Transcriber's Note:

 The Table of Contents is not part of the original book. 

 SOME

 EVERYDAY

 FOLK

 AND DAWN

 MILES FRANKLIN

 First published in Great Britain by

 William Blackwood & Sons

 1909

 * * * * *

_TO THE

ENGLISH MEN WHO BELIEVE IN VOTES FOR WOMEN

THIS STORY IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, BECAUSE THE WOMEN HEREIN CHARACTERISED WERENEVER FORCED TO BE

"SUFFRAGETTES, "

THEIR COUNTRYMENHAVING GRANTED THEM THEIR RIGHTS AS

SUFFRAGISTS

IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1902. 

M. F. _

 * * * * *

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

ONE. CLAY'S. 

TWO. AT CLAY'S. 

THREE. BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH GRANDMA CLAY. 

FOUR. DAWN'S AMBITION. 

FIVE. MISS FLIPP'S UNCLE. 

SIX. GRANDMA CLAY'S LOVE-STORY. 

SEVEN. THE LITTLE TOWN OF NOONOON. 

EIGHT. GRANDMA TURNS NURSE. 

NINE. THE KNIGHT HAS A STOLEN VIEW OF THE LADY. 

TEN. PROVINCIAL POLITICS AND SEMI-SUBURBAN DENTISTS. 

ELEVEN. ANDREW DISGRACES HIS "RARIN'. "

TWELVE. SOME SIDE-PLAY. 

THIRTEEN. VARIOUS EVENTS. 

FOURTEEN. THE PASSING OF THE TRAINS. 

FIFTEEN. ALAS! MISS FLIPP!

SIXTEEN. ADVANCE, AUSTRALIA!

SEVENTEEN. MRS BRAY AND CARRY COME TO ISSUES. 

EIGHTEEN. THE FOUNDATION OF THE POULTRY INDUSTRY. 

NINETEEN. AN OPPORTUNELY INOPPORTUNE DOUCHE. 

TWENTY. "ALAS! HOW EASILY THINGS GO WRONG!"

TWENTY-ONE. THINGS GO MORE WRONG. 

TWENTY-TWO. "O SPIRIT, AND THE NINE ANGELS WHO WATCH US . .. "

TWENTY-THREE. UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE. 

TWENTY-FOUR. LITTLE ODDS AND ENDS OF LIFE. 

TWENTY-FIVE. "LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM. "

TWENTY-SIX. "OFF WITH THE OLD. "

TWENTY-SEVEN. "ONE MIGHT THINK BETTER OF MARRIAGE IF ONE'S MARRIED FRIENDS . .. "

TWENTY-EIGHT. LET THERE BE LOVE. 

TWENTY-NINE. "THE SAVAGE SELLS OR EXCHANGES HIS DAUGHTER, BUT IN . .. "

THIRTY. FOR FURTHER PARTICULARS CONSULT 'THE NOONOON ADVERTISER' OF THAT DATE. 

 L'ENVOI. 

 * * * * *

GLOSSARY OF COLLOQUIALISMS AND SLANG TERMS. 

AUSTRALIAN. AMERICAN EQUIVALENTS. ENGLISH INTERPRETATION. 

Billy A tin pail A camp-kettle. Blokes Guys Chaps--fellows. Bosker Dandy or "dandy Something meeting with fine" unqualified approval. Galoot A rube A yokel--a heavy country fellow. Larrikin A hoodlum. Moke A common knockabout horse. Narked Sore Vexed--to have lost the temper. Gin Squaw An aboriginal woman. Quod Jail. Sollicker Somewhat equivalent Something excessive. To "corker"Toff A "sport" or "swell A well-dressed guy" individual--sometimes of the upper ten. Two "bob" Fifty cents Two shillings. To graft To "dig in" To work hard and steadily. To scoot To vamoose or skidoo To leave hastily and unceremoniously. To smoodge To be a "sucker" To curry favour at the expense of independence. "Gives me the pip" "Makes me tired" Bores. "On a string" } Trifling with him. "Pulling his leg"}Kookaburra A giant kingfisher with grey plumage and a merry, mocking, inconceivably human laugh--a killer of snakes, and a great favourite with Australians. 

 * * * * *

Some Everyday Folk and Dawn. 

ONE. 

CLAY'S. 

The summer sun streamed meltingly down on the asphalted siding of thecountry railway station and occasioned the usual grumbling from thepassengers alighting from the afternoon express. 

There were only three who effect this narrative--a huge, red-faced, barrel-like figure that might have served to erect as a monument tothe over-feeding in vogue in this era; a tall, spare, old fellow witha grizzled beard, who looked as though he had never known a successionof square feeds; and myself, whose physique does not concern thisnarrative. 

Having surrendered our tickets and come through a down-hill passage tothe dusty, dirty, stony, open space where vehicles awaited travellers, the usual corner "pub. "--in this instance a particularly dilapidatedone--and three tin kangaroos fixed as weather-cocks on a dwellingover the way, and turning hither and thither in the hot gusts of wind, were the first objects to arrest my attention in the town of Noonoon, near the river Noonoon, whereaway it does not particularly matter. Thenext were the men competing for our favour in the matter of vehicularconveyance. 

The big man, by reason of his high complexion, abnormal waistmeasurement, expensive clothes, and domineering manner, whichproclaimed him really a lord of creation, naturally commanded thefirst and most obsequious attention, and giving his address as"Clay's, " engaged the nearest man, who then turned to me. 

"Where might you be going?"

"To Jimmeny's Hotel. "

"Right O! I can just drop you on the way to Clay's, " said he; and thebig swell grunted up to a box seat, while I took a position in thebody of the vehicle commanding a clear view of the grossness of thehighly coloured neck rolling over his collar. 

The journey through the town unearthed the fact that it resembled manyof its compeers. The oven-hot iron roofs were coated with red dust; afew lackadaisical larrikins upheld occasional corner posts; dogsconducted municipal meetings here and there; the ugliness of thehorses tied to the street posts, where they baked in the sun whiletheir riders guzzled in the prolific "pubs. , " bespoke a farming ratherthan a grazing district; and the streets had the distinction of beingthe most deplorably dirty and untended I have seen. 

The same could be said of a cook, or some such individual of whom Icaught a glimpse when landed at a corner hotel, where I sat inside thedoor of a parlour awaiting the appearance of the landlady or thepublican, while for diversion I watched the third arrival wending hisway from the station on foot and shouting something concerning melonsto a man in a dray in the middle of the roadway. 

Evidently it was the land of melons and other fruits and vegetables. 

Over at the railway, loaded waggons, drays, and carts were backedagainst a line of trucks drawn up to convey such produce to the cityand other parts of the country, while strings of vehicles similarlyburdened were thundering up the street. Some carts were piled withcases of peaches, grapes, tomatoes, and rock-melons--the rich aromaticscent of the last mentioned strongly asserting their presence as theypassed. On some waggons the water-melons were packed in straw and hadthe grower's initials chipped in the rind, others were not sodistinguished, and at intervals the roughness of the thoroughfarebumped one off. If the fall did not break it quite in two, a strayloafer pulled it so and tore out a little of the sweet and lusciousheart, leaving the remainder to the ants and fowls. The latter wererunning about on friendly terms with the dogs, which they equalled invariety and number. Droves of small boys haunted the railway premisesat that time of the year and eagerly assisted the farmers to trucktheir melons in return for one, and came away with their spoils undertheir arms. Never before had I seen so many melons or so large. Someweighed sixty and eighty pounds or more, while those from sixteen totwenty-five pounds, in all varieties, --Cuban Queens, Dixies, Halbert'sHoney, and Cannon Balls, --were procurable at one shilling the dozen, and nearly as much produce as sent away wasted in the fields for wantof a market. 

An hour after arrival, having refused the offer of refreshments, whichin such places are not always refreshing, I betook myself to acomparatively cool back verandah to further investigate my temporarysurroundings. 

A yellow-haired girl with rings on her fingers sprawled in a hammockreading a much-thumbed circulating-library novel and eating peaches. This was the landlord's daughter, and a very superior young ladyindeed from her own point of view. 

I learnt that at present there would only be one other boarder besidesmyself. He came up for the week-end, and had just gone down to Clay'sto see some one there. If he could get a berth at Clay's he would notcome back; but the only hope of being taken in there during the summerweather was to bespeak room a long way ahead, as there was a great runon the place. It was built right beside the river, and they kept boatsfor hire, which attracted a number of desirable young men from thecity to engage in week-end fishing, picnicing, swimming, &c. ; and theyoung gentlemen attracted young ladies, who found it difficult to betaken in at all, because old Mrs Clay allowed her granddaughter, Dawn, to boss the place, and _she_ favoured men-boarders. 

The tone of Yellow-hair suggested that perhaps the men-boardersfavoured Dawn; at all events, it was an attractive name and arousedinterested inquiry from me. 

"Oh yes, some thought her a beauty! There were great arguments as towhether she or Dora Cowper--another great big fat thing in a hay andcorn store over the way--was the belle of Noonoon;" but for her part, Yellow-hair thought her too coarse and vulgar and high-coloured (MissJimmeny was sallow and thin), and she was always making herself seenand known everywhere. One would think she owned Noonoon!

"There she is now, " exclaimed the girl, pointing out another who wasdriving a fat pony in a yellow sulky. "Talk of the devil. "

"Perhaps it is an angel in this case, " I responded, for though she wasthickly veiled she suggested youth and a style that pleased the eye. 

Whether she and the boats were sufficient to make Clay's an attractiveplace of residence I did not know, but already was painfully aware ofconditions that would make Jimmeny's Hotel an uncomfortable location. I retired to my room to escape some of them--the foul language of thetipplers under the front verandah, and the winds from two streets thatalso met there in a whirlwind of dust and refuse. 

There was nothing for me to do but kill time, and no way of killing itbut by simple endurance. I had been ordered to some country resort forthe good of my health. But do not fear, reader; this is not to be acompilation of ills and pulses, for no one more than the unfortunatevictim of such is so painfully aware of their lack of interest to thecommunity at large. There are, I admit, some invalids who find acertain amount of entertainment in inflicting a list of their achesupon people, blissfully unconscious of how wearisome they can be, butmy temperament is of the sensitive order, knowing its length too wellto similarly transgress. 

How I had struck upon Noonoon I don't know or care, except that it waswithin easy access of the metropolis, and I have no predilection forbeing isolated from the crowded haunts of my fellows. I had descendedupon Jimmeny's Hotel because in an advertisement sheet it was putdown as the leading house of accommodation in Noonoon. Now I had cometo hear of Clay's and Dawn, and determined to shift myself there assoon as possible. This did not seem imminent, for presently the"bloated aristocrat" came back to Jimmeny's pub. For the evening meal, as he had been unable to get so much as a shake-down at Clay's. Thisso aroused my desire to be a boarder at Clay's that I straightwaywrote a letter to its châtelaine inquiring what style of accommodationshe provided, and could she accommodate me; and strolling up thebroken street, while a few larrikins at corners, by way ofentertaining themselves and me, made remarks upon my appearance, Idropped it in the post-office, but had to endure a week's inattentionat Jimmeny's, and no end of yarns from outside folk I encountered asto how Mrs Jimmeny robbed the "swipes" who took their poison at herbar, before I was honoured by a reply from Mrs Clay. 

 "The accommodation provided by me for people is clean and wholesome and the best as suits me. If it don't suit them there are other places near that makes more efforts to gather custom than I do. I can't take you in at present as I'm too full for my taste as it is. --Yours respectfully, "Martha Clay. "

This interesting rebuff inspired me to further effort, and sitting onthe back verandah, under a giant fig-tree shedding its delicious andwholesome fruit also to the fowls and ants, I wrote:--

 "Dear Madam, --Would you kindly apprise me when it would be convenient to accommodate me, as I'm anxious to be near the river, where I could indulge in boating?"

To this I received reply:--

 "There isn't any chance of me accommodating you till the cool weather, and then I don't take boarders at all. I like to have them all in the summer, and then have a little peace to ourselves in the winter without strangers, for the best of them have their noses poked everywhere they are not wanted. If you want to go near the river there are heaps of houses where there isn't no such rush of people as at my place. "

This firmly determined me to reside at Mrs Clay's, a desired member ofthe household, or perish in the attempt. Alack! I had plenty time tospend in such a trifle, for I was but a derelict, broken in fiercestruggle and hopelessly cast aside into smooth waters, safe from thestormy currents now too strong for my timbers. That I had means to lieat anchor in some genial boarding-house, instead of being dependentupon charity, was undoubtedly food for thankfulness, and when one hasburned their coal-heap to ashes they are grateful for an occasionalcharcoal among the cinders. 

No other place near the river but Clay's would do me, though thevalley had much to recommend it at that season, when grapes, peaches, and other fruits were literally being thrown away on every hand. So Irepacked my trunk, and the 'busman who had brought me took me oncemore along the execrable streets, past the corner pub. , near therailway station, and, it being late afternoon, the railway employés, as they came off duty, were streaming towards it for the purpose of"wetting their whistle" after their eight-houred day's work. 

Leaving the misguided fellows thus worse than ignorantly refreshingthemselves, and the tin kangaroos showing that the breeze was from theeast, I travelled farther west to a summer resort in the coolaltitude, there to await from Mrs Martha Clay a recall to the vale ofmelons. That I would get one I was sure, and so little was there in mylife that even this prospect lent a zest to the mail each day. 

I had neither relatives nor friends. Fate had apportioned me none ofthe former, and fierce, absorbing endeavour had left little time forcultivating the latter, while pride made me hide from allacquaintances who had known me standing amid the plaudits of thecrowd--strong and successful; and fiercely desiring to be left tomyself, I shrank with sensitive horror from the sympathy that is onlycareless pity. 

TWO. 

AT CLAY'S. 

The long hot days gave place to cooler and shorter, and there was noneleft of the beautiful fruit--peaches, apricots, figs, plums, nectarines, grapes, and melons--which, for want of a market, hadrotted ankle-deep in some parts of the fertile old valley of Noonoonere I received a communication from Mrs. Clay. 

 "If you think it worth your while you can investigate my place now. All the summer weather folk has gone. I would only take one or two nice people now that would live with us in our own plain way and who would be company for the family, so I could not undertake to give you a separate parlour and table and carry on that way, but if you like to call and see me, please yourself. "

Accordingly, I lost no time in once more patronising the town 'busman, and being his only patron that day, he rattled me past the tinkangaroo weather-cocks, the battered corner pub. And its colleague afew doors on, and entering the principal street where Jimmeny's Hotelfilled the view, turned to the right across fertile flats held intenure by patient Chinese gardeners. 

Being a region of quick growth, it was of correspondingly rapid decay, and the season of summer fruits had been entirely superseded by autumnflowers. The vale of melons was now a valley of chrysanthemums, andwith a little specialisation in this branch of horticulture couldeasily have out-chrysanthemumed Japan. Without any care or cultivationthey filled the little gardens on every side; children of all sizeswere to be seen with bunches of them; while discarded blossoms lay inthe streets, after the fashion of the superabundant melons and orchardfruits during their season. 

About a mile from the station we halted before a ramshackle oldtwo-storey house that was covered by roses and hidden among orange andfig trees. The approach led through an irregular plantation of cedarand pepper trees, pomegranates and other shrubs, and masses ofchrysanthemums and cosmos that flourished in every available space. 

The friendly 'busman directed me to a gable sheltered by a yellowjasmine-tree, where I tapped on the door with my knuckle. Footstepsapproached on the inside, and after some thumping and kicking on itspanels it was burst open by a nimble old lady in immaculate gown, withcarefully adjusted collar, and wavy hair combed back in a tidy knotand with still a dark shade in it. 

"Them blessed white ants!" she exclaimed. "They've very near got theplace eat down, so that you have to make a fool of yourself openingthe door, and that blessed feller I sent for hasn't come to do 'em upyet; but some people!" She finished so exasperatedly that I feltimpelled to state my name and business without delay, and with a prim"Indeed, " she led the way across a narrow linoleumed hall, sobeeswaxed that one had to stump along carefully erect. 

She invited me to a chair in a stiff room and began--

"I've only got another young lady in the place now, and if you comeyou'll have to eat with the family. "

I considered this an attraction. 

"And there'll be no fussing over you and pampering you, for I'm notreduced to keeping boarders out of necessity. They ain't all I've gotto depend on, " she said with a fiery glance from her cholericblue-grey eyes. 

"Certainly not; I'm sure of that by your style, Mrs. Clay. "

"But of course I like to make a little; this Federal Tariff has rosethe price of living considerable, " she said, softening somewhat as wenow sat down on the formidable and well-dusted seats. 

"But I believe you are somethink of a invalid. "

"Unfortunately, yes. "

"Well, this isn't no private hospital, and never pretended to be. Sickpeople is a lot of trouble potterin' and fussin' around with. Icouldn't, for the sake of my granddaughter, give her a lot of extrawork that wouldn't mean nothink. "

This might have sounded hard, but with some people their veryausterity bespeaks a tenderness of heart. They affect it as a shieldor guard against a softness that leaves them the too easy prey of aself-seeking community, and such I adjudged Mrs. Clay. Her stiffness, like that of the echidna, was a spiky covering protecting the mostgentle and estimable of dispositions. 

"My ill-health is the sort to worry no one but myself. I need nodieting or waiting upon. It is merely a heart trouble, and should ithappen to finish me in your house, I will leave ample compensation, and will pay my board and lodging weekly in advance. "

"I ain't a money-grubber, " she hastened to assure me; "I was onlyexplaining to you. "

"I'm only explaining too, " I said with a smile; and having arrived atthis understanding of mutual straight-going, she intimated that Icould inspect a room I might have. 

In addition to a couple of detached buildings composed of rooms whichduring the summer were given to boarders, there were a few apartmentsin the main residence which were also delivered to this business, andI was conducted to where three in an uneven gable faced west andfronted the river. 

"This is my granddaughter Dawn's, and this one is empty, and this oneis took by a young party for the winter, " said the old dame. 

I selected the middle room, as it gave promise of being companionablewith those on either hand occupied, and its window commanded anattractive view. A tangled old garden opened on a steep descent to thequiet river, edged with willows and garnished by a great row of redand blue boats rocking almost imperceptibly in the even flow, while ahuge placard advertised their business--

 BEST BOATS ON THE RIVER TO BE HIRED HERE. 

 MRS. MARTHA CLAY. 

To the right was an imposing bridge, and on the other side of thewater, right at the foot of the great range which in the early dayshad remained so long impassable, lay the quiet old settlement ofKangaroo. 

"If you think that room will do, you are welcome to it, " continuedMrs. Clay. "Seventeen-and-six a-week without washing--a pound with. "

I agreed to the "with washing" terms, so the affable jehu hauled inwhat luggage I had brought, and at last I was installed at Clay's. 

The only thing wanting to complete the incident was the advent ofDawn, but she was nowhere to be seen. As it was only eleven in themorning I sat in my room and waited for her and a cup of tea, butneither were forthcoming. In her own words, Mrs. Clay "was never giveto running after people an' lickin' their boots. " Eventually, havinggrown weary of waiting for Dawn and luncheon and other things, I wentout on a tour of inspection. First find was a tall dashing girl oftwenty-four or thereabouts, dusting the big heavily encumbered"parler" into which my room opened. 

"Good morning!" heartily said she. 

"Good morning! Are you Dawn?" inquired I. 

"Dawn! No. But you might well ask, for it's nothing but Dawn and herdoings and sayings and good looks here! You'd think there was no othergirl in Noonoon. She won't take it as any compliment to be taken forme. "

"Well, she must be something superlative if it would not be acompliment to be taken for you. "

"Oh me! I'm only Carry the lady-help--general slavey like, earning myliving, only that I eat with the family and not in the kitchen. In thesummer they hire a cook and others, but in the winter there are onlyme and Dawn and the old woman, " said this frank and communicativeindividual in the frank and communicative manner characteristic of theClay household. 

Proceeding from this encounter, I went out the back way past moregardens and irregular enclosures, where under widespreadingcedar-trees I found a boy at the hobbledehoy age chopping wood in adesultory fashion, as though to get rid of time, rather than toenlarge the stack of short sticks, were the most imperative object. Driving his axe in tight and holding on to it as a sort of balance, heleant back, effected a passage in his nostrils, and after havingregarded me with a leisurely and straightforward squint, observed--

"I reckon you're the new boarder?"

"I reckon so. I reckon you belong to this place. "

"Yes, Mrs. Clay, she's my grandma. "

"Is that your grandfather?" I inquired, pointing to the old man whohad travelled with me on the day of my first visit to the town, andnow supporting an outhouse door-post, while a young man with whom hetalked leant against the tailboard of a cart advertising that he wasthe first-class butcher of Kangaroo, and had several otherunsurpassable virtues in the meat trade. 

"No, he ain't me grandfather, thank goodness he's only me uncle;that's plenty for me. "

"Aren't you fond of him?"

"I ain't _dying_ of love for him, I promise you. Old Crawler! Hereckons he's the boss, but sometimes I get home on him in a way that asort of illustrates to his intelligence that he ain't. Ask Dawn. She'sthe one'll give you the straight tip regarding him. "

"Where is Dawn?"

"Oh, Dawn's in the kitchen. She an' Carry does the cookin' week aboutw'en the house ain't full. Grandma makes 'em do that; it saves rowsabout it not bein' fair. You won't ketch sight of Dawn till dinner. She'll want to get herself up a bit, you bein' new; she always doesfor a fresh person, but she soon gets tired of it. "

"And you, are you going to get yourself up because I'm new?"

"Not much; boys ain't that way so much as the wimmin, " he said, andthe grin we exchanged was the germ of a friendship that ripened as ouracquaintance progressed. I intended to settle down to the enjoymentafforded by my sense of humour. I had preserved it intact as a privatepersonal accomplishment. On the stage, having steered clear of comedyand confined myself to tragedy, it had never been cheapened and madenauseous by sham and machine representations indigenous to the hatedfootlights, and was an untapped preserve to be drawn upon now. 

So I was not to see Dawn till the midday dinner; she was to appearlast, like the star at a concert. 

A star she verily was when eventually she came before me carrying awell-baked roast on an old-fashioned dish. Her lovely face was scarletfrom hurry and the fire, her bright hair gleamed in coquettish rolls, and a loose sleeve displayed a round and dimpled forearm--a fittingcontinuance of the taper fingers grasping the chief dish of thewholesome and liberal menu she had prepared. 

Old Uncle Jake took the carver's place, but Grandma Clay sat at hisleft elbow and instructed him what to do. He handed the helpings toher, and she supplemented each with some of all the vegetables, irrespective of the wishes of the consumers, to whom they were handedin a business-like method. The puddings were distributed on the sameprinciple, grandma even putting milk and sugar on the plates as forchildren; and further, she talked in a choleric way, as though thechildren were in bad grace owing to some misdemeanour, but that wasmerely one of her mannerisms, as that of others is to smile and besweet while they inwardly fume. 

Excepting this, the unimpressive old smudges hung above the mantel, and probably standing for some family progenitors, gazed out of theircaricatured eyes on an uneventful meal. Conversation was choppy and ofthe personal order, not interesting to a stranger to those mentioned. I made a few duty remarks to Uncle Jake, which he received withsuspicion, so I left him in peace to suck his teeth and look like asleepy lizard, while I counted the queer and inartistic old vasescrowded in plumb and corresponding pairs on the shelf over thefireplace. 

Miss Flipp, the other boarder, was in every respect a contrast to me, being small, young, and dressed with elaboration in a flimsy stylewhich, off the stage, I have always scorned. Her wrists were ladenwith bangles, her fingers with rings, and her golden hair piled highin the most exaggerated of the exaggerated pompadour styles in vogue. Her appetite was indifferent; the expression of her eyes bespokeeither ill-health or dissipation, and she was very abstracted, or asMrs Clay put it--

"She acts like she had somethink on her mind. Maybe she's love-sickfor some one she can't ketch, and she's been sent up here to forget. "

This was after Miss Flipp had retreated to her room, and Carrycontinued the subject as she cleared the table. 

"She _says_ she's an orphan reared by a rich uncle; she's alwaysblowing about him and how fond he is of her. She's just recovered froman operation and has come up here to get strong. That's why she doesnothing, so she _says_, only poke about and read novels and makeherself new hats and blouses; but _I_ think she'd be lazy without anyoperation. She'd want another to put some go in her. "

"She'd require inoculating with a little of yours, " said I, watchingwith what enviable vigour the girl's work sped before her as thoughafraid. I also retired to my room for a rest, intending to come outand pave the way for friendship with Dawn by-and-by, for I quicklyperceived she was not the character to go out of her way to make thefirst overture. 

Some time after, when strolling around in an unwonted fashion, I waspleased to again encounter my friend Andrew. Evidently he had been setto clean out the fowl-houses, for a wheelbarrow half full of manurestood at the door of a wire-netted shed, and in the middle of thistask he had sought diversion by shooting rats from among the straw ina big old barn, where a great heap of unused hay made them a harbour. In this warm valley, carpeted in the irrepressible couch-grass, therewas no lack of fodder that season, and even the lanes and byways wouldhave served as fattening paddocks. Andrew leant upon his gun, andhaving delivered himself of certain statistics in rat mortality, andexhibiting some specimens by the tail, he began a conversation. 

"Say, what did you think of Miss Thing-amebob, Miss Flipp I mean?"

"I didn't bother thinking anything at all about her. "

Andrew looked interrogatively at me and broke into a grin. 

"Well, I reckon she's the silliest goat I ever came across. She cameout to me and asked did I think she looked pretty, as her uncle iscoming up to-night, and if she looks nice he'll give her a present orsomething. I reckon she'd have to look not such a mad-headed rabbitbefore I'd give her anything but some advice to bag her head. And hemust be a different uncle to Uncle Jake; I reckon he wouldn't give younothing if you had on two heads at once. Here's Larry Witcom comingback from his rounds, and he promised me a bit of meat for Whiskey!Here, Whiskey! Whiskey!" he roared, and a small canine pet that hadbeen hunting rats desisted from the fray and ran with his master. Ialso walked with him--this without exception, even in slum scenes onthe stage, being the dirtiest escort I ever had had. His face wasgrimed, his shirt like an engine-rag, and his trousers dusty, whilefrom a hole in the seat thereof fluttered a flag of garment--such aningratiatingly wholesome blunderbuss of a boy!

"Here, you Larry, " he yelled, "you promised me! Come on, Whiskey! Why, ain't he a bosker!" he enthusiastically exclaimed, as the hideouslyunprepossessing little mongrel stood on his hind legs and yelped inexcited begging. 

"Hullo, Andrew! Don't bust! Who's that you had with you?--(I hadturned a corner)--a new boarder, I suppose? Rather an old piece!"

"Yes, " said Andrew. "Her hair is a little white, but she ain't sourand stuck up. "

"A chance for you to hang your hat up, Jake, " said Larry. 

"No, thanks! I'm cautious of them old maids. If you say a pleasantword to 'em they can't be shook off, and might have you up for breachof promise like with Tom Dunstan. "

"I suppose there is a danger, you being so fascinating, " chuckled thebutcher as I went inside, with a premonition that should it come totaking sides in the Clay household, if avoidable I would not be onUncle Jake's. 

"Who is Uncle Jake?" said Carry in response to my inquiry, as sheprepared four o'clock tea; "he's Uncle Jake, that's what he is, andenough for me too, that he is. The old swab wants hanging up by thebeard. "

"Yes, but what place does he hold in the house?"

"Place! that of walking round poking his nose in everywhere andgrowling about things that don't concern him. Mrs Clay keepshim--gives him fifteen shillings a-week--because he's her brother, andyou'd think he owned everything. If you want to know what he is, he'sa terribly bad example to Andrew. _He's_ the greatest clumsy, lumbering, dirty lump (oh, you should see his clothes, what they arelike to wash, and the only way to keep him clean would be to stuff himin a glass case!), but for all that he's a very fair kid. You can'texpect much of boys, you know, and have to be thankful for any goodpoints at all. O Lord!" she here exclaimed, looking out a window, where along a path through the orchard she descried approaching a finebuxom dame in a fashionably cut dress, "here's Mrs Bray in full sail. I suppose she saw the 'busman leaving you here to-day, and hercuriosity couldn't stand any longer without coming on a tour ofinspection. "

"Who is Mrs Bray?"

"She won't let you overlook who she is, and what she owns, and whatshe '_done_, ' you'll soon hear it. She's the most inquisitiveblow-hard I ever came across. "

Dawn now appeared and invited me to afternoon tea, which was afriendly and hospitable meal spread on a big table on a back verandah, so enclosed by creepers and pot-plants and little awnings leading invarious directions as to be in reality more of a vestibule. Mrs Brayhove into near view and took up a seat beside a bank of lovelymaiden-hair fern. 

"How are you living?" she asked Grandma Clay as she complacently shookhands. "Nice cool weather now and not so many beastly mosquitoes. "

"By Jove! Did you know about the 'skeeters' here?" inquired Andrew ofme. "They're big enough to ride bikes and weigh a pound. You wait tillyou hear 'em singing Sankey's hymns to-night. "

"If I were you I'd hold my tongue and not draw attention to mydirtiness, " said Dawn. "It's a wonder a garden doesn't sprout uponyou. "

I was then introduced to Mrs Bray, who acknowledged me genially, andseemed so flourishing, and was so complacent regarding the fact, thatit did one good to look at her. 

After addressing a few remarks to me she had to move, for the trimmingof her hat caught in the cage of a parakeet, and she took another seatin the shelter of a tree-fern near Uncle Jake. 

"You have some lovely pet birds, " I remarked by way of making myselfagreeable to Grandma Clay. 

"The infernal old nuisances!" she said irascibly, "I wish they'd die. Andrew calls them his, but they'd starve only for me. I'm alwayssaying I'll have no more pets, and still they're brought here. Someday when he has a home of his own and people plague him, he'll knowwhat it is. "

On the other side of the verandah above Uncle Jake stretched a passionvine, where a thick row of belated fruit hung like pretty pale-greeneggs, and evil entering Andrew's mind, he remarked to me--

"Wouldn't it be just bosker if one of them fell on his old nut, " andgoing out he returned with a pair of orange clippers. 

"Where's Carry got to?" asked grandma. 

"I saw her out there doing a mash with Larry Witcom, " said Andrew. 

"Now, do you think there'll be anything in that?" interestedly askedMrs Bray. "I suppose she'd be glad to ketch anything for a home of herown. "

"Well, it's to be hoped the home she'd catch with him would be betterthan some of the meat we've caught from him lately--it was as tough asold boots, " put in Dawn. 

At this point Andrew succeeded in disturbing Uncle Jake--succeededbeyond expectation. Uncle Jake had just sucked his fuzzy 'possum-greymoustache in the noisy manner peculiar to him, and was raising his teaagain, when he was struck by the passion fruit, causing him to letfall the cup. 

"Just like you! On the clean boards! Carry will be pleased. I'm gladit's not my week in the house, " said Dawn. What Uncle Jake said isunfit for insertion in a record so respectable as this is intended tobe, and grandma seemed to grow too agitated for verbal utterance, buther facial expression was very fiery indeed as Andrew and Uncle Jakewithdrew and settled their little score in a manner unknown to thecompany. 

"Well, it's an ill wind that don't blow nobody no good, and thoughthere's a cup broke, it's got us rid of the men, and there's never notalking in comfort where they are, " remarked Mrs Bray, who had afacility for constructing sentences containing several negatives. Two, we learn in syntax, have the effect of an affirmative, but there beingno reference to a repletion, only that her utterances wereunmistakably plain, Mrs Bray might have reduced one to wondering thepurport of her remarks. 

"Did you hear the latest?" she said, laughing boisterously. "You don'tknow the people yet, " she continued, turning to me, "half of 'em wantscalding. "

Here she burst into a full flood of gossip regarding the misconduct ofthe leading residents; but honest and straightforward though hercommunications were, I cannot include them here, for this is a storyfor respectable folk, and a transcript of the straight talk of themost respectable folk would be altogether out of the question. I mustconfine myself to the statement that Mrs Bray had found few beyondreproach, and "the latest, " as she termed it, concerned one Dr Tinker, whose wife--known colloquially as the old Tinkeress--had recentlyadministered a public horsewhipping to a young lady whom the doctorhad too ardently admired. Mrs Bray had only just unearthed the factsthat day, and was overwhelmingly interested in them. 

"I tell you what ought to be done with some people, " said grandma whenMrs Bray halted for breath. "There's no respectability like there usedto be in my young days. In Gool-gool--that's where I was rared--thepeople used to take up anythink that wasn't straight. There was awoman there. She and her husband lived happy and respectable, with nonotion of anythink wrong, till a feller--a blessed feller, " grandmawaxed fierce, "that was only sellin' things and making a living out ofhonest folk, come to town an' turned her head. I won't say but he wasa fine-lookin' man, had a grand flowin' beard, " grandma spread herhands out on her chest. 

"Must have been lovely with a _beard_, especially if it was like UncleJake's!" interposed Dawn. 

"How dare you, miss! Beards is a natural adornment gave to man by God, and it's a unnatural notion to carve them off--"

"Some of them do want adorning, I'll admit, " said Dawn. 

"He was a good-lookin' man, " persisted grandma. 

"Must have been with a _beard_!" scornfully contended theirrepressible Dawn. 

"She must be smitten on some of these clean-faced articles, " said MrsBray with a laugh, which effected the collapse of Dawn. 

"Hold your tongue, miss! surely I can speak in me own house!"continued grandma. "And he could sing and play, and that sort ofthing. At any rate, this woman was terribly gone on him, and herhusband was heart-broke, and they always lived so happy till then thatthe people of the town took it up. They went to the sergeant and toldhim what they was goin' to do, and he was in such sympathy with 'emthat he got business that took him to the other end of the town forthat night. "

"That'll tell you now!" exclaimed Mrs Bray with interest. 

"And they went and collared him, " proceeded the narrator. 

"That'll tell you now, the faggot!" exclaimed Mrs Bray again. 

"So they took him and put him on a horse, naked except his trousers, about twenty of 'em did it, and rode on either side with tar-pots; andevery time he'd turn his head any way to jaw about what he'd do, they'd swab him in the mouth with it; and they had bags of feathers, and nearly smothered him with 'em, till with the black tar stickin'on every way, and all in his great beard, he would be mistook forNebuchadnezzar. When they got him out of the town he was let go, an'they said if he showed hisself in it again worse than that wouldhappen him. That's what the men of my day did with a bad egg, "concluded the old lady, firm in the belief of the superior virtue ofher generation. 

"What price beards in a case like that?" came from Dawn. 

"That clean-faced feller of yours would have the advantage then, " saidMrs Bray. "And now I'll tell you the point of that story. It was justthe men stickin' up for themselves. If that had been a woman harmed byher husband going away with some barmaid, or other of them hussies menare so fond of, there wouldn't have been nothing done to avenge _her_. _Her_ heart could have broke, and if she said anything about it peoplewould have sat on her, but when one of the poor darling men is hurtit's a different thing. "

Mrs Bray had yet more to tell, and after another hearty laugh divulgeda secret that should have pleased a Government lately reduced toappointing a commission to inquire into a falling birth-rate. 

"This, " said grandma in explanation, "is a girl who used to bemilliner in Trashe's store in Noonoon--one of them give-herself-airsthings, like all these county-jumpin' fools! W'en you go to buy athing off of them they look as if you wasn't fit to tie theirshoe-laces, and they ain't got a stitch to their back, only a fewpence a-week from eternal standin' on their feet, till they're allgive way, and only fit for the hospital. I won't say but this one wasa sprightly enough young body and carried her head high. And therewas a feller came to town, was stayin' there at Jimmeny's pub. For atime, an' walkin' round as if Noonoon wasn't a big enough place forthe likes of him to own. He talked mighty big about meat export trade, an' that was the end of his glory. He married this girl that wastrimmin' hats, an' she thought she was doin' a stroke to ketch such abug, an' now she lives in that little place built bang on the road asyou go into town. Larry says he often takes her some meat, he's afraidshe'll starve; an' you know, though he'll take you down in some ways, he's terrible good-natured in others, and that is the way with most ofus; we have our good an' bad points. But the poor thing! is that whatshe has come to? I ain't had a family of me own not to be able tosympathise with her. "

"Well, she don't deserve no sympathy, she upholds him in his pride, "said Mrs Bray. 

"Pride! His pride, " snorted grandma, "it's of the skunk order. He'dmake use of every one because he thinks he's an English swell, andthen wouldn't speak to them if he met them out no more than they weredogs. I don't think there's a single thing he could do to save hislife. If there's a bit of wood to be chopped, she's got to do it, an'yet he'd think a decent honest workin' man, who was able to keep hiswife and family comfortable, wasn't made of as good flesh and blood ashim. That ain't what I call pride. "

"There's one thing, if I ever fell in love with a man he'd have to bea man and not a crawler, " said Dawn. "Some girls think if they get abit of a swell he's something; but I wouldn't care if a man were thePrince of Wales and Lord Muck in one, if he couldn't do things withoutmuddling, I'd throw water on him. "

"What about young Eweword, are you goin' to throw water on _him_?"laughed Mrs Bray. 

"Ask Carry, she knows more about him than I do. "

"Dawn finds it handy to put her lovers on to me, " said Carry, who waswashing away the spilt tea and airing some uncomplimentary opinions ofAndrew and Uncle Jake between whiles. 

"Why don't you come and see me, Carry?" continued Mrs Bray. 

"I can't be bothered, I've got my living to earn and have no time forvisiting, " said that uncompromising young woman. 

"Anything new on here, Dawn?" asked Mrs Bray, turning to her. 

"No, only Miss Flipp's uncle is coming up by this afternoon's trainand we're dying to see him, there's been so much blow about him. Andrew is going to get out a tub to hold the tips. "

"Well, I'll be going now to get Bray his tea or there'll be a jawin'and sulkin' match between us. That's the way with men, --if you're notalways buckin' around gammoning you think 'em somebody, they get likea bear with a scalded head. Well, come over and see me some day, " shesaid hospitably to me. "Walk along a bit with me now and see the way. "

To this I agreed, and going to get a parasol heard the incautiouswoman remark behind me--

"Seems to be an old maid--a gaunt-lookin' old party--ain't got nocomplexion. I wonder was she ever going to be married. Don't look asif many would be breakin' their necks after her, does she?"

Mrs Bray posed as a champion of her sex, but could not open her mouthwithout belittling them. However, I was too well seasoned in humannature to be disconcerted, and walked by her side enjoying herimmensely, she was so delightfully, transparently patronising. Thereare many grades of patronage: that from people who ought to knowbetter, and which is always bitterly resented by any one of spirit;while that of the big splodging ignoramus who doesn't know any better, to any one possessed of a sense of humour, is indescribably amusing. Mrs Bray's was of this order, and would have been galling only to thesnob whose chief characteristic is a lack of common-sense--lack ofcommon-sense being synonymous with snobbery. 

"You'll get on very well with old grandma, " she remarked, "she ain'tsuch a bad old sort when you know her; she must have a bit of propertytoo. Of course, I find her a bit narrer-minded, but that's to beexpected, seeing I've lived a lot in the city before I come here, andshe's only been up the country; but that Carry's the caution. Thehussy! I only asked her over out of kindness, being a woman with agood home as I have, and did you hear her? Them hussies without homesain't got no call to give themselves airs, --bits of things workin' fortheir livin'. "

"I'm afraid I'm in the same category, as I have no home, " I said byway of turning her wrath. 

"Oh, well, yes, but you're different; you don't have to _work_ foryour livin'. "

"Have you any daughters?" I asked. 

"I had one, but she soon married. Like me, she was snapped up soon asshe was old enough. " Mrs Bray laughed delightedly. 

Here was a broad-minded democrat who considered a woman lowered inbecoming a useful working member of society, instead of remaining atoy or luxury kept by her father or some other man, and who, whileloudly bawling for the emancipation of women from the yoke of men, nevertheless considered the only distinction a woman could achieve wasthrough their favourable notice--an attitude of mind produced by moraland social codes so effectively calculated to foster immoral anduntenable inconsistency!

THREE. 

BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH GRANDMA CLAY. 

When I returned the 'busman was driving away after having brought MissFlipp's uncle, and Andrew was assisting to fill a spring-cart withpumpkins. This vehicle had arrived under guidance of a tall, fairyoung man with perfect teeth and a pleasant smile, which kept themwell before the public, seeing they were not concealed by any hirsuteambuscade, regarding the adorning qualities of which Dawn and hergrandmother were divided. The former came out to inform Andrew thatthe pony had to be harnessed, as Mrs Clay had promised Miss Flipp shecould drive her uncle back to catch the train. 

"I hope the old thing won't smash up the sulky, " said Andrew. "He'sthe old bloke that come down here in the summer in a check suit, an' Itold him you was all out an' we was full up. "

"A few of him would soon fill up. He! he! ha! ha!" laughed the fairyoung man. "He looks as if he were always full up! He! he! ha! ha!ha!"

"Well, he's the purplest plum I ever saw, " said Dawn. "He's a completehog. He has one of these old noses, all blue, like the big plums thatgrew down near the pig-sty. I think he was grown near the pig-sty, too, by the style of him. It must have taken a good many cases of thebest wine to get a nose just to that colour. Like a meerschaum pipe, it takes a power of colouring to get 'em to the right tinge. And hiseyes hang out like this, " said the girl, audaciously stretching herpretty long-lashed lids in a way that would have been horrible on aless beautiful or less successfully saucy girl, but which in this casewas irresistibly amusing. The fair young man was convulsed. 

"His figure is like as if he had swallowed our great washing-copperwhole and then padded round it with hay bags, and he has a greatvulgar stand with one foot here and the other over there by thewheelbarrow. "

"He must be a acrobat or be made of wonderful elastic, if he couldstretch that far!" remarked Andrew. 

"Yes, and he gets up a gold-rimmed eyeglass and sticks it on his oldeye like this, and so I up with my finger and thumb this way in a ringand looked at him, " said Dawn, with a moue and the protrusion of ahealthy pink tongue which for dare-devil impertinence beat anything Ihad seen off the stage, and I succumbed to laughter in chorus with theyoung man. 

By some intangible indications Andrew and I felt impelled to leave, heproceeding to harness the horse and I accompanying him. 

"Just look here, 'Giddy-giddy Gout with his shirt-tail out, '"exclaimed the lad, breaking into one of the poetic quotations of whichhe was rarely guilty. "Now, I didn't know me pants was tore. I musthave looked a goat!"

I offered to put a stitch in the breach, so he brought needle andthread. 

"Now don't you sew me on to me pants. Dawn done that once, thought itwas a great lark, an' I jolly well couldn't get out; so I busted upthe whole show, and grandma joined in the huspy-puspy, and there'sbeen no more larks like that. Thanks, I must do a get and put the ponyin. Did you notice that bloke fillin' up the cart with pumpkins? He'sgone on Dawn!"

"He shows good taste. "

"Do you reckon Dawn's fit to knock 'em in the eye?"

"Rather!"

"That's bein' a stranger! When you are used to a person every day an'they belong to you, you don't think so much of 'em, and at the sametime think more, if you can understand. What I mean is this. When I'mbusy fightin' with Dawn, and she's blowing me up for not doing thingsand tellin' grandma on me, I can't see what the blokes can see in her;but then if I caught any one saying she wasn't good for anything, ifhe was a bloke I felt fit to wallop, I'd give him a nice sollickerunder the ear, an' I wouldn't bother about any other girl. Do yousee?"

"Yes; I'll hold up the shafts for you. "

"Thanks. Well, that's 'Dora' Eweword that's doin' a kill with Dawnnow. "

"Dora is a funny name for a man. "

"It ain't his name. He's called it for a lark because he was after agirl up in town named Dora Cowper. She serves in a hay and corn storeat the corner. Things were gettin' on pretty strong, and he used to betaking her out all hours of the night and day. Some reckon she'sbetter-lookin' than Dawn, and her mother put it around that Ewewordwould make a brilliant match for her, and that shooed him off at once. I reckon if I was a girl and wanted to ketch a man I'd hold me magabout it, as I know two or three now has been turned off the sameway. "

"Perhaps Dora Cowper didn't lose much. "

"Well, he has a bosker farm, you see. He keeps a power of pigs andfattens 'em. Then he went after one or two more girls, and now hecomes here. Buying these pumpkins is only a dodge to get a chip inwith Dawn. He has plenty lucerne for his pigs, but we have so manypumpkins rotting we are glad to get rid of them at two bob a load, andI suppose that is cheap to get a yarn with Dawn. He ain't preposed toDawn yet, but I'm sure he's goin' to, because I asked him if he wasgoin' to marry Dora Cowper, an' he said no. Dawn is only pullin' hisleg for him--she's got all the blokes on a string. You should see herwith those that comes up in the summer. It's worth bein' alive in thesummer. We had melons here in millions. We used to open a big Dixie orCuban Queen and just only claw out the middle. We used to fill thewater-cask with 'em to cool, an' every time Dawn came out to dive inher dipper, wouldn't she rouse! Me an' Uncle Jake used to race to seewho could eat the most, but he beat. He's a sollicker to stuff when hegets anything he likes. It's a wonder we didn't bust. The oranges willsoon be ripe, that's good luck: I can eat eighty a-day easy. Herecomes old Bolliver!"

A huge figure as described by Dawn came out of the house in companywith Miss Flipp, and I recognised Mr Pornsch, the heavy swell who hadtravelled in the 'bus with me on the day of my first arrival inNoonoon. 

With repulsive clumsiness he climbed into the vehicle, and then saidroughly, almost brutally, to his niece--

"Get in! get in!" and scarcely gave her time to be seated ere he hitthe pony and nearly screwed its jaw off getting out of the yard. 

"Cock-a-doodle-do! Ain't it nice to have a sweet temper, " loudlyremarked Andrew, as he stood aside. "He just is a purple plum. He'sthe kind of old cove I'd like to get real narked and then scoot. Wouldn't he splutter and think himself Lord Muck, and that every oneoughter be licking his boots!"

Dawn and "Dora" Eweword were still hanging over a garden fence asAndrew went after his cows and I betook myself to the house. UncleJake was in conference with his sister, and gave evidence of fearing Ishould pursue him, so I mercifully betook myself to my own apartment. Miss Flipp presently returned, and saying she had had tea up town withher uncle and would not want any more, shut herself in her room, fromwhence I soon detected the sound of impassioned sobbing. My firstimpulse was to ask her what was the matter, but my second, born of awide experience of grief, led me to hold my tongue and tell no onewhat I had heard; but to escape from the sound of that pitiableweeping I went out in the garden, where I was joined by Mrs Clay. 

"Did you see that young feller out there this afternoon? Fine stamp ofa young man, don't you think?" remarked she. 

"He should be able for a good day's work. "

"Yes; he's none of your tobacco-spitting, wizened-up little runts likeyou'll see hangin' on to the corner-posts in Noonoon. "

"Seems to admire your granddaughter?"

"An' he's not the first by a long way that has done that, though shewas only nineteen this month. "

"I can quite believe it. She is a lovely girl. "

"An' more than that, a good one. I've never had one moment'suneasiness with Dawn; she took after me that way. I could let her goout in the world anywhere with no fear of her goin' astray. She's gota fine way with men, friendly and full of life, but let 'em attempt tocome an inch farther than she wants, and then see! Sometimes I'minclined to wish she's be a little more genteeler; but then I lookaround an' see some of them sleek things, an' it's always them as areno good, an' I'm glad then she's what she is. There's some girls herein town, "--the old lady grew choleric, --"you'd think butter wouldn'tmelt in their mouths, an' they try to sit on Dawn. It's becausethey're jealous of her, that's what it is. I wouldn't own 'em! They'drun a man into debt and be a curse to him; but there's Dawn, the manthat gets her, he'll have a woman that will be of use to him and notjust a ornament. "

"He'll have an ornament too. "

"Perhaps so. I've spent a lot of money on her education. She's beentaught painting and dancing. I had her down at the Ladies' College inSydney for two years finishing, an' she's had more chances of being alady than most. Some of these things in town here turn up their nosesat her an' say, 'She's only old Mrs Clay's granddaughter, who keeps aaccommodation house, ' but I pay me bills and ain't ashamed to walk uptown an' look 'em all in the face. "

"But it's generally those who owe the most who have the most lordlymien. "

"You're right. I could point you out some of them up town as hasn't ashirt to their back, an' they look as they owned everythink--thebrazenest things!" The old dame's indignation waxed startling in itsintensity. 

"But I was going to tell you about young Eweword. I've set me heart onhim for Dawn. He's somethink worth lookin' at an' worth havin' too. Heknows how to farm and make it pay, an' owns one of the best pieces ofland about Noonoon--all his own. Dawn don't seem to take to him asshe ought. He was after a girl here in town, a Dora Cowper, an' so shesays she ain't goin' to take any leavin's; but he ain't any leavin's, she can be sure of that, for if he'd wanted Dora Cowper they'd havesnapped him up, an' I think as long as a young feller don't go makingtoo much of a fool of a girl, a little flirtation's only natural. Thishas been the mischief with Dawn. There's a lot of people here in thesummer from the city, and they're all taken with her, and foreverlasting telling her she's wasting her talents here, that she oughtto be on the stage. It's a wonder people can't mind their ownconcerns!" (The old dame grew choleric again. ) "It makes her thinkwhat I can give her ain't good enough. It's all very fine in a goodcomfortable home of her own, with love and protection around her, tothink people mean that sort of thing, an' that w'en she walked out inthe world they would be anxious to worship her. Just let her go outan' try, an' she'd find it all moonshine; but w'en I tell her, sheonly thinks I'm a old pig, an' only she's that stubborn I know she'dnever come back. (I would be the same myself w'en young, so can'tblame her. ) I'd let her have a taste of hardship to bring her to herbearin's. But while I'm alive she'll never have my consent to be aactress. W'en I was young they was looked upon as the lowest hussies. I'd like to hear what my mother would say if I had wanted to beone--paintin' meself up an' kickin' up me heels and showin' meselfbefore men in the loudest manner!"

I concluded not to divulge my profession while at Clay's, and to boot, I held much the same point of view. 

"She thinks she'd like to marry some fine feller and be a toff; an'she's got this danger that's always the drawback of a girl bein'pretty, so many fellers come after them at the start they get finnickyan' think they can marry any one, an' leave it too late, an' in theend they marry some rubbishing feller an' don't came out half so wellas the plain ones that was content with a fair thing w'en they had thechance of it. Just the same with a boy; it's a bad thing for them tobe able to do everythink, they are so terribly smart they end up bydoin' nothink, an' the ploddin' feller they grinned at for bein' abooby, because he stuck to the one thing, comes out on top. "

"Just so; want of concentration plucks one every time. "

"That's wot I want to save Dawn from. It's all right while I live, an'I don't want her to be chuckin' herself at the head of any Tom orDick, but I won't live for ever, an' marriage is like everythink else, you want to have your eye on a good thing an' not humbug too much. W'en I'm gone"--the austere old face softened--"I wouldn't like tothink of her I've spent so much money on, an' rared with me own hand, as I did her an' her mother before her, growin' old an' sour an'lonely, or bein' a slave to some worthless crawler. " The old voicegrew perilously soft, and saved itself from a break by a swiftcrescendo. 

"As I say, I suppose she's waitin' for some great impossible feller tocome along, like we do w'en we're young; but these upper ten is theworst matches a girl can make, an' besides there's too many trying toketch them in their own rank. I've had lots of 'em here, an' to seethese swell girls the way they try to ketch some one would make youill. Don't you think so?"

"Well, my sympathies are always with the swell girl in the matrimonialmarket, " I replied. "She has a far harder time than those of theworking classes. You see, so many of the well-to-do eligibles preferworking girls--actresses, chorus-singers, and barmaids, which, inaddition to marriage in their own class, gives these girls a chance ofstepping up; whereas the swell girls cannot marry grooms and footmenand raise them to their rank as their brothers can their housemaidsand ballet-girls. To be a success the society girl must marry a man ofsufficient means to keep her as an expensive toy, and this descriptionof bachelor being scarce in any case, little wonder she has to hunthard and tries to protect her preserves from poachers. Think of itthat way. "

"There is a lot in that, and that's why I like to see Dawn have youngEweword, who's a man I'd be happy to leave her to; but I daren't say aword, she's mighty touchy an' would flash up that she'd leave if Iwant to get rid of her. But while I've got breath in me body there'sone thing I will set me foot on, an' that's these good-for-nothingskunks like bankers' sons an' them sort of high an' mighty paupernobodies; they're fearful matches for any one. I know too much aboutthe swells an' the old families of the colony, I'm thankful I ain'tone of them. My father came out here a long time ago, an' I was bornout here. He was a sergeant in the police. I am near seventy-six, an'can remember plain for seventy years back in the days w'en there wasplenty convicts, an' me father, seein' his position, was put to seethe floggin' of them. Me and another little girl that's dead now usedto climb up a tree an' look over the wall like children would. We wasstationed in Goulburn then, an' I'll never forget the scenes to medyin' day. The men used to be stripped to the waist and tied on atriangle and walloped till they was cut to pieces, till they screamedlike little children for mercy, and poor old wretches that had roamedthe world for sixty years used to screech Mother! Mother! like littlechildren. It was heart-renderin'! An' what used they be flogged for, do you think?--for the piggishness of the swells mostly. I'll tellyou. There was a old feller lived out at Kaligiwa--that's more thantwenty miles the other side of Goulburn, an' there's Parry's Lagoonthere called after him till this day. He was a old Lord Muck if everthere was one, an' by reason of that got a land grant an' menassigned, an' he ought to have been give to them to kick--would havebeen the right thing; an' then he had a lot of skunks of sons, --tookafter their father, of course, an' hadn't much chance of bein'anythink else, --an' w'en they used to ride to town they used to have aman tied to the stirrup just to hold it. "

"What was that for?"

"What was it for?" she raged. "It was because they was those skunks ofswells that think other people is only made as floor wipes for 'em!An' this feller used to have to run all the way to town, and if hehadn't strength to run all the way he'd be dragged, an' if he give anylip the Parrys 'u'd report 'em; an' me father says he's often seen 'emflogged till their backs were like ploughed, an' then have to run thetwenty miles home. Me father used to come in every day and flinghisself down an' cry and sob as if his heart would break, an' say he'drather starve than stay in the police. Now, the Parrys got up an' oneof them had a 'Sir' sent out to his name, and you'll see 'em writabout as one of the few _old_ families; and I hold that Dawn come frombetter stock than them, and has more to be proud of in hergrandfather--he had some heart in him. An' Lord! there's Miss Flipp'suncle, one look at him ought to be sufficient warnin' to any girl. The likes of him is common among the swells--too much stuffin' an'drinkin' an' debochary. Nice thing if Dawn married a swell an' hedeveloped into a old pig like that. I can tell you another greatfamily of swells, the Goburnes--entertained the Royalties w'en theywas out here, an' are such bugs one of 'em married the Governor'sdaughter. They got up about the same way. In the old days w'en thingswere carelesser an' land wasn't much, the old cock of all had thesurveyor that was gone on his daughter measurin' the land, an' got himto slice in great pieces by false measurement, an' worked the livesout of convicts--as big a brute as the Parrys. That's the breed of theswells, an' I have a horror of them. The people as I consider ought tobe the swells in this country is them that came out first, the freeemigrants, and honestly worked up the colony with their own hands, an'their children done the same for four or five generations--them's theonly proper Australian aristocracy we've got. That's why I have sich acontempt for this Rooney-Molyneux, Mrs Bray was tellin' of; only timesis different he'd be the same, he's got the sort of pride that thinkshis wife is a black gin because she was only a milliner. "

Out past the placard advertising Mrs Clay's boats gleamed thehighroad, and from where we walked could be seen a now unused oldstone milepeg, carved in Roman lettering, its legend differingsomewhat from that in modern figures painted on the miniature woodenpost by which it had been deposed. It was one of many relics of thedead and gone convicts who had done giant pioneer labour in this broadbright land in the days when Grandma Clay's mother had been young. Fine old grandma, daughter of a fine old dad who had wept for thecruelty endured by the men who had worked in chain-gangs and wereflogged under his superintendence, and thinking thus I turned to theold dame who had ceased talking and said--

"And what of your father, did he get away from seeing the convictsflogged?"

