
his party, and sell the remainder on terms
that might pay for the whole, ten times
over."

"Aha!" said I.

"Perhaps fifty times over—or a hundred
times "—said he, "and his passage-money to
boot—nobody knows; and because nobody
knows, I call it speculation. I don't
recommend it."

"Don't you! " said I; "not when you may
get a hundred per cent. on your outlay, by
George!"

"No," said he, "all things considered, I do
not."

"Do you mean to speculate yourself?"
said I, rather pointedly, by way of arriving at
some fixed conclusion to guide me.

"I have given you my opinion, Dixon,"
said he curtly. "You must do what you
think best."

Now, this seemed to me clearly declining
the question. I made no remark. After
proceeding some time, however, with my
breakfast, though I could hardly swallow, I
thought there absolutely must be several
things, many indeed, which he could tell me
about—things quite necessary to the
undertaking. I was losing my opportunity with
Arrowsmith if I did not elicit more than this.
"I suppose," said I, carelessly, "I suppose I
had better get some few articles as soon as
possible—just a few that will be sure to be
useful—perhaps indispensable. A chest of
clothes for instance, a small family of picks,
and a screw wrench—eh? Also, a revolver,
a good Dutch pipe, though I don't smoke
myself, and a camp-stool, don't you think?"

Arrowsmith looked close down into his
plate when I said this, to conceal his countenance,
as I fancied. He then beckoned his
dog, who instantly leaped up and sat upon
his knees, and he and the dog both looked
straight at me. They both had very grave
countenances, and yet, as our eyes continued
to look at each other, there was something
so odd in the effect of it, that I could not
help laughing. At this, Arrowsmith instantly
sank back in his chair, and laughed