"Of course, I knew at once what had happened--some one of my mates,
believing me to be dead, had appropriated all my belongings and gone off
with them. There was nothing at all to be wondered at in that--it was the
usual thing in such a society. And I knew there was nothing to do but to
accept my loss philosophically."
"Did you make no effort to recover your possessions?" asked Mr.
Millington-Bywater.
"No," answered the witness with a quiet smile. "I didn't! I knew too much
of the habits of men in mining centers to waste time in that way. A great
many men had left that particular camp during my illness--it would have
been impossible to trace each one. No--after all, I had left England in
order to lose my identity, and now, of course, it was gone. I went away
into quite another part of the country--into Queensland. I began trading
in Brisbane, and I did very well there, and remained there many years.
Then I went farther south, to Sydney--and I did very well there too. It
was in Sydney, years after that, that I saw the advertisements in the
newspapers, English and Colonial, setting forth that my father was dead,
and asking for news of myself.
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