true there was then the gaol fever that sometimes lessened the fees of the hangman but then there was permitted ingress to all black bottles with no inquisitorial nose of turnkey snuffing their contents


even then romance gilded the prison flags and cast a bloom a lustre on the footpad and the burglar


i then was there popping of corks and rustling of lutestrings


i


and now is newgate a hard dull dumpish reality dull as a play house


as if in mockery of the glad past the gyves of jack sheppard hang ignobly idle in newgate lobby


the imagi nation may yet play around them i


but


alas i they are but as a satire and reproach to the poor grisly ankles of the degenerate burglar of our time to the living felon of present newgate as the elgin marbles to the dwarfs that gase on tiptoe under them


that mrs traply should board and bed with her husband in newgate was a part of that indulgence vouchsafed in the old benevolent day turnkeys are not now so blessed t hence i owed my introduction to the gaol and my early meeting with dear persecuted patty


air


traply quitted his connubial bed before daylight called from his repose by the iron tongue of law


ugh he grunted as he put on his clothes heres a day i an tell to cull a man out


pretty ride i shall have to tyburn


i its pleasant enough in summer but this weathers enough to kill a man


never mind mike said his wife ive got you what you love for dinnerrabbit and onions so let the thoughts of that comfort you as you go and come


ha i cried traply a man vants something heaven knows and with this saying he went upon his awful errand an errand to be lightened by the vision of rabbit and onions i when mrs traply rose she looked at me again and again and vowing i should be a perfect beauty when a little put to rights began to prepare breakfast


suddenly she stopped and then adding a second cup and saucer said yes poor dear she shall breakfast with rae and as luck would have it shes a featherdresser she can tidy it up for me


with this thought mrs traply left the room


in a few minutes she returned with patty butler prisoner i poor thing


i thought to see tier much changed even more pale more haggard than when carried from bloomsbury


it was not so


ill she lookedvery ill


but to me she seemed as one who held constant communion with death and was thereby comforted


there was sadness in her face yet sadness glorified by sweetest patience


sorrow seemed to ennoble her


she appeared no more sullied by all the hideous guilt and misery of the gaol than did the light of heaven that shone in upon her


her eyes were mild and tearless and at her mouth there was a smile of resignation a smile that showed angelic might of heart mighty from its very meekness


her voice was changed deeper calmer


there my dear child said mrs traply whose heart was after all unchllled by the mnts or newgate mere malte yourself happy with some tea and toast


come you seem a little down this morning


ha dont wonder at it


i who hate been here these ten yearsha i my dear when i danced at the racebill with sir mohawk brush i never thought to come to newgate


a little drop in your teaand mrs traply having gratifled her own cup with some brandy prof ferred the restorative to pattyyou wont


well you know best


i should never get through these days without it


im sure its enough to work poor traply to death


they hang six more next monday


fatty spoke not but shuddered then with an effort com pressed her lips


jack ketch drink georg tbe thirds health every monday said the woman calls him the real father of his people he does so well know how to correct em ila


cried mrs traply casting a glance at a dutch clock in the corner theyhavnt got to st giless pound yet and such a dayl poor


dear traply


i feel for his rheumati


and going they do go so slow my dear


patty tried to speak she could not


you couldnt have lived so long in london without seeing such a sight my love


i never didnever will said patty


let us hope not for though theres a sort of something that makes one long to see iti dont know but it isnt pleasantno my dear it isnt cried mrs traply with emphasis


i was a young giddy happy thing when i saw the first man hanged


ha my dear little i thought of new gate then


well we wont talk of it


well talk of your little trouble my love


im sure hope it will come to nothing


im turc i think you innocent


am innocent said patty mildly


but my dearcried the turnkeys wife whats innocence in newgate bless you its better to be a little guilty and safe outside than be as innocent as snow and locked up


still you know my dear matters do look a little black against you


in case of the worst i am prepared even for the worst said patty


i dont blame you as a christian my dear i dont blame you said the woman


but for all that you wouldnt throw away your life my dear


it would be murder you know


patty said no word but sighed heavily


and youre so young and if you were once comfortable tve no doubt would be very goodlooking


bless you t


i hall live to sec yon


happy wife and the mother of a dear family


now theres that gentleman mr curhvellthe mans a doting upon you


ile says hell lay out bis last farthing upon lawyers and witnesses for you and for money iii a good cause lhere kindhearted people to be found wholl wear what theyre told my dear


i ara sorry to hear it said patty


whatl when they know you to be innocent and will wear what will prove as much never mind we will not talk of it mrs traply i have known but little to tie me to this world and if itif i say here patty struggled with her heart then observing me upon


chair she said her lips quivering as she spoke what a pretty feather


is it yours


yes my dear though i dont wear such things now


ha i the last time i wore that feather i danced with sir mohawk brushi think ive named him to you before


ha if he had only kept his word what a sweet man he would have been


its been tumbled my love lying by in my box perhaps you an put it to rights for me certainly hall indeed be glad for you have been very kind to me


and want to be kind to you if youll let me said the woman


now there mr curlweu pray do not speak of bim said patty


a nice kind affable mast older than you to be lure but all th better for die when he will hell leave you snug


suppose nowi merely say suppose he could get you out of this trouble if youd only marry him suppose i say there wai nothing between death and the church m hat would you do


patty who bad been gasiog at me laid me down upon the table and looking fell at th woman answered in a calm deep voiedie


youd nevero o wicked cried mr traply


i will never be so wicked said patty to false so cruelly deceitful toward any man at to vow a love wberv my heart sickens


yes my dear but to dit said mrs traply


but to live cried fatty with quick earnestness to live and be a daily hypocrite to feel a daily heartache to shudder at even a word of tenderness to loatheonesself for seeming contenthappy


where all this is what can be life


oh no said fatty with a gentle smile i have thought of death and indeed i can die


ha i my dear thats often our pride and vanity to think so


but to die any way in our own sheets with the doctor and every other comfort about us and to have all sorts of civil things said in a sermon made on purpose for us even then my dear death is bad enough but what when you go out of the world with a bad namewith the world my love always to have something to say against you


terrible very terrible said patty placing her hand to her brow but i have thought of this too and it is little very little with the thought of innocence


the world cried fatty in a piteous voice what shall i be to the world


what to me the blame or praise of the world when i am in the grave


yes my dear but you must own theres a hurd trial twixt newgate and that


ha at this moment poor things iand again mrs traply looked at the dutch clock at this very moment theyre taking their last sup at the pound


hal theres the trial my love


fatty trembled from head to foot and i could see her small bands work convulsivelycould see the lighting of her heart to keep the terror down as mrs traply for the kindest pur pose as she thought painted the horrors of the deathjourney from newgate to tyburn


you dont know what it is child or you wouldnt talk in that way


ha t my dear its very different to going with a party and sitting at a window io see the poor things in the cart and being one ofem you know


innocence my dear is all very well but i dont know any innocence that could bear to be stared at by thousands of people all looking as if they had redhot eyes upon you


and theil to see


the whole street swimming about youand to have the blood like boiling lead in your cursfor a dear soul as was reprieved told me all about itand how all the men and women looked like stonyfuced devils round himand how ns he heard some of em laugh it went like a knife into his heartand how as the cart rumbled along he prayed for the stones to open and bury himand how when he got to tjburn hal my dear he was proved as innocent as you are and yet he felt all thisand how as i was saying when he got to tyburnbut you dont listen to rae


the woman spoke the truth for fatty had sunk beneath the struggle of her feelings and lay insensible in the chair


to be continued


it is lime that some effort should be made in these regions of the antipodes to dispel the delu sions of superstition and to correct the influence of deepseated prejudices


in the parenthind this has been to a considerable extent accomplished hy the universal diffusion of sound and useful know ledgeby opening sources of correct information that pour their refreshing streams through every ramification of society


the lower classes from the defects of education and the consequent limited scope of their views long clung with stubborn tenacity to opinions handed down as heirlooms from remote generations and to dogmas that traced their origin to the rude wisdom of our forefathers


yet even in these sections of the people impres sions stamped on forming intelligence and preju dices imparted to expanding intellect by the lips of parents and confirmed by all the associations of maturer years have been compelled to give way before the triumphant march of science


the ma chinery of magicians necromancers and fairies has long been broken to pieces and the wild belief in ghosts and apparitions has been dissipated and destroyed by the teachings of reason founded on religion


thedark mysteries of the occult sciences hold the mind no longer in thraldom and in terror and the pretensions of judicial astrology are scat tered to the winds


the marvellous tales that amused our boyhood have given place to a series of juvenile productions at once calculated to inform the understanding strengthen the judgment and enlighten the heart while collaterally with the employment of these important agents on the plastic mind of youth similar results have been accom plished on confirmed habits and matured opinions by works of accurate science and by the appliances of talent and learning


hence the impious absur dities of francis moore have been to a great extent superseded by the reallyvaltuble informa tion of the british almanac with a host of kindred periodicals in its train while the decline of confi dence in meteorological predictions is marked by the fact that the data ou which weather tables profess to be constructed ure now all but aban doned


the last great imposition on popular credulity was the


weather almanack of mr murphy which won a transient reputation by a single fortunate conjecture


its almost invariable failure joined to the evident deception of expecting for general predictions a specific accomplishment over an area so extensive as to admit every variety of meteorological transition speedily overthrew its authority and deprived it of all credit except that which could not be denied it as an ingenious and profitable speculation


along with tlie banishment of these delusions came the annihilation of popular faith in planetary power over the destinies and in lunar influence over the minds and passions of mankind


