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ACT 2. Scene 1. At Doctor Wills Surgery at Ballarat

Horace: By heavens !! That hurts Doctor Wills.

Dr. Wills: I know, but at least Matthew has kept the knee wound free of infection.

Horace: Thanks Mattew!

Matt: Good to see you are mending Horace.

Horace: Yes, but I will never be able to work my Gold mine. I am too big and overweight, and my knee will always let me down. That’s why I am enticing you Matt, to go shares in my Gold Mine. You do all the work and hiring. I keep an eye on the profit and the Operation.

Dr. Wills: If Matt wants to leave my Medical Practice, I could ask my eldest son William to work for me here. At least it would get him away from Shepherding and Surveying Studies. But he is very interested in Gold, and it was the reason we came here as a Family because, whilst in England, I invested money for a share in the Melbourne Gold Mining Company.

Matt: I met William some time ago. I think he could be interested in helping here at your Practice. Anyway I will have to make some decision soon because my parents, uncles and aunts want to go off and get cattle at Deniliquin and sell them here on these Ballarat Goldfields.

Dr.Wills: Denliquin That’s where William and his brother are looking after sheep on a property. I will contact William, and see if he is interested, but please don’t leave this surgery Matthew until he comes here or I can arrange for someone else to replace you.

--------------------------------later at Matt and Linda’s Home------------------------------------

Linda: Matt, I think Horace has given us a great opportunity with the Gold Mine. If I could persuade Mrs. Ena Perry to cook and wash for us, we could take Hayley and Jessica with us.

Matt: I have worked out how to run the mine. If Horace gives us half the profits, we could be setup for life. When Tristan and Christopher get back from the cattle drive from “The Long Paddock” to here at Ballarat, with my Dad David, Uncle Jim and Uncle Garrath, and our Mums, they could work in the mine getting the rough rocks and soil. Mackenzie could guide and look after the horse that pulls the baskets of mined lumps of rock to the surface. Hayley and Jess could select the larger lumps of gold bearing rock, and Gemma could sift the residue in the pan of water to find the smaller specks of gold.

Linda: Why don’t you make a Puddling Area, that way all the hard work can be done by the horse. And you could make money from any miner that needed the service.

Matt: That’s a good idea. Maybe I could do some Puddling for some of the Miners and make extra money. At the Mine we have a creek that feeds into the small dam. I could make the creek overflow into 3 small pools with stone bottoms, so that all the mud would be available for the other miners to inspect if they wanted to use our ‘puddling’.

ACT 2. Scene 2. At Matt and Linda’s Home at the Gold Mine.

Raffaello Carboni: Ello isa Orace ere?

Mrs. Ena Perry: No! Whom may I ask is enquiring.

Carboni: Mya name isa Carboni. I ams looking for Orace.

Mrs. Perry: You mean Horace?

Carboni: Si si. Heeya promise me a look at isa mine.

Mrs. Perry: Why Mister Carboni?

Carboni: Peter Lalor, wants me to sees all the foreigners and tell them what isa happening.

Mrs. Perry: What is happening Mister Carboni?

Carboni: Alla the Miners donna like the Govments Mining Tax, so we not pay them.

Mrs. Perry: But that will make the Government Officials angry, and they may send the Troops to make the Miners Pay. They have already put up signs against you.

Carboni: Thatsa too bad. We av also put up signs saying Govment no good. We are not going to pay pay the mining tax!

Mrs. Perry. Anyway Mr. Mathew Duncan is in charge of this Mine. He is busy at the moment, and will not have time to see you.

Carboni: Thatsa who Pietro is seeing at the moment. E is discusing with im how to build a Puddling area. E was an Engineer on the Melbourne to Williamstown Railway line, before he come here to get gold.

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