"Yes; me mother thought he was goin' mad. He used to sob in his sleepan' call out and squirm that he couldn't bear to see them flogged, an'leap up in bed in a sweat. So he gave up the police an' we went a longway farther back to Gool-Gool on the Yarrangung, a tributary of theMurrumbidgee. The train in them days was only a little way out ofSydney, an' me father got a job of drivin' Cobb & Co. 's coaches fromGool-Gool to Yarrandogi, an' me an' me mother an' sisters an' Jakethere used to live in a little tent at the first stage out ofGool-Gool, an' take care of the horses. I was fond of them horses, andused to sneak out to harness them on to the swingle-bar w'en I was nohigher than the table. It's a wonder I didn't get me brains knockedout. I was lots smarter than Jake there with the horses, though itain't supposed to be girl's work. But it came nacheral to me, an' Ithink in that case it's right. That's why I never was one to narrergirls down an' say you mustn't do this and that because you're a girl. I've always found, in spite of their talk, the best and gamest mothersis the ones that grew out of the tomboy girls. Well, it come that mefather, being a steady man an' very kind and well liked, he got onsurprisin', an' soon the tent give place to a bark hut. That's the waypeople worked up in my days, an' what they had was their own. Theydidn't want to start in mansions an' eat off of silver at the expenseof others like in these times! After that we moved a long way down an'took up a position on the Murra-Murra run beside the Sydney road, where the coaches passed in the night; an' me mother made hot coffeefor the passengers, an' we drove a roarin' trade, had to git girls into help, an' put up a large accommodation house, and respectablepeople always made to us" (the old head went high and the eyesflashed) "because we was clean, temperance people, there never was noD. T. 's or sly grog where we had the rule. An' that's why I always liketo have a few people in the house to this day. I'm used to theircompany like, an' feel there's nothing goin' on or doing without them. Well, I grew up in time. I can't say it meself, but them as knew methen could tell you I wasn't disfigured in any way or a cripple, an'had no lack of admirers. Me an' me two sisters had 'em by the scorewaitin' till we grew old enough to be married. I can tell you therewas some smart fellers among 'em. Those were the times! Me sistersmade what is called swell matches, an' not bein' used to bein' coopedup, their lives was failures. I was the only one married in me owncircle, and my life was a pattern to the others. I was the oldest an'waited last, an' me mother was that disappointed in me that I had torun away, an' I have me reasons for fearin' Dawn is on for a swell. Iseen me sisters' lives. I call them unwholesome marriages when girlsmarries these fellers, an' their narrer-minded people sits on her an'is that depraved they turn him agen her!" Mrs Clay was vehement. 

"When Dawn's mother grew up she was Dawn's image, an' we was keepin' aaccommodation house too, that is Jim Clay an' me, and Dawn's motherwas reckoned the prettiest and best girl in them parts, an' had loversfrom far and near; but there came a feller up from Sydney to stay, nothin' to blow about neither, but he was dreadfully gone on medaughter. He seemed all right, but I was agen him--being aswell, --till me daughter threatened she'd run away with him if Ididn't let her have him peaceful, an' rememberin' me own youth, I lether have him in spite of me misgivin's. She went home with him, an' itappears he was like these crawlin' fellers--couldn't do nothink, onlywhat their parents give them; an' w'en they found he'd married a fine, good, wholesome girl, instead of one of their own style--one of theParrys for instance--they cut him off with a shilling, an' poor thingshe nearly starved, an' took to work to keep him, an' he alwaysgrowlin' at her like the coward he was, that only for her he'd havebeen well off. A mess-alliance his people called it, but the messwasn't from poor Mary's side. Well, w'en it come that she was to be amother, his people took her in and told her, if you please, that if itwas a boy they'd take it theirselves and educate it fit for theirfamily, but if it was a girl they wouldn't. The poor thing, not bein'able for anythink an' too proud to come home, stood their insults aslong as she could, an' at last she sneaked out at night and set off towalk to me. It is pitiable to think of. "

The poor old voice trembled. 

"She had more'n a hundred miles to travel an' it took her days, butsome folk was good, an' one cold night about three hours beforedaylight she startled me by comin' into my room. I remember it likeyesterday. 'Mother, ' she says, 'I'm ill; I'm goin' to die; you won'tlet them take my child, will you?' I thought her wanderin', an' shewas so gentle it frightened me; for we was always saucy ladies, I cantell you--every one of us, an' you can see Dawn is the same now. Butthat's only a way; w'en I'm ill she's as tender as anythink. It'sgrandma wouldn't this do you good, and that do you good? An' herlittle hands is very clever an' nice about my old bones w'en theyache. Well, her mother was took bad an' me an' her father done ourbest, an' her baby came into the world--a poor miserable littlewinjin' thing, an' its mother turnin' over said, 'What's that light, mother, comin' in, is it the Dawn?' an' lookin' up I see it was theDawn; an' she never spoke again, but went off simple an' sudden justthen, an' that's how Dawn come to get her name. I never thought she'dlive to be called by it though. Little winjin' thing! I had to feedher on the bottle an' everythink disagreed with her. We had to keep aold cow especial. I remember her as clear as yesterday--a big old cowwith a dew-lap an' a crumpled horn; we called her Ladybird because shewas spots all over. As for _them_ getting Dawn! They had the cheek towrite an' say if it was a boy they'd take it. They had the cheek afterwhat happened--that's swells for you again! I writ them one letter inreturn that I reckon ought to last them to their dying day. I toldthem it wasn't any matter to them what _my_ child was; that they had_murdered_ one already, let that be sufficient for them; that they'dget no more unless over my dead body; an' that all I regretted wasthat the child had any of their cowardly blood in it, that it almostdiscouraged me about its rarin'. An' Dawn don't know her name, an'won't unless she's married. Her father married again, an' I'm glad tosay never had another child, an' I believe hankers for Dawn, an' hewill hanker for my part; an' I've got Dawn tootered up agen him too. Now you can see the blow it would be to me if she took up with aswell--there's no happiness marryin' out of yer own religion or class. Mine was what I'd call a love match now. Jim Clay _was_ a lover! I'veseen him come in with a team of five all buckin', an' it snowin' an'never anythink but a laugh out of him. He'd ride miles an' miles tosee me. The crawlers about these parts nowadays toddle about on bikesor sit like great-grandfathers in sulkies, an' if it was to sprinklethey'd think half a mile too far to go to see their sweetheart. Ithink the heart of the world must be dyin' out. "

"You'll tell me about Jim Clay, won't you?" I said; "for I am anAustralian--one of those you consider entitled to be termed a realaristocrat. My people for several generations have practically workedin the building of the State, though I must admit they belonged to theleisured class at home. "

"Well, that ain't nothink agen 'em when they don't make it nothinkagen 'em, if you understand. If a swell can prove hisself as good an'useful a man as another, he deserves the credit, an' comes out aheadtoo, because he has the education, an' sometimes that is useful. I'lltell you about me young days. Lately me mind seems to be goin' backmore an' more to old times. "

"Grandma! Grandma!" called Dawn's rich young voice, "come to tea. Andrew and Carry want to go up town after. "

As I turned and looked at this glowing vision I laughed to think ofher as a "little winjin' thing, " and was grateful to the good officesof old Ladybird with the dew-lap and a crumpled horn. 

"You needn't be in such a hurry all of a suddent, " said grandmacrossly. "It's a different tune w'en _you're_ hangin' over the fencetalkin' somewhere. There's no hurry roundin' me in to tea _then_!"

We lingered awhile watching the afterglow above the great rangedividing the coast land from the vast stretches of the interior, andwhich was no longer an impassable barrier to the people of the State. Now the train toiled over a stile-like way connecting east and west, and Noonoon and Kangaroo, divided by a mile and the river, nestledimmediately at the foot of the zigzag climb. 

They lay asleep against the ranges in a slow-going world of their own, their little houses gleaming white in the fading light. 

There was a flush on the old woman's face as she turnedhouseward--also an afterglow. 'Twas a fitting nook for her presentdays, the decline of those splendidly vigorous years behind! Whatsatisfaction to look back on strenuous, fruitful years, and be able toafford rest during the last stages!

I, too, had rest; but it was only the ignominious idleness of a youngboat with a broken propeller yarded among honourably worn-out craft toawait a foundering. 

FOUR. 

DAWN'S AMBITION. 

After tea grandma took to reading the 'Noonoon Advertiser'--afour-sheet weekly publication containing local advertisements, weatherremarks, and a little kindly gossip about townspeople. This was herusual Saturday night entertainment. Carry and Andrew went to town toparticipate in the unfailing diversion of a large percentage of thepopulation. This was tramping up and down the main street in a streamtill the business places closed, from which exercise they apparentlyderived an enjoyment not visible to my naked eye. Uncle Jake and MissFlipp not being in evidence, Dawn and I were the only two unoccupied, and noticing that she was prettily dressed, I resorted to a point ofcommon interest in promoting friendliness between members of our sexand invited her to look at a kimono I had bought for a dressing-gown. 

This had the desired effect. A look of pleasure passed over the facethat charmed me so, and she arose willingly. 

"I'm glad it is my week to stay in and make the bedtime coffee, " shesaid as we examined the gorgeous kimono, a garment of dark-floweredsilk; and Dawn, having all the fetichly and long-engendered femininelove of self-decoration, was delighted with it. 

"Put it on, " I suggested, and the girl complied with alacrity. She didnot make a very natural Jap, being more on the robust than _petite_scale, but she was a very beautiful girl. With my impassioned love ofbeauty I could not help exclaiming about hers, and the foolishplatitude, "You ought to be on the stage, " inadvertently escaped me, seeing this is the highest market for beauty in these days when evenpersonal emotions can be made to have commercial value. 

"Do you think so too?" she said eagerly, betraying what lay near herheart. "Do you know anything about the stage? You don't think allactresses bad women like grandma does, do you?"

"Scarcely! Some of the most sweet and lovable women I've ever seen areearning their living on the boards. I'm intimately acquainted withseveral actresses, and will show you their photographs some day. "

"Oh, I'd love to be on the stage!" exclaimed the girl. 

"Tell me why and how you first came to have such a wish. "

"Well, it's this way, " said Dawn, pulling my kimono close about herbeautifully rounded throat and curling her pink feet on a wallaby-skinat the bedside as she sat down upon them. "I heard grandma telling yousomething about me this afternoon, and I suppose you think I'm aterrible girl. "

"A beautiful one, " I said, revelling in the curling lips and roundedcheek and chin. 

"Don't make fun of me, " said Dawn huffily, blushing like noon. 

"Good gracious, now _you_ are making fun of me. I'm only stating apatent fact. Mirrors and men must have told you a thousand times thatyou are pretty. "

"Oh, them! They say it to every one. Look here--there's the ugliestlittle runts of girls in Noonoon, and they're always telling theirconquests and that this man and that man say they're pretty, when ablind cat could see that they are ugly, and the men must be juststringing them to try and take them down. So when they say it to me Ialways make up my mind I'd have more gumption than to take notice, forI can't see any beauty in myself. I'm too fat and strong-looking; allthe beauties are thin and delicate-looking in the face--not a bit likeme. I know I'm not cross-eyed or got one ear off, but that's aboutall. "

I had been wont to think the only place unconscious beauties aboundedwas in high-flown, unreal novels; but here was one in real life, andthat the exceedingly unvarnished existence of Noonoon. Not that Iwould have thought any the less of her had she been conscious of herphysical loveliness, for beauty is such a glorious, powerful, intoxicating gift that had I been blessed with it I'm sure I wouldhave admired myself all day, and the wonder to me regarding beautifulmen and women is not that they are so conceited, but, on the contrary, that they are so little vain. 

"I want to tell you why I want to be on the stage. I couldn't tell howI hate Noonoon. It's all very well for grandma to settle down now andwant me to be the same, but when she was young (you get her to tellyou some of the yarns, they're tip-top) she wasn't as quiet as I am bya long way. Just fancy marrying some galoot about here and settlingdown to wash pots and pack tomatoes and live in the dust among themosquitoes, _always_! I'd rather die. I'll tell you the whole thingwhile I'm about it. You won't mind, as I'm sure you have had troubletoo, as your white hair doesn't look to be age. "

Comparison of her midget irritation with those that had put broadwhite streaks in my hair was amusing, but the rosy heart of a girlmagnifies that which it doesn't contract. 

"Grandma wants me to marry. Did you see that fellow who was afterpumpkins?--he ought to make one of his head, the great thing! Grandmahas a fancy for me having him, but I wouldn't marry him if he were theonly man in Noonoon. Do you know, they actually call him Dora becausehe was breaking his neck after a girl of that name. He used to bemaking red-hot love to her. Young Andrew there saw him up the lane byBray's with his arm round her waist, mugging her for dear life, andthen he'd come over here and want to kiss me! If he had seen me up alane hugging the baker, I wonder would he want me then!" Dawn's toneapproached tears, for thus are sensitive maiden hearts outraged by aninconsistent double standard of propriety and its consequences, greatand small. 

"Grandma says that's nothing if it's not worse, for that's the way ofmen, but I'd rather have some one who hadn't done it so plainly rightunder my nose; people wouldn't be able to poke it at me then. I've gothim warded off proposing, and while I guard against that it's allright. Now, this is why I'd like to be on the stage. I'd love to havebeen born rich and have lovely dresses, and I'm sure I could holdreceptions and go to balls, and the stage would be next best toreality. "

"But why not marry some one who could give you these things?"

"Where would I find him? You may bet that's the sort of man I'd liketo marry if I did marry at all, " and the dullest observer could haveseen she was heart-whole and fancy free. Certainly there would be adifficulty in procuring that brand of eligible. There was but alimited supply of him on the market, and that was generallyconfiscated to the use of imported actresses, and, could societyjournals be relied upon, it was the same in England; so Dawn showedgood instinct in wanting to bring herself into more equal competitionwith the winners. 

"Can you sing?"

"I've never been trained, " she said, but at my request went to thepiano in the next room and gave vent to a strong, clear mezzo. It wasa good voice--undoubtedly so. There are many such to be heard all overAustralia--girls singing at country concerts without instruction, orthe ignorant instruction more injurious than helpful. These voices aremarred to the practised ear by the style of production, which in ayear or two leaves them cracked and awful. This widespread lack ofvoice preservation is the result of a want of public musical training. With all the training in Paris, Dawn would never have been a Doloresor Calvé, but with other ability she had sufficient voice to make asuccess in comic opera or in concerts as second fiddle to a starsoprano. 

"You must sing again for me, " I said, "and I'll discover whether youhave any ability. " For the way to wean any one from a desire is not bycondemnation of it. 

"Don't you say anything to grandma about me and the stage or she'dvery nearly turn you out of the house. You just ask her what shethinks of it some time, and it will give you an idea; but I hateNoonoon, and would run away, only grandma goes on so terribly abouthussies that go to the bad, and she's very old, and you know how youfeel that a curse might follow you when people go on that way, " saidthe girl in bidding me good night. 

Dawn had many characteristics that made one love her, and a few inspite of which one bore her affection. Her method of dealing with hernative tongue came among the latter. It was reprehensible of her too, seeing the money her grandmother had spent in giving her a chance tobe a lady--that is, the type of lady who affects a blindnessconcerning the stern, plain facts of existence, and who considers thatto speak so that she cannot be heard distinctly is an outward sign ofinnate refinement. She had made poor use of her opportunities in thisrespect, but if to be honest, healthy, and wholesome is lady-like, then Dawn was one of the most vigorous and thoroughly lady-like folk Ihave known, and what really constitutes a lady is a mootable pointbased largely upon the point of view. 

FIVE. 

MISS FLIPP'S UNCLE. 

I did not sleep that night. Dawn and her grandma had given me too muchfood for cogitation. I felt I had incurred a responsibility in regardto the former, upon which I chewed tough cud at the expense of sleep. 

While there was hard common-sense in the old grandmother's point ofview, it was also easy to be at one with the girl's desire forsomething brighter and more stirring than old Noonoon afforded. Thefertile valley was beautiful in all truth, but with the beauty thatappeals only to the storm-wrecked mariner, worn with a glut of humanstrife and glad to be at anchor for a time rebuilding a jadedconstitution. 

Upon a first impression this girl did not seem abnormally anxious forthe mere plaudits or the notoriety part of the stage-struck's fever, nor was she alight with that fire called genius which will burn a holethrough all obstacles till it reaches its goal; she appeared rather toregard the stage as a means to an end--a pleasant easy way, in thenotion of the inexperienced, of obtaining the fine linen and silverspoon she desired. Had she been a boy, doubtless she would have setout to work for her ambition, but being a girl she sought to climb bythe most approved and usual ladder within reach--the stage; foractresses all married the lovely, rich (often titled) young gentlemenwho sat in rows in the front seats and admired the high-class "stars"and worshipped the ballerinas and chorus girls, or so at least a greatmany people believed, being led astray by certain columns in gossipnewspapers, which doubtless have a colouring of truth inasmuch thatthe women of the stage are idealised creatures--idealised bylimelight, and advertised by a pushing management for the benefit ofthe box-office. 

Now Dawn had ample ability and appearance for success on the stage ifher parents had been there before her, so that she could have grown upin touch with it, but whether she had sufficient iron and salt to pushher way against the barriers in her pathway I doubted. Only sheergenius can get to the front in any line of art with which it is not intouch, and even giant talent is often so mangled in the struggle thatwhen it wrests recognition it is too spent to maintain the altitude ithas attained at the expense of heart-sweat and blood. 

The girl worried me, and it worried me more to think that after all myexperience I was so foolish and sentimental that I could be worriedregarding her. She had a comfortable home, a loving guardian, youth, health, good appearance, and, to a certain extent, fitted hersurroundings. There was nothing of the ethereally æsthetic about her, and no stretch of sickly imagination could picture her as pining to beunderstood. Notwithstanding this, there was I longing to help her somuch that, in spite of my health and an acquaintance that was onlytwelve hours old, I was contemplating entering society for her sweetsake. The fact was, this little orphan girl who had taken up the lifeher mother had laid down at dawn of day nineteen years ago, hadcollected my scalp, and was at leave to string it on her belt as thatof an ardent faithful lover who never entertained one unworthy thoughtof her, or wavered in affection from the hour she first flashed uponher. 

I desired to save her from such savage disappointment as had blightedmy life, not that she would ever have the capacity to feel my frenzyof griefs, but remembering my own experience, I was ever anxious tosave other youngsters from the possibilities of a similar fate. 

The best disposal to be made of Dawn was to settle her in marriagewith some decent and well-to-do man on the sunny side of thirty; butwhere was such an one?

Thus I lay awake, and heard the hours chime and the trains go roaringby, till all the household but Miss Flipp had returned. She enteredfrom the outside, did not come in till after midnight, and was notalone. Her uncle accompanied her. My room had French lights openinginto the garden in the same way as Miss Flipp's, and as my ailment wasa heart affection it was sometimes necessary for me to go outside toget sufficient air, and in this instance I had the door-windows wideopen and the bed pulled almost to the opening. Miss Flipp apparentlyhad her window open too, for despite the conversation in her roombeing in subdued tones, I heard it where I lay. 

It contained startling disclosures anent these two persons' relationsand characters, and when Mr Pornsch went his way with the unevenfootsteps of the overfed and of accumulating years, he left me in apainful state of perturbation. 

What course should I pursue?

Casting on a pair of slippers and a heavy cloak, I took a little pathleading from my window through the garden to the pier where the boatswere moored, and here I sat down to consider. Experience had taught meto be chary of entering matters that did not concern me, but it hadnot made me sufficiently callous to preserve my equanimity in face ofa discovery so serious as this. 

Miss Flipp had sinned the sin which, if discovered, put a great gulf'twixt her and Grandma Clay, Dawn, Carry, and myself, but which wouldnot prevent her fellow-sinner from associating with us on more thanterms of equality. Should Grandma Clay become aware of what I knew, she certainly would bundle the girl out neck and crop, as she would bejustified in doing. But the girl was in a ghastly predicament, andmore sinned against than sinning, when one heard her grief andremembered the age of her betrayer, which should have made him theprotector instead of the seducer of young women. 

Times out of number the dramatic critics have termed me an artist ofthe first rank, and it is this temperament which furnishes the facultyof regarding all shades and consequences of life's issues unabashed, and with the power to distil knowledge from good and bad and use itexperimentally, rather than, as a judge, condemnatory. 

I determined to keep the girl's secret, and show myselfsympathetically friendly otherwise, hoping she would extend me herconfidence, so that in a humble way I might be privileged to standbetween her and perdition. 

It was a beautiful night, one of those when the moon relinquishes hercourt to the little stars. Vehicular traffic had ceased, and the onlysound breaking the stillness of the great frostless, silver-spangleddarkness was the panting of the steam-engines and the murmur of theriver where half a mile down it took a slight fall over boulders. Theelectric lights of the town twinkled in the near distance, and farthereast was a faint glow beyond the horizon, rightly or wronglyattributed to the lights of the metropolis. After a time it grewchilly, and I was glad to return to my bed. Dawn was separated from meby a thin wooden partition, and her strong healthy breathing wasplainly discernible as she lay like an opening rose in maiden slumber, but there was now no sound from the room of the other poor girl--arose devoured by the worm in its core. 

Next morning, however, she appeared at breakfast, for Clay's was not ahouse wherein one felt encouraged to coddle themselves withoutexceptional reason, and to all but a suspicious or hypercriticalobserver she seemed as usual. 

Carry was going to church. 

"I haven't been able to go this three weeks because my dress wasn'tfinished, and next Sunday will be my week in the kitchen, so if Idon't go now I won't be able to show it for a fortnight, " sheannounced. 

"Well, I ain't going, " said grandma. "Gimme back your porridge, Iforgot to dose it"--this to Andrew, on whose oatmeal she had omittedto put sugar and milk. "I've always found church is a good deal ofbother when you have any important work. I contribute to the stipend;that ought to be enough for 'em. If one spent all their time runningto church they would have no money to give to it, an' I never yet seepraying make a living for any one but the parsons. "

Thus, Dawn being engaged in the kitchen, and her Uncle Jake keepingher company there while he perused the 'Noonoon Advertiser, ' whichdescended to him on Sunday morning, Andrew having gone away with JackBray, and Miss Flipp being invisible, grandma and I were left togetherto enjoy a small fire in the dining-room, so I took this opportunityof inquiring how Jim Clay had managed to capture her. This sort ofthing interested me; I liked life in the actuality where there was nocounterfeit or make-believe to offend the sense of just proportions. Not that I do not love books and pictures, but they have to be so veryvery good before they can in any way appease one, while the meanestlife is absorbingly interesting, invested as it must ever be with thedignity of reality. 

SIX. 

GRANDMA CLAY'S LOVE-STORY. 

"Oh, you don't want to hear it now, " she said in response to myrequest, but she gave a pleased laugh, betraying her willingness totell it. "Sometimes I get running on about old times an' don't knowwhere to stop, an' Dawn says people only pretend to be interested inme out of politeness. I think I hinted to you that mine was a lovematch--the only sort of marriage there ought to be; any other sort, inmy mind, is only fit for pigs. "

"But sometimes love matches would be utterly absurd, " I remarked. 

"Well, then, people that are utterly absurd ought to be locked up in aasylum. Anybody that's _fit_ to love wouldn't love a fool, becausethere must be reason in everything. _Some_ people I know would love amonkey, but they ain't fit to be counted with the people that keepsthe world going. Well, I got as far as we kep' a accommodation houseon the Sydney road, --fine road it was too, level and strong, and inmany places flagged by the convicts, an' it stands good to this day. It ain't like these God-forsaken roads about here, "--grandma showedsymptoms of convulsions, --"but _some_ people is only good for to bestuffed in a--a--asylum, and that's where the Noonoon MunicipalCouncil ought to be, an' I say it though Jake there, me own brother, is one of them. "

"Did Jim Clay--" I said, by way of keeping to the subject. 

"I told you how I used to sneak out to buckle the horses on; an' w'enJack Clay, a great chum of me father's, used to be driving the 'Up'coach, me father, w'en he'd be slack of passengers, --which wasn'toften, there being more life and people moving in the colonythen, --an' w'en I'd be good, would put me up on the box an' take me onto the next stage, an' I'd come back with Jack Clay--that was mehusband's father. 

"As it used to be in the night, it usedn't to take from me time, an' I'dbe up again next day as if I'd slep' forty hours. I wasn't like thegirls these days, if they go to a blessed ball an' are up a few hoursthey nearly have to stay in bed a week after it. In that way I come tobe a great hand with the reins, an' me father took a deal of pride in mebecause all the young men up that way began to talk about me. Me fatherhad the best team of horses on the road. He used to always drive themhisself. He was always a kind man to every one and everythink about him. He drove three blood coachers abreast and two lighter ones, Butterflyand Fairy, in the lead. Weren't them days! That great coach swingin'round the curves and sidlings in the dark, I fancy I can feel the reinsbetween me fingers now! And there was always a lot of jolly fellows, andusedn't they to cheer me w'en the horses 'u'd play up a bit. It wasconsidered wonderful for me to manage such a team. I was only a slightslip of a girl, not near so fat as Dawn; she takes more after hergrandfather. Me and me sisters had no lack of sweethearts, and we didn'trun after them neither. Some people make me that mad the way they runafter people and lick their boots. W'en I'd be drivin' with me father, Jim Clay used to be with his, but he was some years older than me. Hewanted to enter the drivin' business soon as opportunity came, an' himan' me were sort of rivals like. Many of the young swells used to bringme necklaces and brooches, but somehow when Jim Clay only brought me apocket-handkerchief or a lump of ribbon I liked it better an' kep' itaway in a little scented box an' I was supposed to be in love with agood many in them days. _Some people_ always knows other's businessbetter than they do theirselves. Me two sisters got married soon as theywere eighteen--one to a thrivin' young squatter, an' the other to a richold banker. Seein' how she got on is what makes me agen old men marryin'young girls. It ain't natural. A man might marry a girl a few yearsyounger than hisself, but there must be reason in everythink. I wasolder than me sisters, an' people began to twit me an' say I'd be lefton the shelf, but before this, w'en I was sixteen an' Jim Clay twenty, me father broke his leg and was put by. All his trouble was his horses;he fretted an' fretted that they'd be spoilt by a careless driver, an'he had 'em trained so they knew nothing but kindness. I was only toowillin', and I up an' undertook to drive the coach right through. OldJack Clay said he'd come with me a turn or two an' leave Jim to take histeam, but just then he had some terrible new horses that no one couldhandle but hisself, --he was a wonderful hand with horses was Jim'sfather, --so Jim was sent with me. My, wasn't there a cheer when I firstbrought the mail in all on me own!" The old face flashed forth aradiance as she told her tale. 

"Some of the old gents in the town of Gool-Gool come out an' shookhands with me, an' the ladies kissed me w'en I got down off of thebox. There was a lawyer feller considered a great lady-killer in themdays. He had a long beard shaved in the Dundreary, --Dawn always sayshe must have been a howler with a beard of that description; but timeschange, an' these clean-faced women-lookin' fellers the girls think isvery smart now will look just as strange by-an'-by. However, he wasrunnin' strong with me, an' me mother considered him favourable, --himbein' a swell an' makin' his way. Soon as ever I started runnin' thecoach he was took with a lot of business down the road, an' used to benearly always a passenger. "

"It appears that sweetheart tactics have not changed if the style inbeards has, " I remarked with a smile. 

"No, an' they'll never change, seein' a man is a man an' a girl agirl, no matter what fashions come an' go. I never can see why theymake such a fuss and get so frightened because wimmen does a thing ortwo now they usedn't to. Nothing short of a earthquake can make themnot men an' wimmen, an' that's the main thing. Well, to go back to meyarn, lots of other passengers got took the same way, an' there wasgreat bidding for the box seat: that was a perquisite belongin' to thedriver, an' me father used to get a sovereign for it often. I used todispose of it by a sort of tender, an' £5 was nothink for it; an' oncein the gold-rush times, w'en money was laying around like water, a bigminer, just to show off, gave me two tenners for it. They used to bewantin' to drive, but I took me father's advice an' never let go thereins. Well, among all these fine chaps Jim Clay wasn't noticed. Hewas always a terrible quiet feller. _I_ did all the jorin'. He'dalways say, 'Come now, Martha, there's reason in everythink, ' justw'en I'd be mad because I couldn't see no reason in nothink. He wassittin' in the back of the coach, an' it was one wet night, an' only afew passengers for a wonder, who was glad to take refuge inside. Onlythe lawyer feller was out on the box with me, an' makin' love heavierthan it was rainin'. I staved him off all I could, an' with him an'the horses me hands was full. You never see the like of the roads inthem days. It was only in later years the Sydney road, I wasremarkin', was made good. In them times there was no made roads, andyou can imagine the bogs! Why, sometimes you'd think the whole coachwas going out of sight in 'em, and chargin' round the stumps up to theaxle was considered nothink. We had more pluck in them days! Well, that night the roads was that slippery the brake gave me all I coulddo, an' a new horse in the back had no more notion of hangin' in thebreechin' than a cow; so I took no notice to the lawyer, only told himto hold his mag once or twice an' not be such a blitherer, but it wasno use, he took a mean advantage off of me. You can imagine it waseasy w'en I had five horses in a coach goin' round slippery sidlin'spitch dark an' rainin'. He put his arms 'round me waist an' thatraised me blood, an' I tell you things hummed a little. You'll seeDawn in a tantrum one of these days, but she ain't a patch on me w'enme dander was up in me young days. " Looking at the fine old flashingeyes and the steel in her still, it was easy to see the truth of this. 

"I jored him to take his hands off me or I'd pull up the coach an'call the inside passengers out to knock him off. He gamed me to do it, an' laughed an' squeezed me harder, an' the cowardly crawler actuallymade to kiss me; but I bit him on the nose and spat at him, an tookthe horses over a bad gutter round a fallen tree at the same time--an'some people is afraid to let their blessed daughters out in a doll'ssulky with a tiddy little pony no bigger than a dog. If I had childrenlike that I'd give 'em all the chances goin' of breaking their neck, as they wouldn't be worth savin' for anythink but sausage meat. Well, this cur still kep' on at his larks, so soon as I got the team on thelevel, --it was at Sapling Sidin', runnin' into Ti-tree creek; I couldhear the creek gurgling above the sound of the rain, and the whitefroth on the water I can see it plain now, --I pulled sudden and said'Woa!' an' it was beautiful the way they'd stop dead. The passengersall suspected there must be a accident, or the bushrangers must havebailed us up, for they was around in full blast in them days. Well, w'en I pulled up I got nervous an' ashamed, an' bust out crying, an'the passengers didn't know what to make of it; but Jim Clay, itappears, had his eye an' ear cocked all the time, an' before any oneknew what had happened he had the lawyer feller welted off of thecoach an' was goin' into him right an' left. That's what give me afeelin' to Jim Clay all of a sudden, like I never had to no one elsebefore or since. He was always such a terrible quiet feller that noone seemed to notice, an' he'd never made love to me before, but hegot besides hisself then and shouts, 'If ever you touch my girl againI'll hammer you to smithereens. ' Then he got back on the box an' wipedme eyes on his handkerchief an' protected me. The men inside--mostlydiggers makin' through to Victoria--w'en they got the hang of thingsbust out roarin' an' cheerin', an' said, 'Leave the dawg on the roadan' giv him a stummick ache. ' He tried to get up, but they pushed himoff. He made great threats about the law, but miners is the gamest menalive an' loves fair play. It ain't any use in talking law to them ifit ain't fair play, an' they give him to understand if he saidanythink to me about it, or told any one an' didn't take his lickin'like a man, they'd break every bone in his body, an' they meant ittoo. Then they lerruped up the team and left him in the rain an' pitchdark miles from anywhere. That was the only time I give up the reins. I couldn't see for tears, so Jim drove; an' the men took me inside sohe could attend to his work, they said, an' they cheered an' joked an'asked w'en the weddin' was comin' off, an' said they'd all come an'give us a rattlin' spree if we'd let 'em know. I didn't know what comeover me; I never was much for whimperin', but I cried an' cried as ifme heart was broke; an' it wasn't, because every time I thought of theway Jim Clay stuck up for me it give me the best feelin' I ever knew, an' the men was all on my side, an' there was no harm done, an' Iought to have been smilin', but I could do nothink but sob, an' Ialways think now w'en I see girls cryin' on similar occasions to let'em alone. Girls can't tell what's up with them, and a cry is good, because they ain't got the outlets that men has w'en they're workedup. We came to the end stage, an' w'en we got off the men all shookhands, an' one or two kissed me, an' pulled me curls, an' slapped JimClay on the back, an' called him my sweetheart. W'en we delivered themail Jim drove me to where I stayed, an' it was terrible embarrassin'w'en we was left alone with no extra people to take the down off ofthe affair. Jim was painful shy, but he faced it manful; an' he saidit didn't matter what they said about us bein' lovers, if it wasdisagreeable to me he'd never mention it nor think nothink about it, an' it would be forgot in a day or two, as he was a feller of noimportance. That was the way he put it; he never was for puttin'hisself up half enough. So crying again I just snuggled up to him an'said I didn't want to forget it, I wanted to remember it more an'more, an' with that he took the hint an' kissed me; an' that's how wegot engaged without no proposing or nothink. I didn't tell me mother, or there would have been a uproar, an' just then Jim Clay got a coachon the Cooma line, an' went right away. I told him I'd wait for him. He was away two years, an' w'en he came home we found it was still thesame with us. I was eighteen then, an' him twenty-two. 

He went away to Queensland for two years more, an' in that time thesister next me was married, an' Jake there was comin' on; but he wasnever no good on the box--he pottered round and grew forage. Me motherbegan to suggest I ought to marry this one an' that one, but I waitedfor Jim Clay, an' w'en I was gettin' on for twenty-one, old Jack Clayreckoned he was gettin' too old for drivin' in all weathers, an' Jimcome home an' took his place. A fine great feller he was, all tannedand brown, with his white teeth showin' among his black beard. He saidhe'd seen no girl that wasn't as tame as ditch water after me, an' asfor me, no one else could ever give me the feelin' he could, so wereckoned to be publicly engaged. It raised the most terrible bobberie, and me mother nearly took a fit. She had me laid out for a swell likeme sisters, an' she said I must be mad to throw myself away like that. Me brother-in-laws got ashamed of their wives' parents bein' in such atrade, an' as they had made a comfortable bit, they was goin' to giveit best and rare a few sheep an' cattle, an' me sisters came down onme an' said I would disgrace them now they had rose theirselves up inthe stirrups. Mother said she'd never give her consent, an' I told hervery saucy I'd do without it. That's why I know it don't do to pressDawn over far; she must have the same fight in her, an' if drove in acorner there'd be no doing anythink with her. Things was very strainedat home then; they thought to wean me of him, an' Jim Clay he hungback some, sayin' I'd better think twice before I threw myself away onhim. That made me all the determinder. Jim was the only man for me. Inever did have patience with them as can't make up their mind. So Iwaited, an' the day I was twenty-one--me two sisters was twins andmarried, one at nineteen and the other at eighteen--I gathered up afew things, and I had two hundred in the bank, and I went to a pointof the road, Fern-tree Gully it was named, an' w'en Jim come down thehill with his horses I waved--we had it all made up--an' he stoppedtill I clambered aboard, an' the box seat was reserved for me that dayfor nothink, and at the end of the stage we was married. I stayed withJim's mother for a week or two till we seen a opening, an' I kep' aaccommodation while Jim drove a coach. Jim was always steady, an' wewas both very popular, though I never pandered to no one, or put upwith nothink that didn't please me. Our story was a sort of romance inthem days, an' money was changin' hands freely, an' we was all right. The old folk died by-and-by; they didn't live very long, and Jakethere come to me. He wasn't good enough for his sisters, an' somehowthat's made us always cling together. I ain't blind, I can see he's nomiracle; he has his faults. Who hasn't?" the old lady fiercelydemanded. I assured her I knew none, and somewhat appeased by this sheproceeded. 

"Well, as I say, Jake there ain't a wonder of smartness, but he's theonly one belonging to the old days left to me, an' you couldn'tunderstand what that means till you get to be my age. If I went to anyone of your age, or old enough to be your mother, an' said, 'Do youremember this or that, ' how far back could they go with me, do youthink?"

"And then did you and Jim Clay--"

"Me an' Jim Clay was the happiest pair I think ever lived under aweddin' ring, an' it was a love match. He was quiet an' easy-goin'like, an' I was the one to bustle, consequently there would be timesw'en there would be a little controversy in the house; but Jim, he'dalways put his arm round me an' kiss me, an' that's the sort of thinga woman likes. She doesn't like all the love-makin' to be over in thecourtin' days, as if it was only a bit of fishin' to ketch her. Tho'of course I'd tell him to leave me alone, that I couldn't bear himmaulin' me; but women has to be that way, it bein' rared into them topretend they don't like what they do. An' you see Jim alwaysremembered how I had stuck to him straight, an' flung up swell matchesfor him, which must have showed I loved him. That's what gets over aman, he never forgets that in a girl, an' always thinks more of herthan the one with prawperty who marries a poor girl and is alwayssuspicioning she took him for what he has. Of course, there are somecrawlers of men ain't to be pleased anyhow, but they can be left outof it. In givin' advice to young wives, I always tell 'em w'en theyget sick of their husbands, which they all do at times, especially atthe start before you get seasoned to endure them, never to let himsuspect it, for men, in spite of all their wonderful smartness, has alot of the child in 'em after all, an' can take a terrible lot oflove. (When it comes to givin' any in return, of course that's a horseof another colour. ) But of course this is only dealin' with a manthat's worth anythink; as I said, there are some crawlers you couldmake a door-mat of yourself for, an' they'd dance on you an' thinknothink of it; but as I said before, there must be reason ineverythink to begin with. After Jim died I didn't care for livin' inthe old place, an' thought I'd like to get somewhere near the city. Old people ought to have sense. They don't want to crawl round likeMethuselah at forty, but they know w'en they git up to seventy theyain't goin' to live for ever, nor get any suppler in the joints, an'ought to make some provision to get nearer churches an' doctors an'all that's necessary to old people; so I sold out an' bought thisplace down here. "

"What family have you?"

"Only Dawn's mother and Andrew's, and two sons away in America. I wasmisfortunate with me daughters; they both died young, one as I toldyou, an' the other of typhoid; and so after bein' done with me ownfamily I started with others. I used to think once I'd be content tolive till I see me little ones grown up an' settled, an' then I wantedto live till I see Dawn able to take care of herself, an' now Isuppose, if I didn't take care, I'd want to be waitin' to see Dawn'schildren around me. That's the way; w'en we get along one step we wantto go another, an' it's good some matters ain't left for us to decide. But it's all for Dawn and Andrew I bother now, only for them me workwould be done; but it's good to have them, they keep me from feelin'like a old wore-out dress just hangin' up waitin' to be eat by themoths. "

"Grandma!" said the voice of Dawn in the doorway, "I can't get thisbeastly old stove to draw, and I'm blest if I can cook the dinner. Inever saw such a place, one has to work under such terribledifficulties. It's something fearful. " Her voice was cross, and herfacial expression bore further testimony to a state of extremeirritation. 

Grandma rose to combat, she never meekly sat down under anycircumstances, great or small. 

"Terrible place, indeed; see if _you_ had to provide a home what you'dhave in it. You was never done squarkin' for that stove; some one elsehad one like it, an' you was goin' to do strokes w'en you got it. It'salways easy to complain about things w'en you are not the oneresponsible!"

Grandma and I decided to go to the kitchen and prescribe for thestove. 

From an idle onlooker's point of view it seemed an excellent domesticimplement in good health; but the beautiful cook averred it wouldproduce no heat. 

"It must be like Bray's, " said grandma, "they thought it was no good, and it was only because of some damper that had to be fixed. "

"Yes; and they had a man there to fix it for them; that's the terriblewant about this place, there being no _man_ about it to do anything, "Dawn said pointedly, looking at Uncle Jake, who was calmly sitting inhis big chair in the corner. He was not disconcerted. A man who couldlive for years on a widowed sister without making himself worth hissalt is not of the calibre to be upset by a few hints. 

"I've busted up me pants again, " cheerfully announced Andrew from thedoorway--misfortunes never come singly. "Dawn, just get a needle andcotton and stitch 'em together. "

"I never knew you when they weren't 'busted up, ' and you can getanother pair or hold a towel round you till Carry comes home; she'sgot to do the mending, it's her week in the house. I've got enough toworry me, goodness knows!"

"Dear me!" said grandma, walking away as I once more volunteered to bea friend in need to Andrew, "w'en people is young, an' a little thinggoes wrong, they think they have the troubles of a empire upon them, but the real troubles of life teaches 'em different. You are agood-for-nothink lump anyhow, Andrew. Where have you been on a Sundaymorning tearing round the country?"

Andrew threw no light on the question, and his grandma repeated it. 

"Where have you been, I say--answer me at once?"

"Oh, where haven't I been!" returned Andrew a trifle roughly, "Icouldn't be tellin' you where I've been. A feller might as well be ina bloomin' glass case as carry a pocket-book around an' make a map ofwhere he's been. "

The old lady's eyes flashed. 

"None of yer cheek to me, young man! You're getting too big for yerboots since you left school. If in five minutes you don't tell mewhere you've been an' who you was with, I'll screw the neck off ofyou. Nice thing while you're a child an' looking to me for everythinkthat goes into your stummick an' is put on your back, an' I'mresponsible for you, that you can't answer me civil. Your actionscan't bear lookin' into, it seems. I'll go over an' see Mr Bray aboutit this afternoon if you don't tell me at once. "

"I ain't been anywhere, only pokin' up an' down the lanes with JackBray. "

"Well, why couldn't you say so at once without raisin' this rumpus. Them as has rared any boys don't know what it is to die of idlenessan' want of vexation. "

"It wasn't _me_ rose the rumpus. Some people always blames others forwhat they do themselves: it 'u'd give a bloke th' pip, " grumbledAndrew, as I put the last stitch in his trousers and his grandmadeparted. Her black Sunday dress rustled aggressively, and her plainbibless holland apron, which she never took off except when her bonnetwent on for street appearance or when she went to bed, and her littleQuaker collars and cuffs of muslin edged with lace, were even moreimmaculate than on week-days. She scorned a cap, and her features wereso well cut that she looked well with the grey hair--wonderfullyplentiful and wavy for one of her years, --simply parted and tidilycoiled at the back. This costume or toilet, always fresh and nevershabby, was invariably completed by a style of light house-boots, introduced to me as "lastings"; and there was an unimpaired vigour ofintellect in their wearer good to contemplate in a woman of the peopleaged seventy-five. 

It came on to rain after dinner and confined us all to the house. 

Dawn borrowed an exciting love-story from Miss Flipp; grandma read a"good" book; Uncle Jake still pored over the 'Noonoon Advertiser, 'while Andrew repaired a large amount of fishing-tackle, with whichduring the time I knew him I never knew him to catch a fish, and Carrygrumbled about the rain. 

"Poor Carry!" sympathised Andrew, "she can't git out to do a spoonwith Larry, an' the poor bloke can't come in--he's so sweet, you know, a drop of rain would melt him. "

"It would take something to melt you, " retorted Carry. "The only thingI can see good in the rain is that it will keep Mrs Bray away. "

And thus passed my first full day at Clay's. 

SEVEN. 

THE LITTLE TOWN OF NOONOON. 

The little town, situated whereaway it does not particularly matter, and whose name is a palindrome, is one of the oldest and mostold-fashioned in Australia. Less than three dozen miles per road, andnot many more minutes by train from the greatest city in the Southernhemisphere, yet many of its native population are more unpolished inappearance than the bush-whackers from beyond Bourke, the Cooper, andthe far Paroo. It is an agricultural region, and this in some measureaccounts for the slouching appearance of its people. Men cannot wresta first-hand living from the soil and at the same time cultivate aPiccadilly club-land style and air. 

It is a valley of small holdings, being divided into farms andorchards, varying in size from several to two or three hundred acres. Many grants were apportioned there in the early days. Representativesof the original families in some instances still hold portions ofthem, and the stationary population has drifted into a tiny world oftheir own, and for want of new blood have ideas caked down like mostof the ground, and evinced in many little characteristics distinctfrom the general run of the people of the State. 

Though they were, when I knew them, possessed of the usual humanfailings in an average degree, they were for the most part a splendidclass of population--honest, industrious producers, who, in GrandmaClay's words, "Keep the world going. " There was only a smallpercentage of idlers and parasites among them, but they did duty witha very small-minded unprogressive set of ideas. 

There is a place in New South Wales named Grabben-Gullen, where thebest potatoes in the world are grown. Great, solid, flowery beauties, weighing two pounds avoirdupois, are but ordinary specimens in thislocality, and the allegorical bush statement for illustrating theiruncommon size has it that they grow under the fences and trip thehorses as they travel the lanes between the paddocks. Similarly, toexplain the wonderful growth of vegetation in the fertile valley ofTumut, its inhabitants assure travellers that pumpkin and melon vinesgrow so rapidly there that the pumpkins and melons are worn out inbeing dragged after them. 

Now, as I strolled around the lanes of Noonoon, I felt the old slowways, like Grabben-Gullen potatoes, protruding to stifle one's mentalflights; but there was nothing representative of the Tumut pumpkin andmelon vines to wear one out in a rush of progress. The land was richand beautiful and in as genial and salubrious a climate as the heartof the most exacting could desire; but the residents had drifted intounenterprising methods of existence, and progress had stopped dead atthe foot of the Great Dividing Range. The great road winding over itbore the mark of the convicts, and other traces of their solidworkmanship were to be found in occasional buildings within a radiusof twenty miles; but their day had passed as that of the bullock-drayand mail-coach, superseded by the haughty "passenger-mail" and gianttwo-engined "goods" trains, --while for quicker communication with thecity than these afforded, the West depended upon the telegraph wires. 

In days gone by the swells had patronised Noonoon as a week-end resort, and some of their homes were now used as boarding-houses, --while theirone-time occupants had other tenement, and their successors patronisedthe cooler altitudes farther up the Blue Mountains, or had followed thegovernor to Moss Vale. 

Once upon a time Noonoon had rushed into an elaborate, unbalancedwater scheme, and had lighted itself with electricity. To do this ithad been forced to borrow heavily, so that now all the rates went tothe usurer, and no means were available for current affairs. Thesanitation was condemned, and the streets and roads for miles, as faras the municipality extended, were a disgrace to it. 

Exceedingly level, they possessed characteristics of some of the bestthoroughfares; but the wheel-ways were formed of round river stoneswhich neither powdered nor set, and to drive along them was cruel tohorses, ruinous to vehicles, and as trying on the nerves of travellersas crossing a stony stream-bed. There seemed to be nothing possible inthe matter but to abuse the municipal council as numskulls andcrawlers, and this was done on every hand with unfailing enthusiasm. 

Though so near the metropolis, Noonoon was less in touch with it thanmany western towns, --in most respects was a veritable great-grandmotherfor stagnation and bucolic rusticity, and in individuality suggestedone of the little quiet eddies near the emptying of a stream, and which, being called into existence by a back-flow, contains no current. Butwhile thus falling to the rear in the ranks of some departments ofprogress, the little town retained a certain degree of importance as oneof the busiest railway centres in the state, and its engine-sheds werethe home of many locomotives. Here they were coaled, cleaned, and oiledere taking their stiff two-engine haul over the mountains to the wide, straight, pastoral and wheat-growing West, and their calling andrumbling made cheery music all the year round, excepting a short spaceon Sundays; while at night, as they climbed the crests of themountain-spurs, every time they fired, the red light belching from theirengine doors could be seen for miles down the valley. Thus Noonoon'strain service was excellent, and a great percentage of the townpopulation consisted of railway employés. 

What is the typical Australian girl, is a subject frequentlydiscussed. To find her it is necessary to study those reared in theunbroken bush, --those who are strangers to town life and itsinfluences. City girls are more cosmopolitan. Sydney girls arefrequently mistaken for New Yorkers, while Bostonian ladies are asoften claimed to be Englishwomen; and it is only the bush-rearedgirl--at home with horse, gun, and stock-whip, able to bake the familybread, make her own dresses, take her brother's or father's place outof doors in an emergency, while at the same time competent to grace adrawing-room and show herself conversant with the poets--who canrightfully lay claim to be more typically Australia's than any othercountry's daughter. Of course the city Australians are Australianstoo. Australia is the land they put down as theirs on the censuspaper. She is their native land; but ah! their country has neveropened her treasure-troves to them as to those with sympathetic andappreciative understanding of her characteristics, and many of themare as hazy as a foreigner as to whether it is the kooka-burra thatlaughs and the moke-poke that calls, or the other way about. They areincapable of completely enjoying the full heat of noonday summer sunon the plains, and the evening haze stealing across the gullies doesnot mean all it should. The exquisite rapturous enjoyment of the odourof the endless bush-land when dimly lit by the blazing Southern stars, or the companionship of a sure-footed nag taking the lead round stonysidlings, or the music of his hoof-beats echoing across the ridges ashe carries a dear one home at close of day, are all in a magicstorehouse which may never be entered by the Goths who attempt tomeasure this unique and wonderful land by any standard save itsown, --a standard made by those whose love of it, engendered byheredity or close companionship, has fired their blood. 

These observations lead up to the fact that Noonoon folk boasted theirown individuality, smacking somewhat of town and country and yet ofneither. Some of the older ones patronised the flowing beards andsartorial styles "all the go way up in Ironbark, " yet if put Out-Backwould have been as much new chums as city people, and were wont toregard honest unvarnished statements of bush happenings as "snakeyarns"; while the youths of these parts combined the appearance of thefar bush yokel and the city larrikin, and were to be seen followingthe plough with cigarettes in their mouths. 

The small holdings were cut into smaller paddocks, the style of fencemostly patronised being two or three strands of savage barbed wirestretched from post to post. This insufficient separation of stock wasmade adequate by the cattle themselves carrying the remainder of thewhite man's burden of fencing around their necks, in the form of ahampering yoke made of a forked tree-limb with a piece of plainfencing-wire to close the open ends. This prevented them pushingbetween the wires, and it was a pathetically ludicrous sight to seethe calves at a very tender age turned out an exact replica of theirelders. All the places opened on to the roads like streets; and to goacross country was a sore ordeal, as one had to uncomfortably crossroughly upturned crop-land, and every few hundred yards roll under aline of barbed wire about a foot from the ground, at the risk ofreefing one's clothes and the certainty of dishevelment. To walk outon the main roads and stumble over the loose stones ankle-deep in thedust was torture. Some averred they had known no repairs for tenyears, and that they were as good as they were, because to have beenworse was impossible. Walking in this case being no pleasure, Ibethought me of riding for gentle exercise, and inquired of GrandmaClay the possibilities in that respect. 

"Ride! there ain't nothink to ride in this district, only greatelephant draughts or little tiddy ponies the size of dogs, " she saidwith unlimited scorn; "I never see such crawlers, they go about inthem pokin' little sulkies, and even the men can't ride. In my youngdays if a feller couldn't ride a buck-jumper the girls wouldn't lookat him, an' yet down here at one of the shows last year in the prizefor the hunters, the horses had to be all rode by one man; therewasn't another young feller in the district fit to take a blessed mokeover a fence. I felt like goin' out an' tacklin' it meself, I was thatdisgusted. I never was a advocate for this _great_ ridin' that rackspeople's insides out an' cripples them, there ain't a bit of necessityfor it, but there is reason in everythink, an' they're goin' to theother extreme, and will have to be carried about on feather-beds in aambulance soon if they keep on as they are. There's nothink as good asit was in the old days. As for a woman ridin' here, all the town wouldgo out to gape like as she was somethink in the travellin' showbusiness. I used to ride w'en I come down here first, --that wassixteen year ago, --but every one asked me such questions, an' lookedat me like a Punch an' Judy show, that I got sick of it. I rode intoTrashe's at the store there one day, an' w'en I was comin' out hesays, 'Will you have a chair to get on?' an' as he didn't seem to beman enough to sling me on, I said I supposed so. He goes for one ofthem tallest chairs--it would be as easy to get on the horse asit--an' I sez, 'Thanks, I'm not ridin' a elephant, one of them littlechairs would do. ' But even that didn't seem to content him; he put ithigh on the pavement an' put the horse in the gutter. Then, instead ofputtin' the reins over the horse's head proper, he left them on thehook, an' with both hands an' all his might holds the beast short bythem in front of its jaw, like as it was the wildest bull from theBogongs. The idiot! Supposin' the beast was flash an' pulled away fromhim, where would I be without the reins? That about finished me, I wassick of it, as I could not have believed any man, even out of aasylum, could be so simple about puttin' a person on a horse. "

For this kind of exercise there seemed no promising outlet, and I wasput to it to think of some other. As grandma said, with fewexceptions, the only horses in the district were draughts and ponies. Every effect has a cause, and the reason of this was that these bighorses were the only ones properly adapted to agriculture, and thesmallness of the holdings did not admit of hacks being kept for merepleasure, so the cheapest knockabout horse to maintain was a pony, asnot only did it take less fodder and serve for the little saddle useof this place, but tethered to a sulky, took the wives and childrenabroad. It was the land of sulkies, --made in all sizes to fit the ponythat had to draw them, and of quality in accordance with the pursethat paid for them, --and a pair of horses and a buggy was a raresight. 

Andrew suggested that I should go rowing, and glowingly recommended alittle two-man craft named the _Alice_, and as I could row well in myyoung days, I determined to test her capacity by going up stream verygently, as my time was unlimited and my strength painfully thereverse. It was a crisp day towards the end of April, so I was feelingbrisker than usual, and the _Alice_ was deserving of her goodreputation. The Noonoon was one of the noblest and most beautifulstreams in the State, and above the substantial and unique old bridgeits deep, calm waters stretched for about two miles as straight as aribbon, in a reach made historic because it has been the racecourse ofsome of the greatest sculling matches the world has known. Orange andwillow-trees were reflected in the clear depths of the ripplelessflow, and lured by its beauty, the responsiveness of my craft, and anunusual cheerfulness, I foolishly overdid my strength. I was thinkingof Dawn. Her girlish confidence regarding the desire of her hot youngheart had so appealed to me that I was exercised to discover asuitable knight, for this and not a career I felt was the needfulelement to complete her life and anchor her restless girlish energy. To tell her so, however, would ruin all. Time must be held till theappearance of the hero of the romance I intended to shape. With thisend in view I thought of recommending her grandma to let her voice betrained. Two years at the very least would thus be gained, and ifproperly floated and advertised in the matrimonial field, what may notbe accomplished in that time by a beautiful and vivacious girl ofeighteen or nineteen? I was recalled from such speculations by findingthat it was beyond me to row another stroke, and I was in a fix. Aslight wind turned the boat, and she drifted on to a fallen tree alittle below the surface, and, though not upsetting, stuck there, andwas too much for me to get off. 

At that time of the year, except very occasionally, the river was freefrom boaters and the fishers who told of the fish that used to be gotthere in other times, so there was nothing to do but wait until myabsence caused anxiety, when some one would surely come after me. Nota very alarming plight if one were well, but I felt one of my oldcruel attacks was at hand, which was not encouraging. No one waswithin sight, but in case there should be a ploughman over a risewithin hearing, I coo-eed long and well. My voice had been trained. Icoo-eed three times, allowing an interval to elapse, and then settledinto the bottom of the boat to await developments. Soon I wasdisturbed by the plunk! plunk! of a swimmer, and saw a young manapproaching by strong rapid strokes. It is strange how hard it is torecognise any one when only their face is above water and one meetsthem in an unexpected place, and though this face seemed familiarthere was nothing unusual in that, as I knew so many theatre patrons'faces in a half fashion. My rescuer having ascertained the simplenature of my dilemma, and easily gaining the boat by reason of thelog, exclaimed--

"Why, it's never you! What on earth are you doing here?" and Iresponded--

"Ernest Breslaw! It's never you! What are _you_ doing here? _I'm_stuck on this log. "

"And I've come to get you off it, " he laughed. 