reason and religion have combined to expose the monstrous absurditythe daring profanity of believing that a being of infinite wisdom and goodness would dele gate to any portion of inanimate creation powers that constitute the essential attributes of deity and that can alone be exercised by an eversuperintend ing and everwatchful providence


such is the present state of popular information at home


in these remote colonies the case is necessarily and widely different


numbers trans ferred themselves to these distant climes before the great movement of national education commenced


the results of scientific investigation and the ar rangements of benevolent zeal have not yet had time to follow them so as to produce their full and legi timate effect in correcting the erroneous notions which they brought to their adopted land


they retain therefore to a greater extent and in more active force the superstitious prejudices implanted in earlier and less favoured days


with the view of contributing in a slight degree to the correction of some of the errors which from the operation of these circumstances yet prevail amongst us we give the subjoined paper from chambers edinburgh journala periodical which has powerfully aided to bring about so beneficial a change in the land of our sires


popular fallacies about the moon


the late laborious researches of m arago respecting the supposed influence of the moon on the state of the weather and on animal and vegeta ble bodies are ably reported in two articles respec tively published in the first and seventh numbers of the monthly chronicle a new periodical which bears the comprehensive title of a national journal of politics literature science and art and which is understood to be under the management of able writers in all of these departments


the influence of the moon on the weather forms the subject of the first article


from a very early period meteoro logical phenomena were supposed to be connected with the lunar motions nor was this supposition unnatural considering the obvious and undeniable though at the same time mysterious influence of the same planet on the tides


originally however the moon and other heavenly bodies were regarded more as signs than causes as far as atmospheric phenomena were concerned but in course of time these signs degenerated into a most absurd system of rules having no real foundation in nature


the following for example is one of the axioms regarding the moons influence if the horns of the lunar crescent on the third day after new moon are sharply and clearly defined the weather may be expecfed to be fair during the ensuing month


the absurdity of this is made apparent by the plain argu mentation subjoined


the lunar crescent is pro duced by a peculiar relation of position which subsists between the aspects of the moon presented to the sun and the earth


if only half the hemisphere which receives the suns light be presented towards the earth the moon is exactly halved if a quarter of the hemisphere be turned to the earth the moon is a crescent and its age is then nearly four days


when its age is less than two days therefore less than an eighth of its illuminated hemisphere is presented to our planet and consequently it appears as a very thin crescent


it is evident that these effects if seen through perfectly transparent space could not alter with circumstances and that in the same position of the moon with respect to the earth and sun the crescent must be at all times equally sharp and dis tinct


but when the moon is viewed as it is by us through an atmosphere from thirty to forty miles highthat atmosphere being liable to be more or less loaded with imperfectly transparent vapoursit will be seen with more or less distinctness according to the varying transparency of the medium through which it is viewed


the fact therefore of the cres cent appearing distinct and well defined or obscurely with the points of the horns blunted is merely a consequence of our atmosphere being at one time more pure clear and transparent than at another


another axiom of lunar meteorology declares that if on the fourth day the moon project no shadow we are to expect bad weather during the month


in this instance also the moon simply serves as an instrument to determine the humidity of the air for as the quantity of light reflected from the moon must be always the same its intensity on reaching our earth or in other words its power to produce a shadow must be determined by the amount of vapours in tho atmosphere which it passes through


the proposition therefore is identical with the last and only means that when the atmosphere in the west a little after sunset on the fourth day of the moon is loaded with humidity the weather during the month will be bad


these two propositions accordingly couched under such seemingly profound terms signify no more than that we hall always have bad weather during any given month if the atmosphere in the western horizon is vapoury for an hour or two on a certain evening towards its begin ninga proposition most superlatively lame impotent and inconclusive


the ingenious writer of these papers after exhi biting the fallacy of such axioms as these proceeds to examine the justice of the very common notion that a changeof weather accompanies a chanco of the moon


the long train of scientific reasoning which follows on this subject would occupy too much of our space and we shall content ourselves there fore with stating the conclusion to which the writer arrives


from all that has been stated it follows then conclusively that the popular notions concern ing the influence of the lunar phases on the weather have no foundation in theory and no correspondence with observed facts


that the moon by her gravita tion exerts an attraction on our atmosphere cannot be doubted but its effects are either too small in amount to be appreciable in the actual state of meteorological instruments or they are obliterated by other more powerful causes from which they have not yet been eliminated


the notion therefore that a change is to be looked for at full and new moon venerable as that notion is from its antiquity and the universality of its acceptation receives no countenance from the results of scientific inquiry


the supposed influence of the moon is not con fined to the weather


gardeners in some countries have an idea that the red moon kills the young shoots of plants


the red moon is that which is full between the middle of april and the close of may


now in charging such a moon with an injurious effect on plants the accusers simply mistake a sign for a cause


plants are killed frequently at that sea son as if by frosts though on the nights when the death takes place a thermometer in the open air may stand many degrees above the freezing point


observing this to be the case gardeners can see no cause for the evil done to the plants but the lunar light which they notice to be always keen and strong at the period


but in reality the state of the atmosphere is the true cause of the injury to the vegetables


on clear and unclouded nights sub stances on the earths surface lose heat by radiation while the sky is not in a state to restore to them any of their lost warmth


ice is in fact produced in warm climates under such circumstances


but if the atmosphere be clouded these clouds having the quality of radiating heat restore the caloric radiated from substances onthe tnrrfac of the earth on cloudy nights accordingly when the moon is veiled plants receive no injury by the radiation of their heat while on cloudless night when the moon is vivid and unveiled plants are injured


the moon falsely bears the blame whereas in reality she is only a sign of that condition pt the atmosphere which is justly chargeable with tie injury


there is another equally erroneous opholism respecting the influence of the moon on vegetables


almost all european gardeners and agriculturists hold that vegetables plants and trees wlich are expected to thrive should be planted grafteil and pruned during the increase of the moon


hie supporter of this theory has thus attempted to prove its accordance with physical principles during the day the solar heat augments the quantity of sap which circu lates in plants by increasing te magnitude of the tubes through which the sap m ives while the cold of the night produces the op site effect by con tracting these tubes


now it the moment of sunset if the moon be increai ng it will be above the horiron and the warmth o its light would pro long the circulation of the np but during its decline it will not rise for a msiderable time after sunset and the plants will be suddenly exposed to the unmitigated cold of the nig t by which a sudden contraction of leaves and tube vill be produced and the circulation of the sap at uddenly obstructed


this is the best reasoning whi h can be adduced by its supporters in favour of thii doctrine and unfor tunately for them the whole can be very simply shown to be based on eiror though


no matter of moonshine


if we admit sys the writer in the monthly chronicle the lunar rays to possess any sensible calorific power this reasoning might be allowed but it will have very ittle force when it is considered that the extreme liange of temperatura which can be produced by the lunar light does not amount ta the tenthousandth part of a degree of the thermometer


but in truth argumentation is not required to overturn this fallacy


it is enough that experiment decisively shows that no appreciable difference can be observed in the qualities of vegeta bles planted at different times in the lunar month


plinys prescription of the full moon as the time for bean sowing and of the new moon as the season for putting lentils in the earth excites a smile in m i arago


m truly we have need says he of a robust faith to admit without proof that the moon at a distance of miles shall in one position act advantageously on the vegetation of beans and that at the same distance and in the opposite posi tion she shall be propitious to lentils


it is strange how long these and other fallacies relative to the supposed influence of the moon on vegetables have held a place among the practical and everyday aphorisms of mankind without being supported even by the shadow of a fair argument


it is a prevalent notion in some parts of europe that the moons light is attended with the effect of darkening the complexion


here again the silver regent of the sky gets the repute of effecting changes which seem to be more properly attributable to other causes


the suns rays have it is well known a striking effect on the colour of many objects but the moons rays appear to possess but little of the same power


the white chloride of silver becomes a deep black when laid in the sun while the moons rajs do not effect it in the least


this and other circumstances lead us to doubt the moons power in blackening the skin


m arago thinks it not improbable that the radiation of unre stored heat from the skin may tend to darken its hue when exposed to the air on a clear cold night


bivouacking by night in the open air soon deepens the tint of the human face


but here it is not the moon that acts although the true cause will operate often when the moon is unveiled by cloud as in the case of the vegetables already adverted to


a clear moonlesb light will have the same effect as a clear night with a visible moon


there is a prevailing notion amongst butchers in some parts of the world that the marrow found in the bones of animals varies in quantity according to the phase of the moon in which they were slaugh tered


experiments instituted for the purpose have proved this belief to be without foundation and this is the only mode of refutation which the subject will admit of


the same answer may be given to the assertions that shellfish become larger during the increase than during the decline of the moon and that a healthy man gains two pounds weight at the beginning of every lunar month which he loses ere its end


experiment disproves both


another common idea is that putrefaction is forwarded by the light of the moon


this is another instanceif the fact really be as statedof the substitution of the moon for the clear sky which permits the moon to be visible


it is in clear nights that dew is deposited and humidity has a tendency to accelerate putrefaction


passing over several minor instances noticed by our authority of supposed lunar influence we come to that opinion which has given origin to the word lunatic as applied to insane persons


from a very early period human diseases generally were held to he deeply connected with the planetary bodies


the critical seasons of almost all maladies were conceived by hippocrates and galen to be effected by the moons phases


all ideas of this kind however have now been banished from medicine excepting as regards insanity and nervous or brain diseases in general


