But the express company
gave him a handsome rifle and a generous share of the gold recovered; I
prefer to believe that Steve was an honest man.
The stage arrived at Moore's Flat, and Mat Bailey hurriedly transferred
baggage and passengers to the gaily painted and picturesque stage-coach
which, drawn by four strong horses, was to continue the journey. A pair
of horses and a mountain wagon had handled the traffic to that point;
but at the present time, when Moore's Flat can boast but eleven
inhabitants, the transfer to the stage-coach is made at North
Bloomfield, several miles further on. But in 1879, Moore's Flat, Eureka
Township, was a thriving place, employing hundreds of miners. The great
sluices, blasted deep into solid rock, then ran with the wash from high
walls of dirt and gravel played upon by streams of water in the process
known as hydraulic mining. Jack Vizzard, the watchman, threaded those
sluiceways armed with a shot-gun.
At Moore's Flat, six men and two women boarded the stage; and Mat Bailey
took in charge a small leather valise, smuggled out of the back door of
the bank and handed to him carelessly. Mat received it without the
flicker of an eyelash.
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