"Yes, but otherwise? This may be a suitable cove for a damaged hull, but what can a newly-launched cruiser like you be doing here?"

"I'm in training, and was just taking a plunge; it's first-class!" hesaid enthusiastically, and looking at his splendid muscles, enough todelight the eye of even such a connoisseur in physique as myself, andwell displayed by a neat bathing-suit, there was no need to inquirefor what he was in training. 'Twas no drivelling pen-and-inkexamination such as I could have passed myself, but something needinga Greek statue's strength of thew. 

"Are you feeling ill?" he considerately inquired, and as I assured himto the contrary, though I was feeling far from normal, he put me outon the bank while he rowed up stream for his clothes and returned totake me home. Having encased himself in some serviceable tweeds and ablue guernsey, he rolled me in his coat ere beginning to demolish thehomeward mile--an infinitesimal bagatelle to such a magnificent pairof arms. I enjoyed the play of the broad shoulders and ruddy cheeks, and did not talk, neither did he. He was an athlete, not aconversationalist, while I was a conversationalist lacking sufficientathletic strength to keep up my reputation just then. 

"It was very silly of you to come out alone or attempt to row in yourstate of health! It might have been your death, " he presently remarkedin a grandfatherly style. "Where are you putting up?"

"At Clay's. "

"I know; the old place with the boats, " he replied as the _Alice_whizzed along. 

"I was aching for diversion, " I said, in excuse for the rashness of myact. 

"Well, I can take you for a pull now. I'll be here for a few weeks. Will you come to-morrow afternoon? Would three o'clock suit you?" heinquired as he moored. "The scenery is magnificent farther up theriver. "

"Yes, if I'm not here at three o'clock you'll know that I'm not ableto come. You are very good, Ernest, to waste time with me. "

"I'm only too proud to be able to row you about and expend a littledespised brute force in returning all the entertainment with brains init you have given me in the past. "

"Yes, at the cost of anything under 7s. 6d. An evening, --am I to payyou that for rowing me?"

"Put it in the hospital-box, " he said with a laugh that displayed hisstrong white teeth between his firm bold lips. He was altogether asight that was more than good in my eyes. 

I found I was not strong enough to spring ashore, but young Breslawmanaged that and my transit up the steep bank to the house with anease and gentleness so dear to woman's heart, that the strength toaccomplish it is the secret of an athlete being in ninety per cent ofcases a woman's ideal. 

"Oh, I say, " as he was leaving me at the gate, "if you mention me, speak of me as R. Ernest, as I've dropped the Breslaw where I'mstaying. I don't want wind of my being here to get into the papers. I'm practising in the dark, as I'd like to give some of the cracks asurprise licking. "

"Very well, I'm under an alias too, so please don't forget. To allexcept a few theatre patrons I'm as dead as ditch-water; but some onemight recognise the old name, and it would be very unpleasant. "

"Right O! To-morrow at three, then, I'll give you a pull, " he said, doffing his cap from his heavy ruddy locks, now drying into waves andgleaming a rival hue in the setting sun, as he bounded down the bankand made his way along the river-edge to the bridge, as his place ofsojourn was farther up than Clay's and on the other side. 

The excitement of thus meeting him had somewhat revived me, for hereat once, as though in response to my wish, was a fitting knight toplay a leading _rôle_ with my young lady, the desire for whosewellbeing had taken grip of me. For her sweet sake, and the sake ofthe fragrant manliness of the stalwart and deserving knight, Istraightway resolved to enter the thankless and precarious business ofmatchmaking, one in which I had not had one iota of experience; but aswomen have to ace marriage, domesticity, and mostly all the issues oflife assigned them, without training, I did not give up heart. As afirst effort I determined that Dawn should chaperon me when I went formy row on the morrow. As I looked at the sun sinking behind the bluehills and shedding a wonderfully mellow light over the broad valley, Ithought of my own life, in which there had been none to pull aheart-easing string, and the bitterness of those to whom that forwhich they had fought has been won so late as to be Dead Sea fruit, took possession of me. 

The doctors had several long and fee-inspiring terms for my malady, but I knew it to be an old-fashioned ailment known as heart-break--theresult of disappointment, want of affection, and over-work. The oldbitterness gripped the organ of life then; it brought me to my knees. I tried to call out, but it was unavailing. Sharp, fiendish pain, andthen oblivion. 

EIGHT. 

GRANDMA TURNS NURSE. 

When I came to it was dark enough for lights, Dawn's well-mouldedhands were supporting my head, Grandma Clay's voice was sternlyengineering affairs, and Andrew was blubbering at the foot of the bedon which I was resting. 

I tried to tell them there was no cause for alarm, and to beggrandma's pardon for turning her house into a "sick hospital, " butthough not quite unconscious, I appeared entirely so. 

"I wish you had sense to have gone for Dr Tinker when Dr Smalleywasn't in, " said the old lady, with nothing but solicitude in hervoice. 

The sternness in evidence when I had been trying to gain entrance toher house was entirely absent. 

"I'm afraid she's dead, " said Dawn. 

"Oh, she ain't; is she, Dawn?" sobbed Andrew. "She was a decent sortof person. A pity some of those other old scotty-boots that was herein the summer didn't die instead. " And that cemented a firm friendshipbetween the lad and myself. An individual utterly alone in the worldprizes above all things a little real affection. 

Presently there was a clearance in the room, effected by the doctor, who, after a short examination, pronounced my malady a complication ofheart troubles, gave a few instructions, and further remarked, "Sendup for the mixture. She isn't dead, but she may snuff out beforemorning. She's bound to go at a moment's notice, sometime. Give herplenty of air. If she has any friends she ought to be sent to them ifshe pulls through this. "

Grandma gave the meagre details she knew concerning me, and as thepractitioner, whom I took to be a veterinary surgeon called in for theemergency, went out, he said--

"If she dies to-night you can send me word in the morning; that willbe soon enough; and if I don't hear from you I'll call againto-morrow. "

"She ain't goin' to die if I can stop her, " said grandma when he haddeparted. "I'll bring her to with a powltice. I ain't given to becumflummixed by what a doctor says; many a one they give up is walkingabout as strong as bull-beef to-day. I never see them do no good in aserious case. They are right enough to set a bone or sew up a cut, butwhen you come to think of it, what could be expected of them? Theyknow a little more than us because they've hacked up a few bodies an'know how the pieces fit together, but as for knowin' what's goin' on, they ain't the Almighty, and ain't to be took notice of. The way theyknow about the body is the same as you and Carry know the kitchen, an'could go in the dark an' feel for anythink while all was well, but ifanythink strange was there you couldn't make it out, " and setting towork, brewing potions and applying remedies of her own, the practicalold lady soon brought me around so that I was able to make myapologies. 

"Good Heavens! What do you take us for?" she exclaimed. "It would be afine kind of a world if we wasn't a little considerate to each other. It does the young people good to learn 'em a little kindness. Icouldn't be askin' people like Carry there to wait on people, but it'sDawn's week in the house an' she'll look after you, an' you needn't bewantin' to clear out to the hospital. You won't be no better lookedafter there than here. "

Never was more tactful kindness on shorter acquaintance. 

Little Miss Flipp undertook to sit by my bed during the early watchesof the night, for they could not be persuaded to leave me alone. Hereyes bore evidence of many more sleepless watches, but the poor littlething did not unburden her heart to me. Dawn appeared to relieve herat 2 A. M. , and the engaging child manfully struggled against the sleepthat leadened the pretty blue eyes till morning, when grandma, briskas a cricket, took her turn. 

At eleven I was interested by the doctor's entrance. He came ontiptoe, but like a great proportion of male tiptoeing it defeated itsintention and made more noise than walking. Bearing down upon grandma, he inquired in a huge whisper, "How is she?"

At this juncture I opened my eyes, so he cheerfully remarked, in astrong twang known by some supercilious English as the "beastlycolonial accent"--

"So you didn't peg out after all!"

This being the language applied to stock, confirmed me in the notionthat he was a veterinary. I had once before heard it applied to ahuman being in a far bush place, where a man who lived unhappily withhis wife one morning remarked to a neighbour that "The missus nearlypegged out last night, " and it was considered a fitting remark forsuch a monster as this man was supposed to have been, but this doctorsaid it quite naturally. 

I found him a friendly and communicative fellow, and as he gave in anhour's gossip with grandma and me for one fee, I was willing to takeit to pass away a dull morning. 

"What on earth did you go rowing for?" he asked me. 

"The roads are too bad to go walking. "

"That's only within range of the municipality. The council wantsbursting up. They can't do anything with everything mortgaged to oldDr Tinker. He holds the whole thing. It's a pity he wouldn't peg outone of these nights, and we might get something done. But it's not himwho has the money--it's the old woman. "

"That's her Mrs Bray was tellin' us walloped the girl for bein'admired by the old doctor, " explained grandma. 

"Money, that's what he married her for, " continued the doctor. "Idon't know where he could have picked her up. Some say she is apublican's widow, but Jackson, the solicitor here, has a differenthypothesis. He says he's seen her running along carrying five cups andsaucers of tea at once, and no one but a ship's waitress could dothat. At any rate she's a great man of a woman; can swear like atrooper if things don't go right. She's got the old man completelycowed. "

"Am I to infer that cowing her spouse and swearing outrageously makesher _man_-like?" I laconically inquired. But the doctor'sunderstanding didn't seem to go in for small satirical detail, heconversed on a more wholesale fashion, rattling on for a goodhalf-hour to a patient for whom quietude was necessary, lest sheshould "peg out. "

"Ain't he a bosker?" enthusiastically commented Andrew, coming in tosee what I had thought of this doctor, who was the idol of Noonoon. 

"Has he a large practice?" I cautiously inquired, seeking to discoverwas he really a doctor. 

"My word! Nearly all the people go to him, he's so friendly and don'tstick on the jam--speaks to you everywhere, and has jokes abouteverything. "

"He's a fine man!" corroborated grandma. 

"Yes; must be more than six feet high, " I responded. 

"An' such a gentleman, he's never above having a yarn with you aboutanythink and everythink. "

"Oh, well, " I said, "any time I take these turns just send for him. "

One doctor was as harmless as another to me. I knew it would relievethe household to have a medico, and he could not injure me, seeing Iaccorded his medicine and advice about as much deference as the hum ofa mosquito. 

"Is he a family man?" I asked. 

"Yes; so there are all your chances gone in one slap, " said Carry, appearing to inquire my state. 

I did not tell her there was the most insuperable of all barriers inthe way of my marrying any one, and that I had no desire if I could. The first I did not want known, and the second would not be believedif it were, because, though woman is somewhat escaping from hershackles, the skin of old crawl subjection still clings sufficientlytight for it to be beyond ordinary belief that one could be other thanconstantly on the look-out to secure a berth by appending herself tosome man, and more especially does this suspicion hang over a spinsterwith her hair as grey as mine, and who takes up a position at aboarding-house which is supposed to be the common hunting-ground ofwomen forced on to the matrimonial war-path. 

"He has seven little children, and one's a baby, an' his wife is apoor broken-down little thing near always in the hospital. You'dwonder how he married her, _he's_ such a fine-looking man, " vouchsafedAndrew. 

"Such a fine man that you'd wonder concerning several other patentfacts about him, " I responded. 

There was quite a chorus in favour of him now. He was evidently a truegentleman in his patients' eyes, because he was not above stopping totalk to them in their own vernacular about local gossip, and had thereputation of great good nature in regard to the bills of the poor, and they loved his jokes. They were of the class within grasp of theelementary sense of humour of his audience. This type of gentleman heundoubtedly was, but to that possessed of graceful tact and expressingitself in good diction--by some considered necessary attributes of agentleman--he could lay no claim. Neither could he to that idealenshrined in my heart, who would not have had seven littlechildren--one of them a baby--and a poor little broken-down wife atthe same time; but as to what is really a gentleman depends on theattitude of mind. 

NINE. 

THE KNIGHT HAS A STOLEN VIEW OF THE LADY. 

Grandma Clay kept me in bed that day, so I forgot all about myappointment on the river until some time after three, when Andrewannounced from the doorway--

"A man wants to know can he see you?"

"Who can he be?"

"He's a puddin'-faced, red-headed bloke, wearin' a blue sweater underhis coat like the bike riders, " was Andrew's very unknightlydescription of the knight whom I had chosen to play lead in the dramaof the beautiful young lady at Clay's. 

"That's a particular friend of mine, you may show him in, " I said. 

"Oughtn't Dawn to be woke up first and told to scoot out of that?"said he. 

Dawn was one of those young beings so thoroughly inured to easy livingthat the few hours' sleep she had lost the night before had made herso dozy when she had come to keep me company now, that I had persuadedher to rest beside me on the broad bed, where, much against Andrew'ssense of propriety, she was fast asleep. 

"I'll hide her thus, " I said, covering her with the counterpane, forit would not be good stage management to allow the lady to escapewhen a fitting knight was on the threshold. This satisfied Andrew, whowithdrew to usher in the "puddin'-faced, red-headed bloke, " who sat inthe doctor's chair, and made a few ordinary remarks about the weatherand some equally kind about my state of health. 

When in the company of ladies the only brilliance in evidence about myyoung friend was the colour of his hair, so there was little danger ofhis waking Dawn with his chatter, as he sat inwardly consumed with adesire to escape. As I lay with my hand where I could feel the girl'shealthy breathing, I wondered would she too dismiss my chosen knightas pudding-faced and red-headed, or would she see him with my eyes!His locks certainly were of that most attractive shade hair can be, and his good looks were further enhanced by a clear tanned skin anddark eyes. His large clean-shaven features had the fulness androundness of unspent youth in full bloom, and he was far from thesmall bullet-headed type, which accounted for Andrew's designation of"puddin'-faced. " I had always found him one of the most virile andupright young creatures I had ever seen, and he had endeared himselfto me by his simple, untainted manliness, and the fragrant evidence ofhealth his presence distilled. Dawn, too, was so robust that there wasa likelihood of her being attracted by her opposite, and inclined tofavour a carpet knight before one of the open field. 

Some men have brain and muscle, but this is a combination as rare asbeauty and high intellect in women, and almost as startling in itspower for good or evil; but apart from the combination the wholesomeathlete is generally the more lovable. When his brawn is coupled witha good disposition, he sees in woman a fragile flower that he longsto protect, and measuring her weakness by his beautiful strength, iseasily imposed upon. His muscle is an engine a woman can unfailinglycommand for her own purposes, whereas brilliance of intellect, thoughit may command a great public position in the reflected glory of whichsome women love to bask, nevertheless, under pressure in the domesticarena, is liable to be too sharply turned against wives, mothers, anddaughters to be a comfortable piece of household furniture. On theother hand, the athlete may have the muscles of a Samson, and yet, being slow of thought and speech, be utterly defenceless in a woman'shands. No matter how aggravatingly wrong she may be, he cannot bringbrute force to bear to vanquish a creature so delicate, and beingpossessed of no other weapon, he is compelled to cultivate patienceand good temper. Also, health and strength are conducive to equabilityof temper, and hence the domestic popularity of the man of brawn abovethe one of brain, who is not infrequently exacting and crosslyegotistical in his family relations where the other would be lenientand go-easy. 

The silence of my guest and myself was presently broken by Dawnturning about under the counterpane. 

"Good gracious! what have you got there?" inquired Ernest. "Is it thatold terrier you used to have?"

"Terrier, indeed! I have here a far more beautiful pet. Because youare such a good child I will allow you just one glance. Come now, becareful. "

The girl's dress was unbuttoned at the throat, displaying a perfectcurve of round white neck; her tumbled brown curls strayed over thedimpled oval face; the long jetty lashes resting on the flushed cheeksfringed some eyelid curves that would have delighted an artist; thecurling lips were slightly parted showing the tips of her prettyteeth, and the lifted coverlet disclosed to view as lovely a sleepingbeauty as any of the armoured knights of old ever fought and died for. The latter-day one, politely curious regarding my pet, bent over toaccord a casual glance, but the vision meeting his eyes sent the bloodin a crimson wave over his tanned cheeks and caused him to draw backwith a start. It was inconsistent that he should have been socompletely abashed at sight of a fully-dressed sleeping girl who wasplacidly unconscious of his gaze, when it was his custom to regularlyoccupy the stalls and enjoy the choruses and ballets composed of youngladies very wide awake, and wearing only as much covering as compelledby the law; but where is consistency?

"I had no idea it would--er--be a young lady, " he stammered, keepinghis eyes religiously lowered, and fidgeting in a palsy of shyness suchas used to be an indispensable accomplishment of young ladies in pastgenerations. 

"Just take a good look, she'll bear inspection, " I said. 

"I'd rather not, the young lady might not like it. "

"But I'm giving you permission, she's mine, and then run before shediscovers you have pirated a glance. I will keep the secret. "

He lifted his eyes, but so swiftly and hesitatingly that I could notbe sure that he had discerned the beauty that was blushing halfunseen, instead of being displayed under limelight and drawn attentionto by brass trumpets in accordance with the style of this advertisemalage. 

As Ernest went out Andrew came in and awakened Dawn with a request tomake him some dough-nuts for tea, but she ordered him to go to Carryas it was her week in the kitchen. 

"Bust this week in the kitchen! A feller can hear nothing else, it'senough to give him the pip; it ought to be put up like a notice so itcould be known, " he grumbled as he departed. 

That evening Mrs Bray made one of her calls, which were always moregood-natured regarding the length of time she gave us than the tone ofher remarks about people. 

The famous Mrs Tinker, it appeared, from the latest account of hervagaries, had enlivened the lives of Noonoon inhabitants by swearingin a hair-lifting manner at one of the local shows because her horseshad not been awarded first prize, &c. , &c. 

Whether, as Carry averred, it was this conversation that did themischief or not, the fact remains that I became too faint to speak, and the girls would not leave me all night. I lay that way all thenext day too, so that when Ernest called to make inquiries anddiscovered my state he took a turn at making himself useful, prevailing upon Grandma Clay to allow him to do so by explaining thathe was a very firm friend of mine, and had had some experience ofinvalids owing to his mother having been one for some years before herdeath, both of which statements were perfectly true. 

As I improved, I was anxious to discover what impression he had madeon the household, and cautiously sounded them. 

"He seems to be a chap with some heart in him, " said grandma. "He'dput some of these fine lah-de-dahs to shame. I always like a man thatain't above attending on a sick person. Like Jim Clay, he could put apowltice on an' lift up a sick person better'n all the women I eversee. "

"It's always Jim Clay, " said Dawn in an irreverent aside; "I neverheard of a man yet, whether he was tall or short, or squat or lean, oryoung or old, but he was like Jim Clay, if he did any good. I'm aboutdead sick of him. "

"You don't seem to remember Jim Clay was your grandfather, " I said, ashis relict left the room, "and that he is very dear in yourgrandmother's memory. It is pleasing how she recalls him. Wait tillyour hair is grey, my dear, and if you have some one as dearlyenshrined in your heart it will be a good sign that your life has notbeen without savour. "

"Yes, of course, I do forget to think of him as my grandfather, neverhearing of him only as this everlasting Jim Clay, and if he was likethat red-headed fellow it would take a lot of him to be remembered asanything but a big pug-looking creature that I'd be ashamed to be seenwith. "

This was not a propitious first impression, and as she was inclined tobe censorious I considered it diplomatic to point out his detractions, knowing that the combative propensity of the young lady would thenseek for recommendations. 

"Yes, he is a great, unattractive, red-headed-looking lump, isn't he?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. He looks fine and healthy at all events, andI do like to see a man that doesn't make one afraid he'll drop topieces if you look at him. "

"But he's hopelessly red-headed, " I opined. 

"But it isn't that sandy, insipid sort of red. It's very dark andthick, and his skin is clear and brown, not that mangy-looking samplethat usually goes with red hair, " contended Dawn; and being willingthat she should retain this opinion, I let the point go. 

There is one advantage in a heart trouble, that it often departs assuddenly as it attacks, and ere it was again Carry's week in thehouse, I was once more able to stroll round and depend upon Andrew forentertainment. 

He invited me to the dairy to see him turn the hand cream-separator, and I remained to dry the discs out of its bowl while he washed them. He had a conversational turn, and in his choice of subjects was apatriot. He never went out of his realm for imported themes, butentirely confined his patronage to those at hand. This day hisdiscourse was of blow-flies; I cared not though it had been of manure. I had knocked around the sharp corners of life sufficiently to havegot a sensible adjustment of weights and measures, refinements andvulgarities. Besides, I gratefully remembered the tears Andrew hadshed during my illness, and bore in mind that many a dandy who couldplease me by his phraseology of choice anecdotes could not be morethan "bored" though I might die in torture at his feet. 

"My word! I'm thankful for the winter for one thing, " he began, "andthat's because there ain't any blow-flies. They'd give you the pip inthe summer. They used to be here blowin' everything they come across. They'd blow the cream if we left it a day. They'd blow you if youdidn't look sharp. I had Whiskey taught to ketch 'em. Here, Whiskey!Whiskey!" and as that mongrel appeared, his master tossed him pelletsof curds dipped in cream, and grinned delightedly as they werefiercely snapped. "He thinks it's blow-flies. Great little Whiskey!good little Whiskey, catch 'em blow-flies. By Jove! I've had enoughof farming, " continued he, "it's the God-forsakenest game, but megrandma won't let me chuck it. I notice no one with any sense staysfarmin'. They all get a job on the railway, or take to auctioneering, or something with money in it. You're always scratchin' on a farm. Youshould have been here in the summer when the tomatoes was ripe. Couldn't get rid of 'em for a song--couldn't get cases enough. Theyrotted in the field till the stink of them was worse than a chow'scamp, an' what didn't rot was just cooked in the sun. Peaches thesame, an' great big melons for a shilling a dozen. That's farming foryou! The only time you could sell things would be when you haven't got'em. Whiskey can eat melon like a good 'un, and grapes too. " Andrewnow threw out the wash-up water, pitching it on to Whiskey, who wentaway whimpering aggrievedly, much to the delight of his master, andillustrating that even the favourite pet of a youth has something toput up with in this imperfect life. 

TEN. 

PROVINCIAL POLITICS AND SEMI-SUBURBAN DENTISTS. 

May dawned over the world, and throughout New South Wales awoke astir, reaching even to the sleepy heart of Noonoon. This was owing tothe fact that the State Parliament was near the end of its term, andpolitical candidates for the ensuing election were already in thefield. 

Though not many decades settled, the country had progressed tonationhood, England allowing the precocious youngster this freedom ofself-government, and sending her Crown Prince to open her firstCommonwealth Parliament. Then the fledgling nation, bravely in the vanof progress, had invested its women with the tangible hall-mark offull being or citizenship, by giving them a right to a voice in thelaws by which they were governed; and now, watched by the oldercountries whose women were still in bondage, the women of thisAustralian State were about to take part in a political election. Notfor the first time either, --let them curtsey to the liberality oftheir countrymen!

The Federal elections, for which women were entitled to stand assenatorial candidates, had come previously, and though old prejudicehad been too strong to the extent of many votes to grasp that a womanmight really be a senatrix, and that a vote cast for her would not bewasted, still one woman candidate had polled 51, 497 votes where thewinning candidate had gone in on 85, 387, and this had been no"shrieking sister" such as the clever woman is depicted by those whofear progress, but a beautiful, refined, educated, and particularlywomanly young lady in the heyday of youth. The cowardly old sneer thatdisappointment had driven her to this had no footing here, as she hadevery qualification, except empty-headedness, to have ensured successas a belle in the social world, had she been disposed to pad her ownlife by means of a wealthy marriage instead of endeavouring to benefither generation in becoming a legislator. She was a fitting daughter ofthe land of the Southern Sun, whose sons were among the first to admittheir sisters to equal citizenship with themselves, and shebrilliantly proved her fitness for her right by her wonderful abilityon the hustings, which had been free from any vocal shortcoming andunacquainted with hesitation in replying to the knottiest questionregarding the most intricate bill. 

The Federal election, however, in a sense had been fartheraway--fought at long-range, while that of the State was brought rightto one's back door. 

The Federal campaign had been freer from the provincial bickeringwhich was a prominent feature of the State election, and made it morea hand-to-hand contest, where every elector was worthy ofconsideration; and though women were debarred from entering the StateParliament, yet they were now beings worth fawning upon for a vote, and their addition to the ranks of the electors gave matters a decidedfillip. 

The first intimation that the campaign had actually started reached meone afternoon when Dawn drove me into town to see a dentist. The wholeClay household had risen up against me patronising a local dentist. 

"They're only blacksmiths, " said Andrew. "I could tinker up a tooth asgood as they can with a bit of sealing-wax. "

However, I could get no doctor to give me a longer lease of life thantwelve months, and as it was not a very important tooth, I consideredthe local practitioners were sufficient to the evil. 

The afternoon before, when Ernest had dropped in to see _me_, I had_casually_ mentioned that Dawn and I were going up town next day, sotherefore, what more natural than, as we entered the main street, tosee him very busily inspecting wares in a saddler's shop--articles forwhich he could have no use, and which if he had, a man of his meanscould obtain of superior quality from Sydney. I diplomatically, andDawn ostentatiously, failed to notice him as we drove past to wherewas displayed the legend--S. Messre, Chemist and Dentist, late C. C. Rock-Snake, and where Dawn halted, saying, at the eleventh hour, "Youought to go to Sydney, Charlie Rock-Snake was all right, but I don'tcare for the look of this fellow. "

Going to Sydney, however, would not serve my ends nearly so well asconsulting S. Messre; for while I was with him Dawn would remainoutside, and what more certain than that Mr R. Ernest Breslaw, walkingup the street and quite unexpectedly espying her, and being such afriend of mine, should dawdle with her awaiting my reappearance, whilegrowing inwardly wishful that it might be long delayed. 

I knocked on the counter of the dusty, dirty shop, and after a timean extraordinary person appeared behind it. 

"Are you Mr Messre?"

"I believe so. Hold hard a bit. "

Probably he went to ascertain who he really was, for I was leftsitting alone until a splendidly muscular figure in a fashionablepattern of tweeds halted opposite the vehicle holding my driver. I wasquite satisfied with Mr S. Messre's methods, though his initial, asAndrew averred, might very well have stood for silly. 

The golfing cap came off the heavy red locks, while the bright brownones under the smart felt hat with the pom-poms, bobbed in response, and Mr S. Messre came upon me again, wiping his fingers on a soiledtowel, and tugging each one separately after the manner of childhood. 

"Did you want a tooth pulled?"

"Well, I wished to consult you dentally, but not in public, " I said, as two urchins came in and listened with all their features. 

"Well, hold hard a bit and I'll take you inside. "

I held or rather sat hard on the tall hard chair, and heard Ernestexplaining to Dawn that he had been swimming in the sun, which madehis face as red as his hair, for he gave her to understand that suchwas not his usual complexion. His red locks, very dark and handsome, which lent him a distinction and endeared him to me, were such asensitive point with him that his mind was continually reverting tothem, and that audacious Dawn unkindly replied--

"It wouldn't do to be all red. If my hair were red I'd dye it green orblue, but red I would not have. "

"But it's a good serviceable colour for a _man_, " meekly protested theknight. 

"Perhaps for a _fighting_ man, " retorted the young minx with nocontradictory twinkle in her eye; "but I could never trust ared-headed person: all that I know are deceitful. "

I was dismayed. How would a gentle young athlete weather this? To aperky little man of more wits than muscle, or to a gay old Lothario, it would have been an incentive to the chase, but I feared Dawn wastoo horribly, uncompromisingly given to speaking what she felt, irrespective of grace, to expand this young Romeo to love; but muchmerciless fire will be stood from beauty, and he made a valiantdefence. 

"There are exceptions to every rule, Miss Dawn. I never was known asdeceitful; ask any one who knows me. "

"I don't know any one who knows you. "

"Ask your friend inside, I think she'll give me a good character. "

"Quite the reverse. If you heard what she says about you, you'd neverbe seen in Noonoon again;" but this assertion was made with such aroguish smile on eye and lip that Ernest took up a closer position bystepping into the gutter and placing one foot on the step of the sulkyand a corresponding hand on the dashboard railing; and in thatposition I left them, with yellow-haired Miss Jimmeny from the cornerpub. Walking by on the broken asphalt under the verandahs, and castinga contemptuous and condemnatory glance at the forward Dawn whofavoured the men. 

Mr S. Messre led the way to a place at the back of the shop which waslayered with dust and strewn with cotton-wool and dental appliances, some of them smeared from the preceding victims, evidently. He did notseem to know how to dispose of me, so I placed myself in theprofessional chair and invited him to examine the broken molar. 

"The light is bad here, " he remarked, fumbling with my head, andmaking towards my face with one of the soiled instruments. 

"That is not my fault, " I replied. 

"This is him!" he further remarked, tapping my cheek with a finger. 

"Yes. "

"He wants patching. "

"So _he_ leads me to imagine. "

"The nerve would want killing. "

"Quite so, and to attend to its wants I'm here. "

"I'd take eight shillings to kill the nerve. "

"Would you use them as an apparatus to execute it?"

"Then I'd take twelve or thirteen shillings to fill it, " he continued. 

I was interested in the uniqueness of his methods. 

"Would you purpose to powder the shillings or use them whole--I wouldhave thought an alligator's or shark's tooth would scarcely requirethat quantity of material?"

Mr Messre stared at me in a dazed manner. 

"I wouldn't touch the tooth under that, " he continued. 

"Is there another tooth under it? then extract this one and give theother a fair chance. "

"It would be a lot of trouble, " he kept on, without specially replyingto my remark. 

"Perhaps so; when one comes to think of it, teeth, I suppose, are notfilled without some exercise on the part of the dentist. "

"I wouldn't think of touching that tooth for less than a guinea; whyit would take at least an hour to do it. "

"This is the first intimation I've had that dentists calculated tomend teeth without spending any time on them, " I said. 

Mr Messre didn't seem to grasp the drift of my remarks, and as I feltunequal to maintaining the conversation for a more extended period, Iannounced my intention of thinking about what he had said. He said itwould be as well, and I emerged to find Ernest had so far progressedas to be seated in the sulky holding my parasol over Dawn. 

Youth and beauty is privileged to command an athlete to hold itssunshade, while old age has difficulty in finding so much as a smallboy to carry its basket across the street. Mayhap this is why it islargely the elderly and frequently the unattractive people who fightfor honest rights for their class and sex, while it is from prettyyoung women's lips issues most of the silly rubbish anent it beingentirely women's fault that men will not conform to their "influence"in all matters. Only a very small percentage can regard conditionsfrom any but a selfish point of view or conceive of any but their ownshoe-pinch. 

"I happened to see Miss Dawn here and waited to ask you how you are, "said Ernest. 

"Just what you should have done, " I replied; "and now if you can waittill I investigate another dentist I want your opinion on a purchase Iam making. "

"Oh, certainly, " he hastened to reply; "I'm doing a loaf thisafternoon. I thought I heard my oar crack this morning, so came forsome leather to tack round it. "

This in elaborate explanation of his presence there. 

The second dentist proved the antithesis of his contemporary, beingshort, pleasant, and bright. 

"I'll tell you what, " he said, laughing engagingly, "the best thing tobe done with that tooth is to dress it with carbolic acid. Now this isa secret. "

"One of those that only a few don't know, I suppose. "

"Perhaps so, " he said, laughing still more pleasantly. 

"You can do this tooth just as well as I can. Get three penno'worth ofacid and put some in once or twice a-day and the nerve will be dead intwo or three days, and I'll do the rest. "

As he proved such an amiable individual, though probably anexceedingly suburban dentist, I got rid of half an hour in desultorychat, as I could see from the window that the knight and the lady, ifnot progressing like a house on fire, were at least enjoyingthemselves in a casual way. 

"Did you have only one tooth to be attended to?" inquired Dawn when Iappeared. 

"Yes; and I fear that it will be one too many for Noonoon dentists, " Ireplied. I could think of nothing upon which to ask Ernest's advice, so I feigned that I was not feeling well enough for any further worrythat afternoon, but would command his services at a future date. 

I now held the pony while Dawn disappeared into a shop and reappearedwith an acquaintance who invited us to attend a political meeting thatnight. The electors, alarmed at the prodigal propensities of thesitting government, were forming an Opposition League to remedymatters, and the first step was to choose one of the two candidatesoffering themselves as representatives of this party for Noonoon. Thefirst one was to speak that night in the Citizens' Hall, and by payinga shilling one could become a member of the League, and vote for thiscandidate or the other. 

"Oh, if I only had a vote!" regretfully exclaimed Dawn. 

"He's a young chap named Walker, from Sydney, --very rich, I believe. Do you know him?" Mrs Pollaticks inquired of me. 

"I've heard of him, " I said, exchanging glances with Ernest, "andshould like to hear him, if convenient. "

"I'll drive you in, " volunteered Dawn. 

"If you're around you might act as groom, " I suggested to Ernest, andhe gladly responding, it was agreed that we should beginelectioneering that night. 

"I knew Ernest would be delighted to be with us, he takes greatpleasure in my company, " I remarked with assumed complacence as wedrove home; and I watched Dawn smile at my conceit in imagining anyone took pleasure in my company while she was present, and that anynormal male under ninety should do so would have been so phenomenalthat she had reason for that derisive little smile. 

"You said he was hopelessly red-headed, " she remarked; "why, I thinkhe has a handsome kind of red hair. I never thought red hair could benice, but Mr Ernest's is different. "

I smiled to myself. 

"I never thought much of men, but this one is different, " has beensaid by more than one bride; and, "I never could suffer infants, butthis kid is different to all I've seen, " is an expression often heardfrom proud young fathers. 

"His young lady thinks so at all events, " I innocently remarked, andwe fell into silence complete. 

ELEVEN. 

ANDREW DISGRACES HIS "RARIN'. "

The silence that fell upon Dawn and myself was unbroken when we wentto tea and seemed to have affected the whole company, or else it wasthe conversational powers of Andrew, who was absent, which werewanting to enliven us. 

"He ought to be home, " said grandma. "He's got no business away, andthe place can't be kep' in a uproar for him when the girls want to goout. "

The old lady had determined to take a vigorous interest in politics, and spoke of going to hear the meetings later on herself. 

It presently transpired that Andrew had not been looking to hisgrandma for all that went into his "stummick" so religiously as heshould have been. Just as he was under discussion he made a dramaticentry, and fell breathlessly in his grandma's arm-chair near thefireplace. The usual occupant glared at him in astonishment anddemanded "a explanation, " which came immediately, but not from Andrew. Instead there was a loud and imperative knocking at a side door, andwhen Carry, after cursing the white ants which had made the door hardto open by throwing it out of plumb with their ravages, at last gotit open, there appeared an irate old man carrying a stout stick. Itwas plain that he too had been running, --in short, was in pursuit ofAndrew, who had quite collapsed in the chair. 

"I've come, missus, to warn you to keep your boy out of my orangeorchard, " he gulped. "Six or seven times I've nearly caught him an'young Bray in it, but to-night I run 'em down, an' only they escapedme I'd have give 'em the father of a skelpin'. If I ketch them thereagain I'll bring 'em before the court an' give 'em three months; butyou being a neebur, I'd like to give you a show of keepin' him outfirst. "

The old dame, _à la_ herself, had been in the act of pouring milk andsprinkling sugar on some boiled rice which frequently appeared on themenu during Carry's week in the kitchen, previous to handing it toMiss Flipp, but she waved her hand, thereby indicating that in so direan extremity we were to be trusted with the sugar-basin ourselves, --infact, that any laxity in this item would have to be let slide foronce. 

After the manner of finely-strung temperaments with the steel in them, which wear so well, and to the last remain as sensitive as a youth ormaiden, Mrs Martha Clay then rose from her seat, visibly trembling, but with a flashing battle-light in her eyes. 

"What have you got to say to this?" she demanded, turning on hergrandson. 

"I never touched none of his bloomin' old oranges. It was Jack Bray, it wasn't me. "

"Yes, " said she; "and if you was listening to Jack Bray it would beyou done it all, an' he who never done nothink. What's the charge, andwhat damages have you laid on it?" she demanded of the accuser, fixing him with a fiery glance. 

"I ain't goin' to lay any damages this time, I only thought you'drather me warn you than not; I know I would with a youngster. Isuppose after all he ain't done no more than you an' me done in ouryoung days, an' my oranges bein' ripe so extra early was a greattemptation, " familiarly said the man. 

"Well, I don't know what _you_ done in your young days, but I know Inever took a pin that didn't belong to me, none of me children orpeople neither; and as for Jim Clay, he wouldn't think of touchin' athing--he was too much the other way to get on in the world. An' itain't any fault of my rarin' that me grandson is hounded down avagabond, " said the old lady in a tragic manner. 

Seeing her fierce agitation, the lad's pursuer was alarmed and soughtto pacify her by further remarking--

"He ain't done nothink out of the way, an' I admit the oranges was agreat temptation. "

The old lady snorted, and the colour of her face heralded somethingverging on an apoplectic seizure. 

"Temptation! If people was only honest and decent by keepin' from thethings that ain't any temptation, we'd be all fit for jail or aasylum. Pretty thing, if he's only to leave alone that which ain't anytemptation to him! You could put other people's things before me, Iwouldn't take 'em, not if me tongue was hanging out a yard for 'em. That's the kind of honesty that I've always practised to me neighboursand rared into any one under me, and that's the only kind of honestythat is honesty at all, " she splendidly finished. "An' I'm verythankful to you for informin' me. I wish you had caught him an'skelped the hide off of him. It's what I'll do meself soon as I siftthe matter. "

The old man bade good-night and departed with his stick. 

"He's always sneakin' about the lanes, an' only poked his tongue outat me w'en I wanted to know where he was, " maliciously said Uncle Jakein reference to his grand-nephew. 

"Mean old hide, always likes to sit on any one when they're down, "whispered Dawn and Carry to each other. "A pity Andrew hadn't twotongues to stick out at him. "

Miss Flipp was too dull to be aroused by even this disturbance. Theonly time she showed any feeling was when her "uncle" paid herclandestine visits. Her life seemed to be in a terrible tangle--morethan that, in a syrtis, --but I did not take a hand in further crushingher. She had been kind to me during my indisposition, and except inextreme cases, "live and let live" was an axiom I had learned tocarefully regard. Knowledge of the slight chance of circumstances oropportunity--which too frequently is the only difference between agood person and a bad one, success and failure--reminds one to be verylenient regarding human frailty. 

"Now, me young shaver! I'll deal with you, " said grandma, turning toAndrew, in whom there appeared to be left no defence. Never have Iseen so old a woman in such a towering rage, and rarely have I seenone of seventy-five with vigour sufficiently unimpaired to feel soextremely as she gave evidence of doing. 

"This is the first time anythink like this ever happened in my family, and if I thought it wouldn't be the last I believe I'd kill you whereyou are. "

Andrew emitted no sound, he had given himself up with that calmnessone evinces when the worst is upon them--when there is nothing furtherbeyond. 

"Go off to bed as you are without a bit to eat, " she continued, plucking at her little collar as though to get air. "To-morrow I'llsee the Brays about this, and I'll skelp the skin off of you. I'd doit now, only there's no knowing where I'd end, I feel that terribleupset. What would Jim Clay think now, I wonder? You God-forsaken youngvagabond, bringin' disgrace upon me at this time of me life. I'd beashamed to walk up town and give me vote as I was lookin' forward to, and me grandson nearly in jail for stealing. _Stealing_! It's a nicesounding word in connection with one of your own that you've raredstrict, ain't it? You snuffed up mighty smart when I asked you yourdoings, now it comes out why you couldn't account for 'em. 'Might aswell be in a bloomin' glass case as have to carry a pocket-book roundan' make a map of where he's been, ' sez he. It appears a map of yourdoin's wouldn't pass examination by the police. How would you havebeen makin' a honest way in the world if I wasn't here to beresponsible for you?"

"Oh, grandma!" said Dawn, seeking to calm her, lest the excitementwould be too much. "After all it mightn't be so bad. Lots of boys takea few paltry oranges out of the gardens and no one makes such a fussbut that old creature. He just wants to be officious. " This was aninjudicious attempt at peace. 

"Is that you speakin', Dawn? '_Lots of boys do it. _' Perhaps you willalso say, 'Lots of girls come home with a baby in their arms. ' Onceyou get the idea in your head that there's no harm because lots do it, you're on a express train to the devil. Lots of people do things andsome don't, and that's the only difference between the vagabonds I'venever been, and the decent folk I'd cut me throat if I wasn't among. An' you're the last person I ever would have thought would have uphelda _thief_!"

"Well, grandma!" protested Dawn, "I don't uphold him. I'm ashamed tobe related to him, but don't make yourself ill now. Sleep on it, andto-morrow give him rats. "

"Remember this, " continued grandma, "an' carry the knowledge throughlife with you, that I can't make your character for you. Each one hasto make their own, but seeing the foundation you've been give, makesyou a disgrace to it. It takes you all your time for years an' yearsputtin' in good bricks to make a good character, but you can get ridof it for ever in one act, don't forget that; an' remember thatbelongin' to a respectable family won't stop you from bein' a thief. You are very quick to talk about some of these poor rag-tag abouttown, an' I suppose you an' Jack Bray thought you couldn't be thesame, but you've found out your mistake! Go to bed now, and I'llleather you well to-morrer, " she concluded encouragingly; and Andrewlost no time in taking this remand, looking, to use his ownexpression, as though he had the "pip. "

"Dear me!" sighed the old lady, "them as has rared any boys don't knowwhat it is to die of idleness an' want of vexation. If it ain'tsomethink beyond belief, one might be that respectable theirself theycould be put in a glass case, an' yet here would be a young vagabondbringin' them to shame before the whole district. "

"But I don't see that he has done anything very terrible, " hazilyinterposed Miss Flipp. 

"Good gracious! If he had been cheekin' some one or playin' afar-fetched joke, I might be able to forgive him, but there must bereason in everythink, an' to go an' meddle with other's property iscarryin' things too far. 'Heed the spark or you may dread the fire, 'is a piece of wisdom I've always took to heart in rarin' _my_ family, and I notice them as are inclined to look leniently on evil, no matterhow small, never come out the clean potato in the finish, " trenchantlyconcluded the old woman; and Miss Flipp was so disconcerted that sheimmediately retired to her room, but noticed by no one but me. Probably the poor girl, if gifted with any capacity for retrospection, wished that she had heeded the spark that she might not now be indanger of being consumed by the fire. 

TWELVE. 

SOME SIDE-PLAY. 

As Andrew was banished, and grandma determined to retire to ponderupon his sin, she waived it being Carry's week in the kitchen andconsequently her duty to prepare supper coffee, and suggested that weyounger women should all go to the meeting, but Miss Flipp refused onthe score of a headache. 

"Poor creature!" observed grandma, "I think she's afraid of a attackof her old complaint, she looks that terrible bad, and don't takeinterest in anythink. She wants rousin' out of herself more. She ain'ta girl that will confide anythink to one, but her uncle is comin' upagain to-morrer, an' I think I'll speak to him. "

When Carry, Dawn, and I arrived at the Citizens' Hall, Ernest wasalready waiting to act groom, while Larry Witcom also accidentallyhovered near. He quite as casually took possession of Carry, so therewas nothing for a common individual like myself but to becomeextremely self-absorbed, so that my keen observation might not be aninterception of any interest likely to circulate between the knightand the lady. The latter seemed to be in one of her contrary moods, soattached herself to me like a barnacle, settled me in a seat one fromthe wall, and peremptorily indicating to Ernest that he was to takethe one against it, put herself carefully away from him on theoutside. A wag would have arranged the party to suit himself, but thatwas beyond Ernest. He meekly sat down beside me, with a helplessnesspossible only to the sturdiest athlete in the room when in the handsof a fair and wilful maid. I could have come to his rescue, but deemedit wiser not to thrust him upon Dawn for the present. We had arrivedvery early, so there was time for conversation. Encouraged by me, Ernest leant forward and addressed a few remarks to Dawn, which shereceived so coolly that he distraitly talked to me instead, and aspeople began to gather, above the majority towered the fair head andstriking profile of him I had first seen dealing in pumpkins, and whowas colloquially known as "Dora" Eweword. Dawn beckoned him to theseat beside her, which he took with alacrity, a rollicking laugh and acrimsoning face, which, in conjunction with a double chin, bespoke thefurther partnership of a large and well-satisfied appetite. 

"I haven't seen you for an age, " said Dawn with unusual graciousness. 

"Are you sure you wanted to see me?" he inquired, with an amorouslook. 

Dawn used her bewitching eyes of blue in a laughing glance. 

"You know you only have to give me the wink and you'll see me as oftenas you want, " straightforwardly confessed "Dora"; but Dawn havingencouraged him to a certain distance, had a mind to bring him nonearer. 

"I don't care if I never saw you again, " she said bluntly, "butgrandma likes yarning with you, that's why I inquired. "

"Dora" looked very red in the face indeed. 

"How's Miss Cowper?" mercilessly pursued Dawn, going to the pointabout which she was curious, as is characteristic of swains and maidsof her degree. "I hope she's well. "

"So do I, " said Eweword. 

"You used to ask after her health about twice a-day. I thought youwould be taking her to Lucerne Farm to relieve your anxiety;" and inresponse to this "Dora" sealed his fate, as far as my feeling anycompunction whether he singed his wings or not in the light of Dawn'sbright candle, for he said with a touch of bravado--

"Oh, I was only pulling her leg. "

To do the man justice he did not seem down to the full unmanliness ofthis statement; it appeared more one of those nasty and idle remarksto which all are prone when in a tight corner, and speaking on thespur of the moment. 

"Oh, was that all!" said Dawn mockingly. "It was very nice of you. Areyou always so kind and thoughtful?"

"I'm thinking of clearing out to Sydney in a day or two, I've spentenough time loafing. The only thing that has kept me here so long isthat I wanted to hear how Les. Got on in his maiden speech. We're notmuch to each other, but when a fellow has no one belonging to him hefeels a claim on the most distant connection, " said Ernest on theother side of me. His interest in Leslie Walker's maiden speech hadbeen developed as suddenly as his opinion that he had spent enoughtime in a boat on the river Noonoon. 

The connection he mentioned between himself and the candidate about tospeak was that old Walker, whose only son the latter was, had marrieda widow with one son, by name Ernest Breslaw. Both these parents werenow dead, leaving the step-brothers as their only offspring. The ladshad been reared together, and though of utterly different tastes andcallings, a mutual regard existed between them. Walker had passed hisexaminations at the bar, and Breslaw had been trained to electricalengineering, but both being wealthy, neither followed theirprofessions except in a nominal way. Walker had put in his time insociety, motoring, flirting, travelling, dabbling in the arts, andbuilding a fine town mansion, while Ernest had spent all his time inathletic training, with the result that Walker had fallen a prize inthe marriage arena, while Ernest was yet in full possession of hisbachelorhood. 

Any further conversation was out of the question, as the candidate--asmart, clean-shaven man with clearly cut features--now appeared, andannounced himself by removing his new straw "decker, " and callingout--

"Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin I would like to follow thedemocratic principle of asking you to choose a chairman from amongyourselves. "

"We propose Mr Oscar Lawyer!" called several voices, naming a populartownsman, and this being seconded, the candidate and the people'schairman, two very gentlemanly-looking men for the hustings, ascendedto the stage side by side. 

The chairman took up a position behind a little red table supporting awater-bottle and smudgy tumbler, while Leslie Walker sat on anotherchair at the end of it. 

Many members of parliament, having risen to their position fromcoal-heaving or hotel-keeping, when going on the war-path a secondtime, take great pains to get themselves _up_ in accordance withtheir idea of the dignity of their office. Many old fellows, roaring"Gimme your votes, I'm the only bloke to save the country and see yougit yer rights, " dress this modest _rôle_ in a long-tailed satin-facedfrock-coat, a good thing in the trouser line, and a stylishbutton-hole; but Leslie Walker, one of the champagne set, had madeequally palpable efforts to dress himself _down_ to his present_début_. 

For sure! his suit, which comprised an alpaca coat with a crumpledtail, must have been the shabbiest he had, while the glistening newwhite sailor hat had probably been procured at the last moment in thevain imagination that, dress as he would, it was not evident at afirst glance that he had had the bread-and-butter problem solved forhim by a provident parent before his birth, and that he had lived whatis designated the cultured life, far and autocratically above sympathywith the vulgar and despised herds, upon whose sweat his class buildthe pretty villas fronting the harbour, charge haughtily along theroads in automobiles, and sail the graceful yachts on the idyllicwaters of Port Jackson. 

"By Jove! Les. Has different ambitions from mine, " said Ernest. "I'drather have to stand up to a mill with the champion pug. Than facewhat he's on for to-night. Doesn't he look a case in that get up?Supposing he gets in, what the devil good will it do then, and ittakes such crawling to get into parliament nowadays. There are toomany at the game. I could never face the way one has to flatter someof these old creatures for their vote. I'd rather plug them under thejaw. "

Mr Oscar Lawyer having introduced the speaker, he came forward, andafter explaining it was his first appearance in politics, charminglyproceeded, "I hope I shall not bore you with my remarks as Iendeavour to outline the various planks in the platform of the partyto which I have the honour to belong. "

Quite superfluous for him to explain that he was a new chum inpolitics. Only a fledgling from a Brussels or Axminster carpetedreception-room would stand on the hustings and publish a fear that hemight be boring his audience. One familiar with the trade ofelectioneering, as it has always been conducted by men, would strutand shout and brag, never for a moment worrying whether or not he cameanywhere near the truth or feeling the slightest qualm, though hedeafened his hearers with his trumpeting or bored them to completeextinction, and would refuse to be silenced even by "eggs of greatantiquity. "

"Les. Ought to stick to society, " observed his step-brother; "flippingaround a drawing-room and making all the girls think they were equallyin the running was more in his line. "

"He's a nice, clean, good-looking young fellow at any rate, anddoesn't look as if he gorged himself--hasn't that red-faced, stuffedlook, " said Dawn. "If I had a vote I'd give it to him just for that, as I'm sick of these red-nosed old members of parliament withcorporations. "

"He's the real lah-de-dah Johnny, isn't he?" laughed "Dora" Eweword. 

"Don't you say he's any relation of mine, " said Ernest. "It would giveme away, and he thinks I'm in Melbourne. I told every one that's whereI was bound. I hope he won't catch sight of me. "

There was little fear of this; one has to be accustomed to facing acrowd before they can distinguish faces. 

After the meeting, which dispersed early, Ernest and I hurried outinto the galvanised iron-walled yard, in which those coming from adistance put their horses and vehicles. 

Having noted the disconsolate manner in which a pair of dark eyesbelow a thatch of generous hue surreptitiously glanced towards atormentatious maiden with ribbons of blue matching her eyes andfluttering on her bosom, I thought it time to come to his rescue. 

"If you would care to talk to your friend, he can drive you home whileI walk with 'Dora'; he says he has something to say to me, " said Dawnin an aside. 

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" I asked. 

"How could I tell until I hear it?"

"That is not a fair answer, Dawn. "

"Well, it wasn't a fair question, " she pouted. 

"Very well, I will not press you more, but you'll tell me of it after, will you not?"

"Well, what would you like me to do?" she asked. 

"Oh, I'd like you to be naughty. Mr _Dora's_ complacence inspires meto inveigle him into having to drive me home while you walk with someone else. "

"Very well, anything for fun, " she responded with dancing eyes; and asErnest had the horse in I got into the sulky and said--

"There is room for three here, Mr Eweword, and we would be glad of youto put the horse out when we get home. "

He took the reins and a seat, and moved aside to make room for theloitering Dawn, but she said--

"No, I'll walk; I must keep Carry company, and she doesn't want tocome just yet. "

"Drive on, " I commanded, and there was nothing for the entrapped"Dora" to do but obey. 

I saw Carry go on with another escort. "Will you permit me to see youto your gate?" I heard Ernest saying as we went, and Dawn assertingthat it was unnecessary. 

It was a beautiful starry night, with a prospect of a slight frost, aswe turned down the tree-lined streets of the friendly old town, whosefolk on their homeward way dawdled in knots to discuss theinterposition of the women's vote. 

"Now the women will do strokes, " said one. 

"The men have things in such a jolly muddle it will take a long timeto improve them, " another retorted. 

"The women will make bloomin' fools of themselves!"

"Couldn't be worse than the men!"

"The women'll all go for this chap because he's good-looking. "

"Just as good a reason as going for another because he shouted grogfor you, " and similar remarks, drifted to my ears, but "Dora's" minddid not seem to be running on politics. 

"Who was that red-headed fellow sitting the other side of you?" heinquired. 

"Which one?"

"A short block of a fellow with a clean face. "

"Oh, he's a man I know. "

"Pretty cool of us leaving Dawn. The old dame won't like it. "

"She won't mind, considering Dawn has about the most reliable escortprocurable. "

"I suppose it's all right if you know him, but to me he looked like abagman or bike-rider or something in the spieler line. "

"Oh no, " and pulling my boa about me I smiled to think of the chagrinof Dora. He was so beautifully transparent too, but to do him justicedid not seem to resent the scurvy trick I had played him, as soon hisequanimity was restored, and we laboured cheerfully but unavailinglyto promote a conversation. 

"Do you really like farming--take a pleasure in it?" I inquired. 

"When I'm knocking a decent amount of money out of it I do. There'snot much fun in anything when it doesn't pay. "

"Quite true. "

"There might be a frost to-night, but they're nothing here--alwaysdisappear as soon as the sun is up. Great Scott! aren't these roads?The council want stuffing in the Noonoon. It would be an all rightplace only for the roads. "

This brought us to Clay's gate, and no further conversational effortwas necessary. I lingered outside till Eweword had disposed of thepony and trap, and by that time Ernest and Dawn, bearing evidence ofquick walking, appeared, and we went into grandma and Uncle Jake in abody. 

"The women are going to form a committee to work for Mr Walker if he'sselected, " announced Dawn, "and I want to join it, grandma. I am notold enough to vote, but I'd like to work for Mr Walker. He looks wortha vote. He's nice and thin, and speaks beautifully without shoutingand roaring, --not like these old beer-swipers who buy their votes withdrink. "

"He is a decent-looking fellow, " said Eweword. 

"Oh, well, he'll go in then; that's all the women will care about, "said Uncle Jake in one of his half-audible sneers. 

"Well, " contended Dawn, "men always sneer at women for doing in asmall degree what men do fifty times worse. If a pretty barmaid comesto town all the men are after her like bees, and if a pretty womanstood for parliament the men would go off their heads about her, andyet they get their hair off terribly if a woman happens to prefer anice gentlemanly man to a big, old, fat beer-barrel, with his teethblack from tobacco and his neck gouging over his collar from eatingtoo much. Can I join the committee, grandma?"

"If it's proper, and he's my man, you can, an' work instead of me, butI must hear them both first. "

"If Walker could get you to make a speech for him, we'd all vote forhim in a body, " laughed Eweword; but Dawn replied--

"Oh, you, I suppose you say that to every girl. "

Eweword sizzled in his blushes, while Ernest's face slightly clearedat this rebuff dealt out to another. 

Grandma brought in the coffee and grumbled to Dawn about Carry'sabsence. 

"That Larry Witcom ain't no monk, and while a girl is in my house Ifeel I ought to look after her. I believe in every one having liberty, but there's reason in everythink. "

The girl did not appear till after the young men had gone and Dawn andI had withdrawn, but we heard grandma's remonstrance. 

