An' Saturdee night's best, 'cause the Cow Flats what have been to Yarraman buyin' things come up to the Drovers' Arms on the coach, an' walk home from there.' It was agreed that Peterson should stay with Dick in the mine that night.
The boys had no longer any fear of the black hole discovered at the end of the main drive.

An exploring party had made its way through the opening and into the workings beyond, and had found itself in a drive communicating with the Red Hand shaft.

Dick, who once in an emergency had served as tool-boy in the Silver Stream for a fortnight, knew that at a lower level there was another and a much longer Red Hand drive by which access to the Silver Stream No.

1 workings was possible; but he kept this knowledge to himself.
Shortly after midnight Dick and Billy ventured to return to Waddy, with the idea of securing Billy's goat, Hector, a sturdy black brute much admired as the most inveterate 'rusher' in the country.

With the boys of Waddy a goat that butted or 'rushed' was highly prized as an animal of spirit.