there still are persons and even physicians who maintain that the paroxysms of insane persons are more violent when the moon is at full than at othej times those who


support this opinion refer to numbers of recorded cases in proof of it


lunar eclipses in particular arc referred to as having been frequently instrumental in exciting maniacs to out rageous paioxysms as well as in causing death both to persons in this unfortunate state and to other


mutluohis faber writes of a maniac who at the moment of a lunar eclipse became furious seized a sword and fell upon all around


in an italian physician found a great number of deaths to occur on the occasion of an eclipse during the prevalence of a fever


but an eclipse it must be remembered was a source of profound terror in those days and it is certain that it has now no such effects


a careful examination of cases of mental aberration will in all likelihood lead to a similar conviction that the moon has really nothing whatever to do with insanity or any other disorders of the brain


darnaby


rudge


citapren xx


the proud consciousness of her trust and the great importance she derived from it might have advertised it to all the house if she had had to run the gauntlet of its inhabitants but as dolly had played in every dull room and passage many and many a time when a child and had ever since been the humble friend of mliss ilaredale whose fostersister she was site was as free of the building as the young lady herself


so using no greater precaution than holding her breath and walking on tiptoe as sithe passedthe library door site went straight to


emmas room as a privileged visitor


it was the liveliest room in the building the chanmherias sonmbre like the rest for the matter of that but the presence of youth and beauty would make a prison cheerful saving alas


i that confine


ment withers them and lend some charms of their own to the gloomiest scene


birds flowers books drawing music and a hundred such graceful tokens of feminino loves and cares filled it with more of life and human sympathy than the whole house besides seeemed made to hold


there was a heart in the room and who that has a heartever fails to recognise the silent presence of another i dolly had one undoubtedly and it was not a tough one either though there was a little mist of coquettishness about it such as sometimes surrounds that sun of life in its morning and slightly dims its lustre


thus when emma rose to greet her and kissing her affectionately on the cheek told her in her quiet way that she had been very unhappy the tears stood in dollys eyes and shite felt more sorry than she could tell but next moment she happened to raise them to the glass and really there was something there so exceedingly agreeable that as she sighed she smiled end felt surpassingly consoled


i have heard about it mbiss said dully and its very sad indeed but when things are at the worst they are sure to mend


but are yout sure they are at the worst asked emma with a smile


why i dont see how they can very well be more unpromising than they are i really dont said dolly


and i bring something to begin with


not from edward dolly nodded and smiled and feeling in her pockets there were pockets in those dlays with an affectation of not being able to find what she wanted which greatly enhanced her importance at length produced the letter


as emma hastily broke the seal and became absorbed in its contents dollys eyes by one of those strange accidents for which there is no accounting wandered to the glass again


she could not help wondering whether the coaclh maker suffered very much and quite pitied tihe poor man


it was a long letter a very long letter written close on all four sides of the sheet of paper and crossed afterwards but it was not a consolatory letter for as emma read it she stopped from time to time to put her handkerchief to her eyes


to be sure dolly marvelled greatly to see her in so much distress for to her thinking a love affair ought to be one of the best jokes and tile slyest mertiest kind of thing in life


butshe set it down in her own mind that all this came from miss hsredales being so constant and that if site would only take on with some otheryoung gentlemanjust in the most inno cent way possible to keep her first lover up to the markshe would find herself inexpressibly com forted


i am sure thats what i should do if it was me thought dolly


to make ones sweethearts miserable is well enough and quite right but to be made miserable ones self is a little too much


however it wouldnt do to say so and therefore she sat looking on in silence


she needed a pretty considerable stretch of patience for when the long letter had been read once all through it was read again


during this tedious process dolly beguiled the time in tile most improving manner that occurred to her by curling her hair on her fingers with the aid of the lookingglass befote mentioned and giving it some killing twists


everything has an end


even young ladies it love cannot read their letters for ever


in course of time the packet was folded up and it only remained to write the answer


but as this promised to be a work of time like wise emma said she would put it off until after dinner and that dolly must dine with her


as dolly had made up her mtad to do so beforehand she required very little pressing and when they had settled this point they went to walk in the garden


they strolled up and down the terrace walks talking incessantlyat least dolly never left off onceand making that quarter of the sad and mournful house quite gay


not that they talked loudly or laughed much but they were both so very i handsome and it was such a breezy day and their light dresses and dark curls appeared so free and joyous in their abandonment and emma was so fair and dolly so rosy and emma so delicately shaped and dolly so plump andin short there are to flowers for any garden like such flowers let hrorti


culturists say what they may and both rouse and garden seemed to know it and to brighten up i sensibly


after this came the dinner and the letter writing and some more talking in the course of which miss haredale took occasion to charge upon dolly certain flirtish and inconstant propensities which accu sations dolly seemed to think very complimentary indeed and to be mighttily amused with


finding her quite incorrgible in this respect emma suffered her to depart but not before she had confided to her that important and neversufficientlytobetaken


careof answer and endowed her moreover with a pretty little bracelet as a keepsake


hlaving clasped t it onher arm and again advised her half in jest and half in earnest to amend her roguish ways for she knew she was fond of joe at heart which dolly stoutly denied with a great many haughty pro


a testations that she hoped she could do better than that indeed


and so forth she bade her farewell and after calling her back to give her more supple h mentary messages for edward than anybody with f tenlold the gravity of dolly varden could be k reasouably expected to remember at lengthlr dismissed iner


dolly bade her good bye and tripping lighltly dawn the stairs arrived at the dreaded library door and was about to pass it again on tiptoe when it openedand behold


there stood tir


hlaredale


now t dolly ihad flom her childhood associated with this geritleman the idea of something grim and ghostly and behitd at the moment


corifeience stricken besides n thesight of him threw her inbtosueh a flurry tliat she could neither acknowledge his presence nor rtin away so shie gave a great sralt and then withi dovltcjst eyes stood still and trembled


come there girl said fir


haredale taking bher by thie hand


i want to speak to you


if you please sir im in a hurry faltered dolly endand you have frightened me by coning so suddenly upon me siri would rather go sir if you ii be o goodi ai to let me


inmedi ately said mr haiedale who had by e this time led hier into the room and closed the door


n you shall go directly


you have just left emma


i yes sir just this minnte


fathers waiting e for me sir it youll please to have thie goodness ti i know


i know said bilr


ilaredale


answer me a question


whaitdid you bring hiere today hring htre


sir flhtered dolly


you will tell me the truth i am sure


ye


o dolly hesitated for ad tile while and somewhat i emboldened by isis manner said at


last well then sir it was a letter


from mir edward chester of course


and you are the bearer of the answer i dolly hesitated again and not being able to decide s upon any other course of action burst into tears


you alarm ourself wilthont sise sald mr flaredali


wy rer youti so foolish


surely you can answer me


yon know that ihave but to put the question to emma and learn the truth directly


have you thie answer with you p dolly had what is popularly called apirit of her own and being now fairly at naymitde the beat ot it


a yes sirshe a ejoined trehnibling and lrightened i as she was


yes sir i have


you may lill me if you please sir butli woiitgive it tip


ni very g sorry but i wont


there sir


commend your firmness ad your plainspeak


r oing said flr


haredale


rest assured thast


i e have as little desire to taike youelr le your life


kou are a veiy dicetitinesehieit er pod aoj girl


not feeling quite certain a sire afipeysrd issid whether he might not be comitngoderhe with i thesoicomplimontt dolly keipt ss far fromi itim ts i shecortodlicriod againtniddrrisolveo d outdlfefld io posket for the letter wastheteto the last ettientity i


jilive asmu designtsaid mlr


haredicle dfltri h a ehortsilencelisring which asmije as he regarded her had struggled through the gloom and melaouilholy that was natural to his face of providing a com panion for myniece for hier lite is a very lonely one


would yon like the office


you are the oldest friend she has and the beat entitled to it


i dont know sir answered dolly not sure


but he was banterisig her i cant say


i dont know what they might wish at home


i couldnt give an opinion sir


if your friends had no objection would you have any said mr haredole


come


theres a plain question and easy to answer


none at all that i know of sir replied oully


i should be very glad to be near miss emma of course and always am


thats well said mlr


haredale


that is all i had to say


you are anxious to go


dont let me detain you


dolly didnt let him nor did shie wait for him to try for the words had no sooner passed his lips than sithe was out of the room out of ihe house and in the fields again


the first thing to be done of course when she came to herself and considered what a flurry she had been in was to cry afresh and the next thing when she reflected how well she had got over it was to laugh heartily


the tears once banished gave place to the smiles and at last dolly laughed so much that she was fain to lean against a tree and give vent to her exultation


when she could laugh no longer and was quite tired she put her headdress to tighis dried lher eyes looked back very merrily and triumphantly at the warren clhirneys which were just visible and resumed her walk


the twilight had come on and it was quickly growing dusk but the path was so familiar to hier from frequent traversing that she hardly thought of this and certainly felt no uneasiness at being alone


mloreover there was the bracelet to admire and when she had given it a good rub and held it out at arms length it sparkled and glittered so beautifully on her wrist that to look at it in every point of view and with every possible turn of the arm was quite an absorbing business


there was tilhe letter too and it looked so mysterious and knowing when she took it out of her pocket and it held as she knew so much inside that to turn it over and over and think about it and wonder how it began and how it ended and what it said all through was another matter of constant occupation


bletween the bracelet and the letter there was quite enough to do without thinking of anything else and admiring each by turns dolly went on gaily


