midnight
Hastily turning their tired horses ' heads , they rode as hard as they could to the nearest mining camp , and on the following day thirty hairy-faced foreign-devils came charging into the Chinese camp , uttering fearful threats , and shooting right and left -LRB- with blank cartridges -RRB- . The Chinese broke and fled , and in half an hour each of the thirty men had pegged out a claim , and Chinkie 's Flat became famous as one of the richest , though smallest , alluvial diggings in the Far North . Three months after the `` discovery '' of the field by Mr. Peter Finnerty , old `` Taeping , '' as Gordon 's ex-marine engineer had been promptly nicknamed , arrived with his crushing battery , and then indeed were halcyon days for the Flat . From early morn till long past midnight , the little bar of the `` Digger 's Best '' was crowded with diggers , packhorsemen and teamsters ; a police trooper arrived and fixed his tent on the ridge overlooking the creek , and then -- the very zenith of prosperity -- a bank official followed , and a stately building , composed of a dozen sheets of bark for a roof , and floor sacks for the sides , was erected and opened for business on the same day , amid much rejoicing and a large amount of liquid refreshment dispensed by the landlord of the `` hotel '' at a shilling per nobbler . For six months longer all went well : more alluvial patches were discovered in the surrounding country , and then several rich reefs were found a mile away from the Flat , and every day new men arrived from Cooktown to the north , and Brisbane , Sydney , and far New Zealand to the south . Three new `` hotels '' sprang up ; the police force was increased by another trooper and two black trackers , who rode superciliously around the camp , carbines on thighs , in their dark blue uniforms with scarlet facings , and condescended to drink with even the humblest white man ; and then came the added glory of the `` Chinkie 's Flat Gold Escort '' -- when a police van with an Irish sergeant , two white troopers , and eight black police rattled through the camp , and pulled up at the bank , which now had a corrugated iron roof , a proper door , and two windows , and -LRB- the manager 's own private property -RRB- a tin shower bath suspended by a cord under the verandah , a seltzogene , and a hen with seven chickens . The manager himself was a young sporting gentleman of parts , and his efforts to provide Sunday recreation for his clients were duly appreciated -- he was secretary of the Chinkie 's Flat Racing Club -LRB- meeting every alternate Sunday -RRB- , and he and old `` Taeping '' between them owned a dozen of kangaroo dogs , which lived on the community generally , and afforded much exciting sport every Saturday , either in hunting kangaroos or Chinamen , both of which were plentiful in the vicinity .