"That feller, I told you straight, was took up about a affair in adivorce case, an' it would be as well not to make yourself too cheapto him. I don't say as most men ain't as bad, only they're not caughtand bowled out; but w'en they are made a public example of, we have totake notice of it. Marry him if you want--use your own judgment; he'llbe the sort of feller who'll always have a good home, and in afteryears these things is always forgot, and it would be better to bemarried to a man that had that against him (seein' they're all thesame, only they ain't found out) and could keep you comfortable, thanone who was _supposed_ to be different an' couldn't keep you. But ifyou ain't goin' to marry him, don't fool about with him. An' unless hegets to business an' wants marriage at once, don't take too muchnotice to his soft soap, as you ain't the only girl he's got on thestring by a long way. "

"He acknowledges about the fault he did in his young days, and he saysit's terribly hard that it's always coming against him now, " saidCarry. 

"Well, if a woman does a fault she has to pay for it, hasn'tshe?--that's the order of things, " said grandma. 

"But this was when he was young and foolish, " continued Carry. 

"Yes, the poor child, he was terribly innocent, wasn't he? an' was gothold of by some fierce designing hussy--they always are--and it wasall her fault. It always is a woman's fault--only for the women themen would be all angels and flew away long ago, " said grandmasarcastically. "They'll give you plenty of that kind of yarn if youlisten to 'em; an' if you are built so you can believe it, well an'good, but the facts was always too much of a eye-opener for me, " andwith that the contention ended. 

"Yes, Carry's the terriblest silly about that Larry Witcom, " saidDawn; "she swallows all he says. She said to me yesterday, 'He seemsto be terribly gone on me. ' 'Yes, ' I said. 'You keep cool about hisgoneness. Wait till he gets down on his knees and bellows and roarsabout his love, and take my tip for it he could forget you then inless than a week. ' I've seen men pretending to be mad with love, andthe next month married to some one else. Men's love is a thing youwant to take with more discount than everything you know. You might beconceited enough to believe them if you went by your own lovers, butyou want to look on at other people's love affairs, and see how muchis to be depended on there, and measure your own by them, and it willkeep your head cool, " said this girl, who had the most sensible head Iever saw in conjunction with her degree of beauty. 

She had contracted the habit of slipping into my room for a talkbefore going to bed, and as her bright presence there was a delight tome, I encouraged her in it. The gorgeous kimono was a greatattraction; she loved it so that I had given it her after the firstnight, but did not tell her so, or she would have carried it away toher own room, where I would have been deprived of the pleasure ofseeing it nightly enhance the loveliness of her firm white throat andarms. 

"How did you and Dora get on together?" she presently inquired. 

"Well, you see we didn't elope; how did you and Ernest manage?"

"Well, you see we didn't elope, " she laughed. 

"No, but you might have arranged such a thing. "

"Arranged for such a thing!" she said scornfully. "I'm not in thehabit of trucking with other people's belongings. "

"What do you mean?"

"It was you who said something about his young lady this afternoon--asfar as I can see he doesn't behave much as if he had one. "

So it was my chance remark that had run her wheel out of groove duringthe last few hours!

"Does he not?" I replied. "I think he appears more as though he has ayoung lady now than he did during my previous knowledge of him. "

"Well, I don't know how you see it, " she said, as she tore down herpretty hair. 

"What!" I ejaculated in feigned consternation. "He has not been makinglove to you, has he, Dawn? I always had such faith in his manliness. "

"Well, he doesn't _say_ anything, " said Dawn, with a blush. "But heglares at me in the way men do, and when I mention anything I like orwant, he wants to get it for me, and all that sort of business. "

"Perhaps he's falling in love unawares. Young men are often stupid, and do not recognise their distemper till it is very ripe. He ought tobe removed from danger. "

"Well, if I ever had a lover, and he liked another girl better, I'd bepretty sure he hadn't cared for me, and would not want him any more, "she said off-handedly. 

"But would it not be better to let him go away and be happy with themaid who loves him than to spoil his life by wasting his affection onyou, when you only think him a great pug-looking creature that you'dbe ashamed to be seen with?"

"Yes, I don't care for him, " she said still more off-handedly; "but hedoesn't look so queer now I've got used to him. I suppose any one wholiked him wouldn't think him such a horror. "

"No; I for one think him handsome. "

"Handsome?"

"Yes, _handsome_. "

"Well, I'll go to bed after that and think how some people's tastesdiffer. "

"Well, take care you don't think about Ernest. "

"Thank you; I don't want the nightmare, " she retorted, tossing herhead. 

THIRTEEN. 

VARIOUS EVENTS. 

The following day was eventful. To begin with, after Andrew haddischarged his early morning duties, he was to appear before hisgrandma for the execution of the sentence she had passed upon him thenight before. I was assisting him to dry the parts of thecream-separator, a task which had become chronic with me, when Carryshouted from the kitchen, where she was putting in her week--

"Your grandma says not to be long; she's waiting for you. "

Andrew unburdened his soul to me. 

"Lord, ain't I just in for it! I'll hear how me grandma rared me sinceI was born! I'm dead sick of this born and rared business. It wouldgive a bloke the pip. I didn't make meself born, nor want any one elseto do it; there ain't much in bein' alive, " he said with thatpessimism which, like measles and whooping-cough, is indigenous toextreme youth. 

"How could I help being rared? I didn't ask 'em to rare me. I didn'tmake meself a little baby that couldn't help itself, and they needn'thave rared me unless they liked. Goodness knows, I'd have rather diedlike a little pup before his eyes were opened, " he continued sotragically that I took the opportunity of smiling behind his back ashe threw out the dish-water. 

"Hurry up! your grannie is waiting!" called Carry once more. 

"Blow you! you'll have to wait till I'm done, " retorted the boy in atone the reverse of genial. 

"People is always chuckin' at their kids how much they owe them. I'mblowed if ever I can see it. I didn't want 'em to have me, and don'tsee why it should be everlasting threw at me. "

It is a wise provision that youth cannot see what it owes the previousgeneration. This is a chicken that comes back to roost in heavieryears. 

"I wish I had a grandma like Jack Bray's ma. He nicked over to me w'enI was after the cows, an' Mrs Bray ain't goin' to kick up any rowabout the oranges. She says she never knew of a boy that didn't gointo orchards in their young days, and that his dad did, and peopledon't think no more of a boy pickin' up a little fruit than they do ofpickin' up a stick. Yet grandma will tan the hide off of me. She doneit once before, and I was stiff for a week. "

"Take a tip from me, Andrew! March into your grandma bravely; she'sthe best woman I've seen; you ought to be proud to have such agrandma! She's in the right and Mrs Bray's in the wrong. Let herhammer you for all she's worth, and every whack you get feel proudthat she's able to give it at her time of life, and I bet when you'rea man you'll be telling every one that you had a grandma who was worthowning. When she leaves off tell her that this is the last time she'llever have to do it for anything like that, and see if you don't feelmore a man than you ever did before. Promise me that's what you'lldo. "

"Is that what _you'd_ do if you was me?" he inquired with surprise. 

"That's what you'd do if you were me, " I replied with a smile. "Justtry that. Never mind if your grandma does go for you hot and strong. "

Andrew wiped the table, wrung out his dishcloth in the back-handedmanner peculiar to his sex, hung it on a nail behind the door, driedhis hands on his trousers, which for once were not "busted up, " andwith a less rueful expression than he had exhibited for several hours, went forth to meet his grandma. 

About ten minutes later he returned blubbering, but it was a sunshinyshower, and I did not despise the lad for his tears, for he had a softnature, and was quite a child despite his big stature and sixteenyears. 

"Well?" I inquired, recognising that he was anxious to relate hisexperience. 

"She banged away with the strap of the breechin' till she was winded, and then I said I hoped she'd never have to beat me again for actingthe goat in other people's gardens that didn't concern me, an' shedidn't beat me no more then, but I had plenty as it was, " he said, rubbing his seat and the calves of his legs. 

"Well done, stick to that, and be thankful for such a grandma!"

"She ain't a bad old sort when you come to consider, " he said withthat patronage, also an attribute of extreme youth or unsubduedsnobbishness, and when compared, snobbishness and youth have somesimilar characteristics. 

Next item on the programme was Mr Pornsch, whom grandma invited toremain to midday dinner, and the old lady being sufficiently human todenounce a swell far more fiercely behind his back than to his face, in consideration of this one's presence, once more entrusted us tosugar our own puddings, regardless of consequences. 

After luncheon she interviewed him about his niece's health. MrPornsch seemed really concerned, and said perhaps she needed to bediverted, and that he would see about a further change, which mightprove beneficial. He then put up his eyeglass to inspect Dawn'sbeauty, and ogling her, attempted to engage her in conversation; butthe girl didn't seem at all attracted by him or thankful for thefavours he brought her in the form of an exquisite box of bonbons andthe latest song. 

"I don't accept presents, thank you, " she said uncompromisingly. 

"Do you never make exceptions?"

"Only from people I like _very_ much. "

"Well, I trust I may some day be among the exceptions, " he said, in agruesome attempt to be ingratiating; but the girl replied--

"Then you hope for impossibilities. "

Somewhat disconcerted though not the least abashed, Mr Pornschpersevered by asking if she ever went to Sydney, and stated thepleasure it would be to him to provide her with tickets for any of theplays; but even this could not overcome her unconquerable horror ofthe various intemperances suggested by his person, so he had toretreat. 

Dawn's grandmother remonstrated with her afterwards. 

"You ought to be a little more genteeler, Dawn, and you could refusepresents just as well. Even if he isn't the takin'est old chap, thatis not any reason for you to be ungenteel. "

"Well, I don't care, " replied Dawn, whose exquisitely moulded chin, despite an irresistible dimple, was expressive of determination. "If Iwas a great old podge and had a blue nose from swilling and gorging, and was fifty if I was a day, and then went goggling after a youngfellow of eighteen, he wouldn't be very civil to me, or be lectured ifhe spoke to me the way I deserved, and I think these old creatures ofmen ought to be discouraged by all the girls. What's sauce for thegoose is the same for the gander. "

Mr Pornsch had not long departed when Mrs Bray favoured us with acall, so grandma was spared a pilgrimage to her house. She and Carryexchanged a stiffly formal greeting, but the visitor beamed upon theremainder of us and seated herself in our midst. 

"Oh, I say, ain't it a blessed nark to the men us going to have avote? He! he! Ha! ha! It fairly maddens 'em to see us getting a bit offreedom--makes 'em that wild they don't know how to be sneerin' an'nasty enough. Every one of us will just roll up an' use our power nowwe've got it, --they've kep' our necks under their heel long enough. "

"I wasn't thinkin' of the vote at present, " said Grandma Clay. "I wasjust off to see you about what our noble nibbs have been doin' in thatold Gawling's orchard; but I beat Andrew already in case. What did youthink of 'em?"

Mrs Bray put back her handsome head, decorated by an extremelyfashionable hat, and laughed boisterously. 

"Fancy the old toad runnin' 'em down, --gave 'em a bit of a scare, didn't it? Old mongrel, to kick up a fuss over a few paltry oranges!As if we don't all know what boys is; why, there'd be no chance ofrarin' them without touchin' nothing, unless you carted them off tothe back-blocks where there wasn't no one within reach. I told himwhat I thought of him. 'How dare you!' says I. 'Bring witnesses ofthis, ' said I. "

Grandma Clay arose. 

"Well, if that's your idea of rarin' a family, it ain't mine. Why, can't you hear the parson's everlastin' preaching and giving exampleshow taking a pin has been the start of a feller coming to the gallows;and this is a much worse beginning than a pin! If the only way ofrarin' them not to steal was to put 'em where there was no possibilityof stealing nothink, a pretty sort of honesty that would be; you mightas well say the only way to rare a girl modest was to let her neverhave a chance of being nothink else. Some people, of course, hasdifferent views, but I believe in holding to mine; they've brought meup to this time very well. "

"Oh, you are terrible strict; you wouldn't have no peace of your liferarin' boys if you cut things so fine as that. Now w'en women gets therule it might become the fashion for men to be more proper. Look here, the men are that mad--"

Uncle Jake here interrupted her by appearing for four o'clock tea. 

"Well, Mr Sorrel, now the women has come to show you how to do things, there might be something done in the country. "

"Nice fools they'll make of themselves, " he sneeringly replied. 

"They couldn't make no greater fools of themselves than the men hasalways done, --lying in the gutter an' breakin' their faces, " said MrsBray. 

"Wait till the women go at it, they'll fight like cats, " continuedUncle Jake, whose power to annoy depended not so much upon what hesaid as his way of saying it. 

Dawn chipped into the rescue at this point. 

"I'm dead sick of that yarn about women fighting. It's a mean lie. They never fight half as much as men; and girls always love each othermore, and are more friendly together than men. The only women whofight with their own sex and call them cats are a few nasty things whoare trying to please men by helping them to keep women down and makelittle of them; and the fools! that sort of meanness never pleases anymen, only those that are not worth pleasing. "

"Well, now that women has the vote they ought to plough, an' drive thetrains, and let the men sit down inside, " continued Jake. But Mrs Braydescended upon him. 

"Yes; an' the men ought to come inside an' sweep, an' sew, and havetheir health ruined for a man's selfishness, an' be tied to a baby andfour or five toddlers from six in the mornin' till ten at night, dayin and day out, like the women do. What do you think, Mr Eweword?" sheinquired of this individual, who had joined the company and awaitedthe conclusion of her remarks ere he greeted us. 

"I think the women ought to vote if they want to. There's nothing tostop 'em voting and doing their housework as well; and the Lord knowsit doesn't matter who they vote for, as all the members are only apack of 'skytes, ' after a good billet for themselves. Think I'll havea go for it to see if it would pay better than farmin', " he said, withhis mouth extended in a laugh that redeemed the weakness of thisfeature by exhibiting the beauty of a perfect set of teeth. 

"What about women havin' to keep theirselves in subjection?" persistedUncle Jake. This subject apparently lay near his heart. 

"I always think that means for them to take care of themselves, andnot bust over the hard dragging work that men were meant for, " saidMrs Bray; "for I've always noticed that any man who puts his wife toman's work never comes to no good in the finish. If a man can't floathis own boat, and thinks a woman can keep his and her own end up atthe same time, she might as well fold her hands from the start, as thelittle she can do will never keep things goin' and only pave the wayfor doctors' bills. "

"You might try to argue it, but if you believe the Bible you can seethere in every page that women ain't meant only to be under men, " saidthe gallant Jake. 

"It ain't a case of not believin' the Bible, it's only that we ain'tfools enough to believe all the ways people twists it to suittheirselves; men as talks that way is always the sort would be in abenevolent asylum only for some woman keepin' 'em from it, " saidgrandma, coming to the rescue. "Cowards always drag in the Bible toback theirselves up far more than proper people does; and there'salways one thing as strikes me in the Bible, an' that is w'en God wasgoing to send His son down in human form. He considered a woman fit tobe His mother, but there wasn't a man livin' fit to be His father. Ireckon that's a slap in the face from the Almighty hisself that oughtto make men more carefuller when they try to make little of women. "

Even Uncle Jake collapsed before this, and Mrs Bray ceased contentionand veered her talk to gossip. 

"Young Walker has been chose by the Opposition League in Noonoon, an'we're goin' to form a committee at once and work for him. AdaGrosvenor is goin' to form a society for educating women how to vote. "

"Ada Grosvenor!" exclaimed grandma. "I thought she would be too much aupholder of the men to be the start of anythink like that. "

"I don't see how educating one's self how to vote would be making thema putter down of the men, " said Dawn. 

"Well, it's much the same thing, " said Mrs Bray. "For if a womaneducates herself on anything it will show her that a lot of the menwant puttin' down--a long way down too. You'll see the men will thinkit's against 'em, and try to squash her and her society, for they'realways frightened if you begin to learn the least thing you will findout how you're bein' imposed upon; but they don't care how much youlearn in the direction of wearin' yourself out an' slavin' to savemoney for them to spend on themselves. "

"Oh, come now, " laughed "Dora"; "we're not all so bad as that!"

"Not at your time of life w'en you're after the girls and pretendin'you're angels to catch 'em; it's after you've got 'em in your powerthat things change, " said Mrs Bray. 

The company was now further enlarged by the arrival of Ernest, soonfollowed by a young lady I had not previously met--a tall brown-eyedgirl, with pleasant determination in every line of her well-cut face, and who proved to be the young lady under discussion--Miss AdaGrosvenor, daughter of the owner of the farm adjoining Bray's andClay's. 

Her errand was to invite Dawn to join the society she was promoting. 

She explained it was not for the support of a party, but for theexchange and search of knowledge that should direct electresses toexercise their long-withheld right in a worthy manner. I listened withpleasure to the thoughtful and earnest ideals to be discernedunderlying the girl's practically expressed ideas, and delighted inthe humorous intelligence flashing from her clear eyes, and wasaltogether favourably impressed with her as a type of womanhood--oneof the best extant. 

She conversed with the elder members of the party and Ernest, and thisleft "Dora" Eweword in charge of Carry and Dawn. His giggle was muchin evidence. Between blasts of it he could be heard inviting the girlsto a pull on the river, and they presently set off round the corner ofMiss Flipp's bedroom leading to the flights of wooden steps down tothe boats under the naked willows. The nature of the one swift glancethat travelled after them from Ernest's eyes did not escape myobservation, so I suggested that he, Miss Grosvenor, and myself shouldfollow a good example, and we did. I knew it would be a relief to himto overtake Eweword, pull past him with ease, and leave him a speck inthe distance, as he did. I felt a satisfaction in noting Dawn watchhis splendid strokes, and Miss Grosvenor's animated conversation withhim and enthusiastically expressed admiration of his rowing. She wasnot so exacting in the matter of detail as Dawn, and red hair did notprevent her from enjoying the company of a splendid specimen of theopposite sex when she had the rare good fortune of encountering him. 

"That's a fine stamp of a girl, " he cordially remarked as, having ather request pulled the boat to the edge of the stream, she landed andsprang up the bank for ferns; but not by any inveiglement could Iinduce him to give an opinion of Dawn, which was propitious of herbeing his real lady. When we pulled down stream again between thefertile farm-lands spread with occasional orange and lemon groves, beautiful with their great crops of yellowing fruit, we found that theother party were already deserting their craft. 

"We had to give it best. Mr Eweword soon got winded. I never saw anyone pull a boat so splendidly as you do, Mr Ernest, " called theoutspoken Carry, who had not acquired the art of paying a complimentto one member of a party without running _amok_ of the feelings ofanother. Eweword, despite his shapely and imposing bulk, had notdeveloped his athletic possibilities so much as those of the gourmand, and, reddening to the roots of his stubbed hair, he looked the reverseof pleased with the tactless young woman, --an expression usually to befound on the countenance of one or more members of a company followingthe publication of her opinions. 

Miss Grosvenor and Ernest continued to chat with such apparentenjoyment that Dawn said pointedly--

"Pooh! there's no art in pulling a boat; any galoot with a littlebrute force can do that, "--a remark having the desired effect, for theyoung Breslaw feigned not to hear, his face rivalled the colour of"Dora's, " and his remarks grew absent. 

"Oh, I don't know, " persisted Carry, "I know plenty ofgaloots, --they're the only sort of men there are in the Noonoondistrict, and they can't row for sour apples. "

Dawn singled out "Dora" Eweword, and went up the bank with him, leaving the remainder of us together. Miss Grosvenor favoured us witha cordial invitation to partake of the hospitality of her home duringthe following evening; and delighted with the intelligence and go ofthe girl, I was pleased to accept. Ernest said he would be delightedto escort me, but Carry said she had her work to do, and had no timeto run about to people's places. Miss Grosvenor received this with amerry twinkle in her eye, and said to me--

"Well, Dawn will come to show you the way. It is an uncomfortable pathif you don't know it;" and with this she bade good afternoon and ranaround the orchard among the square weed and wild quince, across anarea abounding in lines of barbed-wire. 

Ernest too departed in a triangular direction leading to the curiousold bridge spanning the stream. 

"What makes him hang about here so long?" asked Carry. "Has he a girlin the district? Do you think he seems gone on Dawn?"

"Perhaps it's Carry?"

"No such luck. I wish he were. I suppose he has money. They say overwhere he boards he has a set of rooms to himself, and is very liberal. What would he be doing up here so long?"

"He doesn't publish his business. Perhaps he's staying in this nicequiet nook to write a book or something, " I said idly, by way ofaccounting for his idleness, or the curious might have set to work todiscover more of his doings than he wished to get abroad just then. 

"He doesn't look much like the fools that write books, but every oneis writing one these days. I know of five or six about Noonoon even;it seems to be a craze. "

"Perhaps a cycle!"

"I often wonder who is going to read 'em all and do the work. "

This brought us to Clay's, Carry supporting me on her arm, and thusended her discourse. 

Dora stayed for tea, but it was a dull meal, as Dawn now appeareddesirous of repelling him. 

Andrew, who on account of his drubbing had been very subdued duringdinner, had regained his usual form, and when Uncle Jake, to whom thefreeing of women seemed an unabating irritation, remarked--

"Who's this young Walker? All the women will be mad for him becausehe's good-looking and got a soft tongue. They ought to stick to thepresent member who is known, this other fellow hasn't been heard of;"his grand-nephew replied--

"Like Uncle Jake; he's been in the municipal council fifteen years andnever got heard of; he ought to put up an' see would the women go forhim, because he's never been heard of an' is a bit good-lookin'. "

"Well, there's one thing to his credit, an' that is, he's lived oversixty years an' never been heard of stealing fruit out of people'sgardens, an' as for looks--'Han'some is who han'some does, '" saidgrandma, which effected the collapse of Andrew. In the Clay householdthere were ever current reminders of the truth of the old proverb, warning people in glass-houses to abstain from stone-throwing. 

Dawn did not appear before me that night until I opened my door andcalled--

"Lady Fair, the kimono awaits thy perfumed presence!"

"I don't want to come to-night; I feel as scotty as a bear with a sorehead. "

"But I want you--youth must ever give way to grey hairs. "

With that she appeared, and throwing herself backward on my bed, thrust her arms crossly above her head amid a tumble of soft brighthair. 

"Youth, health, beauty, and lovers not lacking, what excuse have youfor being out of tune? I want you to pilot me to tea at Grosvenor'sto-morrow evening. Miss Grosvenor has invited you, Ernest, andmyself. "

"She just wants Ernest--she's terribly fond of the men. "

"Well, did you ever see a normal girl who wasn't, and Mr Ernest is aman worth being fond of--I dearly love him myself. "

"Pooh! I don't see anything nice about him, " said Dawn aggressively. 

"But you'll come to tea, won't you?"

"No, I can't. I never go to Grosvenors. Grandma doesn't care for them. She says he was only a pig buyer, and settled down there about thetime she came here, and now they try to ape the swells and put onairs. They only come here to try to get on terms with some of theswell men. I wouldn't take him over there to please her if I wereyou. "

"That's where you and I differ. I would just like to please them, andI'm sure it will do Ernest good to be in the company of such apleasant and sensible girl as Ada Grosvenor. "

"Yes, he'd want something to do him good, if I'm any judge. "

Dawn's pretty mouth and chin were so querulous that I had to turn awayto smile. 

"So you won't come to tea?"

"I can't; I'd like to please you, " she said somewhat softening, "butI've promised 'Dora' Eweword I'll go out rowing with him againto-morrow. He says he has something to say to me. "

"He's been going to say this something a long time. "

"Yes, but I stave him off. I know what it is right enough, and I don'twant to hear it; but I suppose I had better please grandma. "

"So you like him?"

"No, I detest him, and feel like smacking him on the mouth just wherehis underlip sticks out farther than the top one, every time hespeaks; but what am I to do? I'd never be let go on the stage, and Imight as well marry him as any one. "

"Why marry any one? At nineteen, or ninety for that matter, there isno imperative hurry. To marry a man you dislike because you cannotattain your ambition is surely very silly indeed. Would you not love'Dora' if you could go on the stage?"

"I wouldn't be seen in a forty-acred paddock with him. I'd like someman who had travelled, not an old Australian thing just living abouthere. I'd like an Englishman who'd take me home to England. "

"You mustn't disparage your countrymen while I'm listening, as you'llfind no better in any country or clime. Always remember they wereamong the first to enfranchise their women, and thus raise them abovethe status of chatteldom and merchandise. "

"They only gave us the vote because they had to. Women have had tocrawl to them for it, and pretend it was a great privilege the sweetdarling almighties were allowing us, when all the time it has been ourright, and they were selfish cowards who deserve no thanks forwithholding it so long. And they gave it that grudgingly and are thatnarked about it, it makes me sick. "

"Of course, when the matter is stripped to bare facts, the truth ofyour remarks is irrefutable, but we must gauge things comparatively, and remember how many other nations won't even grudgingly free theirwomen. If you don't like Eweword I can't see any pressing necessity tothink of marriage at all. "

"Oh, well, I'd have it done then and wouldn't be everlasting plaguedon the subject, " she said with the unreasonableness of irritability. 

"Would it not be better though to wait a little while in hopes of abetter choice?"

"But I suppose it will always be the same. Any man at all worthconsideration is sure to be married or at any rate is engaged. "

Here was the clue to her irritation. It was that imaginary young ladyof Ernest Breslaw's. Had she been a man, ere this she would haveplunged into vigorous attempt to dislodge that or any other rival, nomatter how assured his position, but being a woman and compelled toawait "The idiot Chance her imperial Fate, " the effect of suchsuppression on so robust and strenuous a nature was this form ofhysteria. 

"Well, what about a struggle for the desire of your heart? Undoubtedlyyou have, if well trained, sufficient voice to be a great asset on thestage, but it would take at the very least two years' hard work undera good master before it would be in the least fit for public use. "

"I'd be twenty-one then. "

"You are just at a good age to stand vigorous training. "

"But what's the use of talking, " she said hopelessly, "you don't knowhow mad grandma is against the stage. She says she'd rather see me inmy grave, and I feel I'd never prosper if I went against her. "

"Very likely her point of view is founded on hard facts, but trainingyour voice isn't going on the stage, and in two years, if you are ableto sing decently, perhaps no one will be so anxious as your grandmathat you should be heard, --I've heard of such a case before;" and Ididn't add that two years was a long way ahead for an old woman ofseventy-six, and also for a girl to whom study was not quite a fetich, and ample time for the or some knight to have come to the rescue. These thoughts were not for publication, as they might have made meappear a traitor to the prejudices of one party and the desire of theother, whereas I was loyal to them both. 

"It would be lovely if you could get on the soft side of grandma, butI'm afraid it's impossible. Fancy being able to sing and pleasepeople, and travel about in nice cities away from dusty, dreary, slowold Noonoon, " said the girl, the crossness melting from her prettyface and giving place to radiance. 

She toyed with some silk scarves of mine, and between whiles said--

"Isn't it funny some people think one thing good and others don't. Noone around here wants to be on the stage but me, or seems tounderstand that actresses are made out of ordinary people like you andme. 'Dora' doesn't know anything about the stage, but Mr Ernest does. He doesn't think them terrible women, and says that his best womanfriend was an actress once. If you thought grandma could be broughtround at all I wouldn't go out with Dora to-morrow, I'd go with you toget out of it. Mr Ernest seemed to be very pleased with AdaGrosvenor; is she the same style as his young lady?"

This question wasn't asked because Dawn was transparent, but because Ihad led her to believe I was dense. 

"No, not at all, " I replied. 

"What is she like?"

"She's about five feet five, and has a plump, dimpling figure. Herhair is bright brown, and her nose is an exquisitely cut littlestraight one. (Here I observed Dawn casting surreptitious glances inthe mirror opposite. ) Her eyes are bright blue with long dark lashes, and she has a mouth too pretty to describe, fitted up with a set ofthe loveliest natural teeth one could see in these days of thedentist; it is so perfect that it seems unnatural and a sad pity thatit should sometimes be the outlet of censorious remarks about lessbeautiful sisters, but its owner is very young and not surrounded bythe best of influences at present, and no doubt will have better senseas she grows older. "

"What's her name?"

"Now you want to know too much, but I never knew another girl withsuch a beautiful one. "

"She must be a beauty altogether, " said Dawn rather satirically. 

"She would be if she would only guard against being cross at times, but you must not breathe this to a soul as I'm only going onsupposition. Young Ernest isn't engaged to her, but I've seen him withher once or twice, and he looked so pleased that I suspected him ofkind regards, as no man could help admiring her. "

"Is that all?" she said in a tone of relief; "he mightn't care forher at all. Just walking about with her and looking happy isn't anycriterion. Men are always doing that with every girl. "

"Dora didn't look happy with me to-night then--how do you account forthat?"

She accounted for it with a merry laugh, as curled in the silk kimonoshe remained in possession of my nightly couch. 

I was espousing this girl's cause because I could not bear to see herhonest, wholesome youth and beauty making fuel for disappointment andbitterness as mine had done. There had been no one to help me attainthe desire--the innocent, just, and normal desire of my girlhood'sheart, --no one to lend a hand, till my heart had broken with slaveryand disappointment, and at less than thirty-five all that remained forme was a little barren waiting for its feeble fluctuating pumping tocease. 

The girl presently fell asleep, so I covered her, kimono and all, andextinguishing the light, lay down beside what had once been a tinybaby, whose feeble life opening with the day had been nurtured on themilk of old Ladybird, the spotted cow with a dew-lap and a crumpledhorn. She was now, I trusted, enjoying the reward of her earthlylabours in that best of heavens we love to picture for the dearanimals that have served us well, and but for whose presence the worldwould be dreary indeed, while the sleep of her beautifulfoster-daughter had advanced to hold dreams of jewelled gowns, thrilling solos, travel, and splendid young husbands who could do nowrong, but she knew no room for thought of "Dora, " who on the morrowwas to row her on the Noonoon. He might as well have relinquished thechase, for his chances here had grown as faint as those of pretty DoraCowper--whose leg he classically stated he had pulled--had grown withhim. 

Ah, well, there is a law of retribution in all things, direct orindirect, visible or invisible. 

I lay awake a long time contemplating the best way of approachingGrandma Clay in regard to Dawn's singing lessons. One by one thepassenger trains streamed into Noonoon, halted a panting five minutesat the station, then rumbled over the strange old iron-walled bridge, slowed down again to the little siding of Kangaroo on the other side, from whence up, up, the mountain-sides above the fertile valley, leaving the peaceful agriculturists soundly asleep after their toil. The heavy "goods" lumbered by unceasingly, the throbbing of theirgreat engines, their signalling, shunting, and tooting proving aperennial delight to me, comforting me with the knowledge that I stillcould feel a pulsation from the great population centres where myfellows congregate. 

It had lulled me to doziness, when I was aroused by the electric alarmbell, the purpose of which was to warn folk when a train neared thebridge. A very necessary device, as there was but one bridge for alltraffic, it being cut into two departments by three high iron wallsthat shut out an exquisite view of the river, and confined andintensified the rumble of trains in a manner well calculated toinspire the least imaginative of horses with the fear that the powersof evil had broken loose about them. The alarm-bell was humanlycontrary in the discharge of its duty, and rang long and loudly whenthere was no train, and was not to be heard at all when they wererushing by in numbers. On this occasion, there being no train to drownits blatant voice, it so disturbed me that I was keenly alive to adialogue that was proceeding in Miss Flipp's room. 

"You must go away, I tell you, " said Mr Pornsch. "A nice thing itwould be if a man in _my_ position were implicated. "

"I didn't think a man of _your_ class would be so cruel, " sobbed thegirl. 

In rejoinder the man admitted one of the truths by which ourcivilisation is besmirched. 

"There's only one class of men in dealing with women like you. "

Then fell a silence, during which Dawn turned in her sleep, and Iplaced her head more comfortably lest she should awake and hear whatwas proceeding. 

Not that it would in any way have sullied her, for her virtue, bysound heredity and hardy training, was no hothouse plant, liable toshrivel and die if not kept in a certain temperature, but was a sturdytree, like the tall white-trunked young gums of her native forests, onwhich the winds of knowledge could blow and the rains of experiencefall without in any way mutilating or impairing its reliability andbeauty. It was for the sake of our poor sister wayfarer who was on aterrible thoroughfare, amid robbers and murderers, but who did notwant her plight to be known, that I did not wish Dawn to awake. 

FOURTEEN. 

THE PASSING OF THE TRAINS. 

Next morning, when Andrew and I had finished the separator, grandmacame over to inspect the work. She sniffed round the dishes and cans, which barely passed muster, and then descended upon the table byrunning her slender old forefinger along the eaves, with the resultthat it came up soiled with the greasy slush that careless wiping hadleft there. 

"Look at that, you dirty good-for-nothink young shaver; if theinspector came round we'd most likely lose our licence for it, an'it's no fault of mine. If a great lump your age can't be depended onfor nothink, I don't know what the world is coming to. I have to beresponsible for everythink that goes on your back and into yourstummick, and yet you can't do a single thing. You think I'meverlastin' joring, but I have to be. Some day, if ever you have ahouse of your own, you'll know how hard it is. "

"I'm goin' to take jolly fine care I never have no house of me own. The game ain't worth the candle, " responded Andrew; "I reckon them ascomes and lives in the place, like some of them summer-boarders, andorders us about as if they was Lord Muck an' we wasn't anybody, hasthe best of it. "

"That ain't the point. I'm ashamed of that table. W'en I was young noone ever had to speak to me about things once, before I knew. Once Ileft drips round the end of my table, and me mother come along and'Martha, ' says she--"

"It's a wonder the wonderful Jim Clay didn't say it, " muttered theirreverent representative of the degenerate rising generation _sottovoce_. 

"'If that's the way you wash a table, ' says she, 'no blind man wouldchoose you for his wife, ' for that was the way they told if theirsweetheart was a good housekeeper, by feelin' along the table w'enthey was done washin' up. "

"An' what did you say?" interestedly inquired Andrew. 

"I didn't say nothink. In them days young people didn't be gabbingback to their elders w'en they was spoke to, but held their mag an'done their work proper, " she crushingly replied. 

"But I was thinkin', " said Andrew quite unabashed, "that you was aterrible fool to be took in with that yarn. For who'd want to bemarried by a blind man, an' I reckon that blind men oughtn't be let tomarry at all, and I think anyhow he ought to have been glad to get anywoman, without sneakin' around an' putting on airs about beingparticular, " he earnestly contended. 

"But that ain't the point, anyhow, " said she. 

"Well, what did you tell it to me for, grandma?"

"Hold your tongue, " said the old lady irately; "sometimes you mightargue with me, but there's reason in everythink, an' if you don'thave that table scrubbed and cleaned proper by the next time I comeround you'll hear about it. "

With this she walked farther on towards the pig-sty and cow-bails, andconsidering this a good opportunity for private conversation I wentwith her, remarking in a casual manner--

"Your granddaughter has a very good voice. "

"Yes; a good deal better than _some people_ that think they can singlike Patti, and set theirselves up about it. "

"Yes; but she badly needs training. "

"She sings twice as well as some that has been trained and fussedwith. "

"Probably; but she requires training to preserve the voice. Sheproduces it unnaturally, and in a few years the voice will be crackedand spoilt. "

"All the better, an' then she'll give up wanting to go on the stagewith it. "

"Is there anything frightful in that?" I said gently. "A great manymothers would give all they possessed to get their daughters on thestage. It is an exploded idea to think the stage a bad place. "

"A lot is always tellin' me that, an' I believed them till I went tosee for meself, and the facts was too much of a eye-opener for me. I'll keep to me own opinions for the future. It will be three yearsago this month, Dawn prevailed upon me to go to a play there was a lotof blow about, an' I was never so ashamed in me life. I didn't expectmuch considerin' the way I was rared regardin' theayters, but it beatall I ever see. "

"What was it?"

"I don't know the name, but it was a character of a play. There waswomen in it must have been forty by the figure of them, and they hadall their bosoms bare, and showed their knees in little short skirts. They stood in rows and grinned--the hussies! They ought to have setdown an' hid theirselves for shame! I thought we must have made amistake and got into a fast show, but we read in the paper after thatamong the audience was all the big bugs, an' they seemed to beenjoyin' theirselves an' laughing as if it was a intellectual, respectable entertainment. I wanted to get up an' leave, but Dawncoaxed me an' I give in, an' thought the next might be better, but itwas worse. I give you my word for it, there was hussies there on thatstage, before respectable people's eyes, trying all they knew to makemen be bad. They was fast pure and simple, just the same as some JimClay told me about once when he went to Sydney on his own. The way hedescribed their carryin's on was just like them actresses on thestage, an' me a respectable married woman who's rared a family, havin'paid to look at them! I was ashamed to hold me head up after it for along time. 'It's only actin', grandma, ' says Dawn, but to think thatpeople would act things like that; no good modest woman would ever doit, an' the Bible strictly warns us to abstain from the appearance ofevil. An' even that wasn't all; they come out an' kissed oneanother--married women supposed to be kissing other men. What sort ofa example was that to be setting other men an' women? It was thelowerin'est thing I ever see. I told Dawn she was not to breathe wherewe had been, an' from that day to this I never would have a actor or aactress in my house. I'd just as soon have a _real_ loud woman as onewho gets out on a stage where every one is lookin' at her andpretends to be one. She'd have no shame to stand between her and thebad. Oh no! there must be reason in everythink. I was prepared for aterrible lot of fools and rot, but that I should be so lowered was aeye-opener. "

"I feel exactly the same in regard to the stage, Mrs Clay, but I likeconcerts, when the singers just come out and sing--do you not?"

"That ain't so bad, I admit. "

"You would not object to Dawn singing on a platform, would you?"

"No; doesn't she often sing on the platform in Noonoon? They're alwaysafter her for some concert or another. It's a bad plan to sing toomuch for them. They don't thank you for it. They'd only say we'retired of him or her, and the one who'd be sour an' wouldn't sing oftenwould be considered great. "

"Well, let her have lessons, so she could sing with greater ease atthese concerts. "

"She can sing well enough for that. It would be throwing away moneyfor nothink. "

"But if trained she could sometimes command a fee. "

"I've got plenty to keep her without that, " said the old lady, bridling, "and it might give her stronger notions for the stage. "

I was thankful that I had never published my calling. 

"I had me own ideas of them before--walkin' about, and everythink theydo or say they're wonderin' what people is thinkin' of them, and ifthey're observin' what great bein's they are. An' I've seen 'emhere--goin' in fer drink an' all bad practices, and w'en I remonstratewith 'em, 'It's me temperament, ' says they, an' led me to believe bythe airs of them that this temperament makes 'em superior to the likesof ordinary human bein's like me an' you; an' this temperament thatmakes 'em not fit to do honest common work, but is makin' 'em lowcrawlers, is the thing that at the same time makes 'em superior. Idon't see meself how the two things can be reconciled. There must bereason in everythink. "

"If you want to turn your granddaughter from the stage, let her startvocal training. You'll see that before twelve months she'll haveenough of it. It would keep her content for the present, and in themeantime she might marry, " I contended. 

"If I could be sure she wouldn't come in contact with them actin' andwritin' fools; if she was to marry one of them it would be all up withher. Do you know anythink about teachers?"

"Yes; I would be only too pleased to see to that part of it. Yourgranddaughter is a great pleasure to me. She gives me some interest inlife which, having no relations and being unfit for permanentoccupation, I would otherwise lack. "

"Well, I'm sure Dawn would interest anybody, and I think you're a goodcompanion for her. She seems to have took up with you, and you'veevidently been a person that's seen somethink, an' can tell her this, that, an' the other, but as for that she don't want no tellin' to bebetter than most. _Some people!_--" Grandma always worked herself upto a pitch of congested choler when these unworthy individuals werementioned. 

"I'll think about the singin' lessons if they ain't beyond reason. She's been terrible good lately, and deserves somethink. Here's LarryWitcom arrove, an' there's Carry gone out to him. I want to see himmeself; he's been a little too strong with his prices lately, but he'sthe obliginest feller in many ways. I don't hear anythink about it notbein' Carry's week in the kitchen w'en Larry comes. She's always readyto give Dawn a hand then. But we was all young once; I can rememberw'en I worked a point, whether it was me turn or not, to get near JimClay. "

"Dawn, I think the battle for the singing lessons is half won, " I saidto that individual when I met her privately a few minutes later. 

"Really, it can't be true!" said the girl with an intonation ofdelight, as she drew a tea-towel she had been washing through hershapely hands and wrung it dry. 

Uncle Jake then entered, and cut short further private discussion. 

"There, Dawn!" he said, tossing a pair of trousers on thekitchen-table, "the seat of them is out, an' I want to put 'em on todo a little blacksmithin'--they're dirty. "

"That's easy to be seen and known too, as some people's things arealways dirty, " said she. "When do you want them?"

"At once. "

"At once! You'd come in the middle of cooking some pastry and want awoman to put patches on a dirty old pair of trousers, and then want toknow why the dinner wasn't up to tick; and besides, it's Carry's weekin the house. "

For Dawn's sake I would have offered to do the patching, but fearedUncle Jake might suspect me of matrimonial designs upon him, suchbeing the conceit of old men. 

"I never go to Carry, " he snapped, "an' it's a pity your motherwasn't alive instead of you, she could put a patch on in five minutesany time you asked her, but she never spent her time in roarin' andbellerin' round after a vote;" and so saying Uncle Jake disappeared, leaving his grandniece with her pretty pink cheeks deepened toscarlet, and a spark in her blue eyes. 

"The old dog! if he wasn't grandma's brother I'd hate him. It's alwaysthese crawling old things who can do nothing themselves, and have tobe kept by a woman, who are always the worst at trying to make women'sposition lower, and talk about them as inferior. He's always after awoman to do this and to do that, and comparing her--I'd like to seethe woman, mother or father--who could put a patch on those pants infive minutes. "

"There's one way it could be done in the time, " I said, calling tomind a prank related by a gay little friend--"clap it on withcobbler's wax. "

Dawn's eyes danced, and the irritation receded from the corners of thepretty mouth as, procuring a piece of cloth and a lump of cobbler'swax, she did the deed in less than five minutes, and Uncle Jakecontentedly received his trousers, while I departed to put in somemore time with my friend Andrew, without telling her there might be asequel to patching trousers with cobbler's wax. 

"Well, Andrew, how goes the scrubbing?"

"Oh, great! Look at that!" said he, drawing back to exhibit a reallyclean table; and as it would not have conduced to our friendship had Ipointed out that it had been arrived at at the expense of slushing thelime-washed wall and the stand of the separator, I wisely keptsilent. 

"There! I reckon me grandma nor Jim Clay neither never done a tablebetter, " he said with enviable self-appreciation. "You know I reckonthem old yarns about the people bein' so good w'en they was young is alittle too thin to stand washin'--don't you? You've only got to takethe things the wonderful Jim Clay and me grandma done w'en they wascourtin', --you get her on a string to tell you, --an' if Dawn done thesame with any of the blokes now, she'd jolly soon hear about it; an'as for old Jake there, I reckon I'd be able to put him through meselfat his own age--don't you? Anyhow, I'm full of farmin'. It's onlyfools an' horses sweat themselves, all the others go in forauctioneering, or parliament, or something, and have a fine screwcomin' in for nothing. "

"But think of those water-melons, " I said; for as a subject ofconversation he most frequently and most lovingly referred to these. 

"But I could buy a waggon-load of 'em for one day's pay, an' not haveany tuggin' and scratchin' with 'em. Melons ain't too stinkin', butlor', tomatoes is a stunner! They rotted till you couldn't stand thesmell of them, and it would give a billy-goat the pip to hear themmentioned. There was no sale, and the blow-flies took to 'em. One mandown here had thirty acres. I'm goin' to be somethink, so I can make abit of money. No one thinks anythink of you if you ain't got plentymoney. You know how you feel if a person has plenty money, you thinktwice as much of him as if he hasn't any. There's nothink to be madeat farmin', delvin' and scrapin' your eyeballs out for no return, "said this youngster, who did barely enough to keep him in exercise, who had been fed to repletion, and comfortably clothed and bedded allhis sixteen years. 

Luncheon or dinner was enlivened by an altercation between Dawn andher uncle. 

The blacksmithing to which he had referred was the act of sitting downbeside the forge, where he had grown so warm that the sequel tomending trousers with cobbler's wax had eventuated. The melted wax hadattached the garment to the old man's person, and he had sat--hissitting capacity was incalculable--until it had cooled again, and onrising suffered an amount of discomfort it would be graceful to leaveto the imagination. Uncle Jake however was not so considerate, andaired his grievance in a manner too brutally real for imagination. 

To do her justice Dawn did not think of the joke going thus far, so Iattempted to take the blame, but she would not have this. 

"I want him to think I knew how it would turn out. I'd do it to himevery day if I could. "

Grandma fortunately took her part, and the mirth of Andrew and Carrywas very genuine. 

"I reckon I was as smart as my mother that time, " giggled Dawn, as shecarried in the dinner. 

"It would have been a funny joke if you played it on somegood-humoured young feller, " said grandma, "but Jake there is entitledto some kind of consideration, because he is old and crotchety. "

"I'd play it on 'Dora' Eweword, " said Dawn, "only that he might stickhere so that he'd never move at all if I didn't take care. "

The first moment we had in private she took opportunity of saying--

"I think I'll go over to Grosvenor's with you this evening, but notto tea. I'll go over to bring you home, if you'll help me make someexcuse to get out of going rowing with 'Dora. '"

"Why not come to tea? that would be sufficient excuse. "

"Oh, but they try to ape the swells, and grandma doesn't like them;but I'll be sure to go for you after it, and that will save Mr Ernestcoming round with you. "

I thanked her, though her escort was not at all necessary, seeing thatinstead of saving Ernest it would only make his presence surer. Therebeing nothing else to do during the afternoon, I awaited the time ofsetting out for the Grosvenor's, who tried to ape the swells--theswells of Noonoon! These being, as far as I could gather, the doctors, the lawyer, a couple of bank managers on a salary somewhere about £250per annum, the Stip. Magistrate, and one or two others--surely anordinarily harmless and averagely respectable section of thecommunity, in aping whom one would be in little danger of being calledupon to act up to an etiquette as intricate and tyrannous as that inuse at court. 

In the old days the town had been the terminus of the train, and ithad squatted at the foot of the mountains, while strings of teamscarried the goods up the great western road out to Bathurst andbeyond, to Mudgee, Dubbo, and Orange. Nearly all the oldhouses--grandma's and Grosvenor's among them--had been hotels in thosedays, when the miles had been ticked off by the square stones with theRoman lettering, erected by our poor old convict pioneers, who blazedmany a first track. Every house had found sufficient trade in givingD. T. 's to the burly, roystering teamsters who lived on the roads, dealt in no small quantities, and who did not see their wives andsweethearts every week in the year. 

As the afternoon advanced, true to appointment, "Dora" Eweword arrivedto take Dawn for a row. His chin was red from the razor, and he lookedwell in a navy-blue guernsey brightened by a scarlet tie knotted atthe open collar, displaying a columnar throat which, if strength weremeasured by size, announced him capable of supporting not only a Dawn, but a Sunset. He sat on an Austrian chair, for which he was some sizestoo large and too substantial, and reddened as he laughed and talkedwith Carry, till I appeared and spent some time in talking andadmiring his appearance until Dawn came upon the scene. 

"Well, Dawn, " he said, "I'm waiting for this row; are you ready?"

Dawn glanced at me. 

"Dawn has promised to chaperon me to-night, " I said. Dawn decamped. 

"Miss Grosvenor has invited Mr Ernest and me to tea, and to go withouta representative of Mrs Grundy, I believe, is not correct in thesocial life of Noonoon. "

Eweword laughed; but his face fell, and his reply showed him lessobtuse than he appeared on the surface, seeing he was the first andonly person to see through my matchmaking tactics. 

"Touting for the red-haired bagman, " he said, as Ernest could be seenswinging up the path. 

"Supposing I am, what then?" I asked, regarding him with a levelglance, and feeling more respect for his intelligence than I hadheretofore experienced. 

"Oh, well, I suppose all is fair in some things. "

He would not say _love_, as that would have admitted too much, and alover admitting his passion and a drunkard confessing his disease areexceptions that prove the rule. 

His remark was uttered with a broad good nature that would lead him todo and leave undone great things. In a desire to please the presentgirl he was not above saying he had been "pulling the leg" of the oneabsent, but he would also be capable of standing aside when he feltdeeply--as deeply as he could feel--to allow a better man sea-room;and he was further capable of sufficient humility to think there couldbe a better man than himself, or so I adjudged him, and being the onlynarrator of this, the only history in which he is likely to receivemention, this delineation of his character will have to remainunchallenged. 

Ernest had a geranium in his button-hole, and looked more immaculatelyspruce than ever, and even his red hair could not obliterate the factof his being a goodly sight, and as such grandma recognised him. 

"That's a fine sturdy chap, " she afterwards observed. "It's a pity heain't got somethink to do to keep him out of mischief. Is he aunemployed? He don't look like one of these Johnnies that has nothinkto do but hang around a street corner and smoke a cigarette. "

The two young men measured glances every whit as critically as girlsdo under similar conditions, and then equally as casually madereference to the weather. Ernest was somewhat overshadowed by Eweword, as the latter was superior in size and cast of features, being fullysix feet, while Ernest was not more than five feet nine inches; but asa girl very rarely, if she has a choice, cares most for the handsomestof her admirers, I was not in the least cast down about this. 

When it was time for me to depart, Ernest rose too, but not Dawn. Ernest's face went down, Eweword's brightened. 

"Miss Dawn is not coming over now, but later on, " I said. 

The men's glances reversed once more. As the former and Ideparted--Ernest carrying a wrap for me--I heard Eweword say--

"Well, come on, Dawn, you're not going to Grosvenor's after all. Itseems that old party was only pulling my leg. "

Ernest good-naturedly struggled to talk with me, but I spared him theordeal, and, arrived at Grosvenor's, interestedly studied them todiscover what manner of procedure "trying to ape the swells" mightbe--the swells of Noonoon--the doctor who thought I might "peg out"any minute, and the bank managers and the parsons. 

The only difference to be observed between the tea-table at Clay's andGrosvenor's was that at the latter the equivalents of Uncle Jake andAndrew did not appear in a coatless condition, were treated to theluxury of table-napkins, and Mrs Grosvenor, who served, attended topeople according to their rank instead of their position at the table, and entrusted them with the sugar-basin and milk-jug themselves. Farther than this there was no distinction, and this was not analarming one. Certainly Miss Grosvenor, who had not enjoyed halfDawn's educational advantages, did not as glaringly flout syntax, andslang was not so conspicuous in her vocabulary. She and Ernest got onso well that none but my practised eyes could detect that as theevening advanced his brown ones occasionally wandered towards theentrance door, which showed that much as Miss Grosvenor had got himout of his shell, she had not obliterated Dawn. 

That young lady arrived at about a quarter to ten, and we startedhomewards, determining to go a long way round, first by way of theGrosvenor's vehicle road to town, by this gaining the public highway, along which we would walk to the entrance to grandma's demesne. Thiswas preferable to a short-cut and rolling under the barbed-wirefencing in the long grass sopping with dew, which at midnight orthereabouts would stiffen with the soft frosts of this region thatwould flee before the sun next morning. 

Dawn's cheeks were scarlet from rowing on the river with "Dora"Eweword, and she spoke of her jaunt as soon as we got outside, apparently pregnant with the knowledge innate in the dullest of hersex, that the most efficacious way of giving impetus to the love ofone lover is to have another. 

This, however, is another art which, like good cooking, must be "doneto the turn, " and in this instance there was danger of it being donetoo soon, as Ernest's amour had not taken firm root yet; and a man, unless he be either of gigantic pluck or no honour at all, will nothurry to interfere with the secured property of another man. 

They chatted in a desultory fashion while I manoeuvred to relievethem of my presence. The night was lit by a million stars, palingtowards the east, where behind the hills a waning moon was putting inan appearance. The electric lights of the town scintillated likeartificial stars, and away down the long valley could be seen here andthere the twinkle of a farmhouse light, showing where some held mildwassail or a convivial evening; for there were not many of theagriculturalists, tired from their heavy toil, who were otherwise outof bed at this ungodly hour of the night. 

The crisp winter air agreed with me, and I felt unusually well. 

"Let me walk behind, this night is too glorious to waste in talkingpolitics, so you young people get out of my hearing and thresh outyour candidate's merit and demerit and leave me to think, " I said, forpolitics were in the air and they were touching upon them. They obeyedme, and soon were lost to view in the dark of the osage and quincehedges grown as breakwinds on the west of Grosvenor's orangery. Soon Icould not hear their footfalls, for I stood still to watch the trainspass by. 'Twas the hour of the last division of the Western passengermail, bearing its daily cargo of news and people to the great plainsbeyond the hills that loomed faintly in the light of the half moon. Haughtily its huge first-class engine roared along, and its carriagewindows, like so many warm red mouths, permitted a glimpse of the folkinside comfortably ensconced for the night. It slowed across the longviaduct approaching the bridge, and crossed the bridge itself with aroar like thunder, then it swerved round a curve to Kangaroo till thewindow-lights gave place to its two red eyes at the rear. As itclimbed the first spur of the great range, and all that could be seenwas a belch of flame from the engine-door as it coaled, something ofthe old longing awoke within me for things that must always be faraway. The throbbing engines spoke to my heart, and forgetting itsbrokenness, it stirred again to their measure--the rushing, eagermeasure of ambition, strife, struggle! I was young again, with youth'shot desire to love and be loved, and as its old bitter-sweetclamourings rushed over me I rebelled that my hair was grey and mypropeller disabled. The young folks ahead had put me out of their lifeas young folks do, and, measuring the hearts of their seniors by thewhite in their hair and the lines around their eyes, would have beenincredulous that I still had capacity for their own phase. Only theroyalty of youth is tendered love in full measure; those who fail toattain or grasp it then find this door, from which comes enticingperfume and sound of luring music, shut against them for all time, andno matter how appealingly they may lean against its portals, it willrarely open again, for they have been laid by to be sold as remnantslike the draper's goods which have failed to attract a buyer duringthe brief season they were displayed. I stood under the whisperingosage and listened to the now distant train puffing its way over thewild mountains, also to be crossed by the great road first cut bythose whose now long dead limbs had carried chains--members of abygone brigade as I was one of a passing company. But probably theyeach had had their chance of love, and the old bitterness upsprungthat mine had not fallen athwart my pathway. Fierce struggle hadalways shut me away from similar opportunity to that enjoyed by theyoung people ahead. 

"Put back your cruel wheel, O Time!" I cried in my heart, "and give mebut one hour's youth again--sweet, ecstatic youth with the boundingpulse, led by the purple mirage of Hope, whose sirens whisper that theworld's sweets are sweet and its crowns worth winning. Let me for aspace be free from this dastard age creeping through the veins, dulling the perspective of life and leadening the brain, whose carpingcompanions draw attention to the bitters in the cups of Youth'sDelights, and mutter that the golden crowns we struggle for shalltarnish as soon as they are placed on our tired brows!" Suddenly mybitter reverie was broken by the knight and the lady calling instartled tones. I replied, and presently they were upon me, Dawn verymuch out of breath. 

"Oh, goodness, we thought you were ill again. You have given us such ashock. You should not have been left behind. I was a terrible brutethat I didn't harness the pony and drive over for you;" and Ernestcame in a slow second with--

"You should have taken my arm, " and he wrapped my cloak about me withthe high quality of gentleness peculiar to the best type of strongman. 

Despite my assurance that I never had felt better, they insisted uponsupporting me on either side; so slipping a hand through each of theyoung elbows conveniently bent, I playfully put the large hand on theright of me over the dimpling one on the left. 

"There!" I said, taking advantage of the liberties extended a probableinvalid, "I've made a breastwork of the hands of the two dearest youngfriends I have, so now I cannot fall;" and seeing I put it at that, atthat they were content to let it remain, and the big hand verycarefully retained the little one, so passive and warm, in its shygrasp. At the gate I dismissed Ernest, and Dawn condescended to remarkthat he wasn't _quite_ such a fool as usual, which interpreted meantthat he had not been so guardedly stand-off to her as he sometimeswas. 