as she passed through a wicket gate to where the path was narrow and lay between two hedges gar nished here and there with trees she heard a rustling close at hand which brought tier to a sudden stop


sithe listened


all was very quiet and she went on again not absolutely frightened but a little quicker than before perhaps and possibly not quite so rmuch at her ease fur a check of that kind is statling


she had no sooner moved on again than she was conscious of the same sound which was like that of a person tramping stealthily among bushes and brushwood


looking towards the spot whence it appeared to come shie almost fancied she could snake out a crouching figure


she stopped again


all uas quiet as before


on she went once morede cidedly faster nowand tried to sing softly to lier


self


it must be the wind


but how came the wind to blow only when she walked and cease when she stood still she stopped involuntarily as she made the reflection and the rustling noise stopped likewise


she was really frightened now and was yet hesitating what to do when the bushes crackled and snapped and a man came plunging through them close before her


cnapter vii


mrs varden was a lady of what is commonly called an uncertain temper a phrase which being interpreted signifies a temper tolerably certain to make everybody more or less uncomfortable


thus it generally happened that when other people were merry mrs varden was dull and that when other people were dull mrs varden was disposed to be amazingly cheerful


indeed the worthy housewife was of such a capricious nature that she not only attained a higher pitch of genius than macbeth in respect of her abilityto be wise amazed temperate and furious loyal and neutral in an instant but would sometimes ring the changes backwards and forwards on all possible moods and flights in one short quarter of an hour performing as it were a kind of triple bob major on the peal of instruments in the female belfry with a skilfulness and rapidity of execution that astonished all who heard her


it had been observed in this good lady who did not want for personal attractions being plump and buxom to look at though like her fair daughter somewhat short in stature that this uncertainty of disposition strengthened and increased with her temporal prosperity and divers wise men and ma trons on friendly terms with the locksmith and his family even went so far as to assert that a tumble down some half dozen rounds in the worlds ladder such as the breaking of the bank in which her hus band kept his money or some little fall of that kind would be the making of her and could hardly fail to render her one of the most agreeable cotrrpanions in existence


whether they were right or wrong to this conjecture certain it is that minds like bodies will often fall into i pimpled illconditioned state from mere excess of comfort and like them are often successfully cured by remedies in themselves very nauseous and unpalatable


mlrs


vardens chief aider and abettor and at the same time her principal victim andobject of wrath was her single domestic servant one bliss miggs or as she was called in conformity with those pre judices of society which lop and top fromn poor handmaidens all such genteel excrescencesmiggs


this miggs was a tall young lady very much ad dicted to pattens in private life slender and shrew ish of a rather uncomfortable figure atid though not absolutely ill looking of a sharp and acid visage


as a general principle and abstract prposition miggs held the male sex to be utterly contemhptible and unworthy of notice to be fickle false base sottish inclined to perjury and wholly undeserving when particularly exasperated against them which


scandal said was when sim tappeitit slighted her most she was accustomed to wish with great em phasis that the whole race of women could but die off in order that the men might be brought to know the seal value of the blessings by which they set so little store nay her feeling for her order rant so high that she sometimes declared if she could only have good security for a fair round numbersay ten thousandof young virgins following her exam


pie she would to spite mankind hang drown stab or poison herself with a joy past all expression


it was the voico of miggs that greetedthe lock


smith when he koockedat hiis dwn hbous


with a shrill cry of whos ihere me girl me returned gabriel


what already air said mliggs opening the door with a look of surprise


we was just get ting on outr nightcaps to sit up me and mistress


oh she has been so bad


i miggs said this with an air of uncommon candour and concern but the parlour door was itatiding open and as gabriel very well knew for whose ears it wasdesigned he regarded her with anything but an approving look ashepassed in masters come hoime mii cried miggs run ning before him into the parlour


you was wrong mim and i was right


i thought he wouldnt keep us up so late two nights running mim


masteis always considerate so far


im so glad mim on your account


im a little


here migg simpered a


little sleepy myself ill own it now mim though i said wasnt when you asked me it ant of no consequence mim of course


you had better said the locksmith who most devoutly wished that barnabys raven was at miggs aneles you had better go to bed at once then


thanking you kindly sir returned miggs icouldnt take my rest in peace nor fix my thoughts upon amy prayers otherways than that i knew mistress was comfortable in her bed this night by rights she should have been there hours ago


youre tialkative mistress said varden pull


ing off his great coat and looking at her askew


taking the hint air cried bliggs with a flushed face and thanking yoefor it mostkindly i will make bold to say that if i give offence by having consideration formy mistress ido not ask your pardon but am content to get myself into trouble


and to be in suffering


here mrsvarden who with her countenance shrouded in a large nightcap had been all this time intentupon the protestant manual looked round and acknowledged


miggs championship by com manding her to hold her tongue


every little bone in migga throat and neck deve loped itself with a spitefulness quite alarmingas she replied yes mim i will


how do you find yourself now my dear said the locksmith taking achair nearhis wife who had resumed her book and rubbing his knees hard as he made the enquiry


youre veryanxious to know ant you re turned mrs varden with her eyes upon the print


you that have not been near me all day and wouldnt have been if i was dying i my dear mattha said gabriel


mrs vardep turnedover to the naxt page then wept back again to the bottom line overleaf to bei quite ure ofthe last words and then went ono reading withan appearance of the deepest interest and study


my dearmartlha said the loeksmith how can you sayitchthings when yoet know you dont meanthem


if you were dying i why if there was anything serious the matter with you


mjartha shouldit i be


i constani aitendance upon you


yes cried mrs varden bursting into tears yes you would i dont doubt it varden cer tainly you would


thats as much as to tell me that you would be hovering round me like a vulture waitingtill the breath was out of my bodytat ybu might go and marry soaiibudy else


migps groaned insyripithya little short groan checked in its birth and changed into a cough


it seemed to say i cant help it its wrung from me by the dreadful brutality of that monster mas ter


but youll break my heart one of these days added mrs varden with more resignation and then we shall both be happy


my only desire is to see dolly comfortably settled and when she is you may settleme as soon as you like


ali i cried miggs and coughed again


poor gabriel twisted his wig about in silence for a long time and then said mildly ras dolly gone to bed your master speaks to you said mrs varden looking sternly over her shoulder at miss bliggs in waiting


no my dear i spoke to you suggested the locksmith


did you hear me miggs cried the ohdurate lady stamping her foot upon the ground


you are beginning to despise me now are you


but this is example


at this cruel rebuke miges whose tears were al ways ready for large or small parties on the shortest notice and the most unrpasonable terms fell a crying violently holding both her hands tight upon her heart meanwhile as if nothing less would prevent its splitting into small fragments


mrs


varden who likewise possessed that faculty in high perfection wept too agaiast mipgs and with such effect that miggs gave in after a time and except an occasional sob which seemed to threaten some remote intention of brealing outagain left her mistress in possession of the field


her superiority being thoroughly as


serted that lady soon desisted likewise and fell into a quiet melancholy


the relief was so great and the fatigiiqg occur rences of last night so completely overpowered the locksmith that he nodded to his chair and would doubtless have slept there all night but for the voice of mrs varden which after a pause of some five minutes awoke him with a start


if iam ever said mrs vnot scolding but in a sort of monotonous remonstrance in spirits if i am ever cheerful if i am ever more than usually dispost to be talksatiye and comfortable this is the way am treated


such spirits as you was in too mim but half an hour ago cried miggs never see such comr pany i because said mrs varden because i never interfere or interrupt because i never question where anybody comes or goes because my whole mind and soul is bent on saving where i can save and labouriog in this house therefore they try me as they do


martha urged the locksmith endeavouring to look as wakeful as possible what is it you com


plain ofi i really came home with every wish and desire to be happy


i did indeed


what do i complain of retorted his wife


is it a chilling thing to have ones husband sulking and falling asleep directly he comes home to have him freezing all ones warmheartedness and throwing cold water over the firesidet it it natural when i know he went out upon a matter in which i am as much itterested as anybody can be that i should wish to know all that has happened


or that he should tell me without my begging and praying him to do it


is that natural or is it noti i am very sorry martha said the good


natured locksmith


i was really afraid you were not disposed to talk pleasantly ill tell you every thing i shall only be too glad my dear


no varden returned his wife rising with dignity


i dare say thank you


im not a child to be corrected one minute and petted the next im a little too old for that varden


miggs carry the light


you can be cheerful miggs at least


migga who to this moment had been in the very depths of compassionate despondency passed in stantly into the liveliest state conceivable and tossing her head as she glanced towards the lock smith bore off her mistress and the light together


now who would think thought varden shrugging his sloulders and drawing his chair nearer to the fire that that woman could ever be pleasant and agreeable i


and yet she can be


well well al of us hae our faults


l not be hard upon hers


we have been man and wife too long for that


he dozed again not the less pleasantly perhaps for his hearty temper


while his eyes were closed


the door leading to the upper stairs was partially opened and a head appeared which at sight of him hastily drew back again


i wish murmured gabriel waking at the noise and looking round thy room i wish some body would marry miggs


but thats impossiblel i wonder whether theres any madman alive who would marry migga i this wai such a vast speculation that he fell into a doze again and slept until the fire was quite burnt out


at last he rousedhimself and having double locked the street door according to custom and put the key in his pocket went off to bed


he had not lef


the room in darkness many minutes when thp head


again appeared and sian tappeetit entered bearing tn his hand a little lamp


what the devil business has he to stop up so late i muttered sim passing into the workshop and setting it down upon the forge


