The Great Crushing at Mount Sugar-Bag | Page 8

Cohen wired it, grinning to himself the while as he thought of the
rich mass of amalgam lying in Fryers box. Nothing much under £350
would be his share, even after paying Rody £200, in addition to

Durham's £150.
There was a great attendance to see the retorts opened two days
afterwards, and Mr. Cohen went into a series of fits when the opening
of the largest cylinder revealed nothing by a black mass of charred
nastiness (the result of the lead filings), and the other (which contained
the amalgam from the first crushing) showed only a little gold--less
than twenty ounces.
Of course he wanted to do something desperate, but Rody took him
aside, and showing him certain documents concerning horses, said--
"Now, look here; you had better let things alone. It's better for your to
lose £350 than go to gaol. This crushing is a great disappointment to
me as well as you. We've both been had badly over it."
It was not many weeks before the three mates met again in Sydney,
Durham having wired them half of the £150 sent him by Ikey Cohen
before he left Townsville, not knowing that they had got £200 out of
Ikey themselves. And about a year later Rody sent Mrs. Cohen a letter
enclosing the amount of old Fryer's bill of crushing, and £80 from
himself and mates for Ikey. "Tell him, Polly, that he can keep the
horses for the £70 against us. The money he sent to Harry Durham--to
swindle him out of that rich crushing, and what he gave Buller and
me--set us on our legs. We have been doing very well at the Thames
here, in New Zealand, since we left Sugar-bag. Of course you can
please yourself as to whether you give him the £80 or keep it yourself.
And if you send us a receipt signed by yourself, it will do us just as
well as his, and please in particular your old friend, RODY
MINOGUE."


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