The trains once more entertained my waking hours that night. UnderAndrew's tutorage I had learned to distinguish the rumble of a "goods"from the rush of a "passenger, " a two-engine haul from a single, andeven the heavy voice of the big old "shunter" that lived about theNoonoon station had grown familiar; but the haughtiest of all was atravelling engine attended only by its tender, and speeding by withlightsome action, like a governor thankfully free from officialdomand hampered only by a valet. 

Musing on what a little time had elapsed since the work of thepassenger trains had been done by the coaches with their grey and bayteams of five, swinging through the town at a gallop, and with theiroccupants armed to the teeth against bushrangers, I dozed and dreamt. I dreamt that I was in one of the sleeping-cars which had supersededCobb & Co. 's accommodation for travellers, and that from it I couldsee in a bird's-eye view not only the magnificent belt of mountains, the bluest in the world, but whirling down their westward slopes witha velocity outstripping the scented winds from sandal ridges and myallplains, I slid across that great western stretch of country where aportion of the railway line runs for a hundred and thirty-six mileswithout rise or fall or curve in the longest straight ribbon of steelthat is known. But ere I reached its end I wakened with a startthrough something falling in Miss Flipp's room. 

Surely I had not slept for more than half an hour, because the lightwhich had shone in the adjoining room as we returned from Grosvenor'swas still burning. Presently Miss Flipp put it out, and closing herdoor after her, stealthily made her way from the house. She trodcautiously and noiselessly, but her gown caught on the lower sproutsof the ragged old rose-bushes beside the walks, and though she took along time to open the little gate opening towards the wharves and thenarrow pathway running along the river-bank to the bridge, it creakeda little on its rusty hinges, so that I heard it and fell to awaitingthe girl's return. 

I waited and waited, and beguiled the time by counting the trains thatpassed with the quarter hours. There were so many that I soon lostcount. This line carried goods to the great wheat and wool-growingwest and brought its produce to the city. Many of the noisy trainswere laden with "fifteen hundred" and "two thousand" lots of "fats, "and the yearly statistics dealing with the sales at Homebushchronicled their total numbers as millions. From beyond Forbes, Bourke, and Brewarrina they came in trucks to cross the bridgespanning the noble stream at the mountain's base, but they never wentback again to the great plains where they had basked in plenty orstaggered through droughts as the fickle seasons rose and fell. Thevoracious, insatiable maw of the city was a grave for them all, andthe commercial greed which falls so heavily on the poor dumb beasts inwhich it traffics, caged them so tightly for their last journey thatby the time they reached Noonoon they were bruised and cramped and nota few trodden under foot. The empty trucks going west again made thelongest trains, as they could be laden with nothing but a littlewire-netting for settlers who were fighting the rabbits, and wereeasily distinguishable from other "goods, " as when they clumsily andjerkily halted the clanking of their couplings and the bumping oftheir buffers could be heard for a mile or more down the valley. Thesplendid atmosphere intensified all sounds and carried them an unusualdistance, and many a time at first I was wont to be aroused from sleepin the night with a notion that the thundering trains were going torun right over the house. 

On the night in question I had not heard Miss Flipp return from hermidnight tryst, though all the luggage trains had passed and it nearedthe time of the first division of the up or citywards mail from thewest, which was the earliest train to arrive in town from the countrydaily. It passed Noonoon in the vicinity of 4 A. M. --a radiant hour inthe summer dawn, but then in winter, the time when bed is mostalluring, when the passengers' breath congeals on the window-panes, they complain that the foot-warmers have got cold, and give yet onemore twist to their comforters and another tug at their 'possum orwallaby rugs. This train passed with its shaking thunder, drew intoNoonoon for refreshments, then on and on with noisy energy, but stillMiss Flipp did not return. 

I concluded that she must have decided to leave us in this fashion, orthat I had missed her entry during the rumble of a passing train, ormayhap I had snoozed for a moment, or perhaps an hour, as theunsympathetic heavy sleepers aver the insomnists must do; and ceasingto be on the alert any longer, I really slept. 

FIFTEEN. 

ALAS! MISS FLIPP!

I hastened to appear at the half-past seven breakfast, as no excusefor non-appearance was taken, and the only concession made to MissFlipp, who had not been present at it for some time, was that shecould make herself a cup of cocoa when she chose to rise. For thismeal grandma ladled out the porridge and flavoured it with milk andsugar in the usual way. 

"I say, Dawn, which of them blokes, Ernest or Dora, is the bestboat-puller?" inquired Andrew as he received his portion. "You weremighty stingy with the sugar, grandma!"

"Dora isn't in it, " responded Carry. "Mr Ernest could get ahead of himevery time. "

"So he ought!" said Dawn. "His ears are the size of a pair of sails, and would pull him along. "

Thus was published another defect in my knight, till I feared that itmust be only my partial gaze that discerned a knight at all. 

"Dear me, " interposed grandma, "a man can't look or speak or walk but he'sthis, that, and the other. Things weren't so in my day. Of course therewere some things that were took exception to, but there must be reason ineverythink, an' I don't see what difference a man's ears being a little bigmakes. My father's ears--your great-grandfather's--was none too small, an'he was always a good kind man. "

"I don't care if my own ears were big, it wouldn't make me like them, "said the irrepressible Dawn; and grandma had just finished what shetermed "dosing" the last plate of porridge, when we were interruptedby the appearance of policeman Danby at the French Lights. There wasnothing strange in this appearance of the embodiment of the law, evenat that early hour of the morning; for the huge young man with therollicking face and curly hair, though a good officer in attending tohis work, was a better in admiring a girl, which, after all, takingmatters at the base, is the chief and most vital business of life, as, were it neglected, there would be no police or populace. 

Well, as I said, policeman Danby knew a pretty girl when he saw one, and there being two at Clay's, that household, in the way of the law, was very well looked after indeed; and for the purpose of escaping theannual registration fee, Andrew's little dog, "Whiskey, " had remaineda puppy as long as some young ladies tarry under thirty. 

Carry on rising to admit the caller had the usual tussle with thedoor, while grandma reiterated uncomplimentary remarks about the"blessed feller" who should some time since have effected repairs, andDanby upon entering wore an extremely grave face, looked neither atDawn nor Carry, but addressed himself straight to Mrs Martha Clay. 

"I have to trouble you about a very unpleasant matter, " he said, andcruelly all eyes went to poor Andrew, as it was but recently he hadto be chased home for breaking the law. 

"Yes, " said grandma, rising actively, and though a flurried colourcame to the old withered cheek, the spark of battle flashed in thestern blue-grey eye. 

"Could I see you privately?" said Danby. 

"Certainly, " said Mrs Clay: "but I'm not fond of secrecy; things isbetter open, and this is the first time in my life I've had to be seensecret by the police. Come this way. "

We said nothing, but dropped our feeding tools and waited in suspense, till in less than a minute grandma thrust her head in the dining-roomdoor. 

"For mercy's sake, Dawn, look in Miss Flipp's room and see is shethere. "

Dawn rose in a hurry and boxed Andrew's ears as she passed, because hetoo rose and tumbled over his chair in her way. 

"Some people ought to tie themselves up to be out of the way, " sheejaculated. 

"Miss Flipp is not in her room, " she presently called, "and her bed issmooth and made up. "

"God save us, then! Mr Danby says she's drownded in the river, "exclaimed her grandma. "What's to be done?"

"We'll spare you all the trouble possible, Mrs Clay, " said the man, with the respect always tendered the old dame; "but I'm afraid it's asuicide. Some men going to work on the new viaduct just noticed herclothes sticking up as they crossed the bridge at daylight andreported it, and I was sent down. We've taken the body to Jimmeny'spub. , and sent for the coroner, at all events. "

Dawn and Andrew howled together in a frightened manner, while thesensible Carry, who never lost her head, admonished them--

"Don't be jackdaws. That won't mend matters. Perhaps it isn't half asbad as some make out. Things never are when you get the right hang ofthem. "

"Things are bad enough anyhow, but the way to mend 'em ain't to besnivelling, " rapped out grandma, giving Dawn and Andrew a shaking thatbraced them up. 

Things were indeed bad enough, and nothing could mend them. They hadgone beyond repair. It transpired that my senses had been correct, andpoor Miss Flipp had _not_ returned that moonlit night as I laylistening to the passing trains. She had ended her ruined life byweighting her feet and dropping into the pretty stretch of water underthe bridge, where the locomotives rushed by like thunder, and fromwhere could be seen the twinkling electric lights of one of the oldesttowns in Australia. 

The inquest, at which we all had to appear, elicited information thatfairly stood poor grandma's hair on end. It was a great blow to findthat she had been harbouring a woman who was not as Cæsar's wife, andthat it was fear of the penalty of her divergence from what isaccepted as virtue, had driven her to take her life ere she hadtransmitted the tribulation of being to a nameless child. 

Nothing was cleared up regarding her antecedents. The person by whomshe was supposed to be recommended to Mrs Clay knew of no suchindividual, and no one came to claim her. 

Her uncle, it was discovered, had a day or two previously sailed forAmerica on urgent business, and after the girl's death an affectionateletter for her arrived from him. She had left nothing to fix the blamewhere it belonged, but with a misdirected loyalty so common in hersex had paid all the debt her frail self. 

The post on the day of her death brought me a pathetic little note, inwhich she stated that she wished to bear the whole blame; a womanalways had to in any case, and as she could not face it she haddecided upon death. She had written this to me because she felt I hadhad an inkling of how matters had been with her, and she thanked methat I had kept silent, in conjunction with the observation that itwas not usual for such as she to meet with forbearance from those whohad had sense to preserve their respectability. Ah, the regret thatconsumed me that I had not risked the unpopularity of interference andsought her confidence. I might have been able to have saved her fromsuch an end!

I kept my knowledge to myself. It would scarcely have hurt Mr Pornsch. Under the British Constitution property is far more sacred than women. But having a fatality in belief that there is a law of retribution inall things, I hoped to be able to sheet this crime home to itsperpetrator in a way that should put him to confusion when he leastexpected it. 

There was ample money for burial among the girl's belongings, whichwere taken in charge by the police, and there let the cruelly commonincident rest for the present. 

The affair so upset Dawn that she refused to occupy her usual room anylonger, and at her suggestion she and I determined to occupy a bigupstairs room, up till that time filled with rubbish. This beingagreed upon we forsook the apartments opening into the river garden, and betook ourselves to an altitude from which we had even a betterview of the valley, river, and trains. 

Dawn so perceptibly went "off colour" that I persuaded hergrandmother to let the singing lessons begin by way of diverting hermind. 

The old lady would not contemplate paying more than two guineas perquarter, so I saw a six guinea teacher, arranged with him to take thepupil at four, two of which I privately paid myself, and Dawn at lastset out for the city for her first lesson in the arduous andunattractive boo-ing and ah-ing that lie at the foundation of asinger's art. 

SIXTEEN. 

ADVANCE, AUSTRALIA!

In the career of a prodigy there invariably comes a time when it iscompelled to relinquish being very clever for a child, and has toenter the business of life in competition with adults. 

This crisis had arrived in the career of the prodigy Australia. 

It is at the time of electing new or re-electing old representativesof the people to the legislature that the state of a country's affairsis more prominently before the public than at any other, and precedingthe State election in which Grandma Clay was to exercise the rights offull citizenship for the first time, it was a lugubrious statement. 

That the country had gone to the dogs was averred by each candidatefor the three hundred a-year given ordinary State members, and eachdescribed himself as the instrument by which it could be restored to astate of paradisaical prosperity. 

This is an old bogey, unfailingly revived at elections. TheMinisterialists invariably roar how they have improved the publicfinances, while the Opposition as blatantly tries to drown them bybellowing that the retiring government has damned the country, andthat the Opposition has the only recipe of satisfactoryreconstruction, but in spite of this threadbare election scare theCommonwealth remained the freest and one of the wealthiestabiding-places in the world. 

Just then its business affairs were undoubtedly badly managed, andmismanagement, if continued, inevitably leads to bankruptcy. Undeniablythere was an unwholesome percentage of unemployed--inexcusable when thereabounded vast areas of fertile territory quite unpeopled, mines as rich asany known to history all untouched; the sugar, grape, timber, and otherindustries crying aloud for further development, and countless resources onevery hand requiring nothing but that these and men should meet on healthyand enterprising business terms. The population, instead of gaining innumbers, was foolishly leaving the country, like over-indulged, spoiledchildren, imagining themselves ill-treated, while others hesitated to comein because the Australian trumpet was not blown loudly enough nor in theright key. 

The administration, like a young housewife tossed into an overflowingstorehouse, had spent lavishly, but the bank of a multi-millionairewill come to an end in time, and so with the play-days of Australia. 

The hour had arrived for her to be up and doing, to marshal herforces, advertise her wares, and take her place as a worker among thenations. 

There are always old bush lawyers and city know-alls beside whomChamberlain and Roberts are but small tomahawks as empire-builders, and these now were predicting that to make a nation of her Australianeeded war and many other disasters to harden her people from theamusement-loving, sunny-eyed folk they were; but this was anextremist's outlook. She was in greater need of a land law that wouldsensibly and practically put the right people on the soil, and enticepopulation of desirable class--independent producers--so that thedevelopment of the industries would follow in natural sequence. Inshort, Australia was languishing for a few patriotic sons with strong, clear, business heads to apply the science of statecraft, asdistinguished from the self-seeking artifices of the mere jobpolitician at present sapping her vitals, and all the elements forsuccess were within her gates. 

I had long had an eye open for the discernment of such an embryostatesman, and looked forward with interest to the study of thepresent crop of political candidates. 

As soon as Leslie Walker--Ernest Breslaw's step-brother--had beenelected as the Opposition candidate for Noonoon, canvassing, "spouting, " war-whooping, and all manner of "barracking" began withsuch intense enthusiasm that fortunately Miss Flipp's sad fate wasspeedily driven out of our thoughts. 

Dawn and Mrs Bray were on Walker's committee, and nearly every nightthere was an advocate of one party or the other gasconading inCitizens' Hall. 

To Noonoon residents it became what the theatre is to city patrons ofthe drama, and more, for this was invested with the dignity of acertain amount of reality. To women being in the fray many attributedthe unusual interest distinguishing this campaign, but the real causewas that public affairs had come to such a deadlock that legislature, as the medium through which they might be moved, had become a vitalquestion to the veriest numskull, and all were mustering to ascertainwho put forth the most favourable policy. 

With politics and her newly started singing lessons, Dawn was toothoroughly engrossed for thought of any knight to pierce her armour ofindifference, which was the outcome of full mental occupation. Iinvested in a nice little piano, that was carried upstairs to our bigroom, and had undertaken to superintend her practising, but she was amore enthusiastic politician than a vocal student, as I pointed out toher grandmother's satisfaction. These happenings had eventuated duringthe first fortnight of May, and in the third week of this month LeslieWalker imported a couple of experienced ranters to renew the attackand denounce the villainy of the present government in loud andblustering vote-catching war-whoops. 

In the town itself, nearly every third person was employed on therailway, and their only care in casting their vote was to secure arepresentative who would not in any way reduce the expenditure of therailways. Thus a parliamentary candidate in Noonoon had to trim hissails to catch this large vote or be defeated. It was the same withother factions: any man with a common-sense platform, impartially forthe good of the State at large, might as well have sat down at homeand have saved himself the labour of stumping an electorate andbellowing himself hoarse for all the chance he had of being returned. 

We turned out _en masse_ from Clay's to hear the second speech ofyoung Walker, assisted by two M. P. 's belonging to his party. Grandmaand I drove in the sulky, while the girls and Andrew walked ahead, thelatter under strict orders to behave with reason, and not make "a foolof hisself with the larrakins. "

It was well we arrived early, as there was not sitting room for halfthe audience, though more than half the hall being reserved for theladies, we got a front seat, and long before the time for the speakersto appear every corner was packed, and women as well as men werestanding in rows fronting the stage. A great buzz of conversation atthe front, and stampeding and cat-calling among the youths at theback, was terminated by the arrival of the three speakers of theevening, who were received amid deafening cock-a-doodling, cheering, stamping, and clapping. An old warrior of the class dressed _up_ tothe position of M. P. Sat to one side, and next him was the barristertype so prolific in parliament, who had himself dressed _down_ to thevulgar crowd, while third sat Leslie Walker. 

Surely not the first Leslie Walker who had appeared a week or twopreviously! His bright, restless eye, though too sensitive for that ofan old campaigner, now took in the crowd with complete assurance, andthere was no hint of hesitation discernible. Having once smelt powderhe was ready for the fray. 

"By Jove! hasn't Les. Bucked up!" whispered Ernest, who sat on oneside of me, where he had landed after an ineffectual attempt to sitbeside Dawn. 

"Yes; if he can only roar and blow and wave his arms sufficiently hemay have a chance. "

"But he's still nervous, " said the observant Andrew from the rear. "You watch him go for that flea in the leg of his pants!"

Sitting in full view of a "chyacking" audience is a severe ordeal toan inexperienced campaigner with a sensitive temperament, and thisaction, indeed peculiarly like an attempt to detain an annoying insectin a fold of his lower garment, was one of those little mannerismsadopted to give an appearance of ease. 

Behind the speakers came, as chairman, one of the swell class almostextinct in this region, and he, too, had rather an effete attitude andphysique, as he took up his position behind the spindley tableweighted by the smeared tumblers and water-bottle. He rose with theintention of flattering the speakers and audience in the orthodox way, but the electors, among whom a spirit of overflowing hilarity was atlarge, took his duties out of his mouth. 

"Don't smoodge, old cockroach, let the other blokes blaze away, as we(the taxpayers) are paying dear for this spouting. "

The barrister man M. P. Burst upon them first with the latest trumpetblare with which speeches were being opened. Having been primed as tothe magnitude of the railway vote in Noonoon, first move was to throwa bone to it, and, metaphorically speaking, he got down on his kneesto this section of the electors, and howled and squealed that allcivil servants' wages would be left as they were. 

He took another canter to flatter the ladies regarding the remarkablyintelligent vote they had cast in the Federal elections, and assertedhis belief that they would do likewise in the present crisis, andintroduce a nobler element into political life. 

Creatures, a few months previously ranked lower than an almostimbecile man, and with no more voice in the laws they lived under thanhad lunatics or horses--it was miraculous what a power they hadsuddenly grown! The man at the back saw the point--

"Blow it all, don't smoodge so. It ain't long since you was all raredup on yer hind legs showin' how things would go to fury if wimmen hadthe vote. "

Having got past this prelude, he proceeded with a vigorous volley ofabuse against the sitting government, and showed how Walker, theOpposition candidate, was the only man to vote for. He shook hisfists, stamped and raved, and illustrated how much a voice couldendure without cracking, the back people carefully waiting till he hadto pull up to take a drink out of one of the glasses on the spindleytable, when they got in with--

"You're mad! Keep cool! You'll bust a blood-vessel! When are you goingto give Tomato Jimmy a show to blow his horn?" This being a referenceto the calling of the other speaker, who was a middleman in thevegetable and fruit-market. The first speaker, however, was not nearlyexhausted yet--he had to thump his fists on the unfortunate spindleytable, and work off several other oratorical poses and a deal ofelocutionary voice-play, ere he was finished. I fairly rolled withenjoyment of the wonderful wit and humour of the crowd at the back, which, unless it be put down as the critical faculty, is aninexplicable phenomenon. Not one of the interrupters, if drafted on tothe hustings, could have given a lucid or intelligent statement of hisviews, or indication that he was furnished with any, and yet not oneslip on the part of a candidate, one inconsistent point, personalmannerism or peccadillo, but was remarked in an astonishingly humorousand satirical style. 

The barrister man having finished "spouting, " the common-senseindividual, who always sits half-way down the hall, and who, when heasks a question, has to face the double ordeal of the crowd and thecandidate, said--

"The speaker has shown us all the things the other fellows _can't do_, we'd like another speech now stating what _he can_ do. " The chairmanrose to say this was out of order, but his voice was lost in the din. 

"You sit down, old chap, we can manage this meetin' ourselves. "

"But out of respect to the ladies present!"

"We'll look after the ladies too, " was the good-humoured rejoinder. "Why, they're enjoyin' it as much as we are. They've got a vote now, you know, and are going to use it in an intelligent manner. "

"Did you know Queen Anne was dead?" said another. 

"The ladies won't be harmed. Any one that disrespects the ladies willbe chucked out. "

The ladies had to laugh at this, and the meeting went right merrily, and more merrily in that half the "blowing" from the stage was drownedby the interjectory din from the rear of the building, where lads andmen stood chock-a-block, the former, and the latter too, making rightroyal use of their licence to be rowdy; but such a good-natured crowdcould not often be seen. There were no altercations, only laughter andthe crude repartee of such a gathering. 

The first speaker having returned to his seat and sanity, the secondtook his place. 

"Hullo, Tomatoes! What's the price of onions and spuds?"

"Now begin and tell the ladies how intelligent they are, so you'll gettheir vote. "

"Tomatoes" did butter the ladies, next yelled that the civil servantswould not be retrenched, and then upheld the virulent attack on thegovernment. Keeping in time with the utterances of "Tomato Jimmy, " theboys at the back grew so boisterous that at one time it appearedinevitable that the meeting must break up in disorder. The chairman, the candidates, the ladies, the whole house rose, and one man towardsthe front made himself heard amid the babel to the effect that theladies ought to walk out to show their resentment of the insults thathad been offered their presence by this disorderly behaviour. 

"Ladies, don't go. _Dear_ ladies, don't go, " called some wags. "We'reonly educatin' you in politics, --learning you how to be like yoursuperiors--men. "

This evoked a round of laughter, and order was restored. 

"That's right, ladies, don't go; if you was to turn dawg on us now, we'd be so crestfallen we couldn't think about politics and save thecountry at all. "

Once more "Tomatoes" belched forth the infamy of the government, andlouder and louder he yelled, till one marvelled at his endurance. Rougher and hotter grew his repartee till, by sheer abuse, he gainedthe ascendancy; but there was no sane statement of what he wouldpropose as a remedy. Grandma Clay happened to rise as he neared thefinish to see about a reticule she had dropped, and proved a targetfor those at the rear. 

"Hello, grandma! are you going to contradict him? Give us a straighttip about women's rights while you're up;" and poor grandma sat downvery precipitately with an exceedingly deep blush. 

"If I could only get the chance, " she gasped, "I'd give 'em a piece ofme mind. "

Third on the list came Leslie Walker, whose improvement was beyondbelief. No notes or hesitation this time. Each sentence was crisp andclear, and in every detail he evinced the facility for enacting his_rôle_ which is supposedly a feminine accomplishment. 

The chairman, in closing the meeting, rose to say--

"In reference to the interjector who said the speaker was mad--"

"Oh, that's what every one said about _you_ when you were in thecouncil, and so you were too, and so are they all. Look at the roadswe've got in the municipality, " said a voice. 

So the chairman had to let the meeting terminate with the candidatesthanking the electors for the extraordinarily good hearing they hadbeen accorded; it being part of the humour of politics that the worsea candidate is boo-hooed the more stress he lays upon the _goodhearing_ given him, and the more scurrilous he is regarding hisopponent the more frantically he assures one that he is a bosom_personal_ friend. 

Andrew and I had the distinction of going home under grandma'stutelage, while Carry and Dawn stayed behind to go to the ladies'committee rooms, and Ernest lingered to escort them. 

"I say, grandma, are you goin' to vote for that bloke?" inquiredAndrew. 

"I'm goin' to hear the other side first, and give me opinion after. There wasn't one of the swells there, was there?"

"Dr Smalley and Dr Tinker both was. "

"Yes; but I mean the wimmen: an' how on earth did old Tinker ever getaway from Mrs Tinker for that length of time? You'll never see one ofthem kind of wimmen at anythink that makes for progress. That's theway they make theirselves superior to the likes of you an' me--bynever doin' nothink only for theirselves. 'Oh, we've got all we wantas it is, an' don't want the vote; a woman's place is home, ' they sayif you ask 'em. It's all very fine for them as has a man to keep themlike in a band-box; they would have found it different if they had toact on their own like me. I'm sick of this intelligence in women theymake a fuss about all of a sudden. I've rared a family and managed mebusiness better than a man could; and what's there been all along toprevent a woman from stroking out a name on a paper I never could see. And it never seems to me much difference which name was struck out, for they're mostly a lot of impostors that only think of featherin'their own nests. You'll always hear of wimmen not bein' intelligentenough to do this and that, and these things is only what men likedoin' best theirselves, and the things they make out God intendedwomen to do is them the men don't like doin'. You don't ever hear ofthem thinkin' women ain't intelligent enough to do seven things atonce. " Grandma was in great form that night, and not only led butmaintained the conversation. 

"I rather like this young feller, but he ain't no sense much either. All he thinks of is buttoning for the railway people, and it's thepeople on the land that ought to be legislated for first. They are thefoundation of everythink; other things would work right after. Everyone can't live in Sydney, an' that's what they're all makin' for now. Every one is getting some little agency--parasite business. They'vegot sense to see the people on the land is the most despised and satupon. You don't hear no squallin' about they'll protect the farmer. No, he's a despised old party that them scuts of fellers on therailway would grin at and think theirselves above, and scarcely givehim a civil answer if he asked a question about his business what he'spayin' them fellers there to do for him, and which only for theprodoocers wouldn't be there at all. Things is gettin' pretty tight onfarms now. It means about sixteen hours hard graft a-day to make nothalf what a railwayman makes in eight hours. If you happen to havegrapes or oranges, if they manage to escape the frost, an' hail, an'caterpillar, then the blight ketches 'em, or there's a drewth, andthere ain't none; an' if there's any, there's so much that there ain'tno sale for 'em; and the farmer's life I reckon ought to be stopped asgamblin', for a gambler's life ain't one bit more precarious. "

"Then why the jooce do you want me to go on the land?" said Andrew. 

"That ain't the point. "

"It's the most sticking out point to me, " protested the lad. "I reckonbein' on the land is a mug's game; scrapin' like a fool when a fellercould be sittin' in an office an' gettin' all they want twice aseasy. "

"Here, you don't know what's good. It's more respectabler bein' on theland. You get the pony out, an' make the coffee, an' hold yourtongue. "

Andrew and I had undertaken to make the coffee for supper, and thusgive Carry, whose week in the kitchen it was, a chance to go to themeeting. 

They all arrived from it after a time--Dawn and the knight together, Carry and Larry Witcom following. Oh, where was "Dora"?

"Who's that with you, Carry?" asked Andrew. "There was a young ladynamed Carry, who had a sweetheart named Larry; at the gate they oftenwould tarry, to talk about when they would marry. "

But this remark of Andrew's to parry, Dawn good-naturedly plunged intoan account of the meeting. 

"What did they do?" asked grandma. 

"Do?--they only blabbed. Mr Walker was there to-night. We asked thatJimmeny girl from the pub. To join, and she delivered a great parableat us, looking round all the time to see if the boot-licking tone ofit was pleasing the men. She said that women ought to bring up theirchildren to respect them--"

"The most commonest idea some people has of bringin' up their childrento respect them, " grandma chipped in, "is to let youngsters maketoe-rags of their mother; and boys only as high as the table thinkthey can cheek their mother because she's only a woman an' hasn't asmuch right to be livin' in the world as them, and when they aretwenty-one the law confirms this beautiful sentiment. Leastways, untiljust lately, " she concluded. 

"And this Jimmeny piece, " continued Dawn, "said women ought to treattheir husbands decently, and she thinks a woman disgraces her sex bygetting up on a platform to speak. I asked her if she thought they didnot disgrace themselves and the other sex too by standing behind a barand serving out drinks and grinning at a lot of goods that ought to beat home with their families, --and that was a bit of a facer. Then shesaid it was only the ugly old women who wanted to shriek round and getrights, --that men would give the young pretty ones all they wantedwithout asking! Of all the old black gin ideas, I always think thatthe terriblest. A nice state of affairs, if people couldn't get honestcivilised rights without being young and pretty; and _the fools_!"said the girl heatedly, "can't they look round and see how long thebeauty and youth business will work! 'Men, ' she says, 'ought to rule;they're the stronger vessel. '" And Dawn gave inimitable mimicry ofMiss Jimmeny of the pub. "If you take my tip for it, those girls thatsing out that men are the stronger vessel are the sort that have adishcloth of a husband, and never let him off a string. "

This attitude of mind was one of Dawn's distinctive characteristics. Having that beauty, which in the enslaved condition of women hasalways been an unfair asset to the possessor, to the exclusion ofworthier traits, she was not like most beauties, content to sit downand trade upon it, but had wholesomer, honester, workaday ideals inregard to the position of her sex. 

She was going to Sydney in the morning for her second singing lesson, and as Ernest, by a strange coincidence, happened to have businessthat would take him on the same journey by the same train, Iaccompanied him to the gate to warn him against inadvertentlydivulging that I had been an actress by trade. 

"I want to take you into my confidence, " I said, as we passed severalnaked cedar-trees, and halted in the shelter of some fine peppers thatgrew to perfection in this valley, where I related the trouble I hadhad to bring the old lady round to the idea of Dawn's singing lessons, and mentioned the girl's ambition regarding the stage. 

"Now, " I continued, "if the old dame were to discover I had been onthe stage, she would think I was leading Dawn to the devil, and wouldnot credit that no one is more anxious than I am to save her from thefootlights, or that the best way to stave her off is this training. My secret ambition regarding her, " I said, critically observing thestrong knobby profile, "is that within the next five years she shouldmarry some nice youngster with means to place her in a settingbefitting her intelligence and beauty. "

"Have you got any one in your eye now?" he irrelevantly inquired. And, considering he stood where he filled my entire vision, as he rosebetween me and the light shed by the last division of the westernpassenger mail as it self-importantly crossed the viaduct, Ianswered--

"Yes; I think I know a man who would just fill the bill. "

He did not ask for further particulars, but remarked warningly--

"Decent fellows with cash are scarce. They are inclined to get intomischief if they have too much time and money on their hands. "

"That's it; and I would not like to make a mess of things now thatI've taken up matchmaking. You'll have to advise me when matters getout of hand; a little practice may come in handy some day when youhave half a dozen daughters. "

"It would come in still handier now. "

"Pshaw, now! You'd only have to ask to receive, at your time of lifeand with your qualifications. "

"I'm not so sure. You're the only one who has such an opinion of me, "he said disconsolately. "Others look upon me as a red-headed fool withbig ears, &c. ;" and thus I knew Dawn's idle words had returned to hisears, as these things invariably do, and had stung. 

"Silly-billy! I'll take you in hand when I've settled Dawn. I'm theone to advertise your wares, for could I turn back the wheel of timeeight or nine years and make us of an age, I'd make it leap-year andpropose to you myself. "

"I'd like to propose to you without altering the time, " he gallantlyresponded, apparently not in such deadly fear of a breach of promiseaction as was Uncle Jake. 

"If I don't move in the matter Dawn will be marrying that Eweword, andthough he's a most handsome and worthy--"

"Soft as a turnip, " contemptuously interposed Ernest; "eats too much. It would take twelve months hard training to make any sort of a man ofhim. "

"It would be a pity to see Dawn just settling down into the dull, drudging life of a farmer's wife, going to an occasional show ortea-meeting in a home-made dress, with two or three children draggingat her skirts and looking a perfect wreck, as most of the mothers do. "

"By Jove, yes!"

"She has a right to be on the lawn on Cup Day or in the front circleon first nights. She'd surprise some of the grandees, and with hervivacity and courage she'd make a furore for a time. "

"She'd make a good sport if she were a man, " assented Ernest. "Norunning stiff or jamming a jock on the post or anything like that fromher--she'd always hit straight out from the shoulder and above thebelt. "

"Yes; she has particularly infatuated me, and I'd like to save herfrom Eweword. "

"Marry him to the girl Grosvenor while you're about it and that willdispose of him and suit her, for she strikes me as anxious formatrimony. "

"She hasn't been--" I began. 

"Oh, no, I think she's a splendid woman in every way, but--"

"_But_, even the finest and most chivalrous man, while he thinks theonly sphere for women is matrimony, yet is shocked if a woman betraysin the least way that her ambitions lie in the domestic line--strangeinconsistency. However, you will not let Dawn know my ideas ofdisposing of her;" and with the want of perspicacity of his sex, orelse with a wonderful power of covering his thoughts excelling that ofwomen, and of which women never suspect men, Ernest promised withoutsensing what I had in view. 

SEVENTEEN. 

MRS BRAY AND CARRY COME TO ISSUES. 

Contention arose in the Clay household next day, Dawn's singinglessons being at the root of the trouble. It was her week in thekitchen, and that she should be two days absent from the cooking, displeased Carry. 

"Well, if you don't think the place fair, you can go!" said grandma. "But I think you're a fool, an' you're giving me a lot of worry. It'sall very fine in other people's places, but some day w'en you have ahome of your own you'll know the worry of it. Next time I make aarrangement with a girl she'll have to take a extra day in the kitchenwithout humbuggin'. "

"I'll vote for me grandma on that bill, " said Andrew, "for I've oftenbeen give the pip by who is in the kitchen an' who is out of it. Grandma, did you hear the latest? Young Jack Bray's been in anotherorange orchard and didn't do a get quick enough, and has got took up, and his father will have to pay money to keep him out of quod. "

The old lady bristled. 

"Didn't I tell you! Who knows how to receive these things best now?I've always believed in rarin' me family me own way, an' Mrs Bray is afine woman, moral and decent, but she's got too many stones to throwat others and doesn't see to it sharp enough that less stones can't bethrew at her. I thought she didn't take it serious enough. You'd havebeen in this too only for me dreadin' the spark. What are they goin'to do?"

"Pay the money, of course; an' Mr Bray is goin' to tan the hide offJack. "

"Some people don't get frightened of dishonesty unless it costs 'emsomething, " said the old lady. 

"Well, I'll vote for me grandma every time, " said Andrew, "and JimClay every second time, " as he went out the door, "and meself the mosttimes of all, " he concluded in the back yard. 

Mrs Bray dropped in that afternoon for a chat, and grandma mentionedthat we were without afternoon tea because Carry had "jacked up" aboutgetting it, for reasons before mentioned. 

"Just like her!" said Mrs Bray; "she gives herself as much side as ifshe was one of us. She's the sort of girl who wouldn't think twice oftelling you to do a thing yourself, and you've made an awful fool ofher by making so much of her. Them things of girls _earnin' their ownlivin'_ ought to be kept in their place more, " was the utterance of awoman who believed herself a staunch advocate for the freedom of hersex; but when Mrs Bray spoke of sex she meant self. 

"That ain't the point, " said grandma; "I never think it anythink but acredit to a girl to be earnin' her living, an' would never be narrerenough to make them feel it. I always make a practice of treatin' thegirls as near equal as within reason, for Carry's every bit asfine-lookin' an' good a girl as me own, an' if I wasn't here, wouldn'tDawn have to be foragin' for herself too? but there's reason ineverythink, and Carry might be a bit obligin'. "

"Of course she ought to be; but what could you expect of her, took upwith that Larry Witcom, an' does the ass think he really wants her?He's only got her on a string for his own amusement? He goes to seethat Dora Cowper at the same time; Jack seen him there. I wonder will_he_ be scared off by being thought a ketch before the pot's boiled, so to speak. Good ketches, eh? I don't see nothing in none of them. They're only thought something because men is scarce here; they've allcleared out to the far out places, and West Australia. It's like ayear the pumpkins is scarce, you can sell little things you'd hardlythrow to the pigs another time, and that's the way it is with the fewpaltry fellers round here. It makes me mad to see the girls afterthem--_the fools!_ and the men grinnin' behind their backs. There'sthat Ada Grosvenor, if Eweword just calls up and talks to her shetells you about it as if it was something, and inviting him downthere, an' then the blessed fellers gets to think they're gods. Itmakes me sick!"

"Yes, " said grandma; "I see the girls after fellers now, --there's thatDanby for instance, he's a fine lump of a man, but w'en I was a girl Iwouldn't have made toe-rags of a policeman. "

"Yes, a blessed feller strollin' up and down the street lookin' at histoes or runnin' in a drunk. I say, did you hear the latest about oldRooney-Molyneux? He didn't believe in women having the vote, didn'tconsider they had intellect to vote, so _he_ says (not as much brainas he has, don't you see, to marry a woman, and a baby to be comingand nothing to put on its back, while he strolls round and getsdrunk), but now they've got the vote, he says (the great Lord MuckRooney-Molyneux says it, remember) that it is their _duty_ to use it, and he intends to _make_ (mind you, _make_; I'd like to hear a man sayhe'd _make_ me do anything; I'd scald him, see if I wouldn't, andthat's what wants doing with half the men anyhow, for the way theycarry on to women), and he's going to _make_ his wife go roundcanvassing, _Now_! Men make me sick; w'en they're boys they're thattroublesome they ought to be kep' under a tub, and we'n they get olderthey're that cantankerous and self-important they all want killin'off. "

"I'll bet Mrs Rooney won't be workin' for a different man to him. Ifher convictions led her that way, you'd see he'd have a flute abouther not bein' fit to be out of her home, " said grandma astutely. 

"Yes, that's the way with 'em; first they thought the world wouldtumble to pieces if women stirred out of the house for a minute tovote, and now that we've got the vote in spite of them, they'd maketheir wives walk round after votes for their side whether they wasable or not. "

"They kicked agen us having the vote, and now we've got it they thinkwe ought to vote with them like as if we was a appendage of theirs;men will be learnt different to that by-and-by, but it's best to gogradual; they've had as much as they can swaller for a time. "

"Ain't it just the very devil to them to think women is considered asimportant as themselves now, instead of something they could just doas they like with? Old Hollis there says he won't vote this yearbecause the women have one. Did you ever hear of an insult like that?He says the monkeys will have a vote next, and that shows you what menthink of women, --like as if they was some sort of animals. "

"Well, if you ask me, " said grandma, "the monkeys have been havin' avote all along in the case of old Hollis. "

Any further discussion in this line was terminated by the entrance ofCarry, with her good-looking face flushed and hard set, as, rollingdown her sleeve and buttoning it aggressively as the finishing touchto her toilet after completing her afternoon's work, she confrontedMrs Bray, on battle bent. 

"Well, Mrs Bray, I'd like to have given my opinion of you to your teethlong ago, but I held my tongue as it wasn't my house, and some people havedifferent tastes and have folk around that I'd be a long time havinganything to do with. Now, I think things do concern me, and I'm going tohave my say; I couldn't have it sooner because I'm a _thing_ earning myliving and had to finish my work. I haven't got a home of my own, and likesome people, if I had, I'd be in it teaching my dirty rude brats not to bethieves. I wouldn't for everlasting be at other people's placesscandalising people twice as good as myself. I didn't think Mrs Clay wasthe sort of person to go tittle-tattling--she can please herself; but itdoesn't concern you if I do put on airs. I want to know what you mean bythat I should be kept in my place. I'll swear I know how to carry my day aswell as you do, and to keep in my place too well to be going round meddlingwith other people's business. "

"I didn't say nothing but was correct, an' what right have you to comebullying me? It's like your impudence--you a hussy out to work foryour living at a few shillings a-week, and calling yourself a _lady_help when you're a servant, that's what you are; to bully _me_, awoman with a good home, and the mother of a family. "

Carry snorted contemptuously. 

"That old 'mother of a family' racket needn't be brought forward. Itdoesn't hold as much water as it used to. Women are thought just asmuch of now who are good useful workers in the world, and not tied upto some man and the mother of a few weedy kids that aren't any creditto king or country. "

"Mercy!" exclaimed grandma. "What am I to?"

"Let 'em fight it out, " I laconically advised in an aside, and sheseemed disposed to take my advice. 

"You dare, " blustered Mrs Bray. "And what else have you got to say?"

"I want an explanation of the aspersion on my character when you saidI had taken up with Larry Witcom. I'm not going to stand anything onmy character in that line if I _am_ earning my living, and you _are_the mother of one or fourteen families, all as great a credit to youas the one Jack represents. And as for me earning my living, what are_you_ doing? If a man wasn't keeping you to suit himself, how wouldyou be earning your living? I could earn my living the same way as youare doing to-morrow if I liked; but of the two, I think my presentoccupation is the decentest and less dependent. Apart from yourbullying selfishness, a nice sensible way you have of talking! If youkilled off the men, who would you have to keep you? And that's a nicecivilised way to speak about your fellow creatures anyhow; whetherthey be men or black gins, they've just as much place in the scheme ofcreation as you have. We would have been a long time getting the voteor any other decent right if the men were like you. It's because youare the same stamp as so many of the men that we've been kept down solong as we have; and now, what about me taking up with Larry Witcom?"

"Well, it's well known what Larry is. "

"Well, what is he?"

"You ask him about Mrs Park's divorce case. "

"I hope you don't think your old man is a saint, do you? As big a foolas you are, you're surely not fool enough for that, are you? Perhapshe isn't as clean a potato as Larry if it was all brought out. "

"But he's a married man this many a year, with a married daughter, andhis young days are lived down long ago. "

"Well, so would Larry be married many a year and have things liveddown in time, and not as many to live down either as your husband hasat present, if things are true; for all your everlasting shepherdinghe gets off the chain sometimes. "

Hoity-toity! this was putting a fuse to gunpowder. 

"You hussy! What have you got to say about my husband? Prove it, andI'd make short work of him; and if it's lies, I'll bring you intocourt for it. "

"I'll leave it for you to prove; you're one of those who thinks everyyarn entertaining till they touch yourself. "

"Two to one on Carry every time when me grandma's the umpire, " grinnedAndrew round the corner. 

"Carry, you've had enough to say. I forbid any more in my house, " saidgrandma, rising to order. 

"I declare this a drawn fight, " said Andrew. 

"You can have it out with Mrs Bray in her own house if you want, butno more of it here, " continued grandma. 

"Don't you dare come to my house, " said Mrs Bray. 

"_Your_ house! no fear; I never associate with scandal-mongers, "contemptuously retorted Carry, as Mrs Bray made a precipitatedeparture, emitting something about a hussy who didn't know her placeas she went. 

"I'm surprised at you!" said grandma. "Her tongue does run on a littlesometimes, but you ought to remember she's old enough to be yourmother, and girls do owe somethink to women with families. "

"And women with families and homes ought to remember they owesomething to girls that aren't settled, because they haven't got a mancaught yet to keep them. "

"Well, this ain't my quarrel, an' don't you bring it up to me again. Awoman that's rared a family, and two of them like I have done, hasenough with her own dissensions. "

It was rather a sullen party at tea that evening, so Dawn's returnfrom Sydney immediately after, with her cheeks radiant from travel inthe quick evening express, and herself brimming over with her day'sadventures, formed a welcome relief. 

"I had a great time coming home, " said she. "Mr Ernest and DoraEweword both went to Sydney this morning, and Mr Ernest and I racedinto a carriage to escape Dora, and we did; and he must have asked theguard, for he found our carriage, but he had only a second-classticket, and wouldn't be let in. "

"And how came you to be in a first-class carriage?" inquired grandma. "I can't stand that; there's expense enough as it is, and your betterstravel second. "

"It wasn't my fault. Mr Ernest bought the tickets like a gentlemanshould (it says in the etiquette book), and I couldn't fight with himthere and then, --you're always telling me to be more genteel. "

"But I don't want strangers paying anything for my granddaughter. "

"You needn't mind in this instance, " I interposed. 

"Mr Ernest probably wished to be gentlemanly to Dawn because she hasbeen so good to me. " Once more I saw the little derisive smile flitacross the exquisite face, but she said--

"Yes; he said that you're looking so well it must be our nursing, andthat he will try and get grandma to take him in if he falls ill. "

"I wonder if he's going to get took bad--love-sick--like the otherblokes, " said Andrew. 

Dawn cast a murderous glance at him, and covered the remark by makinga bustle in sitting to her tea, and in retailing minute details of hersinging lesson. 

We retired early, and she produced from the basket in which shecarried her music a most pretentious box of sweets and various societynewspapers. 

"Mr Ernest said you might like some of these, and I was to have ashare because I carried them home, though he got the 'bus and broughtme to the door, so I hadn't to walk a step. "

"Good boy! What did he talk about to-day?"

"I asked him about all the actresses he has seen. He's going to giveme the autographed photos he has of them. You wouldn't think he'd liketo part with them, but he says he's tired of them all now--they'renearly all married, and are back numbers. Actresses are only thoughtof for a little while, he says. "

"That is the natural order of things, and applies to others as well asactresses. Pretty young girls are not pretty for long. They should seeto it that they are plucked by the right fingers while their bloom isattractive. The old order falls ill-fittingly on some, but is fair inthe main, --we each have our fleeting hour. "

"Yes; but where is there a desirable plucker?" said the practicalgirl. "There are scarcely any good matches and the few there are haveso many running after them that I wouldn't give 'em the satisfactionof thinking I wanted them too. "

True, good matches are few. In these luxurious times the generality ofgirls' ideas of a good match being very advanced--in short, a man ofsufficient wealth to keep them in petted idleness. There can be noshade of reproach on women for this ambition, it is but one outcome ofthe evolution of civilisation, and is merely a species of common-senseon their part; for the ordinary routine of marriage, as instanced bythe testimony of thousands of women ranked among the comfortably andhappily married, is so trying that girls do well to try for the mostcomfortable berths ere putting their heads in the noose. 

"And Dora, where was he all this time?" I asked. 

"Oh, he brought Ada Grosvenor home; thought that would spite me. Shewas in town too, and you should just hear her after this. The sillyrabbit can't open her mouth but she tells you what this man did andthat one said to her, when all the time it's nothing but some ordinarycourtesy they ought to extend to even black gins. "

EIGHTEEN. 

THE FOUNDATION OF THE POULTRY INDUSTRY. 

Peace was restored in the Clay household through my interviewing Carryand offering to teach her music and allow her the use of my piano ifshe would do some of Dawn's work for two days during every secondweek. The next irritation arose from the male portion of the family. 

Now, we had all been so vigorously on political entertainment bent, that no one had given a thought to Uncle Jake and his doings orpolitical opinions, or whether he had any, but it transpired, though a"mere man, " he had been pursuing his course with as much attention toelectioneering technique as the most emancipated woman among us. 

On the afternoon following Carry's little difference with Mrs Bray, Ada Grosvenor called to invite us to accompany her to hear OlliverHenderson, the ministerial candidate, who was to address the women atthe hall first, and the men at Jimmeny's pub. Afterwards, and we allwent. Next morning at breakfast, when we had set to work upon the"dosed" porridge, Andrew again catechised his grandma concerning thecasting of her vote. 

"I'm goin' for young Walker of course; as for that other feller!"said she cholericly, "I was that sick of his stuttering and muttering, an' holdin' his meetin's at Jimmeny's (we all know that that meansfree drinks), an' after waitin' all my life fer it I'm not goin' tocast the only vote that maybe I'll live to have, for a feller thatbuys his votes with grog. There's precious little to choose betweenthem. They only want the glory of bein' in parliament for theirselves, and for the time bein' have rose a flute about the country goin' tothe dogs and them bein' the people to save it; but once the election'sover that's all we'll hear of 'em, and though they'd lick our bootsnow, they're so glad to know us, they'd forget all about us then. Theone who can blow the loudest will get in, and as it must be one itmight as well be this feller that can talk, an' could keep up his endof the stick in parliament, as there's no doubt this talkin' an' blowhas become such a great trade one has to go to the wall without it. "

"Well, I'm going for Walker too, because he's something to look at, "said Carry. 

"The women was goin' to put in _clean_ men an' do strokes, " sneeredUncle Jake, "an' it turns out they'd vote for the best-lookin'man, --nice state of affairs that is. "

"Ah! it's all very fine for a man to buck w'en a thing treads on hisown toes; it would be thought a terrible thing for a woman to vote fora good-lookin' man an' pass over merit, but that's what's been done towomen all the time. The good-lookin' ones got all the honours, whetherthey deserved 'em or not, and those complainin' agen this was jeeredat an' called 'Shrieking sisters, ' but it's a different tune now. "

"Uncle, _darling_, who are you going to vote for?" inquired Andrew. 

"For Henderson, of course, an' I reckon all the women here with votesought, too. "

"And why, pray?" asked grandma, her eyes flashing a challenge, whileher faithful guardswomen, Carry and Dawn, suspended work to see howthe argument ended. 

"For the look of the thing to start with. It don't look well to seethe wimmen of the family goin' agen the men. "

"No, it don't look like Nature as men make believe it ought to be, foronce to see a woman have a opinion of her own, and not the man justtelling that his opinion wuz hers too, without knowing anythink aboutit, an' women having to hold their tongue for peace' sake because theywasn't in a position to help theirselves. An' if it seems so dreadfulthat way, you better come over to our side, as there's more of us thanyou, an' majority ought to rule. "

"What did you do at _your_ meeting last night, uncle?" inquired Dawn. 

"Old Hollis is head of the committee, an' he says the first thing forall the committee men to do was to see the women of the men goin' forHenderson was the same way, " he replied. 

"Oh, an' so you thought you could come the Czar on us, did you? an'the Government, accordin' to Hollis's make out, is a fool to givewomen a vote; like in your case instead of giving me an' Carry a voteeach, it ought to have give you three. "

"Oh, Mr Sorrel!" said I, "what a joke! Was he really so ignorant asthat; surely he was joking too?"

Uncle Jake had sufficient wit to take this opportunity of changing histactics. 

"No, " he said, "some people is terrible narrer; for my part I alwaysbelieve in wimmen holdin' their own opinion. "

"So long as they didn't run contrary to yours, " said grandma with asniff. "There's heaps more like you. Women can always think as much asthey like, an' they could get up on a platform an' talk till theybust, as long as they didn't want the world to be made no better, an'they wouldn't be thought unwomanly. It's soon as a woman wants anypractical good done that she is considered a unwomanly creature. "

Uncle Jake was outdone and relapsed into silence. 

"An' that's just what I would have expected of old Hollis, " continuedgrandma, who seemed to have a knowledge of people's doings rivallingthat necessary to an efficient police officer. "I'll tell you what heis, " and the old dame directed her remarks to me. "He is the old chapMrs Bray was sayin' ain't goin' to vote this time because the womenhas got one and the monkeys will be havin' one next. Just what thelikes of him would say! He's a old crawler whose wife does all thework while he walks around an' tells how he killed the bear, an'that's the sort of man who's always to be heard sayin' woman is ainferior animal that ought to be kep' on a chain as he thinks fit. You'll never hear the kind of man like Bray (who is a man an' keepshis wife like a princess) sayin' that sort of thing--it's only the oldHollises and such. I'll tell you what old Hollis is. He got out ofwork here a few years back, w'en things was terrible dull, an' so hiswife had to keep him, and with a child for every year they had beenmarried. She rared chickens an' plucked 'em and sold 'em around thetown, an' went without necessaries w'en she was nursin' to keep him intobacco. That's the kind of man _he_ is, if you want to know. Ofcourse, bein' a animal twice her superior, he had to go about suckin'a pipe, and of course he couldn't deny hisself anythink. What do youthink of that?"

"That its pathos lies in its commonness. "

"I reckon you didn't hear of him goin' out an' pluckin' the fowls thenan' sayin', 'Wife, a woman's place w'en she has a young family is inthe house. ' No fear! She worked at this poultry business, an' it wassurprisin' how she got on--worked it up to a big poultry farm, till hetook a hand in doin' a little of the work an' takin' _all_ the credit. Now they live by it altogether; an' he was interviewed by the papers alittle while ago, and it was blew about the reward of enterprise, --howhe had started from nothink, an' it never said a word how she startedan' rared his babies an' done it all, an' does most now, while hewalks about to illustrate what a superior bein' he is. That's the waywith all the poultry industry. Women was the pioneers in it, an' nowit's worked up to be payin', men has took it over and think they havedone a stroke. Not so far back a man would consider hisself disgracedthat knew one kind of fowls from another, --he would be thought a oldmolly-coddle. The women tried to keep a few hens an' the men alwaystried to kill them, an' said they'd ruin the place, an' at the sametime they hunt them was always cryin' out an' gruntin' that therewasn't enough eggs to eat, an' why didn't the hens lay the same asthey used w'en they was boys. They expected the women to rare them onnothink, or at odd moments, the same way as they expect them to doeverythink else. Now, even the swells is gone hen mad, an' the papersare full of poultry bein' a great industry, but it was women startedit. "

Upon strolling abroad that morning we found a huge placard bearing theadvice--"Vote for Olliver Henderson, M. L. A. , the Local Candidate, "decorating the post of the gateway through which we gained thehighroad. 

Uncle Jake was credited with this erection, so Andrew made himselfabsent at a time when there was need of his presence, and therebycaused a deal of friction in the vicinity of grandma, but with theresult that by midday Uncle Jake's placard was covered by another, reading: "Vote for Leslie Walker, the Opposition Candidate, and Savethe Country!"

At three o'clock this was obscured by a reappearance of Henderson'sadvertisement, which was the cause of Uncle Jake being too late tocatch that evening's train with a load of oranges he had been set topack. At the risk of leaving the milking late, Andrew was setting outto once more eclipse this by Walker's poster, only that grandmaadjudicated regarding the matter. 

"Jake, you have one side of the gate, an' Andrew you take the other. Put up your papers side by side and that will be a good advertisementof liberty of opinion; an' Jake, if you haven't got sense to stick tothis at your time of life, I'm sorry for you; and if you haven'tAndrew at yours, I'll have to knock it into you with a strap, --now_mind_! An' if you don't get your work done you'll go to no moremeetin's. "

"Right O! I'll vote for me grandma every time, " responded Andrew. 

This proved an effective threat, for political meetings had become thejoy of life to the electors of Noonoon. As a tallow candle if placednear can obscure the light of the moon, so the approaching electionlying at the door shut out all other worldly doings. TheRusso-Japanese war became a movement of no moment; the season, theprice of lemons and oranges, the doings of Mrs Tinker, the inabilityof the municipal council to make the roads good, and all otherhappenings, became tame by comparison with politics. They werediscussed with unabating interest all day and every day, and byeveryone upon all occasions. Even the children battled out differencesregarding their respective candidates on the way home from school, rival committees worked with unflagging energy, and all buildings andfences were plastered with opposing placards. This pitch of enthusiasmwas reached long before the sitting parliament had dissolved or apolling day had been fixed; for this State election was contested withunprecedented energy all over the country, but in no electorate was itmore vigorously and, to its credit, more good-humouredly fought thanin the fertile old valley of Noonoon. 

It was the only chance the unfortunate electors had of bullying thelordly M. P. 's and would-be M. P. 's, who, once elected, would fatten onthe parliamentary screw and pickings without showing any return, andright eagerly the electors took their present opportunity. 

Zest was added to the contest by both the contestants being wealthymen, and with youth as well as means to carry it out on expensivelines. They were equally independent of parliament as a means ofliving, and being men of leisure were merely anxious for office toraise them from the rank and file of nonentityism. Independent meansare a great advantage to a member of parliament. The penniless manelected on sheer merit, to whom the country could look for goodthings, becomes dependent upon politics for a living, is oftenhandicapped by a family who are loth to leave the society and comfortto which their bread-winner's official position has raised them, andhe, held by his affection, is ready to sacrifice all convictions andprinciple to remain in power. To this man politics becomes a desperategamble, and the country's interests can go to the dogs so long as hecan ensure re-election. 

Another advantage in the Noonoon candidates which should have silencedthe pessimists, who averred there were no good clean men to enterparliament, was that these men were both such exemplary citizens, morally, physically, and socially, that it seemed a sheer waste ofgoodness that only one could be elected. 