heres half the night gone already


theres only one good that has ever come to me out of this cursed old rusty mechanical trade and thats this piece of ironmon gery upon my soull as he spoke lie drew from the right hand or rather leg pocket of his smalls a clumsy largesized key which he inserted cautiously in the lock his master had secured and softly opened the door


that done he replaced his piece of secret workman


ship in his pocket and leaving the lamp burning and closing the door carefully and without noise toule out into the street as little suspected by the locksmith in his sound deep sleep as by barnaby himself in his phantom haunted dreams


to be oontinued


the settler chapter xi ride to newcastie


as they approached the house on their re turn from the blind harpers handy ob served mrs newland walking to and fro in the verandah with a tall gentleman habited in a bronze colored riding coat knee kerseymeres and capped boots a drab hat and spectacles whirh appeared as much part of his costume as assistants of his vision


there is my friend cain bio said newland youll find him an excellent fellow and hell keep our wit alive lis quite a treat to hear his hearty laugh handy was introduced to cambio who scrutinized him over lis spectacles us if he was speculating on the probable value of ilis endorsement to promissory note and then welcomed him as a visitor to the banks of the hunter which he himself sel dom visited as his principal business lay iu sydney where his family resided


you will stayand dine with us said newland


your homemade wine so let us tiare some t of your own particular


you shall liave a skinfull said newland if you behave yourself properly


a bargain said cam bio and in case of any difference of opinion upon the point mrs newland shall be umpire


the dinner was soon announced and as they were sitting down newland said to handy i hope you will be able to make a cold dinner for we con sider the cook as much entitled lo a day of rest as any other member of the establish ment and besides she earns it by double duty the previous day


oh yes added catubio you must put up with a cold re ception


an infringement already said newland


i appeal to the umpire said cambio whether tins is not a cold refec tion said i not refection


perhaps you will bave the kindness lo reserve the reward until after you have done me tlie honor of taking wine with me


handy already began to feel his risible faculties strongly ex cited but there was business before him


the cold dinner reminded him very much of a roman catholics maigrc consisting of every luxury of the table the cxce tion in the one case being the flesh of beasts and fowls and in the other that of being served hot and between cambios inex haustible fund of wit and merriment and newlands perpetual smile and replies lie enjoyed his ccld dinner much more than if it had been hot j and although the fire of fun was steadily kcpl up during the liba tion cambio had no occasion to refer to the fair umpire who joined heartily in all his humour


after an early breakfast on tbe following morning the trio started for maitland


at the lop of harpers hill they hailed for a few minutes to afford handy an opportu nity of admiring tlie beautiful panoramic view of the lower hunter which is ob tained from thence and to observe the pro gress of the laborious work of cutting the road over the mountain


in the rock through which the ironed gang was working handy observed marine ibssels imbedded in what appeared basalt and was informed that at the commencement of the work the neighbouring settlers had vainly flattered themselves with having discovered lime sone but were undeceived on samples being submitted to the test


the great road from harpers hill lo mailitnd is exceedingly beautiful but many parts for a consider able distance afforded strong evidence of the toil of dragging the wool drays through llic deep mud ot which the still unformed carriage way consisted


in tlie course of the ride a number of well dressed and well mounted horsemen several gigs and two or three tandems all appointed in a superior style passing rapidly by them giving nods of recognition to newland and cambio as they dashed along


the first day of mailland races replied ihe latter in answer to bandys enquiry as to the cause of the gaity that appeared on the road and lhere is to be a sale of horse stock and cattle tomorrow


this is rather an agreeable variety from my solitary ride over the mountains observed handy for though generally speaking endeavour to avoid great roads when riding alone yet i have no objection to a little bustle on an occasion of this kind when ihe people all appear so happy in the anticipation of exciting amusement


recreation after business is allowable observed cambio but he ulio follows liis pleasure instead of his business will in a little time have no business to follow


most of the people who have passed us are combining recrea tion with business some have cattle to sell some slieep and to look after supplies that are expected from sydney as well as to try to pick up a new chum for it is seldom that a settler leaves his station without some definite object in view


they now ap proached by passing over a long wooden bridge the western extremity of west mailland where cambio parted from them taking a road on liis left hand


instead of a compact regularly formed town west mailland consists of a number of houses scattered by the sides of a deep sandy road for upwards of two miles the houses are of all sorts and sizes such as are adapted for the purpose of shops stores and pub lichouses some are substantially built of brick and two stories high but the general character is the low cottage with the ve randah in front the posts of the verandah being decorated with slop clothing tin ware rope web bailors and bridles exhi bited for sale


iu this said west mailland there is neither church courthouse nor general marketplace the whole street hav ing the appearance of a market


about llic middle of this long straggling street newland pulled up saying now my good sir my oulwardbound voyage is at an end here is ihe postoffice


handy instantly recollected that on leaving sydney he had requested his wife to address letters for him to maitland upon lie chance ofliis rinding his way there and on enquiry was informed that there was a letter by that mornings post addressed to captain handy mail land or elsewhere


the postman would have been puzzled to carry into effect the concluding part of the direction for up to the moment of reaching the post office handy had not made up bis mind what rente he should follow


pocketing bis let ter he took leave of his kind friend new land and journied on through tlie remainder of the drawling town which appeared a miniature representation of brentford and crossed a slight wooden bridge over a scan tily supplied and sluggisn stream running between deep banks of rich soil after which the road lay for about half a mile between cultivated fields on a dead level until he reached a spacious inn on his left band and sufficiently retired from tlie road to nllow of a carriage drive in front


nearly opposite the inn was two large brick build ings and a little beyond an enclosure filled with young horses


there was more bustle about this neighbourhood than handy had witnessed since bis arrival in the country


the verandah of tbe inn was crowded with well dressed people almost all of whom were smoking cigars and several horses wire fastened by their bridles to the lence in font many persons were passing to and fro between the catlle pen and tlie inn and there were constant arrivals of equestrians by a road running along the east side ol tbe inn


being rather desirous to get clear of the bustle that prevailed at tbe time handy addressed himself to a young man dressed in shirt sleeves and straw hat who informed him that this was east maitland and pointed out another inn on a rising ground at a very short distance on the rnail past the side of ihe busy inn and vhich was the road to the greenhills where the steamer from sydney had just arrived and told him that the road to new castle was a continuation of that they wer wwwwith this information handy pro is being more quiet than tle first it was tept by a widow and ihe accommodations vere comfortable


here be halted for two iouis so as to give his horse lime for re reshnieui and ordered a substantial lunch for himself contemplating the probability of the newcastle folks being too much in terested in the maitland races to make arrangements for stray travellers in that direction particularly on such an occasion


whilst his lunch was in preparation ho opened the letter which he had received at the post office and which was from liis wife of course ho liavingno other correspondent in the country


the letter began in tlie usual style of conjugal expressions of en dearment and then after reporting favour ably of the health of the children proceeded thus i wish we were all settled out of this disagreeable place the poor children arc tormented with mosquitos and the streets of sydney arc filled with dust for although i am told that the mornings arc delightful yet it is impossible to walk with any degreeof comfort in the afternoon as ihe wind comes up the streets in such gusts as almost to carry off ones legs


i am sure the people must have thought me mad yesterday mrs mneal and i were walk ing quietly together down the principal street with our parasols up talking away without thinking about the weather when all of a sudden a large straw hat that i suppose had been hanging at a door of the slop shops blew in my face and in an instant a cloud of dust nearly choked and blinded me just as i was trying to keep down my dress with my parasol i was spun round like a weathercock and there i stuck laughing to such a degree that mrsmlean thought i should go into convulsions


there was a parcel of young officers walk ing in the street at the time mrs mleau dragged me into a shop and the officers followed us pretending to want ii pair of gloves or something of that sort meie excuse


as soon as i bad sufficiently re covered


i thought to myself it was mon strous impertinent just like all you military monkeys when one of them addressed me by name j was sorry that we were incon venienced by the brickfielder as he called the gust of wind and then began to talk about tlie ball at government house


i then recollected that he was tlie young man who had been so particularly attentive to amelia and she has been so absent ever since tbat


i should not be at all surprised if it be a match


the young man is highly spoken of and the regiment is the next for service to india


humph soliloquized handy sliarp work this hardly tliree weeks in the country and talking ol a match in the family already


well new south wales is the country for business after all when a girl cannot be kept unengaged a month alter her arrival


odd enough they can carry on their courtship without me so i shall not hurry my return she is sure to be safe with a soldier


the letter con cluded by expressing a hope that handy would soon be back as the writer was certain that the officer was smitten anil that the attachment was mutual


all stuff said handy to himself putting the letter in his pocket and attacking the lunch after having despatched which he journeyed on towards newcastle by a fine broad road through a country moderately undulated and with some extensive culiva tion farms on each side until with a few miles of the town where all was sand and swamp for a considerable distance


newcastle is one of llic dullest pi ices in the world except during foul winds which compel passenseis to halt there and aflord some sort of harvest to the innkeepers


on entering tlie town which being in its infancy is like most others in new south wales straggling and undefinable handy passed two persons in the garb of quakers travelling ou fool each carrying a small bundle


as soon as he had installed him self in his apartment at the inn he enquired of mine host if there were a society of friends in l lie neighbourhood and on being informed in the negative described the persons lie had passed


oh


ihey are the quakers said his host one is bac chus and he gave me a lecture on temper ance and against selling spirits saying that i was selling myself to the devil by serving out liquor to people who call for it


