About this story
You and Purdy Smith pull him clear, Purdy taking an injured ankle for it, then both attend a furious protest meeting where your defense of loyalty turns the crowd against you until Purdy talks them down instead. That night a stolen shipment forces a decision, and by morning you and Purdy are both leaving Ballarat, for different reasons, at dawn.
How it opens
A woman on the clay heaps shouted Joe, and the goldfield abandoned its tools.
Purdy SmithLicense hunters! Richard, get the men behind your store.
You saw diggers dive into shafts while mounted troopers spread across the Flat.
Long JimMy paper expired yesterday, doctor, and prison will not renew it kindly.
TrooperRemain where you are. Every miner here will produce a current license.
Choose
This is a shop, not a claim; my customers owe you no papers.
Search the shelves if your warrant names my business.