The newspapers went politically mad, and those not any hystericalcountry rags, but the big metropolitan dailies, and there was onething to be noted in regard to their statements that seriously neededrectifying. What is the purpose of the great dailies but to keep thepeople correctly informed as to the progress of public affairs andevents of the community at large? Most of the people are too hard atwork to forage information for themselves, or even to be thoroughlycognisant of that collected in the newspapers, and thereforeparliamentary candidates, if not correct in their figures andstatements, should be publicly arraigned for perjury. TheMinisterialists gave one set of figures dealing with nationalfinancial statistics and the Oppositionists gave widely different. Howwas an elector to act when the platform of the former containednothing but a few false statements and glowing promises, and thepolicy of the latter was only a few counter-acting war-whoops, andthere was no honesty, common-sense, or matter-of-fact business in thecampaign from end to end?

In this connection that remote rag, 'The Noonoon Advertiser, ' shone asa reproach to its great contemporaries. Not by their grandeur andacclamations shall they be judged, but by the quality of theirfruits. 

No bias or spleen seemed to sway the mind of this journal to one sideor the other. It recognised itself as a newspaper, not as a politicaltout for this party or that, and so kept its head cool and its honourbright and shining. 

Three days after Leslie Walker's second speech he sent up a womanadvocate to address _the ladies_ and start the business ofhouse-to-house canvassing. This plenipotentiary, a person of ratherplethoric appearance, made herself extremely popular by assuring everysecond _vote-lady_ she met that she was sure she (the vote-lady) wasintended by nature for a public speaker. This worked without a hitchuntil the votresses began to tell each other what the great speakerhad said, when it naturally followed that Mrs Dash, though she thoughtthat Mrs Speaker had been discerning to discover this latentoratorical talent in herself, immediately had the effervescence takenout of her self-complacence on finding that that stupid Mrs Blank hadbeen assured of equal ability. 

Then the Ministerialists discovered Mrs Speaker's place of abode inSydney, and averred her children ran about so untended as to beundistinguishable from aboriginals, and that her housekeeping wassending her husband to perdition; and such is the texture of humannature unearthed at political crises, that some even went so far as tosuggest that she was a weakness of Walker's, and sneered at the_ladies'_ candidate who had to be "wet-nursed" in his campaign bywomen speakers. Henderson, they averred, had not to do this, butfought his own battle. 

"Yes, " said Grandma Clay; "he mightn't be wet-nursed, but he isbottled, _brandy_-bottled, by the men. " And this could not be denied. 

The women rallied round Walker because he was a temperance candidate, whereas the tag-rag rolled up _en masse_ for Henderson, who shoutedfree drinks and carried the publican's flag. 

Each candidate, while praising his opponent, wound up with _but_--andafter that conjunction spoke most damningly of his policy. 

Underneath the ostensible war-whoops many private and personalcross-fires were at work to intensify the contest. The people on theland quite naturally had a grudge against the railway folk, who onlyhad to work eight hours per day for more than a farmer could make insixteen; further, the perquisites of the railway employés wereinconceivable. By an unwritten but nevertheless imperative etiquette, farmers had to render them tribute in the form of a portion ofwhatever fruit or vegetables were consigned at Noonoon, and thetownspeople also had little to say in favour of them, averring theywere a floating population who had no interest in the welfare of thetown in which they resided, were bad customers--patronising thepublicans more than the storekeepers, and by means of their connectionwith the railway were able to buy their meat and other necessarieswhere they listed--where it was cheapest, and frequently this wasotherwhere than Noonoon, and yet they were in such numbers that theycould rule the political market. 

Then the men on the Ministerial side were nearly gangrene withdisgust, because, as one put it, "nearly all Walker's men were women, "and rallied round him thick and strong, and with a thoroughness andenergy worthy of their recent emancipation. 

Dawn's next day for Sydney fell on another night when Leslie Walkerwas speaking, but she and I did not attend this meeting, the familybeing represented on this occasion by Andrew, and we went to bed anddiscussed the Sydney trip while waiting for his return. 

Ernest Breslaw, it appeared, had again had urgent business in Sydneythat day. 

"Dawn, " I said, "this is somewhat suspicious. Are you sure you are notflirting with Ernest? I can't have his wings singed; I think too muchof him, and shall have to warn him that you are booked for 'Dora'Eweword. " This was said experimentally, for to do Dawn justice, thoughshe had every temptation, she had nothing of the flirt in hercomposition. 

"I can't go and say to him, 'Don't you fall in love with me, '" saidDawn contentiously. 

"Are you sure he has never in any way attempted to pay you a lover'sattentions?"

"Well, it's this way, " she said confidentially--"you won't think meconceited if I tell you everything straight? There have been two orthree men in love with me, and I was always able to see it straightaway, long before _they_ knew; but with Ernest, sometimes he seems tobe like they were, and then I'm afraid he's not, --at least not_afraid_--I don't care a hang, only I wonder does he think he canflirt with me, when he is so nice and just waltzes round the subjectwithout coming up to it?"

Ah! ha! In that _afraid_, which she sought to recover, the young ladybetrayed that her affections were in danger of leaving her andbetaking themselves to a new ruler, and this sudden inability to seethrough another's state of mind towards her was a further sign thatthey were not secure. 

We are very clear of vision as to the affection tendered us, so longas we remain unmoved, but once our feelings are stirred, theirpalpitating fears so smear our sight that it becomes unreliable. 

"Oh, well, it does not matter to you, " I said; "you are not likely tothink of him, he's so unattractive, but I must take care that he doesnot grow fond of you. If I see any danger of it, I'll tell himsomething about you that will nip his affections in the bud. You won'tmind me doing that--just some little thing that won't hurt you, butwill save him unnecessary pain?" And to this she replied with seemingindifference--

"I wish you'd tell Dora Eweword something that would shoo him off thathe'd never come back, and then I would have seen the last of him, which would be a treat. "

After this we were silent, and I thought she had gone to sleep, forthere was no sound until Andrew came tumbling up the stairs leadingfrom his room. 

"I say!" he called, "have you got any more of that toothache stufffrom the dentist?"

"Come along, " I answered, "I'll put some in for you. "

"I think it's the oranges that's doin' it, I eat nearly eight dozento-day. "

"Enough to give you the pip; you ought to slack off a little, " I said, extending him the courtesy of his own vernacular. 

"I bet I'd vote for Henderson after all if I could, " he continued, inreferring to the meeting, "only I'll gammon I wouldn't just to narkUncle Jake. Henderson is the men's man, that other bloke belongs towimmen. You should have heard 'em to-night! The fellers behind wastip-top, and made such a noise at last that Walker could only talk tothe wimmen in the front. We gave him slops because he gets wimmen upto speak for him, an' we can't give _them_ gyp. One man asked him washe in favour of ring-barkin' thistles, and another wanted to know washe in favour of puttin' a tax on caterpillars. He thinks no end ofhimself, because he's one of these Johnnies the wimmen always runsafter, " gravely explained Andrew, aged sixteen. 

"We cock-a-doodled and pip-pipped till you couldn't hear your ears. Half couldn't get in, they was climbed up an' hangin' in thewindows--little girls too along with the boys. I suppose now thatthey're as near got a vote as we have, they'll be poked everywherejust the same as if they had as good a right as us, " said the boy withthe despondence of one to whom all is lost. 

"It's a terrible thing they can't be made stay at home out of all thefun like boys think they ought to be. No mistake the woman having avote is a terrible nark to the men--almost too much for 'em to bear, "said Dawn, whom I had thought asleep. 

"I reckon I'm goin' to every meetin', they're all right fun, "continued Andrew. "At the both committee room they're givin' outtickets with the men's names on, an' whoever likes can get them an'wear 'em in their hats. Me an' Jack Bray went to this Johnny Walker'srooms and gammoned we was for him, an' got a dozen tickets, an' whenwe got outside tore 'em to smithereens; that's what we'll do all thetime. "

After this Andrew disappeared down the stairs, spilling grease, andbeing admonished by Dawn as he went as the clumsiest creature she hadever seen. 

Silence reigned between us for some time, and in listening to thetrains I had forgotten the girl till her voice came across the room. 

"I say, don't tell that Ernest anything not nice about me, will you?I'll take care not to flirt with him, and I wouldn't like him to thinkme not nice. I wouldn't care about any one else a scrap, but he's sucha great friend of yours, and as I hope to be with you a lot, it wouldbe awkward; and you know he has _said_ nothing, it might only be myconceit to think he's going the way of other men. He took me toafternoon tea to-day at such a lovely place, --he said he wanted to begood to your friends, that's why he is nice to me. I don't suppose heever thinks of me at all any other way, " she said with the despondenceof love. 

So this had been chasing sleep from Beauty's eyes, as such trifleshave a knack of doing!

"Very likely, " I said complacently, and smiled to myself. The onlything to be discovered now was if the young athlete's emotions were atthe same ebb, and then what was there against plain sailing to thehappy port where honeymoons are spent?

Fortune favours the persevering, and next afternoon an opportunityoccurred for procuring the desired knowledge. 

Ernest and Ada Grosvenor came in together, and to the casual observerseemed much engrossed with each other, but I noticed that Dawn couldnot speak or move, but a pair of quick dark eyes caught every detail. So far so good, but it was necessary for Dawn to think the prize justa little farther out of reach than it was to make it attractive to herdisposition, so I set about attaining this end by a very simplemethod. 

Miss Grosvenor had called to invite us to a meeting she had convened, to listen to a public address by a lady who was going to head adeputation to Walker afterwards, and we had decided to go. Mrs Bray'shusband also dropped in, and to my surprise proved not the hen-peckednonentity one would expect after hearing his wife's aggressivediatribes, but a stalwart man of six feet, with a comely facebespeaking solid determination in every line. And when one comes tothink of it, it is not the big blustering man or woman that rules, butthe quiet, apparently inane specimens that look so meek that they areheld up as models of propriety and gentleness. Miss Grosvenorimmediately nailed him for her meeting, and politics being the onlysubject discussed, he aired his particular bug. This was his disgustat the top-heaviness of the Labour party's demands, and the railwaypeople's easy times as compared with that of the farmer. 

"I believe, " said he, "in every man, if he can, working only eighthours a-day--though I have to work sixteen myself for precious littlereturn, but these fellows are running the country to blazes. The rulesof supply and demand must sway the labour or any other market all theworld over, and they'll have to see that and haul in their sails. "

"Who are you going to vote for?" inquired Andrew. 

"I'm goin' for Henderson, and the missus for Walker. "

"It's a wonder you don't compel Mrs Bray to vote for your man. "

"No fear; I'm pleased she's taken the opposite chap, just toillustrate my opinion on what liberty of opinion should be; but Iwon't deny, " he concluded, with a humorous smile, "that I mightn't beso pleased with her going against me if I was set on either of them, but as it is neither are worth a vote, so that I'm pretty wellsitting on a rail myself. "

"I thought your first announcement almost too liberal to be true, "laughed Miss Grosvenor. 

"No, I will say that Mr Bray is a man does treat his women proper, andgive 'em liberty, " said grandma. 

"An' a nice way they use it, " sniffed Carry _sotto voce_. 

As we set out to the meeting Miss Grosvenor mentioned to me that shewas endeavouring to find suitable speakers to address her association, and asked did I know of any one. Here was an opening for a thrust inthe game of parry I was setting on foot between Dawn and ErnestBreslaw. 

"Ask my friend Mr Ernest to deliver an address: 'Women in Politics, '"I said, "that is his particular subject. He is a most fluent speaker, and loves speaking in public, nothing will delight him more. "

"I'll ask him at once, " said she. 

This was as foundationless a fairy-tale as was ever spun, for Ernestcould not say two words in public upon any occasion. That he wasusually tendered a dinner and was called upon to make a speech, heconsidered the drawback of wresting any athletic honours. Whetherwomen were in politics or the wash-house was a sociological abstrusitybeyond his line of thought, and not though it cost him all his fortuneto refuse could he have decently addressed any association even onbeloved sporting matters. Hence his consternation when Miss Grosvenorapproached him. At first he was nonplussed, and next thing, taking itas a joke on my part, was highly amused. Miss Grosvenor, on her side, thought he was joking, with the result that there was the liveliestand most laughable conversation between them. 

Dawn did not know the reason of it. She could only see that Ernest andMiss Grosvenor were engrossed, and at first curious, a little latershe was annoyed with the former. 

"I think, " she whispered to me, "it's Mr Ernest you'll have to seedoesn't flirt with every girl he comes across. "

"Perhaps he isn't flirting, " I coolly replied. 

"Not _now_, perhaps, " she said pointedly; "perhaps he's in earnestwith one and practises with others. "

Arrived at the hall, we found the women swarming around Walker likebees. 

"Good Lord! Look what Les. Has let himself in for, " laughed Ernest; "Iwouldn't stand in his shoes for a tenner. "

"Go on! Surely you too are partial to ladies?"

"Yes; but--"

"But there must be reason in everythink, " I quoted. He laughed. 

"Yes; and reason in this sort of thing to suit my taste would be asmall medium. But what a fine old sport the old dame Clay would havemade--no danger of her not standing up to a mauling or baulking at anyof her fences, eh?"

Dawn would not look at Ernest after the meeting and deputation came toan end, but walked home with "Dora" Eweword, laughing and talking inostentatious enjoyment; while Ernest and the Grosvenor girl were nonethe less entertained. 

"'Pon my soul, I couldn't make a speech to save my life, " hereiterated. "My friend only laid you on for a lark, did you not?" hesaid, turning to me, whom he gallantly insisted upon supporting on hisarm--that splendid arm in which the muscles could expand till theywere like iron bands. 

"Don't you believe him, Miss Grosvenor, " I replied; "he's a bornorator, but is unaccountably lazy and vain, and only wants to bepressed; insist upon his speaking, he's longing to do so. " And thenhis merry protesting laugh, and the girl's equally happy, rang out onthe crisp starlight air, as they went over and over the same ground. 

As we neared Clay's I suggested that he should see Miss Grosvenorhome, while I attached myself to Dawn and "Dora"; and I invited him tocome and sing some songs with us afterwards, for the night was yetyoung. 

To this he agreed, and supposed to be with the other young couple, Islipped behind, and could hear their conversation as they progressed. 

"You're not struck on that red-headed mug, are you?" said Eweword, forgeneral though political talk had become, there was still anotherbranch of politics more vitally interesting to some of the electors. 

"I'm not the style to be struck on a fellow that doesn't care for me. "

"But he does!"

"Looks like it, doesn't it?" she said sarcastically. 

"Yes, it does, or what would he be hanging around here so long for?"

"Perhaps to see Ada Grosvenor; I suppose she'd have him, red hair andall. "

"Pooh! he never goes there; but he comes to your place though, toodeuced often for my pleasure. "

"He comes to see the boarder--he's a great friend of hers. "

"Humph! that's all in my eye. He'd be a long time coming to see herif you weren't there, if she was twice as great a friend. What sort ofan old party is she? Must have some means. "

"Oh, lovely!"

"I suppose the red-headed mug thinks so too, as she is touting forhim. "

"For him and Ada Grosvenor. "

"Have it that way if you like it, but you know what I mean all right. "

"I don't. "

"Oh, don't you! I say, Dawn, just stop out here a moment will you? Iwant to tell you something else, I mean. "

"Oh, tell it to me some other time, " said she, "it's too beastly coldto stay out another minute. Come and tell it to me while we are havingsupper round the fire. "

"I'd have a pretty show of telling it there. I don't want it put inthe 'Noonoon Advertiser, ' but that's what I'll have to do if you won'tgive me a chance. If you keep pretending you don't get my letters, I'll write all that I put in them to your grandma, and tell her totell you, " he said jokingly; but the girl took him up shortly. 

"If you dare do that, " said she, aroused from her indifference, "I'dnever speak to you again the longest day I live, so you needn't thinkyou'll get over me that way. You'd better tell Uncle Jake and Andrewtoo while you're about it, and Dora Cowper might be vexed if you don'ttell her. "

"Well, I bet you'd listen to what the red-headed mug said quickenough, " replied "Dora" Eweword in an injured tone. 

"The red-headed mug, as you call him--and his hair isn't much redderthan yours, and is twice as nice, " she retaliated, "he would be agentleman anyhow, and not a bear with a scalded head. "

By this time they had reached the gate, and Dawn was carelesslyinviting him to enter, but he declined in rather a crestfallen tone. 

"Better invite red-head, not me, if you won't listen to what I say, and pretend you never received my letters. "

"Thank you for the good advice. I hope he'll accept my invitation, because he is always pleasant and agreeable, " she retorted. 

NINETEEN. 

AN OPPORTUNELY INOPPORTUNE DOUCHE. 

It was just as well that "Dora" Eweword had been too chopfallen tocome in, for we found the place in what grandma termed "a uproar. "

As we had gone out Mrs Bray had arrived to relate her speculations inregard to Mrs Rooney-Molyneux. Mrs Bray did not live a great distancefrom the latter's cottage, and as she had not seen her about duringthe day, wondered had she come to her travail. 

Andrew decided the matter when he came home by relating what he hadheard when passing the cottage; and he supplemented the statement bythe deplorable information that "the old bloke is up at Jimmeny'stryin' if he can get a free drink. "

"I must go to her, " said grandma, rising in haste. 

"I wouldn't if I was you, " said Mrs Bray. "You don't never get nothanks for nothing like that, and might get yourself into a mess; Ibelieve in leaving people to manage their own affairs. "

Carry sniffed in the background. 

"I'll risk all that, " said grandma. "For shame's sake an' the sake ofme daughters, an' every other woman, I couldn't leave one of me sex inthat predicament. "

"Oh, well, some people is wonderful strong in the nerve that way, "said Mrs Bray, and Carry interjected in an aside--

"And others are mighty strong in the nerve of selfishness. "

"Of course nothing would give me greater pleasure than to go, "continued Mrs Bray, "but I would be of no use. I'm so pitiful, sensitive, and nervous that way. "

"It's a grand thing, then, that some are hard and not so sensitive, orpeople could die and no one would help 'em, " said Carry, no longerable to contain her measure of Mrs Bray. 

Uncle Jake had the sulky in readiness, and grandma with a collectionof requisites appeared with a great old shawl about her, Irishfashion. 

"Come you, Dawn, I might want your help, I'm not as strong as I wasonce; and Andrew, you come too, you'll do to send for the doctor; an'who'll take care of the pony?"

I volunteered, and though a rotten stick to depend on, was accepted, and we three women rode in the sulky while Andrew ran behind. Havingarrived at the little cottage half-way between Clay's and town, wefound it was too sadly true that the poor little woman was alone inher trouble, and worse, she had not had the means to prepare for it, while most ghastly of all, there was no trace of her having had anynourishment that day. 

These are the sad cases of poverty, when the helpless victim is not ofthe calibre which can beg, and suffers an empty larder in silence andbehind an appearance of respectability. 

The capable old grandmother had prepared herself for this possibility, and from under her capacious shawl produced a bottle of broth whichshe set about warming. She may not have been at first-hand acquaintedwith the few silk-wrapped lives run according to the methods scheduledin first-class etiquette books, but she had a very resourceful andfar-seeing grip of that style of existence into which, regardless ofinclination or capability, the great majority are forced bydomineering circumstance; and being competent to grapple with itsemergencies, she took hold of this case without humbug and with thefortitude and skill of a Japanese general. 

As though the main trouble were not enough, the poor little wife wasfurther smitten with the two-edged mental anguish which is theexperience of sensitive women whose husbands neglect them at thiscrisis of the maternal gethsemane. Doctor Smalley, who soon appearedafter receiving Andrew's message, was not sufficiently finely strungto fully estimate the evil effect of Rooney-Molyneux's behaviour atthis juncture; but not so the fine old woman of the ranks, with herquick perceptions and high and sensitive sentiment regarding thebed-rock relations of life. Calling the doctor out during an intervalshe discussed the matter within my hearing. 

"Poor little thing, she's just heart-broke with the way her husband'scarryin' on. I wish I could deliver him up to Mrs Bray to scald; he'sone of 'em deserves it, pure an' simple! If Jim Clay had forsook mean' demeaned me like this I would have died, but he was alwaystenderer than a mother. Somethink will have to be done. I'll sendAndrew to Jimmeny's with the sulky to get him; he can get Danby tohelp him if he can't manage him hisself, and take the old varmint downto my place and keep him there secure. Tell Jake there it's got to bedone, an' I'll make up a yarn to pacify the poor thing;" andreturning to her patient, to the old dame's credit, truthful thoughshe was, I heard her say--

"Your husband's been fidgeting me, an' I never can stand any one butthe doctor about at these times, so I bundled him off down to staywith Jake, and gave him strict instructions not to poke his nose backhere till he's sent for. "

What diplomat could have made it more kindly tactful than that?

"Quite right too, " said the doctor, upholding her. "When I see it'sgoing to be a good case like this, I always banish the man too. "

"But I could have seen him, and the poor fellow I'm sure isoverwhelmed with anxiety, " said the hapless little martyr in the bravemake-believe that is a compulsory science with most women. 

"Well, _we_ ain't so anxious about him as we are about you, " said thevaliant old woman. "You're the chief person now. He ain't noconsideration at all, an' can go an' bag his head for all we care, while we get you out of this fix. "

I sat upon the verandah until Andrew passed, taking home with him thenoble Rooney-Molyneux, lordly scion of an ancient and doubtless effetehouse, and then the doctor banished Dawn from the house, giving herinto my charge, with instructions to take her home and calm her down. 

Had she been the heroine of a romance she would have been a bornnurse. Without any training or experience she could have surpassedFlorence Nightingale, but, alas! she was merely an everyday girl inreal life, and this being her first actual experience of the tragedyof birth, and the terror of it being intensified and aggravated by thepitiable surrounding circumstances, she was beside herself. She clungto me, choked with a flood of tears, and palpitating in an unbearabletumult of emotion. 

This case, so pathetically ordinary that most of us are debased byacquaintance with similar, to this girl was fresh, and striking her inall its inexcusable barbarity without any extenuating gloze, made herfurious with pained and righteous indignation. 

I led her about by devious ways that her heart might cool ere wereached Clay's. 

The cloudless, breezeless night, though not yet severely cold, wascrisp with the purity of frost and sweet with the exquisite scent offlowering loquats. The only sounds breaking its stillness were thetrains passing across the long viaduct approaching the bridge, and therumble of the vehicles as they ground their homeward way along thestony road, their lights flashing as they passed, and snatches of theoccupants' conversation reaching us where we walked on a path besidethe main thoroughfare. The heavens were a spangled glory, and the darksleeping lands gave forth a fresh, pleasant odour. Man provided theonly discordant note; but for the jarring of his misdoings there wouldhave been perfect peace. 

Oh, the hot young heart that raged by my side! I too had forded thecruel torrent of facts that was torturing her mind; I knew; Iunderstood. By-and-by she would arrive at my phase and have somewhatof my calmness, but to tell her so would merely have been thepreaching so deservedly and naturally abhorred by the young, andexcept for holding her hand in a tight clasp, I was apparentlyunresponsive. 

As she grew quieter I steered for home, and eventually we arrived atthe door of the kitchen and found there Jake, Andrew, and theRooney-Molyneux--a small man with a large beard and the type ofaristocratic face furnished with a long protruding nose and a narrowretreating forehead. Carry, up aloft like the angels, could be heardpractising on my piano, and the soiled utensils scattered on the tableillustrated that the gentlemen had had refreshments. 

It being Dawn's week in the kitchen, she set about collecting the cupsin the wash-up dish, and presently some maudlin expression ofsentiment on the part of the Rooney-Molyneux reopened the vials of herindignation. 

"I'm naturally anxious that it may be a son, " he drivelled, "as thereare so few male representatives of the old name now. "

"And the sooner there's none the better. There is no excuse for thelikes of you being alive. I'd like to assist in the extermination ofyour family by putting you in the boiling copper on washing day. Thatwould give you a taste of your deserts, " raged the girl. 

She was speaking without restraint in the light of the high demands ofcrude, impetuous, merciless youth. I had once felt as she did, but nowI could see the cruel train of conditions behind certain charactersforcing them into different positions, and in place of Dawn'swholesome, justifiable, hot-headed rage against the likes ofRooney-hyphen, I felt for him a contempt so immeasurable that italmost toppled over and became pity. 

Seeing the little sense of responsibility that is inculcated regardingthe laws of being, instead of being shocked at the familiarity of theRooney-Molyneux type of husband and father, I gave myself up toagreeable surprise owing to the large number of noble and worthyparents I had discovered. 

 "The world does soil our minds and we soil it-- Time brings the tolerance that hides the truth, "

but Dawn had not yet sunk to the apathy engendered by experience andfamiliarity. She adjudged the case on its merits, as it would behandled by an administrator of the law--the common law we all mustkeep. She did not imagine a network of exculpatory conditions or gosquinting round corners to draw it into line as an act for whichcircumstances rather than the culprit were responsible; she gazedstraight and honestly and saw a crime. 

"Dawn, you shameless hussy, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, " saidher uncle. 

"Oh yes, I'm well aware that any girl who says the straight truthabout the things that concern them most in life, _ought_ to be ashamedof herself. They should hold their tongues except to flatter the menwho trample them in the dust, --that's the proper and _womanly_attitude for a girl, I know, " she said desperately. 

"I'm sure this is uncalled for, " simpered the hero of the act, risingand showing signs of looking for his hat. 

"You'd better run and tell your wife you've been insulted, poor littledear!" said Dawn. 

"Look!" said Andrew to me uneasily, "tell Dawn to dry up, will you;she'll take no notice of me, an' if that feller goes home actin' thegoat I'll get the blame, an' he ain't drunk enough to be shut up. Blowhim, I say!"

"I'm sure, " said Mr Rooney-Molyneux, who apparently had various thingsmixed with politics, "that some men, though the women have taken thevotes and their manhood, still have some rights; bless me, it _must_be acknowledged they have some rights in creation!"

Here he made an ineffectual grab for his hat and a sprawling plungein the direction of the door, saying, "I've never been so insulted!"

"Blow you! Sit down, Mr Mooney-Rollyno, or whatever you are, " saidAndrew, "you've got to stay here; and Dawn, hold your mag! You'd giveany one the pip with your infernal gab. "

"I'm sure it must be conceded that men have some rights?" MrRooney-Molyneux appealed to me. I was the most responsible personpresent, Uncle Jake did not count, the other three were children, andso it behoved me to take a grip of the situation. 

"Rights in creation! I should rather think so! In creation men havethe rights, or perhaps duties, of gods--to protect, to nurture, toguard and to love, and when as a majority men rise to them we shall bea great people, but for the present the only rights many of them wrestand assert by mere superior brute force are those of bullies andselfish cowards. Sit down immediately!"

He sat without delay. 

"All that Dawn says of you is deserved. The least you can do now torepair matters is to swallow your pill noiselessly and give no furthertrouble until you are called upon to obstruct the way again insemblance of discharging responsibilities of which a cat would betwice as capable. "

"Yes, " said Dawn, "if you dare to talk of going home to worry yourwife I'll throw this dish of water right on you, and when I come tothink of things, I feel like throwing a hot one on every man. "

As she said this she swirled her dishcloth to clean the bowl, andturning to toss the water into the drain outside the door, confrontedErnest Breslaw. 

Quite two hours had elapsed since he had parted from us to conductMiss Grosvenor to her home, where he had been long delayed in argumentconcerning whether he could or could not address a public meeting. Idiscovered later that an opportunity to gracefully take his leave fromGrosvenor's had not occurred earlier, and that he had quiterelinquished hope of calling at Clay's that night, but to hissurprise, seeing the place lighted as he was passing, he came towardsthe kitchen door. 

Dawn was doubtless piqued that he should have spent so much time withMiss Grosvenor, which, considering his previous attentions to her, andthe rules of the game as observed in this stratum of society, gave himthe semblance of flirting--perfidious action, worthy of the miscreantman in the beginning of a career which at a maturer stage should covercruelty and cowardice equalling that of Rooney-Molyneux! Dawn lackedrestraint in her emotional outbursts; the poor girl's state ofnervousness bordered on hysteria; the water was nearly out of her handin any case, and with a smack of that irritated divergence from lawfuland decorous conduct of which the sanest of us are at times thevictim, she pitched the dish of greasy, warm water fairly on theimmaculate young athlete, accompanying the action with theejaculation--

"That's what you deserve, too!"

"I demand--" he exclaimed, but further utterance was drowned by ahearty guffaw from Andrew which fully confirmed the outrageous insult. 

"Just what I should expect of you, " sneered Uncle Jake, while MrRooney-Molyneux, his attention thus diverted from his own affairs, gazed in watery-eyed surprise at a second victim of the retributiveDawn. 

"Well, that's about what you'd expect from a _thing earning herliving_, but never of a young lady in a _good_ home of her own andliving with _the mother of a family_, " said Carry, appearing in timeto witness the accident. 

I said nothing to the white-faced girl, for there was more urgent workto be done in repairing the damage. Hurrying through the house, andreefing my skirts on the naked rose-bushes under Miss Flipp's window, where the dead girl's skirts had caught as she went out to die, Igained a point intercepting Ernest as he strode along the path leadingto the bridge. 

"Ernest!"

"You must excuse me to-night, " he said, showing that my interventionwas most unwelcome. 

"Ernest, if you have any friendship for me, stop. I must speak to you, and I'm not feeling able for much more to-night. "

Thus did I make a lever of my invalidism, and in the gentleness of hisstrength he submitted to be detained. 

Some men would have covered their annoyance with humorous satire, butErnest was not furnished with this weapon. He only had physicalstrength, and that could not avail him in such an instance. I placedmy hand on his arm, ostensibly for support, but in reality to be sureof his detention, and found that he was saturated. Not a pleasantexperience on a frosty night, but there was no danger of it provingdeleterious to one in his present state of excitement. Being one ofthose natures whose emotions, though not subtle, make up for thisdeficiency in wholesome thoroughness, he was furious with the rage ofheated youth not given to spending itself on every adventitious excusefor annoyance, and debarred by conditions from any sort ofretaliation. In addition to being bitterly wounded, his sportinginstinct was bruised, and he chafed under the unfairness of the blow. 

The beauty of the cloudless, breezeless night had been supplemented bya lop-sided moon, risen sufficiently to show the exquisite mistshanging like great swathes of white gossamer in the hollows, and tocast the shadows of the buildings and trees in the silent river, atthis time of the year looking so cold and treacherous in itsrippleless flow. The wet grass was stiffening with frost, and the onlysounds disturbing the chillier purity of advancing night were theerratic bell at the bridge and the far-off rumble of a train on themountain-side. Man still afforded the discordant note, and the onlyheat in the surroundings was that in the burning young heart thatraged by my side. 

Oh, youth! youth! You must each look back and see for yourselves, inthe aft-light cast by later experience, the mountains and fieryordeals you made for yourselves out of mole-hills in the matter ofheart-break. We, whose hair is white, cannot help you, though we havegone before and know so well the cruel stretches on the road youtravel. 

Ernest waited for me to take the initiative, and as everything thatrose to my lips seemed banal, we stood awkwardly silent till he wasforced into saying--

"I'm afraid you are overdoing yourself. Can I not help you to yourroom? You will be ill. "

"The only thing that would overdo me is that you should be upset aboutthis. It must not make any difference. "

"Difference between you and me?--nothing short of an earthquake coulddo that, " he replied. 

"I mean with Dawn. It must not make any difference with her. It wasonly a freak. "

"Certainly; I would be a long time retaliating upon a _lady_, nomatter what she did to me; but when--when--" (he could not bringhimself to name it, it struck him as so disgraceful)--"she intimatesto me, as plainly as was done to-night, that she disapproves of mypresence in her house, well, a fellow would want pole-axing if hehadn't pride to take a hint like that. "

"She did not mean anything. She will be more hurt than you are. "

"Mean anything! Had it been a joke I could have managed to endure it, or an accident about which she would have worried, I would have beenamused, but it was deliberate; and if it had been _clean_ water--butugh! it was greasy slop-water, to make it as bad as it could be; andif a man had done it--"

The muscles of his arm expanded under my interested touch as he made afist of the strong brown hand. 

"But being a girl I can only put up with it, " he said with thehelplessness of the athlete in dealing with such a delinquent. 

"Did you hear what she said too? Great Scott! it is not as though Ihad done her any harm! I merely came here to see a friend, and mademyself agreeable because you said she was good to you; and, dear me!"His voice broke with the fervour of his perturbation. He had beenwounded to the core of his manly _amour propre_; and to state that hewas not more than twenty-five, gives a better idea of his state ofmind than could any amount of laborious diagnosis. 

"What can I have done?" he further ejaculated. "Can some one have toldher falsely that I'm a cad in any way? She might have waited untilshe proved it. _I_ would not have believed bad any one spoken badly of_her_. " (Here an inadvertent confession of the growing affection hefelt for her. ) "Even if I were deserving of such ignominy, it was noneof her business. I only came to see you, --she had nothing to do withme. "

Then I took hold of this splendidly muscular young creature wounded tothe quick. I determinedly usurped a mother's privilege in regard tothe situation, and glancing back over my barren life I would that Ihad been mother of just such a son. What a kingdom 'twould have been;and, in the order of things, being forced to surrender him toanother's keeping, I could not have chosen a better or more suitablethan Dawn. Entering his principality to reign as queen, while hismanhood was yet an unsacked stronghold, she was of the character anddetermination to steer him in the way of uprightness to the end. 

Wistfulness upsprung as I reviewed my empty life, but rude realitysuddenly uprose and obliterated ideality. It put on the scroll apicture of motherhood, and mother-love wantonly squandered, trodden inthe mire, and, instead of being recognised as a kingdom, treated onlyas a weakness, and traded upon to enslave women. I turned with a sigh, and we walked round a corner of the garden where, in one recentinstance, appallingly common, a poor frail woman had crept out in thedead of night to pay alone the penalty of a crime incurred by two--onefoolish and weak, the other murderously selfishly a coward. 

I addressed Ernest Breslaw regarding the painful effect this tragedyhad produced on the mind of Dawn, and how it had been furtheroverstrung by the later one, and concluded--

"Had I expressed my inward feelings in outward actions at Dawn's age, and being armed with a dish of water, to have thrown it on the nearestindividual would have been a very mild ebullition; but I set my teethagainst outward expression and let it fester in my heart, while thebeauty of Dawn's disposition is that her feelings all come out. Shehas disgraced herself by making outward demonstration of what manyinwardly feel; but understanding what I have put before you, you mustnot hold the girl responsible for her action. "

With masculine simplicity he was unable to comprehend the complexityof feminine emotions engendered by the exigencies of the moreartificial and suppressed conditions of life as forced upon women. 

"I understand about old Rooney; I feel as disgusted with him as anyone does, but _I_ am not going to emulate him. I'd jolly well cut mythroat first; and if I could lay my hand on the snake at the root ofthe drowning case, I'd make one to roast him alive! What made MissDawn confound me with that sort?"

"She doesn't for an instant do so. On the contrary, she would be thefirst to repudiate such a suggestion. "

"Good Lord! then why did she throw that stuff on me? It was only fitfor a criminal. "

"Can you not grasp that she was irritated beyond endurance with theunwholesomeness of the whole system of life in relation to women, andthat for the moment you appeared as one of the army of oppressors?"

"But that isn't fair! _I_ know enough of women--some women--to makeone shudder with repulsion; but there would be no sense or justice inventing my disgust on you or the other good ones, " he contended. 

"Quite so; but our moral laws are such that some issues are morerepulsive to a woman than a man, and you must admit there are heavyarguments could be brought in extenuation of Dawn's attitude of mindwhen the water slipped out of her hand. "

"There's no doubt women do have to swallow a lot, " he said. 

"You don't feel so angry on account of the impetuous Dawn's act now, do you?"

"It doesn't look so bad in the teeth of your argument, and if shewould only say something to explain, I won't mind; but otherwise I'llhave sense to make myself scarce in this neighbourhood. "

"I'm afraid her vanity will be too wounded for her to give in. "

"I'll make it as easy for her as I can; but, good Lord! I can't go toher and apologise because she threw dirty water on me. "

"Well, I'll bid you good-night. I must run in to Dawn. I expect she issobbing her heart out by this, and biting her pretty curled lips torelieve her feelings, --her lips that were meant for kisses, not cruelusage. "

"Good heavens! Do you really think she'll feel like that?" he asked inastonishment. 

"I'm certain. "

"But I can't see why--she might have had reason had I been theaggressor. "

"If you had hurt her she would not feel half so bad. You would be ahopeless booby if you could not understand that. "

"Really, now, if I thought she would take it that way, it would makeall the difference in the world. But had she desired to despatch me, half that energy of insult would do, " he said, drawing up, whilehardness crept into his voice, but it softened again as he concluded--

"I wouldn't like her to be upset about it, though, if she didn't quitemean it. "

"Well, you can be sure that in regard to you she was very far frommeaning it, and that she will be dreadfully upset about it; so thinkof what I've said, and come and see me in the morning. "

Now that he had grown calm, he was shivering with the cold, so I badehim run home. 

On returning to the house I found Andrew the solitary watcher of hischarge, who, covered by an old cloak, was snoring on the kitchen sofa. 

"Dear me, where are they all?"

"In bed; and look at his nibbs there. I reckon I took a wrinkle fromDawn as how to manage him. Soon as every one's back was turned hebegan actin' the goat again an' makin' for home, an' I thought heregoes, I don't care a hang if all the others roused on me like blazes, so long as grandma don't, --she's the only one makes me sit up, --so Iflung water on him, not warm water but real cold. It took seven years'growth out of him, an' then I gave him a drink of hot coffee, an'undressed him, an' he was jolly glad to lay down there. "

"Why, you'll give the man a cold!"

"No jolly fear. I took his clothes off. I've got 'em dryin' here. Icouldn't find any of my gear, an' wasn't game to ask Uncle Jake, so Iclapped him into a night-dress of grandma's. Look! he's got his handout. I reckon the frill looks all so gay, don't you? I bet grandmawill rouse, but I'll have a little peace with him now an' chance theducks, " said the resourceful warder, whose charge really looked soabsurd that I was provoked to laughter. 

"How did you manage him? Was he tractable?"

"He soon dropped that there was no good in bein' nothing else. Hespluttered something about me disgracin' him, because something on hiscrest said he was brave or something; but I told him I didn't care ahang if he had a crest the size of a cockatoo or was as bald as UncleJake, that I was full of him actin' the goat, an' that finished him. "

"Enough too, " I laughed, as I bade the Australian lad, with the veryAustralian estimate of the unimportance of some things sacred toEnglish minds, the Australian parting salute--

"So long!"

TWENTY. 

"ALAS! HOW EASILY THINGS GO WRONG!"

On ascending to my room I did not, as expected, find Dawn sobbing, butshe had her face so determinedly turned away that I refrained fromremark. I was none the worse for the diverting incidents of theevening, because the excitement of them had come from without insteadof within. The rush of the trains soon became a far-away sound, andthe light that flashed from their engine-doors as they climbed thefirst zig of the mountain, and which could be seen from my bed, hadbeen shut from my sight by the fogs of approaching sleep, when I wasaroused by heart-broken sobbing from the bed by the opposite wall. 

After a while I got out of bed, bent on an attempt to comfort. 

"Dawn, what is it?"

"I'm sorry I waked you, I thought you were sound asleep, " she said, pulling in with a violent effort but speedily breaking into renewedsobs. 

"I was thinking of poor little Mrs Rooney-Molyneux, and how my motherdied, " said the girl, rolling over and burying her lovely head in hertear-drenched pillow. "I can't help thinking about the sadness andcruelty of life to women. "

I felt certain that a matter less deep and lying farther from the coreof being was perturbing her more, but as she chose to ignore it, I didlikewise. 

"Well, we must not dwell too sadly on that for which we are notresponsible, and women are privileged in being able to repay the costof their being. "

"Yes, I always remember that, and often shudder to think I might havebeen a man, with their greater possibilities of cowardliness andselfish cruelty, as illustrated by old Rooney and Miss Flipp'sdestroyer. "

Not a word concerning her action to Ernest. Thought of it stung toomuch for mention, so there was nothing to do but comfort her till shefell asleep and await from Ernest the next turn of events bearing onthe situation. 

The next turn of events in the Clay household bore down upon us nextmorning after breakfast when grandma came home, having left thefirst-born of Rooney-Molyneux comfortably asleep in the swaddlingclothes which had contained Dawn at the date when she had been "alittle winjin' thing, " with whom everything had disagreed, and whichgarments were lent to the new-born babe until grandma could providehim with others. The hale old dame was not too fatigued to be in astate of lively ire, and opened fire upon her circle with--

"I met old Hollis on the way home, an' do you believe, he says to me, 'Well, Mrs Clay, so I believe you've took to rabbit ketchin' in yourold days. ' It was like his cheek, the same as w'en he said the monkeyswould be havin' a vote next. _Rabbit ketchin'_ indeed! No wonder womenhas got sense at last to make the birth-rate decline, when you seecases like that, and even the people that go to help them out of thefix--an' that out of kindness, not for no reward nor pleasure--isdemeaned to their face an' called _rabbit ketchers_, if you please! Ireckon all women ought to be compelled to be _rabbit ketchers_ for atime, an' it would be such a eye-opener to them that if there wasn'tsome alterations made in the tone of the whole business they would allstrike so there'd be no need of _rabbit ketchin'_, as some call it, tomake things more disagreeabler; and that's what has been goin' onlately in a underhand way, but _some people_, " concluded theintelligent old lady with her customary choler, coming to a full stopere recapitulating the misdoings of these unmentionable members ofsociety. 

"Rabbit ketching, " as midwifery is contemptuously termed in thevernacular, does require a status, and those who have need of it meritsome consideration. Civilisation, stretching up to recognise thatevery child is a portion of State wealth, may presently make somemovement to recognise maternity as a business or office needing timeand strength, not as a mere passing detail thrown in among mountainsof other slavery. 

During the whole forenoon I busied myself with the construction ofgarments for the new arrival in this vale of woe, and at the same timewas on the alert for the commanded appearance of Ernest Breslaw. Instead of himself he sent as messenger a well-spoken lad, whopresented Mr Ernest's compliments, and hoped that I was not feelingany ill effects from my unusual exertion during the previous evening. 

I sent a request, per return, that he should call upon me during theafternoon, but he did not regard it. The next being Dawn's day forSydney, I waited for this event to hatch some progress in the case, but upon her return she had no favours to share with me or merry taleto tell of being taken to afternoon tea by Ernest. 

Eweword figured in this account, and so prominently as to suggest thather talk of the fun she had had with him was a little forced, so onthe following morning I took it upon myself to call upon the backwardknight in his own castle. Unmooring one of the boats, I rowed withgreat caution obliquely across the stream till, reaching the desiredpier, I tethered my craft and ascended among an orange-grove ladenwith its golden fruit, and between the rattling canes of the vineyarddismantled by winter, till I reached the house where at present myyoung friend sojourned, and I was thankful that bleached as well asunfaded locks having their own peculiar privileges, I was able to makethis call with propriety. 

The young gentleman was in, and without delay appeared to thebeautiful lady's self-directed and appointed ambassadress. 

"I suppose I may pay you a visit, " I said with a smile as he seated mein the drawing-room which we had to ourselves. "As you didn't seem tocare whether I were dead or alive I have come over to practicallyillustrate that I'm still above ground. Why did you not come to seeme?"

Ernest reddened and fidgeted, and said haltingly--

"You know if you had been ill I would have been the first to go toyou, but I knew you were quite well, and I've been so busy, " hefinished lamely. 

"Now, you know that I know that you have been idle--quite unendurablyidle, " I retorted, a remark he received in embarrassed silence, whichendured till I broke it with--

"Well, I suppose you are waiting for me to divulge the real object ofmy pilgrimage, and that is to know why you haven't kept your agreementabout making that little mistake as easy as you could for Miss Dawn. She's fretting herself pale about it. "

Ernest stood up, his colour flaming into his tanned cheeks till theywere as bright as his locks, while he made as though to speak once ortwice, but hesitated, and at length exclaimed--

"This is not fair--you must, you have no reason to bother--you, " andthere he foundered. Ernest could neither lie, snub, nor evade. He wastotally devoid of all the attributes of a smart politician. 

"Have you not sufficient faith in my regard for you to trust my motivein thus apparently seeking to pry into your private life?" I asked. 

"You know I think more of you than any one, and I'll tell you thewhole thing, " he replied, taking a seat beside me. 

"You have made a mistake in assuming that Miss Clay, or whatever herreal name might be (his indifference was well assumed), did not fullymean her action, and I was a fool to believe you when I had more thansufficient proof to the contrary. Yesterday morning I happened to goto Sydney in the same train as she did, and as I happened--entirely bychance and quite unexpectedly--to meet her on the platform, I liftedmy hat as usual to make it easy for her, and a nice fool I made ofmyself. She didn't merely pretend not to see me, but hurried by me incontempt and came back with that Eweword, who glared at me as though Iwere a tramp who had attempted to molest her. I am sure you could notexpect me to go any farther than that, and I only did that because youcall her a friend of yours. Perhaps Eweword doesn't do things thatnecessitate the throwing of dirty water on him. It was rather anuncalled-for thing to do to any one. Perhaps the old dame doesn'tallow her boarders to have visitors, and that is the polite way theyhave of informing one to the contrary. "

The sky looked rather murky. I said nothing, having nothing ready tosay. 

"Oh, by the way, I'm leaving here to-morrow for Adelaide, where I amto play in some inter-colonial football matches against the NewZealanders. Is there anything I could do for you over there?" he said, as though having dismissed the other unworthy trifle from his mind. 

"Going to run away because a girl, half accidentally and half out ofnervous irritation, threw a little water on you!"

There I had said what I really thought, and half expected the snubwhich, according to the rules of tact, I deserved for my divergencetherefrom, but it did not come; he was a man of the field, and in thistype of encounter had not a chance against one of my perceptions. 

He laughed forcedly. "That would be something to turn tail for, wouldn't it?"

"But are you not doing so? If a beautiful girl did such a thing to meit would only make me the more set to woo her to graciousness, " Isaid. 

"Perhaps so, if she were some girl you specially considered, but inthe case of a passing stranger that I may never meet again, it wouldnot be worth wasting time, especially as her action was so uncalledfor and unwomanly. "

"But you are sure to meet her again if you continue our friendship, asI hope to have her with me, and that is why I'm taking the trouble tothus interfere in what does not apparently concern either you or mevery much. _I_ don't consider Dawn as a passing stranger. I think herespecially honest and especially beautiful, and it worries me to thinkshe has thus erred. Her action was _unwomanly_, if you like, butpeculiarly feminine, with the unavoidable hysterical femininityengendered in women by their subjected environment. Are you quite sureyou consider Dawn merely a passing stranger not worth consideration?"I asked, looking him fair in the eyes; and the quick lowering of themand the tightening of his mouth satisfied me that he could nottruthfully answer in the affirmative. 

"It is a matter of what she considers me, " he said. 

"Oh, well, " I said indifferently, now that I had gained my point, "itdoesn't matter to me, but I'll be sorry to lose your company, and Ithought you were taking an interest in Leslie's candidature, and wecould have enjoyed it together. "

"So I do. "

"Well, come back as soon as you get these matches played, and we'llhave some good times together again, and I'll keep the reprehensibleDawn out of the way; and anyhow, remember she didn't throw _cold_water on you, and that's something. "

"Very well, I'll be back in about three weeks' time to see how Les. Gets on. Polling-day hasn't been fixed yet. I'd like to see it throughnow I've started. "

"Of course, " said I, considering it a good move that he shoulddisappear for a short time, and after this he rowed me on the Noonoontill Clay's dinner-bell sounded and I went up to eat. 

That evening "Dora" Eweword came in to tea and remained afterwards. He informed us that the red-headed chap who had been loafing aroundKelman's had gone to Europe. 

"Has he? Did he tell you?" interestedly inquired Andrew. 

"He mentioned that he would leave for South Australia by the expressthis evening, " I replied, but did not add that his going to Europe wasa little stretched. 

Dawn was quiet. Her merry impudence did not enliven the company thatnight, and after tea, when Eweword caught her alone for a few momentsas I was leaving the room, he said--

"So you cleared the red-headed mug out after all. Andrew says it wasalright. You won't listen to me, but you haven't chucked the wash-upwater on me yet, that's one thing. " His complacence was verypronounced. To his surprise Dawn made no reply, but biting her lip tokeep back her tears, walked out of the room, and in the dark of thepassage smote her dimpled palms together, exclaiming--

"Would to heaven I had thrown the water over this galoot instead of_him_, " and the thermometer of "Dora's" self-satisfaction fellconsiderably when she did not appear again that evening. 

That night, when the waning moon got far enough on her westward way tosurmount the old house on the knoll beside the Noonoon and cast itsshadow in the deep clear water, the silver beams strayed through alittle window facing the great ranges, and found the features of abeautiful sleeper disfigured by weeping; but youth's rest was sounddespite the tear-stains, and the old moon smiled at such ephemeralsorrow. The night wind coming down the gorges with the river sighedalong the valley as the moon remembered all the faces which, thoughtearless under her nocturnal inspection, yet were pale from the inwardsobs, only giving outward evidence in bleaching locks and shadowyeyes. Even within sound of the engines roaring down the spur, many ofthe little night-wrapped houses, hard set upon the plain, had inmateskept from sleep by deeper sorrows than Dawn had ever known. 

The first fortnight of Ernest's absence, believed by his doubtingyoung lady to be final, was a stirring time in Noonoon, andparticularly full at Clay's. Jam-making was the star item on thelatter's domestic bill. Baskets and baskets of golden oranges andpaler lemons and shaddocks were converted into jam and marmalade, andranged on the shelves of the already replete storehouse, in readinessto tempt the summer palate of the week-end boarders which shouldappear when the days stretched out again. We were occupied in thisbusiness to such an extent that the sight of oranges became aweariness, and Andrew averred that the very name of marmalade gave himthe pip. 

At night we enjoyed the diversion of the meetings, and talk and gossipof them made conversation for the days. The previously mentionedpolitical addresses were but mild fanfares by comparison with theflamboyance of the gasconading now in progress, and in its reports ofthese bursts of oratory the 'Noonoon Advertiser' gave further evidenceof its broad-minded liberality. 

"Mrs Gas Ranter, " it reported, "addressed a packed meeting in theCitizens' Hall last night, and proved herself the best public speakerwho has been heard in Noonoon during the present campaign, " &c. Itrecognised worth, and gamely gave the palm to the deserving, irrespective of party or sex, --did not so much as insert the narrowquibble that she was the best for a woman. 

Among other incidents, the lady canvassers called at Clay's andreceived a piece of grandma's mind. 

"Thanks; I don't want no one to tell me how to vote. I've rared two orthree families and gave a hand with more, and have intelligence thesame as others, and at my time of my life don't want no one to tell memy business. I reckon I could tell a good many others how to vote. "

The pity of it was that it was immaterial how any electors cast theirvote. Neither party had a sensible grip of affairs, and besides, loveof country in a patriotic way is not a trait engendered inAustralians. In politics, as in private life, all is selfishness. Thecity people thought only of building a greater Sydney, the residentsof Noonoon and other little towns had mind for nothing but their ownsmall centre, --all seeing no farther than their noses, or that whatdirectly benefited their little want might not be good for the countryat large, and that legislature must, to be successful, better theliving conditions of the masses, not merely of one class or section. Then city men, unacquainted with the practical working of the land, could not possibly handle the land question effectively, and, moreover, a man might understand how to manage the coastal districtand remain at sea regarding the great areas west of the watershed. 

Another big mistake lay in over representation of the city and theunder representation of the man on the land. The producer should bethe first care, and while he is woefully disregarded andill-considered a country cannot thrive. The reason of this state ofaffairs was the division of electorates on a population basis. Thismeant that a city electorate covered a very small area, and thatpractically all its wants were attended by the municipality, so thatthe city member had leisure to ply the trade of merchant, doctor, orbarrister within a few minutes of the house of parliament; whereas thecountry member, to become acquainted with the vast area he representedand the requirements of its inhabitants and attend parliamentarysittings, had no time left to be anything but a member of parliament, precariously depending upon re-election for a livelihood. 

Dawn threw herself into the contest with great enthusiasm, and alsoindustriously pursued her vocal studies, but for her was exceptionallysubdued and inclined to be cross on the smallest provocation. She hadbecome so engrossed in political meetings that "Dora" Eweword, who wascontinually at Clay's since the retreat of Ernest, one dayremonstrated with her. She had made a political meeting the excuse fordeclining to go rowing with him, whereupon he remarked--

"Oh, leave 'em to the old maids, Dawn. You'll grow into a scarecrowthat would frighten any man away if you hang on to politics muchmore. "

"Well, if it would frighten _some_ men away, I'd go in for them twiceas much, " snapped the girl. "I suppose you admire the style of girlswho are going around now saying, after some straightforward women havesaid what we all feel and got the vote, 'Oh, I don't care for thevote. Let men rule; they are the stronger vessel. Politics don'tbelong to women, ' and so on. You'd think me a sweet little womanlydear if I croaked like that; but you keep your brightest eye on thatsort of a squarker, and for all her noise about being content with herrights, you'll see that she takes more than her share of the good ofthe reforms that other women have worked for. "

"Oh Lord!" good-temperedly giggled "Dora, " for home truths that wouldbe considered sheer spleen from a plain girl are taken as fine funwhen uttered by a girl as physically attractive as Dawn. 

During the second week of the footballer's absence, who should appearto lend a hand on the side of Leslie Walker but Mr Pornsch, _uncle_ ofthe late Miss Flipp. He arrived with the callousness worthy of acertain department of man's character, and addressed a meeting with asmuch pomp and self-confidence and talk of bettering the morals of thepeople, as though he had been an Ellice Hopkins. He had the furthereffrontery to visit Clay's and feign crocodile grief for thedeplorable fate of his niece. He protested his shame and horror, together with a desire for revenge, so loudly that I resolved that heshould not be disappointed, that the dead girl should be in a slightmeasure avenged, and he should not only know but feel it. 

"I ain't got me voting paper. Me an' Carry will go up for 'emto-morrer, " said grandma one evening from her arm-chair near thefireplace. 

There had been the usual meeting, and Ada Grosvenor and others hadcalled in to discuss it. 

"Why, didn't the police deliver yours?" inquired Miss Grosvenor. 

"No, we was missed somehow. "

"Easy to see Danby wasn't on the racket of deliverin' electors'rights, or you would have had two or three apiece, " Andrew chipped in. 

"I'm going for Walker straight, " announced grandma. "He's temperanceat all events, and that is somethink w'en there ain't anycommon-sense in any of them. "

"If I had twenty votes I wouldn't give one to that Walker, " saidAndrew. "All the women are after him because they think he'sgood-lookin', an' he's got bandy legs. They clap him like fury, andlook round like as they'd eat any one that goes to ask him a question. They seem to reckon he's an angel that oughtn't to be asked nothink hecan't answer. I believe they'd all kiss him an' marry him if theycould. I hate him. Vote for Henderson, he wouldn't give the women avote, and only men are workin' on his committee. "

"Oh my, what's this!" exclaimed Dawn. 

"Well, you know, the women _are_ making fools of themselves about thisWalker, " said Ada Grosvenor, with her intelligently humorous laugh. "Idon't think much of him myself. In spite of his choice phrasing of theusual hustings' bellowing, if women had not already the franchise hewould be slow to admit them on a footing of equality with men asregards being. There are two extremes of men, you know. One thinksthat woman's position in life is to act squaw to her lord and master. The other regards her as a toy--an article to be handed in and out ofcarriages like choice china--a drawing-room ornament, to be decked inwonderful gowns, and whose whole philosophy of existence should be toadd to the material delight of men. Walker is a representative of thelatter type, and old Hollis, who thinks that monkeys have as good aright to vote as women, belongs to the other. At a surface glancetheir views regarding women seem to be diametrically opposed, but tome it has always appeared that they equally serve the purpose ofdegrading the position of women. You should have seen how cruelWalker looked to-night when an old man asked if he approved of womenentering the senate. He said _no_ like a clap of thunder. "

It was probably this perspicacity on the part of Ada Grosvenor, coupled with a sense of humour, that earned for her the reputation of"trying to ape the swells. "

"Well, good-night everybody, and, Mrs Clay, don't forget to apply foryour right in time, or you won't be able to vote, " she said inparting. 