why sir if i were to leave off selling spirits might as well give up my license as that is the only thing that pays in lie public line for the wine that the merchants in sydney send is so bad that no gentleman will drink it but i suppose we shall be obliged to give up soon for the settlers about the williams are beginning lo grow the wnc and they will be able to make wine so cheap as to keep all tlie spirits out of the country


a consummation devoutly to be desired replied handy but whut is the occupation of this bacchus who objects lo spirituous indulgence


nothing at all sir replied llic landlord he and the other gentleman have been walking all over the country and visiting all the gangs and gaols they get llie people mustered and give them a sort of discourse all with out a book for they talk like parsons and then they give them some religious tracts they will be going up to the doctors now


the last time they were here they walked over to the missionary staliou at lake mac quarie but tbink those missionary stations are all humbug they have never civilised any blacks tis ihe settlers who will civi lize them if they can catch them when they are young and make bullockdrivers of them


but sir i am told that these quakers have walked over a great deal of van diemens land they also went lo norfolk island and when they got back lo sydney they set off again for balhursi and then on to wellington afterwards they relumed to van diemens land then they came back here and went on to moreton bay now they luve been up llie huiiter but where they will go next know not but should think they must be ratlier lired for ihey do it all on bot


some people think they are spies employed by ibe home government but should think the home government have something else to do than lo send spies to this country


while he was speaking llic quakers passed the inn and proceeded in the direction of the doctors residence which was at the upper end of llie street


handy ordered his settlers tea and during its preparation strolled towards the wooden pier near to which a steamboat was lying


on enquiry be found that the steamboat was going the next day to port macquarie so alter a few minutes consideration lie look a pas sage in her and on returning to ihe inn wrote to liis wife to apprise her of his movements and telling her with respect lo the yomiwofficer in ihe brickfielder that red cloth fas good bait for mackerel and yotingaes bul that miss amelia must jlnahis her gay knight might love


the ho l y o m e s by silverwsn


continued from page


chapter x bebtha at home


beaching home on the evening already mentioned berthas first thought and care as usual was her father


finding him asleepas she fancied from weari ness she did not disturb him but attended to the needs of the poor patients and the other duties of the little shop


her tasks accomplished and a neighbour stepping in to close the shutters as was his custom she went into the inner room stirred up the fire and then leant her face towards that of the old man for his breathing was heavy and his sleep quite unlike what it usually was


as she did this the touch was in a moment revealed to her some one had been plying him with drink and this was the sleep of drunkenness


the cause she knew the purpose and result she stood by the old man breathless and stricken by this new calamity then with that measured calmness so terrible to witnessfor at its foundation lies the deepest of human despairshe took a candle searched in an adjacent closet found the bottle and glasses which had deen removed from the table thus bit by bit she made out her misery to its full


she sought for a key found it went up stairs and came down againso quietly so pallid so utterly stricken and feeble as to creep to the little fire and sink down on a low chair before it with the bearing of one just risen from some great prostration


occasionally she rocked herself to and fro now and then a low cry of pain escaped her lips but for the longer space of time she sat motionless with her faced buried in her hands


it was near eleven when some one knocked at the shop door


thinking it was maggy a poor neighbour who helped her in her household dutiesshe went and opened it but it was john olave at her invitation he came in for as he had been there before she thought he might be able to answer her a question she at once put to him


yes miss he replied though with a kindly reluctance that was quite evident


i was here waiting some time before mr lock wood came and all the while and iideed when i left your brother lister ivas here


he sat drinking with your father wine or spirits i cannot which till the old man fell asleep tken he searched for something and went up stairs


this is all i can say miss for i was busy part of the time talking to mr lockwood but even little as it is i tell you reluctantly for i know the pain it will give


bertha hid her face in her hands


i hardly like to tell you olave though coming up and down here you know something of our affairs


lister has taken twenty pounds which i had put by to meet the quarters rent afid a druggists bill and what the result will be apart even from the cruel wrong done i diead to think


is there no means of righting the matter miss asked john with some severity


he put his meaning in this way so as not to wound berthas feelings but he really meant is there no way of punishing this worthless knave


none without a painful exposure of names and circumstances in a court of justice


besides my father in order to screen him would say he gave lister the money and there the matter would end


no


i suppose i must meet ther result in the best way i can as i have so often had to do


though one thing this time makes the matter more disastrouswe are very poor and the wrong is made none the less that half the sum taken was my own bittd earningsthe result of a special piece of worki sat up late at night to accomplish in order to make the old mans mind the easier with re spect to the druggists bill


olave made no reply so that bertha slowly uncovering her pale and weeping face went on


for a twelvemonth lister has never been near us and woum not i suppose have come to night but that he had ascertained that there was something to get and that i should be from home


i was wrong not to have taken the money with me but i feared a portion might be called for so i left the cashbox whefre maggy could fetch it and the key in its usual place


i am very sorry miss sympathised john it is hardmany say soto have such brothers as these


it is it is she said passionately


nor is this the only sorrow on such count


tomorrow two others will be here to dine and never caring or inquir ing whether we be poor or richwhether i have earned the money by my labour or whether it is the gift of charityor whether we are in debt or out of debt they will eat and drink and smoke and go their way when there is nothing more to have as heedless and aa reckless of all consequence as though we rolled in wealth and our roof covered prosperity and pleasure instead of the suffering and poverty it does and of which they are as cognizant as i in her deep grief she spoke thus bit terly for the first time in her life her lips were unsealed as to the sorrows of her home


it is hard she presently continued for a woman to have to fight a battle for menbut this i have had to do for years


it is hai d when the natural tasks of the sexes are reversedbut this hard ship in its fullest bitterness has been mine


it is hard to clothe feed pay for the shelter of men whom no urging or advice on your part can induce to work and yet this and more than this has been my task


i am like a snail who has to carry others houses on his back and can see no end to the miserable road he has to crawl along


she wept so bitterly that john olave was greatly moved tg see hei grief


be cheered miss he said better and brighter days will spring up just how


i want no brightness john but what comes of work performed and duty done all task is to have no others burdens but my own to carry in this fight of life


it is little enough miss replied john i only wonderand many do the samewhat can have kept you up so far through the many trials which others bring upon you duty john the sense of duty


it is this that will sustain me to the end what ever that may be


but for m y workbut for the hope of doing good to othersi must have sunk long ago


so i suppose duty must raise me superior to this new trial and instead of weakly weeping in this way i must as i have always done meet the evil face to face


olave said she must for the sake of all the good she had done and would yet do and thai as far as he had experienced some way of meeting great and sudden trouble was mostly to be found


then he proposed to help the old man to bed as the hour was getting late and his stupor would be best got rid of by quietude and rest


you shall john and thank you for your kind suggestion as maggy will not propably be here again tonight


but i must first do my duty make a beginning of it even now


she pointed to his hand and moved towards the counter to make the necessary dressings and her fathers instrument case


in spite of her mental anguish and johns suggestion to leave it till the mor row bertha performed her task and bound up the wound anew with the dex terity and nicety of the most practised surgeon


do you know miss said john with infinite respect as she stood concluding her task that i feel a better and a hap pier man tonight than i ever felt be fore


bertha looked up into the black smiths face and was struck by its bright and intelligent expression


am glad of it john


there is a reason i suppose


yes miss


for almost the first time in my life i have met a gentleman who comprehends me and who seems willing to lend me a helping hand not only to the sortof work i should like but to many things i must know if i wish to he a helper of the right kind


as you will guess the gentleman was mr lox wood and


he was so good as to let me walk on with him almost as far as chel sea whilst he talked to me


and it was talk miss such as i nevar heard be fore


yes olave i hear he is an extraor dinary man though yet youngnot more than six or sevenandtvventy


what is of more account still his genius is of an intensely practical kind and likely to prove eminently fruitful of noble effects


i hope he will give you work whenever possible and that you will endeavour by sobriety and steadiness to prove worthy of his regard


john olave laid his rough hand gently on berthas arm


if anything miss can lift me up from being the sot i have been itll be a master such as mr lox wood and work such as his will be


give me work that will force me to think oblige me to contrive and invent employ a deal thats in me that has wasted and rusted till now and i shall be another man


i think so olave noble work in spires me always as i think it will you


at least strive to let it do so and let me have the reward of seeing you do well


now if you will just assist me with my father to his room i will no longer keep you for the hour is late


olave did so and then went his way


but for a long time after he was gone bertha sat by the old mans bed ponder ing over this new trouble and the possible means of averting the result


eventually this was done by forestalling at a loss the proceeds of some anatomical drawings she w is commissioned to make by a great publishing house and her fathers anger subsiding things proceeded in their old routine


of lister nothing was seen or heard from the night of his predatory visit


when his chambers in lincolns inn were visited by a friend of berthas he was said to be out of townfor he was a solicitor by professionand all further applications were equally fruitless


as for the other two brothers gerard and raymond they paid their dining visits as punctually and as heartlessly as here tofore


so the winter passed away full of all kinds of domestic troubles but known as such to bertha alone


she had to meet them face them find remedies nothing but her work the consolations arising out of her sublime work in teach ing and in ameliorating woes greater than her own sustained her through these dreadful days


once during this period she called upon mrs loxwood but that lady was from home so as yet bertha had neither seen cyrus work nor his mother though occasionally learning much of both from olave


spring was come


on one particular afternoon full of warmth and sunshine busiress took her to covent garden


it was her fathers birthday and the little sum of money she had come hither to re ceive exceeding its expected amount by a few shillings she bought the old rfian a bunch of lovely flowers of such sorts as he was particularly fond of and carried them home


he evinced the greatest pleasure in receiving them seemed in unusi al spirits kissed her tenderly made her childlike draw a stpol to his feet and sit there her head upon his knee whilst he smoked his pipe


thus sitting a thought occurred to her that she would surprise him with a favourite supper so she sent maggy forth to purchase a lobster a salad fcc these are dainties in that poor household arrived the table was neatly spread and the holi day supper set forth


but scarcely was this effected before gerard and raymond stepped in a look of vexation crossed the old mans face he and bertha would have kept best their rare holiday alone and he knew full well by what bitter toil the little supper had been earned


capital said gerard tapping the table with his stick were just in time raymond


come fall to


bertha keeps the pursestrings and can find another lobster if necessary


ay father you and bertha seem to thrive i wish i could say as much


you could thrive replied the old man who at times would say a few hard thrds though there his anger stayed if like bertha you worked


poor child but for her i should neither have a bed nor a restingplace


ay bertha has the family head piecewe have none


but dont let us discuss the old question now let us have supper


saying this gerard conjointly with raymond commenced supper by dress ing the lobster and salad and ordering maggy who looked on in wonderment to fetch ale and porter


bertha for peace sake said nothing but drawing to the table took care to see her father helped and then pleading little appetite con tented herself with a small portion of salad and some bread


neither did the old man eat so that the little birthnight dainties won so hardly by his beloved child stood almost untasted before him


for this the worthless heartless sons did not care


raymond the better of the two bid the old man make progress with his supper so that he might be helped again


as this he did not do and bertha took so little they proceeded zealously on their own account till the dishes were empty


they then sent maggy for gin and cigars and when such had been duly enjoyed they rose to take their leave for there was nothing more to have and their father was unusually taciturn


with a simple good night and an inti mation that they should be there on sun i day they passed into the shop but maggy at the old mans request called them back again


you had better shake hands with me he said it may be the last birthnight i shall ever see


oh your birthnight is it replied


raymond we forgot that well father i hope you will live to see many mere


the old man shook his head sorrow fully and then cast his looks tenderly on his beloved daughter at the same time retaining the hands which had been placed in his


i hope you will both of you trytp keep such employment as you have and exchange it for better when you can


i shall not be long here and bertha cannot then continue to do as she has done you must reverse the state of things that has so long weighed her down and in your turn lend assistance


she has been a noble sister to you


yes she has been very good to you especially replied gerard but bertha is one that will always be able to take care of herself


so good night father


raymond come on or simcox and the rest of the fellows will have had half their spree over


so saying they hur ried off to lant street boroughno great distancewhere the said simcox and some twenty other roystering medi cal students held high carnival


the old man said nothing but asking bertha to fill his pipe sat quiescent while maggy cleared away the supper things and bertha gathered together the frag ments for her to take home to her chil drenfor mfcggy was the mother of two though not a wife then when they were alone he made her sit down again at his feet


darling he said tenderly as he twined his feeble fingers amidst her gathered hair the wallflowdrs yeu bought this evening have given me visions of the country and a longing for a more peaceful life than this


shall we at last go there


does your old wish still cleave to you


shall we have a little homecheap because of our poverty amidst gardens and green fields


there was so much that was inexpressibly touching in the old mans voice that her eyes were filled with tears


yes papa let us go


could i sit quietly at my art i could earn more than we gain by the shop and your few patients


do let us go at once before another sum mer lies


what we sell the shop fixtures for will pay for our removal


let us go if you would have consented when i so wished you four years ago what woes we might have been spared bertha did not intend to speak re proachfully but her words told with that effect arid bowed down the conscience stricken old man with contrition for his weakness and his many shortcomings


he knew how little he had done to merit faith such as berthas i know my weakness beloved child he said i know how i have let others prgy npon you without standing up in yorrr defence as i shottld have done


but darling you ttill forgive me put your arms around my neck and tell me so for my last earthly thoughts and words will be of you and for the forgirones i need at vqut hands


she tid pnt her arms tenderly about hi neckshe did lay her face by hisshe did place her small soft hands in his poor palsied ones as for forgivenes that she would not give because in her deep love she saw so little sin


papa she said cheerfully we will have some country springs together yet


yes child if god so wills


seeing his fatigue she led him to his room and when he was in bed she went again to see if his favourite books were on the chair beside him


they were and as he seemed already sinking to sleep she kissed his beloved face and went her way having been disturbed through the day she had to sit down to work so she stirred up the little parlour fire which even in summer always burnt and ga thered together the materials of her la bour


thus till midnight was long passed she sat at work then chill and tired she went to bed


but there she couid not rest


an un easy undefined sense of pain oppressed her it was as if some newborn woe weighed heavy at her heart


at daybreak she rose and went into her fathers chamber


he did not speak though she spoke to him so she undrew the curtains and let in the early sun


he was asleep his hands were folded on his breast but it was a deep sleep as far as this world was concerned that would know no waking


in her grief her pity her terror her surprise she fell faltering by the bed her face buried in her hands she knew she was alonedesolate des titute indeed


yet with so many woes of her own she had no hope so great no faith more unfaltering than that in ame liorating the woes of others she should find her true her holiest consolation


she was not mistaken none of us are mistaken in faith such as this


for no work is so divine as the ameliorativeno work more blessed than that of effacing ignorance and sin from human natures and immortal souls


mx of a eemtller to tfiloaritt


continued from page chapter ii


monday morning was piercingly cold a strong northwest wind made my windows rattle to quick time and my teeth rattle an involuntary accom paniment while i was shiveringly conscious of strong sootflavoured draughts rather than balmy zephyrs from my fireplace as with more than ordinary haste i shot into my double milled kerseymere and commenced my toilet the meanwhile congratulating my nose that it had not to be jeopardised by the operation of shaving and ejaculating naughty things about the sitz in my own dressingroom


i have a great vene ration for and am a debtor to profes


sor pressnitz and his principles and in the summer season he would not find a stauncher disciple than myself then i will drink pure cold water like a beast flounder in it like a fish sail over its whitecrested waves like an aquatic bird or be rolled up if need be in wet sheets like a parboiled mumray but in the winter season my enthu siasm decreases wonderfully the bare imagination of the douche makes me dismal a sight of my sitz bath gives rae the fidgets and my skiff is laid up in ordinary


after jotting down amongst the other indisputable facts that i had collected that melbourne has a colder climate than sydney i descended to the breakfastroom and introduced my frostbitten phiz and finders to the cheerful coal fire


about two hours afterwards i was comfortably seated in a second class carriage the first class carnages by thebye i was informed had been seized that same morning and were to be sold under an execution for wages bound for geelongand a dreary fortyfive miles ride i had


the country is almost a dead level and with a few exceptions as destitute of anything approaching to the pictu resque as sahara cold bleak barren looking plains extend away in the distance as far as the eye can reach with scarcely grass enough on them to physic a greyhound occasionally relieved by a patch of bluestone boulders enough to set our sadly abused sydney aldermen in ecstacies


the gloom on my mind which such famine leering prospects had produced was not much alleviated by themiser able ideas these tempting looking boulders suggested


by a calculation as carefully made as the generality of calculations in a railway carriage i found that if there were sufficient of i these boulders on hyde park and all the sydney drunkards were set to work to crack them and strew them on the roads the heralds special reporter would be out of work in six weeks


the train stopped about midway on our journey to let our iron horse drink and then there was a general rush into a smart looking building containing an enticing display of ar ticles in the refreshment line lots of nobblers were nobbled down and tarts and sandwiches were gobbled up with relishless haste frightful for a dispeptic man to behold


give us a pipe old feller said a dirtyfaced digger with a beard like a billygoat after he had drank his second glass of rum


dont sell em said the curly headed barman with a contemptuous toss of his nose cigars threepence each


well lets have a cigar then said the digger and after lighting it he got into the same carriage with myself which was not a smoking carriage accompanied by another person who was also smoking and his wife


i felt rather indignant at first at such a barefaced violation of the rules which were plainly enough to be seen on a card before their eyes


no smoking allowed etc and my first impulse was to protest against it however the woman sat there looking as placid and composed as if she had inhaled smoke from infancy it was therefore plain to me that i should get no sympathy from her and should perhaps get a broken head from the diggers and some of my friends might possibly laugh at me and say it k served me right for my inconsis tency so i let them smoke away without interfering with them but i was wishing all the time that some crusty smoke hating old gentleman with his wife and two or three daughters would want to come aito our carriage at the next stopping place


i am not over fastidious about a little smoke as far as i am perso iially concerned but i think the railway authorities should have their rules more carefully enforced to insure the comfort of those persons who may ob ject to sit in a space not much larger than a sentry box with two or three fellows smoking like turks


whiz fiz whiz fiz rattle rattle rattle went the engine as onward he sped at the rate of twentyfive miles an hour and as there was nothing worth looking at outside the carriage i amused myself for the remainder of the passage in physiognomical obser vations on my fellow travellers and speculating as to the sum it had cost the digger with the beard to paint his nose such a nice purple and how many nuggets he had put into his thirsty looking mouth he had spent one shilling in rum at the last station to my knowledge and he began to look impatient to spend another long before we arrived at the end of our journey and then i wondered whether he knew that for a shilling a day he might secure an annuity after he was fifty years old of per week or more for life or insure about to be paid at his death to his poor old father and mother i did not imagine he had a wife from his buttonless appearance by investing in the sydney mutual provident society