"No fear, " responded grandma. "I've not been counted among mad peoplean' criminals, an' done out of me simple rights till this time of lifewithout appreciatin' 'em w'en I've got 'em at last. "

Next day, true to intention, the old dame and Carry went up town fortheir "voting papers, " and to repeat the former's words, "wasdownright insulted, so to speak. "

The civil servant whose duty it was to give rights to those electorswho were not already in possession of such, was carrying affairs witha high hand, and had the brazen effrontery to tell Grandma Clay thatit was a disgrace to see a woman of her years "running after a vote, "as he elegantly expressed it; and he also suggested to Carry that itwould suit her better to be at home doing her housework, and to putthe cap on his gross misconduct, he persuaded them that they had leftit too late to obtain the coveted document, the first outward andvisible proof that men considered their women complete rationalbeings. 

Carry had retorted that it would suit him better to do the work he waspaid for than to exhibit his ignorance in meddling with the privateaffairs of others, and that if he could discharge his duties as wellas she did her housework, he wouldn't make an ass of himself byshowing his fangs about women having the vote in the way he did. 

The two electresses thus bluffed came down the street and told theirgrievance to Mr Oscar Lawyer, for the nonce head of the OppositionLeague, and at ordinary seasons a father of his people, to whom allthe town made in times of necessity, --whether it was an old beldamerequiring assistance from the Benevolent Society or a lad seeking asituation and requiring a testimonial of character. 

With Mr Oscar Lawyer they also ran upon Mr Pornsch; and it wasdiscovered that the churlish clerk's statement was utterly false, andmade because he was on the side of Henderson and these two women werenot. There was more talk than there is space for here, but the upshotof it was the clerk was routed, and grandma and Carry came hometriumphantly, each in possession of one of the magic sheets of bluepaper, which they spread out on the table for us all to see. 

"Well, well!" said grandma, "I seen the convicts flogged in days w'enthis was nothink but a colony to ship them to, and I drove coachesw'en the line was only as far out of Sydney as here; and to think Ishould have lived to see the last of the convicts gone, coaches nearlybecome a novelty of the past, us callin' ourselves a nation, an' herea paper in me hand to show I can vote a man into this parliament andthe other that the king's son hisself come out to open. I'm glad tosee us lived that we can have our say in the laws now same as the men, and not have to swaller anythink they liked to put upon us to soottheirselves, " and the old dame, with a splendid light in her eye, rubbed the creases out of the paper and spread it out again. 

"Pooh, it's the same as we've had all along. You didn't think aelector's right was anythink to be grinnin' at w'en the men had it. Inever seen you gapin' at mine; you'd think it was somethink wonderfulnow when you've got one of your own, " said Uncle Jake, coming in. 

"Well, I never! Jake Sorrel! Of course we don't think much of otherpeople's things! What is the good of another woman's baby or husbandor _frying-pan_, that is, if it was equally a thing you couldn'tborrer? And if you was blind, what pleasure would you get out of someone else seein' the blue sky, or warnin' that there was a snake thereto be trod on, an' that's what it's been like with the elector'srights. "

"Well, but what difference does that bit of paper make to you now? Youwon't live no longer nor find your appetite no better, an' it won'tpay the taxes for you, " contended uncle. 

"Then if it is of so little account, why does it gruel you so much tosee me with it? An' little as it is, there ain't that paper's reasonwhy we shouldn't have always voted; and little though it is, that'sall the difference has stood all these years between men voting andwomen not; and little as you think it is for a woman to have donewithout, it's what men would shed their blood for if _they_ was doneout of it. It ain't what things actually are, it's all they standfor, " and grandma gathered up her _right_ and went to take off herbonnet and change the bristling black dress which she donned forpublic appearance. 

I sat musing while she was away. "It ain't what things actually are, it's all they stand for, " as the old dame had said; and her delight inbeing a freed citizen, no longer ranked with criminals and lunatics, had touched my higher self more profoundly than anything had hadpower to do for years. 

Though taking a vivid interest in the electioneering, owing to thelarge distillation of the essence of human nature it afforded, asneither of the candidates had a practical grip of public business, Icared not which should poll highest; but now I resolved to procure myright and go to the ballot, and, if nothing more, make an informalvote _for the sake of all that it stood for_. 

At back of the simple paper were arrayed the spirits of countlessnoble and fearless men and women who had so loved justice and theirfellows that they had spent their lives in working for this bettermentof the conditions of living, and the little paper further stood for animprovement in the position of women, and consequently of allhumanity, inconceivable to cursory observation. 

As for a woman going to the poll and voting for Jones or Smith, thatwas harmless in either case, and would not help her live or die or payher debts, as Uncle Jake expressed it; but excepting the female votefor the House of Keys in the Isle of Man, the enfranchisement ofwomen, spreading from one to the other of the Australian States, represented the first time that woman, even in our vauntedly great andhighly civilised British Empire, was constitutionally, statutablyrecognised as a human being, --equal with her brothers. That womenshall compete equally with men in the utilitarian industrialism ofevery walk of life is not the ultimate ideal of universal adultfranchise. Such emancipation is sought as the most condensed anddirect method of abolishing the female sex disability which in timeshall bring the human intelligence, regardless of sex, to anunderstanding of the superiority of the mother sex as it concerns therace--as it is the race, the whole race, and consequently worthy of astatus in life where it shall neither have to battle at the polls forits rights nor be sold in the market-place for bread. 

The empty-headed cannot be expected to perceive the magnitude of thisupward step in the evolution of man, and its machinery may not runsmoothly for a span; we nor our children's children may not know muchbenefit from what it symbolises, but shall we who are comfortable inrights wrested from ignorance and prejudice but never enjoyed by pastgenerations, be too selfish and small to rejoice in the possibility ofbettered conditions those ahead may live under as the fruits of theself-sacrificing labour of those now fighting for their ideals?

NO!

TWENTY-ONE. 

THINGS GO MORE WRONG. 

Grandma could think of nothing but the clerk's insult when she hadgone for her electoral right. 

"Him! that thing! What's he employed for but to do this work, and ifhe ain't prepared to do it decent, why don't he give up an' let abetter man in his place? They're easy to be got. 'Runnin' after avote, ' indeed! But that's where I made me big mistake. I should havestayed at home and writ to him, an' he'd have been compelled to sendthe police with it. That's what I ought to have done, an' let meservants that I'm taxed to keep do the work they're dying for want of, instead of doin' it meself; but at any rate I got me right safe an'sure, " she said with satisfaction. "A long time we'd be getting themif all men was like him, which, thank God, they ain't. But that's theway with all these fellers in a Government job; they think they'reLord Muck, and too good to speak to the folk that's keeping themthere, and only for which they wouldn't be there at all. Only forOscar Lawyer and Mr Pornsch--and Dawn, where are you? Mr Pornsch wasvery nice to me, an' I asked him to tea, an' to come down for some ofthem little things belongin' to his niece. He's very cut up abouther. "

"Yes, about as cut up about her as Uncle Jake would be over me. "

"Now, Dawn, how do you know?" severely inquired the old dame. 

"I know very well that old men with his delightful slenderness offigure, and men who have drunk all the champagne and other poison itmust have taken to colour his nose that way, haven't got much truefeeling left, except for a bottle of wine, and a feed of somethinghigh and well seasoned. "

However, Mr Pornsch presently arrived, and illustrated by hissmickering at Dawn that notwithstanding his grief for a dead girl heyet retained an eye for the charms of a living one. It also transpiredthat he would not have waited for an invitation to call upon us. 

This sweet bachelor champion of Women's Protection Bills, who had solong deprived some woman of the felicity of being his wife, hadapparently determined to hastily repair the omission, and it soonbecame evident that he meant to honour no less a person than Dawn inthis connection--Dawn! a princess in her own right, by reason of herhealth, her beauty, her youth, and her honest maidenhood!

He took Ernest's place in going to Sydney with her, thrust costlytrifles upon her; he was fifty-five if he were a day, and a repulsivedebauchee at that. Dawn, so healthy and wholesome, loathed him. Shesat on her bed at night with her dainty toes on the floor, and ravedwhile she combed her fine-spun brown hair. I let her rave, believingthis a good antidote for the worry of that dish of water that wasrarely out of her thoughts. I knew that she never omitted to scan thefootball news in hopes of seeing the doings of a certain red-headedplayer recorded there, and I also knew that she was doomed todisappointment, unless she could connect R. E. Breslaw with R. Ernestof the wash-up water incident. 

A man of Pornsch's calibre is hard to abash, or Dawn would haveabashed him, but failing to do so, at last she came to me requestingthat I should assist her to get rid of him. 

"I don't want to complain to grandma, " said she. "It might get abroadif she took it in hand, so I'd like to choke him off myself if Icould. I have enough to suffer already;" and I knew she was againthinking of that fatal dish of water, and how "Dora" Eweword twittedher concerning it. 

Then I took Dawn on my knee as it were, and told her a story. It wassuch a painful story that I first extracted from her a solemn promisethat she would not make a fuss of any sort, for this young womanlacked restraint--that command over her emotions which, if carefullyadjusted and gauged, will make the work of a talented artist pass forgenius, and that of a genius pass for the work of a god. 

When his connection with the ill-fated young girl, who had slipped outin the dead of night to throw herself in the gently gliding Noonoon, became known to Dawn, I was afraid her horror would so betray her thatany subsequent plans for the punishment of the miscreant might fallthrough. 

"I'll knock him down with the poker next time he comes. I'll throw akettle of boiling water on him as sure as eggs are eggs. Fancy thereptile leering around me: I felt nearly poisoned as it was, but Ididn't know he was a murderer as well! Oh, the hide of him to comehere! I really will throw boiling water on him!"

Dawn continued in this strain for some time, but as she quieted downbecame possessed of a notion to tar and feather him in the mannermentioned by her grandmother in one of her anecdotes. Carry and I wereto be called upon to assist in this ceremony, which was to take placeupon the return of Mr Pornsch. For the present he had disappeared toattend to some business. 

In the interim, the meetings continued without a break, and Dawnunremittingly looked for the football news, now with the war crowdedinto a far corner, by the special complexion that each daily chose toput on political affairs. 

"Just look up the football news, " I said one day, "and see how myfriend Ernest is doing. "

"He made a lot of goals as 'forward' in the last match. See!" shecoolly replied, putting her tapering forefinger on the name of R. E. Breslaw, as she handed me the paper. 

"Did he tell you he wanted to disguise his identity while here?"

"Yes; he told me all about it one day when we went to Sydney, " shereplied, leaving me wondering what else they might have confidedduring these jaunts. 

Now that we required his presence Mr Pornsch was not in evidence, andneither was anything to be heard of the red-headed footballer'sreappearance, though he had been absent four weeks, and this broughtus towards the end of June. At this date there appeared a paragraphstating that Breslaw and several other amateur sportsmen werecontemplating a tour of America, to include the St Louis Exposition. 

That night some one besides myself heard the roar of the passinglocomotives, but she did not confess the cause of her sleeplessness. It was one of those irritations one cannot tell, so she let off herirritation in other channels. 

Matters did not brighten as the days went on. Two nights afterErnest's reported departure for the States, "Dora" Eweword broughtDawn home from Walker's committee meeting, and remained talking to herin the otherwise deserted dining-room till a late hour. As soon as heleft Dawn came upstairs, and throwing herself face downwards on herbed burst into violent weeping. 

"What has come to you lately, Dawn?" I inquired. "Tell me what sort ofa twist you have put in your affairs so that I may be able to helpyou. "

"No one can help me, " she crossly replied. 

"Don't you think that I was once young, and have suffered all theseworries too? It is not so long since I was your age that I haveforgotten what may torment a girl's heart. "

Thus abjured she presently made me her father-confessor. 

Eweword it appeared had grown very pressing, and her grandma had urgedher to accept him as the best of her admirers. The old dame had notobserved the trend of matters with Ernest. In a house where week-endboarders came and went, and the landlady had a pretty granddaughter, there were strings of ardent admirers who came and went like theweeks, and in all probability transferred their week-end affections asfrequently and with as great pleasure as they did their person, andthe old lady was too sensible to place any reliance in theirearnestness, while Dawn too was very level-headed in the matter. ThusErnest, if considered anything more than my friend, would have merelybeen placed in the week-end category. The old lady, not feeling sovigorous as usual, was anxious to have Dawn settled, and had tried toput a spoke in "Dora" Eweword's wheel by threatening Dawn withdeprivation of her coveted singing lessons did she not receive himfavourably. Dawn in a fit of the blues, probably brought on by seeingthe announcement of Ernest's departure, had accepted Ewewordconditionally. The conditions were that he should wait two years andkeep the engagement entirely secret, and she had promised her grandmathat she would think of marriage with him at the end of that time, provided her vocal studies should be continued till then. 

"That's the way I'll keep grandma agreeable to pay for the lessons, and in that time, do you think, I'll be able to go on the stage and dowhat I like and be somebody?" asked the girl from out the depths ofher inexperience. 

"And what of '_Dora_'?"

"He can go back to Dora Cowper then. I'll tell him I was only 'pullinghis leg, ' like he said about her. It will do him good. "

"You might break his heart, " I said with mock compassion. 

"Break his heart! _His_ heart! He's got the sort of heart to becompensated by a good plate of roast-beef and plum-pudding--like agood many more!"

"Will he consent to this?"

"He'll have to or do the other thing; he can please himself which. Idon't care a hang. He said that if I would marry him soon he would letme continue the singing lessons and get me a lovely piano, --all thesoft-soap men always give a girl beforehand. I wonder did he think meone of the folks who would swallow it? Couldn't I see as soon as I wasmarried all the privileges I would get would be to settle down anddrudge all the time till I was broken down and telling the samehair-lifting tales against marriage as aired by every other marriedwoman one meets;" and Dawn, her cheeks flushed and her white teethgleaming between her pretty lips, looked the personification offurious irritation. 

"All I care for now is to get the singing lessons, as long as I don'thave to do anything too bad to get them. "

I suddenly turned on her and asked--

"Honestly, why did you throw that dish of water on Ernest Breslaw?"Thus unexpectedly attacked, her answer slipped out before she had timeto prevaricate. 

"Because I was a mad-headed silly fool--the biggest idiot that everwalked. That's why I did it!"

"Do you know that it hurt him very, very keenly?"

No answer. 

"Do you know that he cared more for you than he understood himself?"

No answer. 

"Dawn, do _you_ care?"

"Not in that way; but oh, I care terribly that I made such a fool ofmyself. Had it been any one else it wouldn't have mattered, but hewill think I did it because I was an ignorant commoner who knew nobetter. That's what stings; but I'm not going to think any more of it. I'm going to give my life up to singing, and it doesn't matter. Isuppose I'll never see him again, and he'll never know but that I didit out of ignorance. "

I smiled at the despondence in her tone as I extinguished the kerosenelamp-light. 

There is a stage in the course of most love affairs when the knight isdespised and rejected by the lady, when the sun and the salt of lifedepart, and he finds no more pleasure in it; when he is seized with anirresistible desire to go forth in the world and by his prowess dazzleall mankind for the purpose of attracting one pair of eyes. The sameoccurs to the lady, and she determines to make all men fall at herfeet by way of illustrating to one adamantine heart that he was adullard to have passed over her charms. And this young lady of therose and lily complexion, and knight of the bright-hued locks andherculean muscles, being young--sufficiently young to be downcast byimaginary stumbling-blocks--had reached it. Goosey-gander knight!Gander-goosey lady!

I smiled again, for in my pocket was a letter that morning receivedfrom the former himself, stating that he had been booked for a trip tothe St Louis Exposition, but had flung it up at the last moment infavour of seeing how Les. Got on at the election, and that he would beback in Noonoon before polling-day. Considering he could have seen howthe election progressed equally as well in Sydney as Noonoon, and thatto see how his step-brother polled, when he took little interest inpolitics, had grown preferable to a trip to America, quite contentedme regarding the probable termination of affairs. 

However, I did not show this letter, as in matchmaking, like in goodcooking, things have to be done to the turn, and this was not theopportune turn. 

"Oh, well, " I said, "so long as you don't let your little arrangementget abroad, I don't expect it will harm Eweword. "

"No fear of it getting abroad. I've threatened him if it does that acontradiction that will be true will also get abroad by being put inthe 'Noonoon Advertiser. '"

Next night, however, I found Dawn stamping on something glitteringthat spread about the floor, and by inquiry elicited--

"That infernal 'Dora' Eweword has had the cheek to give me a ring, andthat's what I've done with it, and that's all the hope he has of evermarrying me, " she exclaimed, bringing the heel of her high-arched footanother thump on the fragments. 

"He's a bit too quick with his signs and badges of slavery. He's socomplacent with himself, and thinks he's ousted the 'red-headed mug'as he calls him, that I hate him. "

"He has a right to be complacent. You have given him reason to be. Hehas won you, so you have told him, and he believes you. "

"Yes, I know, and it makes me all the madder to think of it. "

I suppressed a chuckle; even before attaining my teens I had neverbeen so splendidly, autocratically _young_ as this beautifulhigh-spirited creature!

"Let things settle awhile, and then we'll pour them off the dregs, " Iadvised. 

TWENTY-TWO. 

 "O Spirit, and the Nine Angels who watch us, And Thy Son, and Mary Virgin, Heal us of the wrong of man. "

Outside politics the next item of interest on the Clay programme wasthe reappearance of Mr Pornsch, who came for afternoon tea, duringwhich he invited himself to evening tea later on, and before it tookDawn's time in the drawing-room trying some late songs. Dawn averredthat it was with difficulty she had restrained from setting fire tohim or attacking him with the piano-stool. 

He got so far with his "love-making" on this occasion that he hadasked Dawn to take a little walk with him, which she had readilyconsented to do, as it would enable her to entrap him for thetarring-and-feathering upon which she had determined. 

"He is going to meet me over among the grapes in the shade of theosage breakwind. Do you think we will be able to manage him? Let us besure to have everything well arranged, " whispered Dawn to me as wecame to evening tea. 

Near the appointed time of tryst, when the first division of theWestern mail was roaring by--the warm red lights from its windowsshedding a glow by the viaduct--she and I betook ourselves to the farend of Grandma Clay's vineyard, where we were securely screened by theosage orange hedge on one side and the grape-canes and their stakes onthe other. Dawn carried a two-pound treacle-tin filled with tar, andwhich had been sitting on the end of the stove during the afternoon tomelt into working order. Carry, who had entered into the affair withvim, had her share of the arrangements in readiness, and was secretednearer the house to act as sentinel, and to run to our assistance ifsummoned by a prearranged whistle. 

Dawn placed me and the superannuated hair broom, with which she hadarmed me, behind a grape-vine, and herself took up a position beforeit and beside a hole about eighteen inches deep and two feet squarewhich she had excavated. 

Mr Pornsch was soon to be heard tripping and blundering along, whilethe starlight, to which our eyes had grown accustomed, showed theriver where the dead girl whom we were there to avenge had ended hermiserable existence. 

"Dawn, my pet, where are you? Curse the grape-vines, " he gasped. 

"I'm here, _uncle darling_, " she responded, the two last words underher breath. 

Directed by her voice, he neared till we could discern his bulk. 

"My little queen, " he exclaimed, the tone of his voice betraying thatwhich defiled the crisp glory of the night for as far as it carried. 

"Just wait a minute till I see where we are, " said Dawn, "or we willbe getting all tangled up in these canes. "

With this she started back, causing him to do likewise, and drawing aswab on a stick from the pot in her hand, she brought a consignment ofthe black sticky tar a resounding smack on his face, and following itwith others thick and fast, exclaimed--

"There! There! That's all for you!"

Mr Pornsch naturally stepped backwards into the excavation, asdesigned, and sat down as completely and largely helplessly as one ofhis figure could be counted upon to do, and coming to Dawn'sassistance I planted the broom on his chest, and bore with my feeblestrength upon him. It was quite sufficient to detain him, seeing hewas now stretched on the broad of his back with his amidshipdepartments foundered in two feet of indentation. 

Dawn thoroughly plastered his face and head, and in spitting to keephis mouth clear he lost his false teeth. He attempted to bellow, butjabbing his mouth full Dawn soon cowed him into quietude. 

"Shut up, you old fool; if you make a noise we have six more girlswaiting in a boat to fling you in the river and drag you up and downfor a while tied on to a rope like a porpoise. Do you think you'llfloat?"

This had the desired effect, though he spluttered a little. 

"What is the meaning of this? Have you all gone mad? I met you here atyour own request to speak about helping you with your singing, andyou've evidently put a wicked construction on my action. I demand afull explanation and an abject apology. "

"Well, " said Dawn, punctuating her remarks with little dabs of thetar, "the explanation is that we're doing this to show what we thinkof a murderer. Even if Miss Flipp had not drowned herself, but hadlived to be an outcast, you would be still a murderer of her soul. "

"What's this?" he blustered. 

"We have several witnesses ready to give evidence regarding all thatpassed between you and the unfortunate girl supposed to be your nieceduring your midnight calls upon her, " I interposed, speaking for thefirst time, "so bluff or pretence of any kind on your part isunavailing. Remain silent and hear what we intend to say. "

"We're dealing with this case privately, " continued Dawn, "because thelaws are not fixed up yet to deal with it publicly. Oldalligators--one couldn't call you men, and it's enough to make decentmen squirm that you should be at large and be called by the samename--can act like you and yet be considered respectable, but this isto show you what _decent_ women think of your likes, and their spiritsare with us in armies to-night in what we are doing. They'd all liketo be giving your sort a wipe from the tar-pot, and then if you wereset alight it would not be half sufficient punishment for your crimes. We haven't a law to squash you yet, but soon as we can we'll make onethat the likes of you shall be publicly tarred and feathered by thosemade outcasts by the system of morality you patronise, " vehementlysaid this ardent and practical young social reformer, who was morerabid than a veteran temperance advocate in fighting for her ideal ofsocial purity. 

There was silence a moment while we listened to ascertain was thereany likelihood of our being disturbed, but the only man-made soundsbreaking the noisy crickets' chorus were the rumble of vehicles alongthe highroad and the shunting of the engines at the station, so Ichimed in with promised support. 

"Yes, good women have to continually suffer the degradation of yourtype in all life's most sacred relations. They have to endure you attheir board and in their homes, and leering at their sweet youngdaughters; and, alack! many in shame and humiliation own your stamp astheir father or the father of their sons and daughters. They have hadto endure it with a smile and hear it bolstered up as right, but thosewhose moral illumination has taken place would be with us in armiesto-night if they could. "

"I'm dying to give him a piece of my mind, " said Carry, coming up. 

"How do you like our little illustration of what we think of you?We've done it out of a long smouldering resentment against your reign, and this is a species of jubilation to find that the majority ofAustralian men are with us, because in the vote they have furnished uswith a means of redress, " and Carry finished her previously preparedspeech by throwing a clod of dirt on him. 

"My grey hairs should have protected me, " he muttered. 

"You mean they should have protected Miss Flipp, " said Dawn, "and whena man with grey hairs carries on like this the crime is twice asdeadly. There was nothing about grey hairs when you used a lead comband got yourself up to kill. I thought you didn't want to make anespecial feature of them, and that's why I'm dyeing them thisbeautiful treacley black. They'll look bosker when I'm done. "

"Get up out of that, lest I'm tempted to do you a permanent injury, " Isaid, taking the broom off him. 

"You can go to the stable, " said Dawn, "and I hope you won'tcontaminate it. Carry has a lantern and some grease and hot water, soyou can clean yourself there and put on your overcoat. Never let ushear of you on a platform spouting about moral bills again unless yousay it is on account of the practical experience you've had of theneed of them to save weak and foolish young women from the clutches ofsuch as you. "

Mr Pornsch arose with difficulty while Dawn struck matches to see whathe was like, and a more deplorably ludicrous spectacle never could beseen in a pantomime. The only pity of it was that it was not apunishment more frequently meted out to the sinners of his degree. Heraved and stuttered how he would move in the matter, but Dawn, who hada commendable fearlessness in carrying out her undertakings, onlylaughed merry little peals, and told him the best way for him to movein the tar was towards the stable, and the best way to move out of itwas by the aid of grease, soap, hot water, and soda. The expression ofhis eyes rolling and glaring amid the black was quite eerie, buteventually we reached the stable, where Carry instructed him how toclean himself, while Dawn jeered at him during the operation. 

Having cleaned his face somewhat, he hid his neck and clothes in hisovercoat which Carry handed, put on his hat, muffled his face in hishandkerchief, and went away, Dawn administering a parting shot. 

"Now, Uncle Pornsch, dear, next time you go ogling and leering round a_decent_ girl, remember, though she may be so situated that she has toendure you, yet she feels just as we do, that is, if she is a decentgirl, whose eyes have been opened to the facts of life. "

"I feel better than I have done for a long time, " she concluded, asbearing the implements used in the adventure we three, who had agreedupon secrecy, made towards the house. 

"So do I, " said Carry. "If we could only do it to all who deserve thelike, it would be grand!"

TWENTY-THREE. 

UNIVERSAL ADULT SUFFRAGE. 

I. 

Electioneering matters ripened, and so did Carry's love affair withLarry Witcom. In fact it got so far that she gave grandma notice, andannounced her intention of going to a married sister's home for thatprocess known as "getting her things ready, " while Larry, in keepingup his end of the stick, bought a neat cottage and began furnishing itin the style approved by his circle, with bright linoleum on thefloors, plush chairs in the "parler, " and china ornaments on theovermantels. 

Mrs Bray, one of those very everyday folk whose god was mammon, andwho naturally hung on every word issuing from a person of means whileshe would ignore the most inimitable witticism from an impecuniousindividual, began to regard the lady-help from a new point of view. 

"She mightn't have done so bad for herself after all. Some of thesegirls knockin' about the world not havin' nothink to their name, don'tbaulk at things the same as you an' me would who's been used to plentyand like to pick our goods, so to speak. The way things is, Larry isas likely as most to be in a good position yet, " was a sample of themodified sentiments falling from her full red lips. 

Carry was to remain at Clay's until after the election day, so thatshe could cast her vote for Leslie Walker. 

The political candidate thus favoured scarcely allowed three days topass without personally or by proxy stumping the Noonoon end of theelectorate. His last meeting in the Citizens' Hall was jam-pack anhour before the advertised time of speaking. 

The candidate on this occasion made no fresh utterances to entertain, he merely repeated the catch cries of his party; but the air washeavily charged with human electricity, and the questions and"barracking" of the crowd were supremely diverting. 

"Are you in favour of the Chows going to South Africa?" bawled oneelector. 

"My dear fellow, we are going to govern New South Wales--not SouthAfrica. "

"Yes; but when we sent contingents out to fight for the Empire in theTransvaal, do you think it fair that white men should be passed overin favour of Chows in the South African labour market?"

This question being ignored another was interjected. 

"Are you in favour of the newspapers running New South Wales?"

"Certainly not!"

This being a satisfactory answer, the old favourite question, "Are youin favour of black gins wearing white stockings?" was put; and thecandidate having assured us that, provided they could manage thelaundry bill, he certainly was in favour of these ladies wearing anyhosiery they preferred; and the loud guffaw which greeted thisinformation having subsided, he continued--

"Now, don't vote for _me_ or for _Henderson_, --vote for the bestmeasures for the country. (Henderson was driving the personal ticketof having lived among them, --hence this warning. ) I think it anunparalleled impertinence for a man to ask an intelligent body ofelectors to vote for _him_--"

"When there's a swell bloke like you in the field. "

"Pip! pip! Hooray! Cock-a-doodle-do!" came the chorus. The "Pip! pip!"was a new sound to them, having been introduced to represent the noisemade by the propulsion of a motor-car, in which set the candidateshone. 

"Are you in favour of gas and water running up the one pipe?" inquiredanother, when the din had once more fallen to comparative silence. 

"Don't you think that ladies ought to wear big boots now that they'vegot the vote?"

All such important questions having been put, the chairman called forthree cheers for Mr Walker. 

"Three cheers for Henderson, " yelled the rabble at the back, whichwere given deafeningly, and the candidate, with the lively tact whichbade fair to develop into his most prominent characteristic, joined inthe cheers for his opponent, till some one had the grace to call"Three cheers for Mr Walker now"; and in the most delightfullyuproarious, holiday-spirited clamour thus ended the last meeting butone before the election. 

This was fixed for the 6th of August, and, notwithstanding there beingseveral other towns in the electorate equally as important as Noonoon, on polling eve both candidates were to make their final speech thereat the same hour. 

During the week intervening, Leslie Walker's "Ladies' Committee" werevery busy in the construction of dainty rosettes of pink and blueribbon to be worn by his followers; and not to be outdone, Henderson'scommittee of "mere men" armed themselves with little squares ofhatband ribbon of red, white, and blue--the Ministerial colours. 

These were not such dainty badges as the rosettes, but they served thepurpose equally well; and the sterner sex, in our present stage ofevolution ever to be trusted to make up in downright usefulness whatthey lack in mere prettiness, had attached a safety-pin to each pieceof ribbon for its masculinely substantial affixing. 

II. 

Polling eve arrived, and the Ministerialists having secured the hall, the Oppositionists had perforce to hold an open-air meeting. Weattended the hall first, intending to move on to the streetentertainment later, and Dawn was attacked by an old dame in theopposing camp because she was displaying Walker's colours. 

"If I liked him I'd go an' stand in the street an' listen to him, nottake up the room of them as has a hall hired for 'em by the _best_man, who has lived among us, and not some city lah-de-dah married to ahussy off the stage, an' who had women who might be any charactergoin' round speakin' for him, " she tiraded, and turning to meaggressively demanded--

"Where are _your_ colours?"

"Could you supply me with some?" I replied; and only too pleased, shesqualled to an urchin who was distributing the squares plus asafety-pin. I was such a well-poised "rail-sitter" that I was entitledto wear both colours; and as this one was being ostentatiouslyfastened to the lapel of my over-jacket, I remembered the injunctionto live at peace with all. 

A brass band played the people in, and a trio of youngsters unfurledred, white, and blue parachutes, --alias gamps, alias ginghams, aliasumberellers, --which were a popular feature of the "turn. "

The committee appeared on the platform one by one, each received withnoisy approval, and one facetiously wearing a rosette the size of alarge cabbage was tendered a particularly deafening ovation. 

After these crept Henderson, who, though not a particularly inspiringindividual, was wildly and vociferously cheered for everything andnothing, and after listening awhile to his catch cries, --whichdiffered from those of Walker only in the irritatingly halting andunimpressive way they were delivered, --we rose and scrambled our wayout, jeered by the old dame as we went, and our departure was furthercommented upon from the platform by the speaker himself, in thewords--

"Getting too hot for some of the ladies, " which, if correct, could notby any means have been attributed to the winter air or the dull andweakly maudlin speech he was trying to deliver. 

Walker spoke from a balcony crowded by devotees--mostly women--to anaudience in the street, which was further enlivened by the fighting ofthe numerous dogs I have previously mentioned as addicted to holdingmunicipal meetings. Their loud differences of opinion occasionallydrowned the speakers, and the main street being also the publicthoroughfare, --in fact, no less a place than the great WesternRoad, --there was no by-law or political etiquette to prevent theMinisterial band from strolling that way at intervals; so, much to thedelight of all who were out for fun and the annoyance of those whowere sensibly interested in the practical welfare of their country, and who imagined that the policy of this party would materially bettermatters, the cut-and-dried denouncement of the Ministry was at timesdrowned by the strains of "Molly Riley, " "He's a Jolly Good Fellow, "and "See the Conquering Hero Comes!"

The followers of Walker contended that Henderson was the worst ofscorpions to thus come to Noonoon on the last night; but consideringthat he had only addressed Noonoon once to Walker's thrice, as animpartial wiggle-waggle I could not help seeing that theMinisterialists had most cause for complaint. 

Dawn pinned the badge I had acquired to the coat-tail of a local bankmanager who, though on her side, had lately distinguished himself by apublic denouncement of "Women's Rights, " so savagely virulent andidiotically tyrannous in principle as to suggest that his householdcontained representatives of the "shrieking sisterhood, " who had beenone too many for him. The boys who saw the joke enjoyed it very muchindeed, as he strolled along with the self-importance befitting soprominent a citizen. 

The beautiful voice of the candidate rose and fell, occasionallyhalting till the usual cheers or guffaws died away, and the meetingended in the customary way. What good to the country was likely toaccrue from it? On the other hand--what harm?

To be abroad in the open air with comfort at that time of the year, and at that hour of the night, illustrated the beautiful climate ofthat latitude if nothing more, and every one was harmlesslyentertained, for good-humour characterised the whole affair. 

Tea, coffee, and cheese abounded for all comers at the committee rooms ofLeslie Walker--the candidate supported by the temperance societies; and onbehalf of Olliver Henderson there was an "open night" at Jimmeny's "pub. , "with the result--as published by the Oppositionists--that boys of fourteenand sixteen were lying drunk in the gutters. 

The next day, however, was the culmination of the whole thing. 

Dawn almost wept that she was not of age to vote, and as I was socomfortably indifferent as to which man won, I offered to cast my votefor the one she favoured, but she declined. 

"That would only be the same as men having the vote and thinking theyknow how to represent us, " she said. 

But though she couldn't vote she worked hard for her side, and with abig rosette of pink and blue decorating her dimpling bosom, andstreamers of the same flying from her whip and her pony's headstall, she was out all day driving voters to the booth, where for the firsttime in that town women produced an electoral right. The Federalelection had been conducted without them. 

In the forenoon Larry Witcom drove Carry to vote in state--otherwise abrand-new sulky he had recently purchased; and such is human naturethat we were all sufficiently malicious to be secretly pleased thatpoor old Uncle Jake could not vote at all, because he had only anobsolete red elector's right, and he should have procured anup-to-date blue one. 

It was a genial sunshiny day, and the lucerne and rape fields and theChinese gardens on either hand were beautifully green, as grandmanoticed when during the afternoon she and I drove in the old sulky tocast our vote. 

"Poor Jake! I'm sorry he can't vote, though he ain't goin' for myman, " she remarked. "But don't it seem like a judgment on him forbein' so narked about the women bein' set free? That's always the wayin life. If you are spiteful about anythink it always comes back onyourself. "

The street opposite the court-house--for the time converted into apolling-booth--was thronged like a show-day with an orderly crowd ofcitizens of both sexes. The voting had become so congested thatvehicle loads of voters were being conveyed over to Kangaroo, and eachcontingent set out amid the cheers of small boys, who were most ardentpoliticians. 

Laughing and banter were exchanged between people of all ages andclasses, one as important as the other for the time being. 

As we crowded round the door, a jovial-looking man with a twinkle inhis eyes, as he was unceremoniously shoved against a pillar, announcedthat women should not have been allowed the vote, for its disastrousresults were already evident in this crush; while the equallypleasant-faced policeman, who, as soon as intimation came from withinthat there was a vacancy, wheeled us in like so many bales of wool, replied--

"Women jolly well have as much right to vote as men, and more, becausethey can do it without getting drunk or breaking their heads. "

Many displayed colours and some did not. There was the truculent womanwho voted as she thought fit, and who loudly advertised this fact; theman who voted for Henderson because he lived in the district; and thewoman who supported Leslie Walker because he was rich and would beable to subscribe liberally to all local institutions. A shallow-patedMiss favoured Walker because his colours were the prettier; and anaddle-pated old man balanced this by voting for Henderson because he"shouted, "[1] and Walker was temperance. There was a silly littleflaxen-haired woman who also supported the Opposition to spite herhusband, --a Henderson man, and the prototype of Mr Pornsch, --because, being over-grogful, he had made tracks for the polling-booth alone, leaving his wife to go as best she could. Alas! there was a poorlittle woman at home who could not vote at all because she hadsuccumbed to the gentlemanliness of Leslie Walker, and her husbandbeing against him had tyrannously taken her right from her; and therewas also the woman who _would_ not vote at all, because she consideredmen were superior to women, and boisterously proclaimed this to allwho would listen, in hopes of currying favour with the men; butfortunately this, in the case of the best men, is becoming an obsoletebid for popularity. There was the woman who voted for the man herfather named, and those electors of each sex who voted to the best oftheir discernment great or small. Quite a crop of Uncle Jakes weredisfranchised through their rights being back numbers, and thenobodies who imagined themselves something altogether too lofty toconsider anything so mundane as law-making at all, were also rathernumerous. Ada Grosvenor's bright happy face shone like a star amid hercompanions, and she discharged this duty honestly and thoughtfully asshe did all others, recognising it as the practical way of working forthe brave, bright ideals guiding her life. 

[Footnote 1: To treat to free drinks. ]

Among the electresses were all the same types of vote as cast by men, except that those sold for a glass of beer were not so frequent; andas civilisation climbs higher, universal suffrage, and the bettermethods of administration to which it will give birth, will beexercised for the adjustment of the great human question now sotrivially divided into squabbles of sex and class. 

The bright Australian sun shone with genial approval on all, and inthe air was a hint of the scent of the jonquils and violets, so earlyin that temperate region. Grandma Clay must not be forgotten, for inher immaculate silk-cloth dress and cape, her bonnet of the bestmaterial, and her "lastings, " with her spectacles in one hand and herproperly-prized electoral right in the other, and her irreproachablerespectability oozing from her every action, she could not beoverlooked. As she neared the door the gentlemen and younger ladiescrowding there politely stood back and cancelled their turn in herfavour; and Mrs Martha Clay, a flush on her cheeks, a flash in hereyes, and with her splendidly active, upright figure carriedvaliantly, at the age of seventy-five, disappeared within thepolling-booth to cast her first vote for the State Parliament. 

What a girl she must have been in those far-off teens when she hadhandled a team of five in Cobb & Co. 's lumbering coaches, when hercurls, blowing in the rain and wind, had been bronze, when with afeather-weight bound she could spring from the high box-seat to theground! Lucky Jim Clay, to have held such vigorous love and splendidpersonality all his own. All his own to this late day, for the olddame returning said to me, "This is a great day to me, and I only wishthat Jim Clay had lived to see me vote;" and there was a patheticquiver in the old voice inexpressibly sweet to the ear of onebelieving in true love. 

After Grandma Clay there was myself--a widely different type of voter. In one way it did not matter whether I voted or not. Neither candidatehad a clear-cut policy to rescue public affairs from their chaoticstate. The electors themselves had no definite idea what theyrequired, but this was in no way alarming--all the materials fornational prosperity were at hand, presently matters would evolve, andthe demand for able statesmen would be filled when the demand grewclearly defined. 

Which man would do most for women and children was also immaterial;the mere fact of women no longer being redressless creatures, butinvested with rights of full citizenship, was even at that early stagehaving its effect. Politicians were trimming their sails to catch thegreat female vote by announcing their readiness to make issues ofquestions relative to the peculiar welfare of the big bulk of thehuman race represented by women and children. Inspired by women'snewly-granted power of electing a real representative of theirdemands, would-be M. P. 's were hastening in one session to insert intheir platform planks which much-vaunted "womanly influence" had beenunable to get there during generations of masculine chivalry andfeminine disenfranchisement. 

Let the women vote!

As Grandma Clay expressed it, "It ain't what things actually are, it'sall they stand for. " For this reason I meant to exercise my right. 

A sovereign in itself may not be much, but to a starving man withinreach of shops see what it means in twenty shillings' worth of food. Similarly the right to vote in a self-governed country meant many amile in the upward evolution of mankind. 

Countless brave women and good men had sacrificed all that for whichthe human heart hankers, that women should be raised to this estate, and what a coward and insolent ignoramus would I be to lightlyconsider what had been so dearly bought and hard fought! And sothinking I presented my right, received my ballot-paper, and thoughnot bothering to meddle with either candidate's name, I folded itcorrectly, and for the sake of all that stood behind and ahead of theright to perform this simple action, dropped it in the ballot-box. 

It closed at six o'clock, and then came a lull till the first returnsshould have time to come in. The candidates were not in Noonoon butTownend, where the head polling-booth was situated, though nothingcould have exceeded the excitement in Noonoon. 

Grandma said she would wait quietly at home till next day to hear theresult, but at nine o'clock the strains of a band, the glow of thetown-lights like a red jewel through the night, and the sound ofdistant cheering proved too enticing to us two left alone in thehouse, so we locked it up, put the pony in the sulky, and salliedforth into the winter night, which in this genial climate was pleasantin an over-jacket added to one's ordinary indoor attire. 

We had the road to ourselves, for the strings of vehicles from whichit was seldom free were all ahead of us. 

The candidates had tiny globes of electric light representing theircolours hung across the street from their respective committee rooms, and the proprietor of 'The Noonoon Advertiser' had a splendid placarderected on his office balcony and well lighted by electricity, onwhich the names of members were pasted as they were elected, and inview of this had gathered one of the most good-humoured crowdsimaginable. Irrespective of party, the hoisting of each name waswildly cheered by the embryo electors who, being at that time of lifewhen to yell is a joy, took the opportunity of doing so in full. 

Leaving grandma in charge of the vehicle I got out to reconnoitre, andslipped in among the crowd desiring to be unobserved, but that wasimpossible; a good-tempered man invariably discovered me behind him, and insisted upon putting me forward where there was a better view ofthe numbers and names. 

"Let the women have a show. This is their first election and it oughtto be their night, " and similarly good-natured remarks in conjunctionwith a little "chyacking" from either party as the numbers fluctuated, were to be heard on all sides. 

Where were all the insults and ignominy that opponents of womenfranchise had been fearfully anticipating for women if they shouldconsent to lower themselves by going to the polling-booth? If oneexcepted the discomfort that non-smokers have to suffer in any crowdowing to the indulgence of this selfish, disgusting, and absolutelyidiotic vice, it was one of the best-mannered crowds I have beenamong. 

I espied Larry and Carry carefully among the shades of the trees onthe outskirts of the gathering, and even in the teeth of a politicalcrisis not so thoroughly "up-to-date" that they could forego arevival of the old, old story that will outlive voting and many othercustoms of many other times. 

Among the crowd of mercurial and lustily cheering boys was my friendAndrew, and a little farther on, lo! the knight himself. A motor capwas jammed on his warm curls, and a football guernsey displayed theproportions of his broad chest as his Chesterfield fell open, whilewith a gaiety and freedom he lacked when addressing girls he exchangedcomments with some other young fellows, evidently fellow-motorists. 

My feeble pulse quickened out of sympathy with Dawn as I caught sightof him. It was easy to understand the hastened throb of her heart uponfirst becoming aware of his presence. Who has not known what it is tounexpectedly recognise the turn of a certain profile or thecharacteristic carriage of a pair of shoulders, meaning more to theinner heart than had a meteor flashed across the sky? Most of us haveknown some one whose smile could make heaven or whose indifferencecould spell hell to us, and those who by some fortuitous circumstanceshave spent their life without encountering either one or both theseexperiences, are still sufficiently human to regret having missedthem, and to understand how much it could have meant. 

Had Dawn's blue eyes yet discovered the goodly sight?

When I presently found her the light in them betrayed that they had. 

Her face shone with the inward gladness of a princess when she hascome into view of a desired kingdom--whether it shall endure or bedestroyed and replaced by the greyness of disappointment, depends uponthe prince reciprocating and making her queen of his heart. 

"Dora" Eweword was in attendance, so I despatched him to ascertain ifgrandma were all right, and took advantage of his absence to say--

"I see Ernest has returned to see the result of Leslie Walker'scandidature. "

"Then it's a wonder he didn't stay in Townend. They'll know theresults there sooner, " she replied with studied indifference. 

Our pony fell sound asleep where she stood and in spite of thecheering, as though she were well acquainted with women taking a liveinterest in an election. We let her sleep till twelve, when tograndma's disappointment Leslie Walker was more than a hundred votesbehind. There were yet other returns to come in, but these were notlarge enough to alter present results. 

When we left the street was still crowded and the cheering unabatedlyvigorous. 

On our way home grandma remarked with satisfaction that Dawn seemed tobe regarding Eweword sensibly at last, and I seized the opening toinquire if she were really anxious that the girl should marry him. 

"I am if she couldn't get no one better, " replied the old lady, and Iconsidered that this condition saved the situation. 

III. 

The poll had been taken on a Saturday, and on Monday both the electedand defeated candidates appeared in Noonoon to return thanks. 

The former came into town at the head of a long cortége of vehicles, and with the red, white, and blue parasols very prominently inevidence. The streets were hung with bunting, and at night the newlyelected M. P. Was lifted into a buggy in which he was drawn through thestreets by youths, at the head of a glorified procession led by abrass band; and there were not only little boys covered withelectioneering tickets from top to toe and yelling as they marched andwaved flags, but also little girls, now equally with their brothers, electors to be. More power to them and their emancipation!

It came on to rain, so black umbrellas, big and business-like, went upby dozens around the three special ones, and became an amusing featureof the train of miscellaneous people who came to a halt within earshotof a balcony in the main street. Henderson was carried upstairs onsome enthusiasts' shoulders, and when landed there followed the usual"gassating" and flattery--the re-elected member being presented with agorgeous bouquet of red, white, and blue flowers. 

A little farther up the street the Walkerites also held a"corroboree, " where graceful thanks were returned by the Oppositioncandidate, who was overloaded with offerings of blue and white violetsand narcissi, and amid great enthusiasm dragged in a buggy to therailway station. 

As they came down the street, though they had the intention of givingthree cheers for the victors as they passed, the rabble could not beexpected to anticipate such nicety of feeling, and some youngirresponsibles attempted to form a barricade across the route. 

"Charge!" was then called out by some braw young Walkerites in thelead, and mild confusion followed. 

I was knocked on to the wheel of Leslie Walker's buggy, from whence Iwas rescued by an old gentleman, himself minus his pipe and cap, butgood-humouredly laughing--

"My word! aren't the other side dying hard?"

"Take care you and I do not also die hard, " I replied, stepping out ofthe way of an idiot lad, who, dressed as a jester in Walker's colours, was sitting on a horse whose progress was blocked by the crowd, whichbegan jibing at the rider. 

Dawn, indignant at this, dashed forward like a beauteous andinfuriated Queen Boadicea, her cheeks red from excitement and thewinter air, and with her grandmother's flash in her eyes, exclaimed asshe took the bridle rein--

"Cowards, to torment a poor fellow!"

She attempted to lead the animal through, but the torches of the bandwere put before it and the indispensable red, white, and blue parasolsswirled in its face, till it reared and plunged frantically, catchingthe excited girl a blow on the shoulder with its chest. She mustinevitably have been knocked down in the street and been trampled uponbut for the intervention of a hand so timely that it seemed it musthave been on guard. 

Noonoon was by no means an architectural town, and the ugliness of itsalways dirty, uneven streets was now accentuated by the mud and rain, but the picture under the dripping flags shown up by the torches ofthe band was very pretty. 

The sturdy young athlete thus triumphantly in the right place at anecessitous moment, held his precious burden with ease and delight, and though she was not in any way hurt she did not seem in a hurry torelinquish the arm so willingly and proudly protecting her. Theexpression on the young man's face as he bent over the beautiful girlwas a revelation to some interested observers but not to me. 

Oh, lucky young lady! to be thus opportunely and romantically savedfrom a painful and humiliating if not serious accident!

Oh, happy knight! to be thus at hand at the psychologic moment!

And where was "Dora" Eweword then?

And where was _my_ rescuer? Apparently he had forgotten that he hadrescued me, or that to have done so was of moment. 

Ah, neither of us were in the heyday of youth, and 'tis only duringthat roseate period that we extract the full enchantment of beingalive, and only by looking back from paler days that we understand howintense were the joys gone by. 

TWENTY-FOUR. 

LITTLE ODDS AND ENDS OF LIFE. 

The electioneering over, the town fell to a dulness inconceivable, andfrom which it seemed nothing short of an earthquake could resuscitateit. So great was the lack of entertainment that the doings of thefamous Mrs Dr Tinker regained prominence, and the old complaintsagainst the inability of the council to better the roads awoke andcried again. 

Two days following Dawn's rescue from the accident, Ernest called uponme, and occupying one of the stiff chairs before the fireplace underthe Gorgonean representations of Jim Clay, looked hopelesslyself-conscious and inclined to blush like a schoolboy every time thedoor opened, but Dawn did not make her appearance. I knew he had comehoping that in averting the accident he had been able to illustratehis friendliness towards her, and that she would now meet him as ofold, so that the little incident of the wash-up water could beexplained and buried. At last, taking pity on the very natural younghope that was being deferred, I excused myself and went in quest ofDawn, and found her in her room sewing with ostentatious industry. 

"Dawn, won't you come down and speak to Ernest, he has called to seehow you are after your adventure, " I said with perfect truth, thoughas a matter of fact he had studiously refrained from mentioning her. 

"Oh, please don't ask me to go down, " she implored excitedly; "youseem to have forgotten!"

"Forgotten what?"

"That dish of water, " she faltered with changing colour, "and then hesaved me so cleverly from being trampled on! If he had ridden over meI wouldn't have cared, as it would have made things square; but as itis, can't you understand that I'd rather _die_ than see him?" said shein the exaggerated language of the day, and burying her face in herhands. 

"I can better understand that you are _dying_ to see him, " I returned, pulling her head on to my shoulder; "but never mind, you'll see himsome other day, and it will all come straight in time. "

I forbore to press her farther, but that Ernest might not be toodiscouraged I gave him some splendid oranges Andrew had picked for me, and said--

"Miss Dawn kept these for you, but as she is not visible thisafternoon I am going to make the presentation. "

His face perceptibly brightened, and also noticeable was the brisk wayhe terminated his call upon learning that there was no prospect ofseeing Dawn that day. I watched him bounding along the path to thebridge carrying the oranges in his handkerchief, and watched also byanother pair of eyes from an upstairs window. 

Carry left us during that week, and as she had now fixed herwedding-day the tax of wedding presents had to be met. Grandma, inbidding her good-bye, presented her with a generous cheque, and paidher a fine compliment. 

"I wish you well wherever you go, for I never saw another youngwoman--unless it was meself when I was young--who could lick you atanythink. "

Carry's departure put the cap on our quietude at Clay's, but soon amovement transpired to stir the stagnation. 

The out-voted electors of Noonoon were so galled by their defeat thatthey ignored the British law under which it was their boast to live, and refused to acknowledge that the man who had been voted in by themajority was constitutionally their representative in parliament. Theyalso failed to see that he would serve the purpose quite as well asthe other man, and to publish their sentiments more fully, determinedto tender Leslie Walker a complimentary entertainment of some kind, and present him with a piece of plate, not as the other side had it, in token of his defeat, but owing to the fact that he was actually therepresentative of Noonoon town, having in that place polled higherthan his opponent. The presentation took the shape of a silverepergne. This to a man who probably did not know what to do with thosehe already possessed, a wealthy stranger who had contested theelectorate for his own glory! Had he been a struggling townsman, who, at a loss to his business, had put up in hopes of benefiting hiscountry, to have paid his expenses might have shown a commendablespirit, but this was such a pure and simple example of greasing thefatted sow, that even those who had supported him openly rebelled, Grandma Clay among them. 

"Well, that's the way women crawl to a man because he's got a smoothtongue and a little polish, " sneered Uncle Jake. 

"And some of the men hadn't gumption to get the proper right to votefor their man who flew the publican's flag and truckled to thetag-rag, " chuckled grandma, who was delighted to prove that thisillustration of crawl had originated with the men. 

Nevertheless it was decided to present the epergne at a select concertor musical evening, with Mr and Mrs Leslie Walker sitting on theplatform, where the audience could gloat upon them. Dawn was asked tocontribute to the programme, and relieved her feelings to meforthwith. 

"The silly, crawling, ignorant fools!" she exclaimed. "The first itemon the programme is a solo by Miss Clay!!!" says the chairman, "andI'll come forward and squark. 'Next item, a recitation by MrsThing-amebob. ' Can't you just imagine it?" she said in inimitable andexasperated caricature from the folds of her silk kimono. "Goodheavens! to give a man like that an amateur concert like ours! Do youknow, they say he is the best amateur tenor in Australia, and his wifewas a comic opera singer before she married--so a girl was telling mewhere I get my singing lessons. You'd think even the galoots ofNoonoon wouldn't be so leather-headed but they'd know their lengthwell enough not to make fools of themselves in this way! _I_ know; whycan't they know too? They like these things themselves, and thinkothers ought to like them too. What do they want to be lickingWalker's boots at all for? We all voted and worked for him; that wasenough! It will just show you the way people will crawl to a bit ofmoney! Oh dear, how Walker must be grinning in his sleeve! I _won't_sing for them!"

But she was not to escape so easily. A member of the committee askedgrandma "Would she allow her granddaughter to contribute a solo?"

"Of course!" said the old lady. "Ain't I getting her singing lessonsto that end?" and down went the girl's name on the programme, andthere was war in the Clay household on that account. 

"I can't sing yet, " protested Dawn. "I can't sing in the old style, and can't manage the new style yet. "

"Rubbish!" said grandma, who could not be got to grasp the intricaciesof voice production. "What am I payin' good money away for? It's nearthree months now, and nothing to show for it yet. If you can't singnow, you ought to give it best at once; and if you can't sing a songfor Mr Walker, and show him you've got a better voice than some, Ithink it common-sense to stop your lessons at the end of the quarter. "

"My teacher wouldn't let me sing. "

"And who's the most to do with you, your teacher or me, pray? Who's_he_ to say when you shan't sing or the other thing?" and thus shedecided the point; but Dawn each night dwelt upon the trouble, while Isought to comfort her. 

"It is best to sing to the people who know all about singing. Theywill see you have a good voice and appreciate it far more than couldthe ignorant. "

A fortnight had to elapse before the date of the concert, and duringthat time Carry's successor arrived in the form of a stout "general, "as Dawn averred she had sufficient companion in me, and that a kitchenwoman was preferable to a lady help. 

The pruning of a portion of the vineyard, which had been delayed byelectioneering matters till now, also took place during this time, andAndrew and Uncle Jake, when working in the far corner, made theextraordinary discovery of an odontologic gold plate of the bestquality and in perfect order. The find created quite a sensation. 

As grandma said, it bore evidence that some one had been stealinggrapes during the season, for any person legitimately in the vineyardwould have instituted a search for such a valuable piece of property, and for a person who could afford such a first-class gold plate tosteal grapes, showed what _some people_ were. It did indeed, for thisperson had been wont to clandestinely enter her premises to perpetratea far lower grade of crime than pilfering her grapes or destroying hervineyard. The incident trickled into the columns of 'The NoonoonAdvertiser, ' in conjunction with the facetious remark that the invaderwould have had to take a lot of grapes to compensate him for what hehad lost; and it was further stated that the article being uselessexcept to him--its size bespoke it a man's--for whom it had beenmodelled, he could have it upon giving satisfactory proof that he wasthe owner. 

Needless to say, Mr Pornsch did not claim his property, and thissouvenir was the last we heard of him. Andrew took it to Mr S. Messre, dentist, the man who had seemed to consider it unprofessional that tofill my teeth should take time, and with him the lad bargained that inreturn for the plate he was to tinker up those teeth whose aching Ihad allayed with the carbolic acid prescribed for me by the otherdentist. 

Dawn and I chuckled in secret, sent a copy of 'The Noonoon Advertiser'to Carry, and remarked that it was an ill wind that blew no one anygood. 

During the fortnight preceding the concert, Ernest Breslaw called atClay's several times to see me, and saw me unattended by any extras inthe form of a beautiful young girl, for Dawn blushingly avoided him. He had to fall back on such outside skirmishing as rowing me on theriver, and though there was no longer an impending election to furnishhim with excuse for loitering in Noonoon, he did not speak ofdeserting it in a hurry. He had reached that degree of amorouscollapse when he could manage to shadow the haunts of his desiredyoung lady regardless of circumstances, and grandma began to suspectthat his attentions had a little more staying power than those of theweek-end admirer. 