but before i had satisfied myself in these particulars the steam whistle shrieked out most furiously which i interpreted to mean old men and women and little boys and girls of gee long im coming get out of the way j if you don t want to be knocked down j and made uncomfortable for life


and the caution was very necessary too for the train passed across several streets


in a few minutes more i was in greelong a large straggling place presenting a striking contrast to the bustle of melbourne but as i only remained there a few hours for i was glad enough to finish all i had to do and get away by the return train i cannot say much about it i can how ever recollect seeing a sort of fish pond or dock lam not sure which in j the centre of the town and i formed the opinion that there was no scarcity of mud in the streets in wet weather however i had better not say much about that as tis not the scarcest article we have in sydney


at three oclock i left geelong and employed myself assiduously in trying to determine in my mind what earth the geelong folks could want with a railway to melbourne almost parallel to deep water communication


by the time we had arrived at the halfwayhouse where the train again stopped to refresh i had not been able to solve the problem which has i have no doubt puzzled many wiser heads than mine so i gave the matter up resolving that its projectors or rather shareholders had more incney than brains and i was no longer as tonished at their workmen seizing their firstclass carriages for wages but could only wonder they had not seized second and thirdclass too engines and all and was not quite easy in my mind lest they should do so on our return to williamstown uncertain as i was whether or no they could seize all and whomsoever they found inside the carriages determined to ascertain the law on the subject before i went to geelong again


woolloomooloo ih august


to be continued


ik nd adventubes of maittjn chuzzlliwlt


v c dickens esq


chapter xvi


makiik diskmuauks


fm that soulc and pabtaum uci of packkt tune tjlli chkw at the oiit op nsw vokk ix the vkithu states of alltllloa uk wakks somiv


jiqli ait


holsii


the vakticulahs of those some liifliiir excitement prevailed upon the


very brink am


margin ol the land of liberty for an alderman had been elected llie day before and party feeling naturally running rather high on surh an cxriiing occasion the friends of ilie disappointed candidate ivid found il necessary lo assert the great principles of purity of election and freedom of opinion by breaking a leu legs und arms jrcnlleman through tlic streets with uie design of slitting liis nose


these good humoured little oulbuists of the popular fancy wore not in themselves sufficiently j remarkable to emite any great stir after the lapse nf n whole niglil but tley found fresh life and noloiietyin the breath of the newsboys ho not only proelnhnod them with sliiill yells in all the highways and byways of the town upun the wharves and araoii the shipping but on the deck anil down in the cabins of the steamboat which before she touched the shore was boarded and overrun by a legion of those young citizens


heres i hi mornings xew yorksewcr


oiicd one


here s ilus mornings acw yk slabber


heres the new york family spy


heres the new york pri vate listener


heres the new york peeper


heres the new york plunderer


heres the xew yuik keyhole reporter


heres the new york rowdy journal


heres all the new york papers


heres full particulars of the patriotic locofoco movement yesterday in which the whigs was so chawed up and the last alabama gouging case and the interesting arkansas tlooel with bowie knives and all the poli tical commarial and fashionable news


here they are


heres the papers heres the papers


heres the sewer


cried another


heres the new york sewer


heres some of the twelfth thousand of todays sewer with the best accounts of the markets and all the shipping news and four whole columns of country correspond ence and a full account of the ball at mrs whites last night where all the beauty and fashion of new york was assembled with the sewtrs own particulars of the private lives of all the ladies that was there


heres some of the twelfth thousand of the new york sewer


heres the sewers exposure of the wallstreet gang and the sewers ex posure of the washington gang and the of dishonesty committed by the secretary of state when he was eight years old now communicated at greal expense by his own nurse


heres the seiver


heres the new york sewer in its twelfth thousand with a whole column of new yorkers to be shown np and all their names printed


heres the sewers article upon the judge that tried him day afore yesterday for libsl and the sewers tribute to the inde pendent jury that didnt convict him and the sewers account of what they might expect if they had


heres the sewer heres the sewer


heres the wideawake sewer always on the lookout the lead ing journal of the united stairs now in its twelfth thousand and still a printing off heres the new york sewer


it is in such enlightened means said a voice almost in martins ear that the bubbling passions of my country find a vent


martin turned involuntarily and saw standing close at his heels a sallow gen tleman with sunken cheeks black hair small twinkling eyes and a singular ex pression hovering about the rgion of his face which was not a frown nor a leer and yet might have been mistaken at the first glance for either


indeed it would have been diflicull on a much closer ac quaintance to describe it in any wore sa tisfactory terms than as a mixed expression of vulgar cunning and conceit


this gen tleman wore a rather broadbrimmed bat for t he greater wisdom of his appearance aud had his arms folded for ilie greater im pyessiveness of his attitude


he was some what shabbily dressed in a blue surtout reaching nearly lo his ancles short loose trousers of the same colour and a faded burl waistcoat through which a discoloured shirtfrill struggled to force itself into notice s asserting an equality of civil rights with the other portions of his dress and maintaining a declaration of independ ence on its own account


his feet which were of uuusuully large proportions were leisurelv ciossed belore him as he half leaned agaiust half sat upon the steam boats side and his thick cane shod with a mighty ferrule at one end and armed with a great metal knob at the other depended cram a lineandtassel on his wrist


thus attired aud thus composed into an aspect of great profundity the gentleman twitched up the righthaud corner of his mouth and liis right eye simultaneously and said once more it is in such enlightened means that the bubbling passions of my country find a vent


as he looked at martin and nobody else as by martin inclined his head and


you allude to


to the palladium of rational liberty at home sir aud the dread of foreign oppres sion abroad returned the gentleman as lie pointed with hiscanetoan uncommonly dirty newsboy with one eye


to the envy of the world sir and the leaders of human civilisation


let me ask you sir he added bringing thcferruleof his stick heavily upon the deck with the air of a man who must not be equivocated with bow do you like inv country am hardly prepared to answer tha question yel said martin seeing that j have not been ashore


well i should expect you were not i prepared sir said the gentleman to behold such signs of national prosperity as those


he pointed to the vessels lying at the wharves and then gave a vague flourish with his stick as if he would include the air and water generally in this remark


keally said martin i dont know


yes i think i was


the gentleman glanced at him with a knowing look and said he liked his policy


it was natural he said and it pleased him as a philosopher to observe the prejudices of human nature


you have brought see sir he said turning round towards martin and resting his chin on the top of his slick the usual amount of misery and poverty ignorance and crime to be located in the bosom of the great republic


well sir let em come on in shiploads from the old country when vessels are about to founder the rats are said to leave em


there is considera ble of truth i find in thai remark


the old ship will keep afloat a year or two longer yet perhaps said martin with a smile partly occasioned by what the gen tleman said and partly by his manner of saying it which was odd enough for he smphasiml all the small words in his dis ouisc and left the others to take care of ihcmselves as if he thought the larger parts of speech could be trusted alone but lie little ones required to be constantly iooked after


j hope is said by the poet sir observed the gentleman to be the nurse of young desire


martin signified that he had heard of the cardinal virtue in questicn serving occa sionally in that domestic capacity


slie will not rear her infant in the pre sent instance sir youll find observed the gentleman


time will show said martin


the gentleman nodded his head gravely ind said what is your name sir


martin told him


how old are you sir


whats your profession sir v martin told him that also


what is your destination inquired the gentleman


really said martin laughing cant satisfy you in that particular for i do not know il myself


yes v said the gentleman


no said martin


the gentleman adjusted his cane under hs left arm aud took a more deliberate anil complete survey of martin than lie yethnl leisure to make


when he had completed liis inspection he put out his right hand shook martins hand and said my name is colonel diver sir


i am theediloi of the new york rowdy journal


martin received the communication with that degree of respect which an announce ment so distinguished appeared to de mand


that journal sir resumed the colonel


is as i expect you know the organ o our aristocracy in this city


oh


there wan aristocracy here then said martin


of what is it composed of intelligence sir replied the colo nel of intelligence and virtue


and of their necessary consequence in this republic dollars sir


martin was very glad to hear this feeling well assured thatll intelligence and virtue led as a matter of course to the acquisition of dollars he would speedily become a reat capitalist


he was about to express lhe gratification such news aflbrded him when he was imerupied by the captain of lhe ship who came up at the lime to shake liands with the i obnel and who seeing a well dressed slianger on the deck for martin had ihrcun aside his cloak shook hands with him also


this was an un speakable relief lo martin who in spite of the acknowledged supremacy of intelligence and virtue in that happy country would have been deeply mortified to appear before colontl diver in the poor character of a well capen


said the colonel


well colonel


cried the captain


youre looking most uncommon bright sir


i can hardly realize its being you and thats a fact


a good pass ge capeu inquired the ccloncl taking him aside


weil now


it was a pretty spanking run sir said or rather sung the captain who was a genuine new engfander con siderin the weather


yes


ad the colonel


well


it was sir said the captain


ive just iow sent a boy up lo your office with lhe passengerlist colonel


you havent got another boy to spare praps ca


en said the colonel in a lone almost amounting to severity


i guess there air a dozen if you want em colonel said lhe captain


one moderate big un could convey a dozen of champagne perhaps observed the colonel musing to my office


you said a spanking run i think


so i did was the reply


its very nih you know observed tle colonel


im glad it was a spanking run capen


dont mind about quarts if youre shoit of em


the boy can as well bring fourandtwenty pints and travel twice as once


a firstrate spanker cap en was it


yes a most e tainal spanker said the skipper


i admire at your good fortune cap en


you migln loan me a corkscrew at the same and haladozen glasses if you liked


however bad the elements combine agaius