Seeing that the "red-headed mug" had reappeared, in the hope ofpermanently extirpating him "Dora" Eweword was anxious to announce hisengagement, but with threats of immediate extermination if he shouldso much as give a hint of it, Dawn kept him in abeyance, andaltogether behaved so erratically that Andrew candidly published hisbelief that she had gone "ratty. "

Ernest proffered himself as our escort to the Walker presentation, butEweword having previously secured Dawn, Breslaw had to be satisfiedwith my company. I had already presented Andrew with a ticket, and asI could not now discard him, I resolved to ignore the injunctions tobe found in etiquette books, and accept attentions from two gentlemenat once. Thus it happened that I, at the despised grey-haired stage, sat in state with a most attentive cavalier on either hand, whilehandsome young ladies sat all alone. 

We had entered September, and the early flowers had lifted their headson every hand in this valley, where they grew in profusion, and thatevening were in evidence at women's throats, in men's coats, and inyoung girls' hair. The stage was a bower of heavenly scented bloom, and many among the audience held bouquets the size of a broccoli inreadiness for presentation to the guests of the evening. 

Ernest was holding the pony, which was restive, while Andrew buckledher to the sulky, when Dawn came upon the scene after the concert andpresented me with a huge bunch of flowers, and Eweword also got hisnag ready for home-going. Dawn had not met Ernest since the night inthe street, and even now affected not to notice him, so thinking ittime to take the situation by the horns, I said--

"Here is Mr Ernest; you didn't see him because he was standing in theshade. "

Thus encouraged, he came forward and sturdily put out his hand, andDawn could not very well fail to observe that, as it was ofsubstantial build and held where the light shone full on it, so shewas constrained to meet it with her own, and received, as sheafterwards confessed, a lingering and affectionate pressure. 

It was not of Ernest, however, but of Mrs Walker that she talked thatnight as we prepared for rest, with our washhand basins full ofviolets that had been crowded out of the quantity given to thedefeated candidate's wife. 

"Fancy being lovely like she is! After looking at her I've given upall hope. I suppose all I'm fit for is Mrs Eweword--Mrs 'Dora'Eweword; do my housework in the morning and take one of these sulkiesfull of youngsters for a drive in the afternoon like all the otherhumdrum, tame-hen, _respectable_ married women! It's a sweet prospect, isn't it?" she said vexedly, throwing herself on the bed. 

"Don't be absolutely absurd! Look in the glass and you will see a farmore beautiful face, and one possessed of other qualities that makefor success. "

"Oh, nonsense, you only say that to put me in a good humour. But howdo women find such good matches as Leslie Walker?--that's what I wantto know, " she continued. 

"Either by being beautiful or using strategic ability in the greatlottery. Mrs Walker probably used both these accomplishments. You canachieve similar results by means of the first without the necessity ofdeveloping the second. Silly girl, marry Leslie Walker's step-brother, Ernest Breslaw, and if you do not live happily ever after it will notbe because you have not been furnished with a better opportunity thanmost people. "

She did not remark the relationship I thus divulged, showing thatErnest's confidences must have included it. 

"A girl can't _make_ a man marry her, " was all she said. "I don't knowhow to use strategy, and wouldn't crawl to do such a thing if Icould. "

"Neither would I, but if I loved a man and saw that he loved me, I'dsecretly hoist a little flag of encouragement in some place where hecould see it, " I made reply. 

TWENTY-FIVE. 

"LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM. "

Next morning was gloriously spring-like; the violets raised theirheads in thick mats of blue and white in every available cranny of thegarden and other enclosures where they were allowed to assertthemselves, while other plants were opening their garlands to replacethem, and the air breathed such a note of balminess that Ernest cameto invite me to a boat-ride. 

To the practised eye there were certain indications that he hoped forDawn's company too, but this was out of the question, as underordinary circumstances it is rarely that girls in Dawn's walk of lifecan go pleasuring in the forenoon without previous warning, or whatwould become of the half-cooked midday dinner? So we set out byourselves, and as the boat shot out to the middle of the streambetween the peach orchards, just giving a hint of their coming glory, and past the erstwhile naked grape-canes, not cut away and replaced bya vivid green, the rower made a studiedly casual remark, "Your friendMiss Dawn spoke to me again at last. I wonder why on earth she threwthat dish of water on me; did she ever say that she had anythingagainst me?"

"No. If you could be a girl for half an hour you'd know that the manto whom she shows most favour is frequently the one she most despises, while he whom she ignores or ill-treats is the one she most warmlyregards. "

"How on earth is that?"

"Oh, a species of shyness like your own, which makes you talk freelyof Dawn and Ada Grosvenor, because you have no particular interest inthem, whereas there is some name you guard jealously from me, " Icunningly replied. 

"Is it true that Miss Dawn is engaged to Eweword? If she is let meknow in time to send her a wedding present. I'd like to, because she'syour friend, " he said with such elaborate unconcern that I haddifficulty in suppressing a smile. His step-brother, the dilettante, would never have been so clumsily transparent in a similar case. 

"Nonsense; she's as much engaged to you as to him, " I saidreassuringly, and that was all that passed between us on that subject. He energetically confined our conversation to the lovely odour fromthe lucerne fields we were passing on the river-bank, but I was notsurprised that the afternoon's post brought Dawn a letter thatsmothered her in blushes, and plunged her in a gay abstraction toocomplete for either Uncle Jake or Andrew to penetrate. 

When we were once more in our big room, commanding a view of theWestern mail with its cosy lights twinkling across the valley, sheextended me the privilege of perusing one of the simplest and moststraightforward avowals of love from a young man to a maiden it hasbeen my delight to encounter. 

 "DEAR MISS DAWN, --You will be very surprised at receiving such a letter from me, but I hope you will not be offended. I have loved you since the first day I saw you, but have kept it so well to myself that no one has suspected it, perhaps not even yourself. Will you be my wife? I love you better than life, and am willing to wait any number of years up to ten, if you can only give me hope of eventually winning you. I do not expect you to care for me at once, but if you can give me hope that you do not dislike me I shall be content to wait. You are so beautiful and good, I am afraid to ask you to marry me, but I would try hard to make you happy, and being in a position to live comfortably, you could continue any studies you like. " Here followed a most business-like and lucid statement of his affairs, and the ending--"Please do not keep me waiting long for a reply, and let me know if I am to interview your grandmother. I am sure I can satisfy her in regard to my position and antecedents. --Yours devotedly, "R. ERNEST BRESLAW. "

He was honest. Not fearing that his income might tempt a girl ofDawn's or indeed any other's station, he had in no way attempted totest her affection ere mentioning it. After the manner of histype--one of the best--he would place complete reliance where heloved, and feel sure of the same in return. 

"Good heavens! has he really all that money?" she exclaimed. 

"So I believe. "

"I'd be able to live the life I want, then. Learn to sing, have lovelydresses, and travel about. I'm not thinking only of his money, butdon't you think people who marry on nothing are fools and selfish? Awoman who marries a man who is only able to keep her and her childrenin starvation is a fool, and a man who wants a woman to suffer whatwives have to, and drudge in poverty, is a selfish brute--that's whatI've always thought. As for gassing about love when there's no comfortto keep it alive, that's about as foundationless as we, always beingsupposed to think men our superiors, even the ones a blind idiot couldsee are inferior. "

"Are you going to marry him?"

"I want to, but what on earth am I to do with 'Dora' Eweword?"

"Break his heart to keep Ernest's together?"

"Break _his_ heart! It's the style to break, isn't it? He can haveDora Cowper or Ada Grosvenor, they both want him. If grandma got windof the situation though, she'd put my pot on properly. She'd carry onlike fury, and let me have neither of them--that would be the end ofit. I can't make out why I fooled with that 'Dora' at all. I'll writeand ask Ernest to give me a week;" and with her characteristicpromptitude she sat down, and favoured a style as unadorned as that ofthe knight himself. 

 "DEAR MR ERNEST, --Your letter received. I care for you, but cannot give you a definite answer at once. There may be obstacles in the way of accepting your kind offer; if you will give me a week to consider matters, I will answer you definitely then. --Yours with love, DAWN. "

As she got into bed she said with a happy giggle, "He says he lovedme from the first day he saw me, and you thought he only came to seeyou!"

"Well, my dear, you can't expect people whose hearts are broken fromover-work, and whose hair is grey from want of love, to be as quick asbeautiful young ladies whose affairs have come to a happy head with asplendid young knight;" and what I inwardly thought was, that at allevents I had discovered the knight's symptoms long before he had doneso. 

"Would you like Mr Ernest and me to marry?" she asked. 

"Oh, I don't object, " I laconically replied. 

"Well, I'll marry him as soon as ever he likes if I can get rid of'Dora. ' I'll see 'Dora' and see if I can do it without a rumpus first, but if he hasn't got sense to be quiet, well, I won't give in withouta fight. Ernest mightn't like it if he knew, but I bet he will have tokeep dark about worse things on his part if I only knew, --he'sdifferent to ninety-nine per cent of men if he hasn't, " she said asshe opened the French lights wider to the crisp breath of scentednight and blew out the lamp. 

"You don't mind his hair being red now, do you?" I maliciouslyinquired in the darkness, and though she feigned sleep I knew thatowing to a delightful wakefulness another beside myself heard thesplendid music of the trains that night. The style of her breathingtold that she was still awake some hours later when the old moonclimbed high and came shining, shining down the valley, divided in twoby its noble river, and laid out in orchard and agricultural squares. The great silver light outlined the glorious hills that walled thewest away from the little towns and villages, and here and there agleaming white cluster of tombstones bespoke the graveyards whereslept the early pioneers and the folk who had followed them, and whichone by one, as opening buds or withered stalks, were settling theirlast earthly score. The little homesteads lay royally, peacefully freefrom danger of molestation amid their wealth of trees and vines. Cottages raised on piles, and vain in the distinction of smallprotruding gables, pretentiously called bay windows, and with keysrusting for want of use in the cheap patent door-locks, were quicklysuperseding the earlier dwellings. These squat old cots generally hadthresholds higher than the floors; their home-made slab doors knew nofastening but a latch with a string unfailingly on the outside day andnight, and with their beetling verandahs and tiny box skillions, werecrouchingly hard set upon the genial plain. 

TWENTY-SIX. 

"OFF WITH THE OLD. "

Dawn was not a procrastinator, so she lost no time in sending Eweworda message to meet her next night at eight at the corner of theGulagong Road for the purpose of a private talk. 

She was going to take something to Mrs Rooney-Molyneux and the baby asan excuse to be abroad at that hour of the night, and requested me toaccompany her, so that she would not be saddled with Andrew asprotector. We set out immediately after tea, and had time for a chatwith Mrs Rooney-Molyneux about her son. Both were enjoying goodhealth, thanks to the opportune arrival of a well-to-do sister, andthe fact that, in honour of an heir to his name, the father had latelyabstained from alcoholic drinks, and made an occasional pound bywriting letters for people. 

We had some trouble to dissuade him from escorting us home, butemerged at last without him, and within a few minutes of eighto'clock. 

The cloudless, breezeless night, though a little chilly, was heavywith the odours of spring and free from the asperity of frost. Theonly sounds breaking its stillness were the trains passing across thelong viaduct approaching the bridge. The vehicles which met from thetwo roads--the Great Western, leading in from Kangaroo, and theGulagong, coming from the thickly-populated valley down theriver-banks--had gone into town earlier for the Saturday nightpromenade, and we practically had to ourselves the broad highway, showing white in the soft starlight. 

I walked behind Dawn, and she, having found Eweword, who had beenfirst at the tryst, they came back towards the river a few hundredyards and stopped behind some shrubbery, while I took up a place onthe other side of it, as directed beforehand by this verybusiness-like young person, to act as witness in case of futuretrouble. 

"Well, Dawn, what has turned up?" said the young man after a pause. 

"There's something that might explain the situation better than a lotof talk. "

Claude, alias "Dora" Eweword, struck a match, and upon discovering thefragments of his engagement-ring in the piece of paper she had handedhim, was silent for a minute or two, and then said--

"Dawn, so you want it to be all off. I knew that this long while, andhave been mustering pluck to say so, but it seems you have got inbefore me. "

"Perhaps you were going to say you were pulling my leg like you didwith Dora Cowper?"

"No, I was not, " and his tone was exceedingly manly. "I was going tosay that, much as I care, I'd rather let you go free than hold you toyour agreement when I saw you didn't care for me. "

"You were mighty smart!"

"No, I'm only a dunce, but even a dunce can liven up sufficiently whenhe's in love to see whether his sweetheart cares for him or not, andyou didn't take much pains to hide the state of affairs, " he said witha rueful laugh. "I know enough about girls to know when they reallycare. "

"Practice, like, " said Dawn. 

"You can say that if you like, " he gravely replied. 

"Well, things were rather mixed, but now I know what I want. "

"And that you don't want me?" he interposed. 

"Well, you can marry Ada Grosvenor or Dora Cowper. "

"We can leave that to the future; it doesn't enter into this questionat all, " he said with a dignity that made the girl ashamed of herself. "There will be no difficulty about my marrying, the main thing iswhether you are all right. It's easier for a man than a girl if hedoes make a hash of it. "

"Oh, Claude, don't be so good and generous, or you'll make me madbecause I'm not going to have you after all. "

"Good and generous! Nonsense! I'm only doing what any decent fellowwould do; you'd do as much and more for me if things were reversed, "he said, taking her hand. "Great Scott, what sort of a crawler did youtake me for? Did you think I'd cut up nasty about it? Surely you knewI'd wish you well even if you were not for me; but won't you tell mewho it is that has put my light out?"

"Can't you guess?"

"Well, I suppose it's--"

"The red-headed mug, " put in Dawn. 

"Yes, I saw it all along, but that night in the street finishedmatters. I knew my chances were as dead as a door-nail after that. Youonly took me because something went out of gear between you, andthat's why you made me keep it dark. "

"Oh, I don't want to say that, Claude. "

"No, but I'm saying it; and now, is there anything else I can do foryou except wish you luck?"

"Only promise not to let grandma or any one know. "

"Did you think it necessary to tell me that. I'd not be likely to howlabout my set-back. You needn't fear. I'll act with common-sense, andpull through. I won't drown myself and haunt you, or any of that sortof business, " he said cheerfully. 

"Oh, thank you more than I can say, " she exclaimed enthusiastically;"I hope you'll soon find some one better than I--some one as good asyourself. Good-bye!"

"Well, Dawn, I wish you joy anyhow, and good luck to the fellow whohas got the best of me. He seems an alright sort from what I can makeout, and will be able to give you everything you want. Good-bye!" Hedrew her to him, and as she did not resist, kissed her warmly on thecheek, and let her go. He wanted to see her to her gate, but shedismissed him, and he walked away through the spring night whistling acheery air. When he was safely gone I came out from hiding, and takingDawn's arm moved homewards. 

The girl was weeping, but so softly that I was not aware of it tillher warm tears fell on my hand. 

Oh, the never-ending fret and fume of being! When it is not discardedlove or jealousy that is agitating the human bosom, it is unsatisfiedambition, the worry of parental responsibility, or loneliness andregret that one has never tasted them. The past--what has it been? Thefuture--what will it be? The present--what does it matter? but athousand curses on its pin-pricks, wounding like sword-thrusts, andwhich all must endure!

"Oh dear, I wish he hadn't been so nice, " sobbed the girl. "He hasmade me feel so ashamed that I don't think I'm fit to marry Ernest! Iwish he had been nasty to me, and then I wouldn't have cared. But youdon't think he cares, do you? Listen to him whistling so merrily!"

"It is not those who whine loudest who feel most. "

"But men don't really have any feelings in this sort of thing, dothey?"

"Feeling is not peculiar to any section or sex of the community, butto a percentage of all humanity. This is my belief, but I cannotattempt to judge which feel and which do not. "

"Who would have dreamt of him being so sweet-natured about it?"

"Nobility of character and unselfishness are also traits we cannotfind in any set place. "

"I wish I hadn't been such a cat. I can't forgive myself. "

I smiled happily as Eweword's action bespoke a character more inkeeping with his imposing physique than that betrayed when he hadvulgarly spoken of pulling a girl's leg. That had been like seeing abeautiful house occupied by nothing but poachers, and I lovedhumanity, so that it always hurt to see even the meanest individual doless than their best. 

"Well, cheer up, " I said. "Take care not to similarly transgressagain. We all are constantly committing regrettable actions, but solong as we are careful not to repeat them we may hope to make someheadway. "

So the knight received a favourable reply, and the man supplanted byhim went another way. 

TWENTY-SEVEN. 

 "One might think better of marriage if one's married friends would not confide in one so much. "--_Reflections of a Bachelor Girl. _

Mrs Martha Clay proved a little obstreperous in regard to ErnestBreslaw filling the position of grandson-in-law. 

"You always get what you don't want, " said she; "an' that's why one ofthe same class as treated me daughter so shocking is now to bepesterin' me for me grandchild in the same way. A girl of the decentclass wants to look a long time before she leaps with one of themswells. They just take to a girl out of their own click out of thecontrariness of human nature, and then by-and-by give 'em a dog'slife. I know there's bad in all classes, but them upstarts have somuch more licence to be up to bad capers, --that's where it comes in. And anyhow I ain't breakin' me neck to have Dawn married. None of mypeople ever had any trouble to get married, an' she can wait a bit an'look round an' see if this feller can stand the test of waitin', "concluded the old dame, with the light of conflict in her steel-blueeye. 

Fortunately I was able to bring forward a seductive statement of thecase. Walker--the man who had made the money for Breslaw and hisstep-brother--had been a grand level-headed old labourer, and thoughhis sons had been educated in the great English schools, they werenot far removed from honest utilitarian folk, and owing to this, andin conjunction with Dawn, when her real name was divulged, --being adaughter of one of the "old families, " to wit, the Mudeheepes ofMenangle, the old dame consented to be reconciled. 

Now that the oppression of Carry had been removed, Mrs Bray came overand beamed upon us in her usual inspiriting way. 

The electioneering gossip having died out, she reopened the old budgetconcerning the misdoings of the Noonoon aristocracy, and once more thename of Mrs Tinker figured so largely on the bill that I deeplyregretted my inability to encounter this much-discussed individual. 

However, when Dawn flung into the quiet pool the bomb of herapproaching wedding with one of the best "catches" of New South Wales, all other topics faded into insignificance, and every woman who hadthe slightest acquaintance with the bride-elect called on her to warnher against the horrors to be discovered after she had irrevocablytaken the contemplated step in the dark. 

As Dawn was going to take it speedily, they were very enthusiastic andunanimous in their evidence against the married state under presentconditions, and the thoughtful student of life on listening to thetestimony of these women of the respectable useful class, supposed tobe comfortably and happily married, will know that notwithstanding thegreat epoch of female enfranchisement the workers for the cause ofwomen have yet no time for rest. 

Dawn was so visibly worried by the revelations made to her in the mostnatural way, that grandma grew concerned and published her mind onthe subject. 

"Women ought to hold their tongues and let young girls come to thingsgradual. To have it thrust upon them sudden is too much of aeye-opener for them. The way women tell how their husbands treat themnowadays is surprisin'. We all know that with the best of men marriageain't a path of roses, but in my day women kep' it to theirselves. They suffered it in silence and thought it was the right thing, butthey're getting too much sense now; and perhaps all this cryin' outagainst it will be a means to an end, for a grievance can't beremedied till it's aired, that's for certain, " said she. 

Mrs Bray was in great form during those days, and though herassertions frequently lacked logic, and betrayed in her the veryshortcomings which she railed against in men, nevertheless I likedher, for she blurted out that with which the little quiet woman rulesby keeping it in the background, well hidden under seeming humility. 

"Look here, Dawn, " said she on one of these occasions, "when you get ahome of your own, take my advice and don't never let no other woman init. You can't, seein' what men are. There's no trustin' none of them, and if you think you can you'll find yourself sold. And try soon asever you're married to get something into your own hands, as a marriedwoman is helpless to earn her livin'; and once you have any childrenyou're right at the mercy of a man, and if he ain't pleased with youin every way you're in a pretty fix, because the law upholds men inevery way. If you don't feel inclined to be their abject slave theycan even take your children from you, and what do you think of that?It shows we ain't got the vote none too soon, I reckon! I'm not sayin'that you'll get that kind of a crawler; some of them is good, --a jollysight better than some of the women, --but the most, when you come tolive with them, is as hard as nails. They don't know how to be nothingelse. They never know what it is to be quite helpless and dependent, so what do they care. They just glory and triumph over women bein'under them, because they know there's nothing to bring them down, andyou want to set your wits to get some hold on a man, --he has plenty onyou by law and everything else, --get some property or something inyour name so that he can't make a dishcloth of you altogether. Bein'rich you'll have a somewhat easier time, but it's when you've gotmountains of work, when you ain't feelin' as strong as Sandow for it, an' have one child at your skirts an' another in your arms, an' yourhusband to think women ain't intended for nothink better, --that thisis God's design for 'em, like most men do, --it's then that marriedlife ain't the heaven some young girls think it's goin' to be. Thisain't a description of no uncommon case but among them all around you, and supposed to be the fortunate ones. I think girls want warnin', sothey ain't goin' into it with their eyes shut. "

The picture painted by this lady was duplicated by sadder pictures ofthe small worn type, and some weeks of this brought us to advancedspring and a bride-to-be so worried and unhappy that she had lost herappetite and the roses from her cheeks, and grew visibly thinner. 

Ernest, who managed to snatch a little time from worshipping hisbride-elect wherein to superintend the furnishing of his house, wasexceedingly sensitive that his affianced should look so perceptiblymiserable. 

"Do you think she doesn't care for me, and would like to be released?I'd rather die than marry her if she doesn't want me, " he would say, sometimes with haughtiness and more often with anger. "Good gracious!I don't know why she thinks I'm going to belong to the criminal class. Goodness knows, if I were to judge her the same way there are plentywives would scare even a Hottentot from matrimony, and if I were toexpress to Dawn any fears of her being similar, I bet you'd hear ofour engagement coming to a sudden death. You seem to understand herbetter than I do, so say a good word for me if you can. "

My opinion of him being so high, saying a word in his favour gave medelight, and I took the first opportunity of saying a good many. Atthe end of one day, after Dawn had been subjected to a particularlygruesome account of what she might expect, I found her face downwardson her bed, weeping bitterly, and elicited--

"I'm going to tell Ernest to-morrow that I won't marry him. It's tooterrible--they all tell you the same. I'd rather earn my living insome other way while I'm able. I'd rather throw up the thing now whenmost of my trousseau is ready than go on if one quarter of what theysay is true. I'm not one of those fools who think life is going toturn out something special for me. Before these women were married Isuppose they thought their husbands were going to be kings, but seehow they have panned out, and why should I expect any better?"

Time had arrived to take the subject in both hands, so I gripped itfirmly. 

"You must be thankful to gain one point at a time, " I said, beginningwith the lightest end of my argument. "A little while since you fearedyou were fated for the life of those around--household drudgery, withan occasional sulky drive in the afternoon; now that you have escapedthat prospect you are haunted by worse possibilities. No doubt youhear some saddening and deplorable stories, for some of the lawsrelating to marriage are degrading, and the lot of the married womanin the working class where she is wife, mother, cook, laundress, needlewoman, charwoman, and often many other things combined, is themost heartbreakingly cruel and tortured slavery; but you are escapingthe probability of such a purgatorial existence. Take comfort inknowing that a great percentage of men are infinitely superior to thelaws under which they live, because law is determined by publicopinion, and though it restrains and modifies public behaviour it willnot mould private character. Law is shaped for the masses, but thereis a small percentage of individuals in either sex who are superior toany workable law, and I think Ernest Breslaw is one of these. "

"Do you?" she said, sitting up eagerly. "Would you marry him withoutany fear if you were me?"

"I would--right at once. In spite of all its shortcomings I have aprofound belief that not woman, as the poet has it, but all humanity--

 'Holds something sacred, something undefiled, Some quenchless gleam of the celestial light. '"

The rain that was temporarily washing the perfume from the flowerspattered against the window-panes and accentuated the silence, till Iadded--

"I will tell you my history some day, so that you may see that when Ihave belief in my fellows how little reason you have to fear. I havebeen an actress, you know. "

"Yes; Ernest told me. "

"Well, I'll tell you about it one day. " I did not mention that I hadexpressly requested Ernest to keep my past a secret. However, I wasnot displeased that he had been unable to do so. If a man of hisinexperience, and in the zenith of his first overwhelming passion, hadbeen able to keep such a secret in the teeth of his love's wheedling, he would have proved himself of the stuff to make an ambassadorialdiplomat, but not of the calibre to be the affectionate, domesticatedhusband, having no interests of which his wife might not becognisant--the only character to whom I could without misgivingentrust the hot-headed Dawn. 

TWENTY-EIGHT. 

LET THERE BE LOVE. 

I so nearly "pegged out" with an attack that fell to my lot a littletime after the election, that Dr Smalley considered it advisable tosummon Dr Tinker to a consultation, but sad to say I was too comatoseto have become acquainted with the husband of the famous Mrs Tinker, whose individuality afforded considerable interest, because it wasvery conspicuous when surrounded by the neutrality of life in Noonoon. However, with the aid of some "powltices" constructed by Grandma Clayand energetically applied by Mrs Bray, and because my hour had not yetcome, against the time when we slid into a splendid October I wastottering about once more. 

During my time of confinement the old valley had put on its finishingtouches of spring glory. Only a few golden oranges now remained on thetrees, and amid the bright green leaves were thick clusters of waxybloom. The perfume from them was heavenly, and sometimes almost toopowerful after the sun had toppled behind the great level-browed rangewhich, viewed from the plain, guarded the west of the valley ofNoonoon like a mighty wall. Some of the land had been cultivated for acentury without attention to artificial renewal of its fertility, butstill it gave forth a wondrous variety and wealth of vegetation. Thewidespreading cedars hung out their scented bloom like heliotropeflags amid surrounding greenery of pine, plane, poplar, and loquat, and the peach and apricot orchards contributed banks of their delicateflowers, which in the glory of their massed bloom could haveout-Japanned Japan. Along the lanes, where their stones had beenthrown, they sprang up and bloomed and bore liberally; roses of manykinds and colours clambered up verandah posts and peeped over fences;the garden plots were like compressed bouquets; the brilliant, graceful, and exquisitely perfumed pink oleanders grew wild in thefields; and altogether the vale of melons had graduated to a valley offlowers. 

The days had stretched out so that the mail from the far West trundleddown the mountains in time to cross the queer old bridge across theNoonoon at daybreak, and the first beams of morning turned its windowsto gold as the waking flowers were lifting their dew-drenched headsand the soft white mists were dispersing themselves betimes from theplains dotted with ramshackle little homes and cut into squares bybarbed-wire fences. The weather had warmed, so that the fashionables'week-end exit to the cool Blue Mountains had begun; and the youngstersnear the railway line sometimes left their play and stood agape in thesoft twilight to watch the governor's car, painted in a strikinglydifferent colour to all the others and emblazoned with the Britishcoat of arms, go by. 

Uncle Jake, a hired man, and Andrew were very busy on the farm, and wenone the less engaged in the house, where every article of furniturewas made a receptacle for drapery and haberdashery, and where thewedding was the only subject. It so often gave Andrew the "pip" thathis constitution must have been seriously impaired by such frequentattacks of this complaint. 

In those days Dawn was too engrossed to take me for drives, and Ernesttoo occupied to pull me on the historic stretch of water running likethe moats of old beside his lady's castle, so that Ada Grosvenor, inher office of doing good to all with whom she came in contact, steppedinto the breach, and sought to aid my recovery by taking me for gentleexercise. 

It was one day when we had driven east from Noonoon that sheremarked--

"It's a wonder that Mr Breslaw would care for Dawn's style when hemoves in such a smart set. She is a handsome girl, which covers amultitude of sins in that respect, but still she is very downright, and--and, well, doesn't quite conform to the rules of refinement. "

I only smiled, and waited till the pony's head was turned for home, when I covered the necessity for reply by admiring the incomparablepanorama before us. From the altitude we had reached on the Sydneyroad, we could see above the unbroken line of the horizon west fromNoonoon town, and the Blue Australian Mountains stretched across theview in an endless succession of round-topped peaks painted in theirmatchless cerulean tints, which, near the end of day, were royal intheir splendour. For a hundred miles they reigned supreme before thefringe of the endless plains was reached--peak after peak, gorge ongorge, tier upon tier of beetling walls of rock, disclosing dimshadowy gullies clothed with greenery and ferns where aboundedcascades of water and dewy springs in romantic and unrivalledsolitude. The sun, surrounded by a gorgeous pageant of flame andgold, rested his chin on one of the peaks as though well pleased withthe glowing snowless scene that his offices had in part created, andlingered a moment ere giving it up to the eager night. She sent herforerunners, --twilight, which paled the wondrous blues, and dusk, thatleft the mountains shadowy and indistinct, when the lady of darknessherself rubbed them right out of the great canvas, and left it nocoloured beauty but the gleam of the far stars overhead and the tinyman-made lights below, which, showing from the windows of the littlehomesteads creeping up the mountain-sides, twinkled like pointsbetween earth and sky. 

Miss Grosvenor made no further comment regarding Dawn's probableinability to rise to the demands of smart society. Only inexperiencehad caused her to make any. Ernest fluttered in the smart set; he andI were familiar with it; Miss Grosvenor was not, therefore we weredisillusioned and she was not. 

We knew that the acme of refinement and culture might possibly befound in the smart set, but that it was a very small island, surrounded by a very large sea of other styles which spoke nothing somuch as squandered opportunities. We knew girls too superior to dressthemselves without a maid, yet who rolled tipsy to bed after everychampagne orgy; supercilious and much-paragraphed misses educated inEngland, finished in Paris, and presented at Court, but who used moreslang than grooms; while an expensive education did not raise theirbrothers above ribaldry and other vulgar excesses. Ernest and I knew abeautiful, honest, intelligent girl when we had the good fortune tomeet her, and had no fears that she could not hold her own in goodsets, let alone in the smarter ones of colonial or any otherfashionable society, where the majority were animated by nothinghigher than an insane and inane pursuit of something to kill time. 

Besides, it was wonderful how Dawn suddenly eschewed slang andconspicuous violation of syntax, as she could easily do, for she hadbeen somewhat educated in a school patronised by the Australian _beaumonde_. Had not her grandma told me of the magnitude of her educationwhen I had first arrived? and did she not constantly repeat the storynow? For having survived the fear of Ernest being too aristocratic, she took pride in his worldly possessions and position, andcharacterised him as "more likely than most, if he only turns out trueto name, which in the case of husbands is as rare as bought seedpotatoes turnin' out what they're supposed to be; but there ain't anygood of meeting troubles half-way. "

As the wedding preparations made so much bother, grandma got in awoman to clean and another to sew, and determined to admit no summerboarders until after Christmas. 

"I can do without 'em, only I like to see money changin' hands quickerthan happens with a farm, " said she; while also, in consideration ofthe wedding, the doors, whose opening and shutting had been obstructedby the ravages of the white ants, were at last satisfactorilyrepaired. 

Dawn, after the manner of most youthful brides, was desirous of thefull torture of "keeping up" her wedding, while Ernest, as usual withbridegrooms, so shrunk from display that he would have paid half ayear's income to escape it; but it was only to me he made thisconfession, to Dawn he was manfully unselfish, allowing her full reinand agreeably falling in with her requirements. 

I did not think much of fussy weddings, but these were such asplendid pair of young things that I was pleased to endure thepreparations with a smile instead of a sigh, and contribute some oldsilks and laces towards the trousseau; while a few dainty andexpensive trifles, sent to me from a traveller over the sea, found aplace in the furnishing of the bride's boudoir. 

Like all strictly reared girls, a certain prudishness at first causedDawn to shrink from her love as something that should be resisted, butas her wedding-day drew near her heart grew more at peace regardingher contemplated change of life, and unfolded to the enchantinginfluence of youth's master passion. The roseate mists it weavesbefore the vision of its happy and willing victims, blunted even thisgirl's exceptional and matter-of-fact perspicacity, and with her earsgrown suddenly deaf to those who had at first alarmed her by therecapitulation of their unfortunate practical and disillusioningexperiences, looked out towards a future beautified with as manyshades of blue as the mountain ramparts beyond the river flowing byher door. There was no hitch to speak of. Grandma, being one of abygone brigade, enforced the almost obsolete rule of a chaperon, andthe two evils in this case being represented by Andrew and me, Dawnconsidered me the lesser, and installed me in the office known by theirreverent as "gooseberrying. "

Mostly it is a thankless and objectionable undertaking, but in thisinstance it was delightful, and we three spent a kind of antenuptialhoneymoon that was an experience to be appreciated with a warm glow byone whom the world has all gone by. 

I suddenly developed a latent artistic ambition, and no subject woulddo for my brush but the exquisite scenes far up the quiet river, whereits deep clear pools lay like basins under the overhanging cliffs, and numerous species of beautiful flowering creepers clambered overthe cool brown rocks shaded by the turpentine and gum-trees, ti-tree, wild cotton-bush, native hibiscus, and an endless variety of trees andshrubs getting a foothold in the crevices. These nooks, owing to therugged and precipitous country, could only be reached by water, soErnest rowed me up by boat and Dawn went with me for company, for thusdo we live the best of our lives under pretence of trivial outsideactions. The river was dotted with other boaters on these summerafternoons, and Grandma Clay's "Best Boats on the River" were seldomidle, while Uncle Jake was also occupied in collecting the tariff fromthose who hired them, and in seeing that the boats themselves weresafely moored again after their jaunts. 

I fear that I may have been a better chaperon from Dawn's point ofview than from grandma's, but even chaperons, however great theirdiplomacy, cannot well serve two mistresses. While I sketched, theyoung couple made horticultural expeditions up the river-banks wherethe cliffs were not too precipitous, and though they went beyond mysight and hearing, and after a couple of hours' absence returned withno better specimens of ferns and flowers than were to be pluckedwithin a stone's-throw of the boat, I failed to remark it. They wereequally lenient in the matter of my feeble sketches, which neverprogressed beyond a certain stage, and which could have been equallywell perpetrated at home from memory, for all the justice they did theexquisite little gems of the picturesque river scenery. Grandma Clay, however, thought them fine, and as the demand for them was not likelyto be greater than the supply, I generously presented her with one, unfinished and all though it was, and which she "hung on the line"with Jim Clay; and no doubt it was not so great a caricature of thebeauty of the Noonoon as the "enlargements" were of the comeliness oftheir dead original in the days when he had told life's sweetest storyto the dashing damsel who could handle her coaching team of five withas much complacence as her granddaughter drove her small fat pony inthe little yellow sulky about the execrably rough but level roads ofNoonoon municipality. 

This month of real orange blossoms was a time of moonlight, andregardless of the fact that the river scenes were at their best forreproduction on canvas, when the sun was high enough above the gorgesto send great quivering shafts of sunlight between the tree-trunksdeep into the heart of the pools, and to cast the shadow of the gumleaves in lace-like patterns on their surface, we sometimes delayedour setting out till close upon sundown, and took a billy[2] andprovisions, intent upon having our tea on the rocks under the trees byNoonoon's banks. 

[Footnote 2: A tin pail. ]

Ah! glorious summer hours on the happy Noonoon, amid-stream, bright inthe hot afternoon sun, cool by the edges where the lilies and reedsabounded, and the beetling cliffs and the limitless eucalypti flungtheir shade. 

There was a joy in going abroad when the sun was nearly on the bluewall of mountain, and its oblique beams poured a golden mist over theblossoming orangeries, the milk-white spiræa in Clay's drive, andintensified the gorgeous red of the regal pomegranate blooms showingagainst the heliotrope on the lower limbs of the umbrageous cedars. Coming down the little pathway gained by the creaking garden gate, weshot out from among the drooping willows, the steerswoman turning herface up-stream where, in a southerly direction, the ranges were cut ina great V-shaped rift that let the waters through. Anxious to escapefrom the company and critical observation of the garden species of thelocal boater, we went a long way up-stream. Seven or eight miles werebut a bagatelle to the amateur sculling champion of the State thatheld the world's championship, and he pulled his freight past theevidence of husbandmen, past the straight historic stretch where theCanadian champion had lost his laurels to New South Wales; on, on thestrong arms took the craft till a wall of mountain loomed straightacross our way, and the river had every appearance of coming to asudden end, but round a sudden surprising elbow we went till a similarprospect confronted the navigator, and the river came round another ofits many angles. On, on we steered till the warm rich scent from theflowering vineyards was left behind and the sound of the trains couldnot be heard. Far up the ravines beyond the pasture lands and men'shabitations, we found the desired privacy, and the solitude was brokenonly by the dip of the oars, the flash of an occasional water-fowl, the cry of some night-bird, or the "plopping" of the fishes thatAndrew could never catch as they fell back after rising to snatch someunwary insect. The gentle breezes sighing down the gullies, dim andlone in the eerie moonlight, were laden with the scent of wattle andother native flowers, and otherwise fresh and sweet with theinexpressible purity of summer night on the great unbroken bush-land. In such dryad-like resorts we were tempted to dawdle so long that thebig hours of the evening frequently found us still on the breast ofthe river. I was wont to recline on an impromptu couch of rugs in thebottom of the well-built craft identified with our excursions, where Icould feign to be asleep. At first Dawn suspected me of onlypretending, but I was so emphatic in declaring that the fresh air andmotion of the boat induced the sleep I could not woo in bed, that theygrew to believe me, and carefully covering me from mosquitoes, itbecame invariable that at a certain distance on our homeward way therower relinquished rowing, the steerer stopped steering, and the boatdrifted down-stream with the gentle flow, while two-thirds of itsoccupants tasted of the elixir--

 "That burns beneath the beauty of the rose, And in the hearts of youth and maiden glows, And fills and thrills the world with life and light, And is the soul of all that breathes and grows. "

And what did the old moon see in that peaceful valley ere she sankbehind the great primeval gum-tree forests on the mountain crests, across which zigzagged the noisy trains? There were heavy crops aboveground, vineyards abloom, orchards forming fruit, hundreds ofcomfortable homes, and no doubt many pairs of lovers abroad, forlovers love their friend the gentle moon; but none were more fittedfor love's consummation than the two drifting on the old river whoselimpid waters never again "shall blacken below, spear and the shadowof spear, bow and the shadow of bow, " and which, after rushing atortuous way between its wild gorges, steadies by the old settlementon the plain, and saunters smooth and straight and deep a spacebetween fertile banks gardened with lucerne fields, orchards of peachand apricot, and delightful orange groves. The air was intoxicatinglyheavy with the exquisite perfume of these bridal blooms, and thesoft-scented breezes laughed as they too kissed the close-pressed lipsof the fair young pair who--

 "Gathered the blossom that rebloom'd, and drank The magic cup that filled itself anew. "

Ah! Love's idyllic hours on the breast of a grandly gliding river, when the dews were on the flowers, and all was enchantingly sweet andfair under the sleep-time silver of a southern summer moon!

TWENTY-NINE. 

 "The savage sells or exchanges his daughter, but in civilisation the man gives his away, and is thankful for the opportunity. "--_Reflections of a Bachelor Girl. _

Dawn took a great deal of her own way, Ernest and I were privileged tomake suggestions so long as we were careful to remember ourinsignificance, and grandma saw to it that her lawful rights were notaltogether usurped. 

Occasionally it fell to my lot to act in a slightly mediatorialcapacity, owing to the divergence of the swell wishes of thebridegroom-elect, and the plebeian determination of hisgrandmother-in-law to be, regarding the wedding celebrations, butErnest was exceptionally unselfish and therefore very long-suffering. 

Dawn being under age, her grandmother came forward with a project thather father should be apprised of what was transpiring, requested togive his daughter away, and to bring some of his side of the house tothe wedding. Dawn raised vigorous opposition. 

"It would be like my father's presumption to interfere in any way, considering his career with my mother. I hate him for a mean coward. He's the very style of man I'd be ashamed to acknowledge as anacquaintance yet alone own as a _father_! I'd like to see him dare togive me away, --he'd have to own me first!"

"Well, Jake, there, will have to give you away then, " said grandma. 

"I'd give _him_ away with pleasure, " replied Dawn. "If I _must_ be_given_ away like a slave or animal, you'll give me away grandma, orI'll stay where I am. 'Who giveth this woman to be married to thisman?' the old parson will ask; why won't he also ask, 'Who giveth thisman?' as if he too were only a chattel belonging to some one?"

That she would be disposed of by no one but her grandmother ratherpleased the old lady than otherwise; so she invested in yet anotherblack silk gown, over which she was to wear a seldom seen cape ofpoint lace worked by Dawn's mother; and she also purchased a wonderfulbonnet, and armed herself with a new pair of "lastings. " Thus Dawn wasto have her way in this particular, but the old dame adhered to heroriginal intention in the matter of the Mudeheepes. 

"I've kep' 'em at bay long enough now. I'll just acknowledge 'em thisonce, or it will seem as if you was a 'illegitimate, '" said she in theplenitude of her worldly wisdom, and thereupon "writ" a stiff thoughnot discourteous letter to Dawn's father, inviting any number of thebride's relatives up to six, to come and spend a week before thewedding in her home, for the purpose of making Dawn's acquaintance. 

"There, I have done me duty, and they can suit theirselves whetherthey come or go to Halifax, " she remarked as she despatched thecommunication. 

They came. Dawn's father, his second wife, and his youngest sister, Miss Mudeheepe, arrived three days before the wedding and remained tograce the ceremony. 

Dawn, being a mere girl, perhaps it was Ernest's wealth and positioninduced them to meet Mrs Martha Clay's overture, for they werethorough snobs, but if they had come prepared to patronise, theirintention was killed ere it bore fruit. 

The hostess hired the town 'bus to convey them from the station, anddespatched Andrew, with many injunctions to "conduct hisself withreason, " to meet them there, while she and Dawn waited to receive themon one of the old porches. It was a bower of roses and pot-plants, andfurther shaded by a graceful pepper-tree, and made a beautiful framefor the grandmother and the maiden, --the old dame so straight andvigorous, the girl as roseate and fresh as her name, but each equallyhaughty and bent upon maintaining their iron independence of thepeople who had discarded the girl and her mother ere the former hadbeen born. 

Personal appearance was much in their favour, and no practised belleof thirty could have held her own better than the inexperienced girlof nineteen, whose native wit and downright honesty of purpose weremore than equal to all the diplomacy of thrust and parry to be gainedby living in society. Her stepmother, who was apparently asgood-natured as she seemed brainless, was prepared to be gushing, butthat was nipped in the bud by the way Dawn extended her pretty, firmhand with the dimpling wrist and knuckles and exquisitely taperingfingers. 

Her father and aunt, who were tall and angular, with thin faces ofdull expression, met a similar reception, and she presented them to meherself, explaining that I was a very dear friend with her for thewedding. 

I had long since risen from a boarder to be a guest and friend of thehouse, and it had devolved upon me to exhibit the presents andinterview the endless callers at this time of nine days' wonder. 

It being hot, the ladies retired to doff their hats ere partaking ofafternoon tea, and Dawn took her father's hat while he trumpeted inhis handkerchief and attempted a few commonplace platitudes from thebiggest and stiffest arm-chair in the "parler, " into which he hadsubsided. I left the room, but could hear him from where I stoodawaiting the ladies' reappearance, one from the room that had beenMiss Flipp's and the other from the one I had at first occupied, andMr George Mudeheepe was to occupy the third one of these apartments, which had been empty since the tragedy. 

"Dawn, my dear, you are your mother once again, " he said with a sigh;"I have never seen you, and now you are sufficiently grown to bemarried. "

"Yes, " said the girl. 

"Will you give me a kiss?"

"I'd rather not. You see you are only a stranger to me. I have neverheard of you only as the man who was a monster to my mother. I neversaw her, but I remember to love her for what she did for me, whereasyou, what did you do for her and me? I would like you to understandhow I feel on this subject, so that there can be no mistake, " said thegirl honestly. 

"Oh, well, I didn't come here to be told that, but to give consent toyour marriage. "

"Oh!" said the girl, rearing the pretty head with its wealth of brighthair, "as for that, I'm going to marry. If you like to exercise yourauthority I'll run away and you can't unmarry me. It is at grandma'swish you are here; she said to let old bitterness sleep for the timeyou are here, and so I will now that I have explained that I utterlyrefuse to recognise that a father is anything but a stranger unless hedischarges the responsibilities of the office. For the sake of therace I maintain this ground, " she concluded in words that had been putinto her mouth by one of the speakers at Ada Grosvenor's electionleague, and the appearance of the ladies put an end to furthercontention. 

Dawn's judgments were remorseless, as becoming clean-souled, fearlessyouth as yet unacquainted with the great gulf 'twixt the ideal andreal, and untainted by that charity and complaisance which, likesenility, come with advancing years. 

The aunt was elderly and unprepossessing, and the stepmother of thetype bespeaking champagne and too much eating for the exercise taken, for her head was partly sunk in a huge mass of adipose substance thathad once been bosom, and the other proportions of her figure were inkeeping. 

The cups were spread in the dining-room, so thither we repaired to eatand drink while representations of Jim Clay and Jake Sorrel, senior, who had wept for the sufferings of the convicts, glowered down uponthe gathering of plebeians who were half swells and the swells whowere wholly plebeian. 

Presently grandma and I excused ourselves and left Dawn with herrelations. 

"What do you think of 'em? Are they any better than Dawn an' me?" saidthe old dame as we got out of hearing. "How do I compare with that oldsack of charcoal?"

Ay, how did she compare? As a slight, active, handsome woman, stillvigorous at seventy-six, with one who, though thirty years her junior, wasalready almost helpless from obesity and natural clumsiness, --that's howshe compared!

"Them's some of the swells for you--one of the 'old families, ' whothink they're made of different stuff to you an' me. What do you thinkof Dawn, Jim Clay's granddaughter, who drove the coach, when placedbeside her aunt, the granddaughter of an admiral in the army?"

"She looks as though Jim Clay had been a general in the navy and shehad done justice to her heredity, " I gravely replied. 

"Andrew, come here an' tell me how you managed 'em, an' what you thinkof the great bugs now you've seen 'em, " commanded the old lady of thatindividual, as he emerged from the kitchen with both hands full ofcake. 

"Did you walk up to 'em an' say, 'Are you Mr and Mrs Mudeheepe, I'mMrs Clay's grandson?' like I told you. "

"No; I seen it on their luggage without arskin' them, an' one look at'em was enough for me. I didn't bother tellin' 'em who I was. I didn'tcare if they had fell down an' broke their necks--the bloomin'long-nosed old goats! I just took hold of their things an' flung 'emin the 'bus, and the old fat one she says, 'Are you Mrs Clay's groom?'an' I says, 'Mrs Clay is my grandma, ' an' she says, 'Oh'!"

"Well, you might have introduced yourself a bit better to make thingsmore agreeabler, but they really are the untakin'est people I've seenfor a long time. Ain't I delighted that Dawn took after my side! An'now, though she's me own, do you think I'm over conceited to think herfit for the king's son?"

"Certainly not, " I replied; for it would have taken a very estimableson of a king to be meet for this Princess of the Break-of-Day, appropriately christened Dawn!

THIRTY. 

FOR FURTHER PARTICULARS CONSULT 'THE NOONOON ADVERTISER' OF THAT DATE. 

That was a grand wedding celebrated in Noonoon ere the orange blossomshad turned into oranges, but for details it would be better to referto that most reliable little journal, 'The Noonoon Advertiser. ' Only afew particulars remain in my mind, but the paper published a fullaccount, including a minute description of the bride's gown and acareful list of the presents. It was much to the horror of Ernest thatthe latter was inserted, but it would have been much more horrible toGrandma Clay had the mention of so much as a jam-spoon been omitted, so he consoled himself with the reflection that it was only in 'TheNoonoon Advertiser, ' and took care to keep the list out of the accountwhich appeared in the Sydney dailies. The curious, by consulting aback number of the little country sheet, may learn that Mrs L. Witcom(_née_ Carry, the ex-lady help) gave the bride one of many pairs ofshadow-work pillow shams, and that Miss Grosvenor contributed one ofthe equally numerous drawn-thread table centres. Mrs Bray presented aribbon-work cushion; Dr Smalley, some of the jam-spoons; Andrew, abread-fork; and Mr J. Sorrel, great-uncle of the bride, a silvercream-jug; while Mr Claude (alias "Dora") Eweword kept himself in mindby an afternoon tea-set. The complete list took a column, and includeddozens of magnificent articles from sporting associations and chums ofthe bridegroom. 

The bride--a glorious vision in Duchesse satin and accessories inkeeping, and with real orange blossoms in hair, corsage, and train;the proud shyness of the gentle and stalwart groom standing besideher, and the brave old grandmother drawn up a little in the rear, formed a picture I shall never forget. The old lady performed heroffice with flashing eyes, a steady voice, and an individuality whichnone could despise or overlook. 

Excepting her grandmother, Dawn was unattended, and as the youngcouple came down the aisle, by previous request of the bride, I hadthe honour of accompanying the old lady from the church, and she said, as we drove away over the scattered rose petals to be in readiness toreceive the guests--

"I've done it--give me little girl away, an' without misgivin's, forif she's as happy as I was she'll do. When the time was here there wassome patches of me life wasn't too soft, but lookin' back, I wouldmarry Jim Clay over again if I could. "

The caterpillars that had been eating the grape-vines and givingAndrew exercise as destroyer, had turned into millions of whitebutterflies that flecked the golden sunlight like a vast flotilla ofminiature aerial yachts, and enhanced the splendour of that balmywedding-day. It was the month of roses, and, intertwined with jasmineand mignonette, they formed the chief decorations in the roomy marqueeerected for the breakfast under the big old cedars overlooking theriver. All Noonoonites of any importance sat down to the repast, andtheir names, from that of Mrs Bray to Mrs Dr Tinker, are recorded in'The Noonoon Advertiser. ' The last-mentioned lady did not exhibit anyof her famous characteristics at the function further than to use agorgeous fan she carried in rapping her husband over the knucklesevery time his attention wandered from her remarks. The toasts weremany and long, and it fell to "Dora" Eweword to respond to that of the"ladies. " Since the announcement of Dawn's engagement to Ernest, "Dora" had been frequently seen out driving with Ada Grosvenor, and hepaid her marked attention at the wedding; but this was private, notpublic, information. 

After I had helped Dawn into her travelling dress I had a few wordsapart with Ernest while Grandma Clay bade a private good-bye to hiswife. 

"Well, " he said, with self-contained and pardonable triumph, "I've wonher in spite of that dish of water. "

"Yes, we three have accomplished our desire. "

"What three?"

"Mr and Mrs R. E. Breslaw and myself!"

"Oh, was it your desire too?" he said with a happy laugh. 

The bride now appeared, and wringing my hand as he said--

"You'll come to us when we return, " he stepped forward to place her inthe carriage that took them to the railway. 

The paper had better be again consulted for accurate account of theconfetti pelting and other customary happenings that took place at thestation. These details, and the real greatness of Dawn's match, andher aristocratic relatives, who, as often suspected, had not proved tobe only a myth, were the chief theme of conversation for many days. 

All the engines in the sheds at the time, and whose music had lulledme to sleep o' nights, blew the bride a royal fanfare as she enteredher first, _engaged_, and further cock-a-doodled "good luck" as thetrain steamed out. 

Most keenly of all I remember that it was piteously lonely, and asdreary as though the sun had lost its power, when the panting enginehad climbed the hill from the sleepy little town, and dropped out ofhearing on the down grade from the old valley of ripening peach andapricot, bearing the girl for ever away from the slow, meanderinggrooves of life of which her vigorous young soul was weary. 

A meeting of the municipal council claimed Uncle Jake that night, Andrew went over to discuss the situation with Jack Bray, and theloneliness of the old dining-room was insupportable to grandma and me. Joy and beauty seemed to have fled from the scented nights beside theriver, --even the whistle and rush of the trains breathed a forlornnote to my bereaved fancy, and there was a tear in grandma's eye asshe said--

"Well, she's really gone for altogether--she that I helped into theworld and rared with my own hand, and named after the Dawn in whichshe came. That's the order of life. It's always the same--you can'tkeep any one for always. I couldn't abear it here now--it seems as ifeverything in life was done, and there's no need for me to stay ifErnest puts Andrew in the way of this electrical engineerin' he's somad for. Jake can board somewhere. He don't care about things so much. I'll go to Dawn: thank God she wants me, an' I've got plenty to takeme away if she gets tired of me, as young folks often do of the old, and which is only natural after all. I can let or sell the place, an'w'en I'm gone it will be enough for Dawn if ever she's threw on theworld like I was. Everythink seems fair with her now, but this is alife of ups an' downs, and there's no tellin' what may happen. "

L'ENVOI. 

What interest can there be in the play after the knight has settledaffairs with the lady, or in the story-book when the heroine and herohave gone on a honeymoon preparatory to living happily everafter?--and that is what befell my tale in Noonoon. 

I listen no more to the splendid music of the locomotives as they roaracross the queer old bridge, nor watch the red light flashing fromtheir coaling doors as they climb the Blue Mountain ascent and fire asthey go. Their far-carrying rumble has been succeeded by the morethunderous voice of the sea on the rock-walled coast of my nativeland. 

Four months have elapsed since the wedding in Noonoon, yet Ernest isstill content to let his athletic ambitions remain in abeyance whilehe squanders his time in the sweet dalliance of love. Squander, I say;but on reviewing the expired years, how sanely sweet the youthfulhours we dallied shine from amid the years we toiled, fumed, cursed, sweated, and strove to step past our brother in the bootless race forpleasure, opulence, or popularity!

Being able to indulge in the insignia of wealth, even without beingthe good fellow he is, Ernest finds it is of little significance thathis hair is "what fond mothers term auburn, " while Dawn's triumphswere assured from the outset. As mistress of a fine town mansion, with good looks, with smart ideas of dress, and smarter ability toverbally hold her own in any set, it goes without saying that hergrandmother having "kep' a accommodation" is not remembered againsther to any harmful extent in everyday life, where a large percentageof folks in all cliques have to survive the knowledge of theirprogenitors having been worse things than irreproachable proprietorsand conductors of most exemplary accommodation houses for those whotravel. 

As Ada Grosvenor is not a girl in a book but in everyday life, Icannot record that she has married a man worthy of her. Such an onewould have to be a leader of men--a prime minister, reformer, or otherprominent worker in the cause of humanity--and as these do not aboundin the quiet whirlpools of existence, I can only hope that she doesnot drop in for a too impossible noodle, as is frequently the fate ofnoble women. "Dora" Eweword would have done very well to discharge theclodhopping work of her earthly journey--could have made herbread-and-butter and carried her parcels, but if I can depend onAndrew's letters, which breathe more heavily of generosity than ofgrammar and gracefulness, this eligible and strapping young member ofNoonoon society has been rejected a second time, so that Mrs Bray'sfears that he would be made over conceited by adulation frommarriageable girls seems to have been unnecessary. 

Noonoon is enshrined in my heart as one of the pleasantest valleys onearth, so during enforcedly idle hours it has given me delight topaint its beauty, however feebly, and to put some of the doings ofsome of its folk in a story, that others might possibly enjoy themtoo. But I put the MSS. Aside till, as the good country doctor somuch esteemed in his circle expresses it, I shall have "pegged out, "and the heroine and hero of the plot shall then judge whether it isfit or not for publication. It has interested me to write, but

 "My life has crept so long on a broken wing . . . . . . . . That I come to be grateful at last for a little thing, "

and those whose lives are strong, fruitful, and successful may have nopatience with the sentimental meanderings of an old woman who hasoutlived joy and usefulness. 

 * * * * *

And now, may the Lady of my tale, as her life progresses from dawn tonoon, high noon to afternoon, dusk, evening, and night, have theKnight of her choice and peace always beside her, till new dawns breakin other worlds beyond this place of fears and phantoms. 

THE END.