CHAPTER I.

Clutha Leader, Volume VI, Issue 339, 9 April 1880, Page 7

CHAPTER I.

£-.{J!& The cause of-loveoan neveribe-assigno'd, '•= "• tfftHTik'ih'Uoioae ''bpfcvot "the lovers' mind.'' vu; f ■ -^ft*wtJs %veatiae l! 6f jdh^'of. thfeloveliest daysjjtjtt.ehsummer »ofi 18.6-^-, had;, seen. The .'smi'^j departing Tays'' l w'ere'--lig[itin^ > tip Jwilh^blden^ .^lon^lfhe ' tops jPf, the n^UK;.b^hin.dJDunedin'sfair city, whilst tbe;d^rkenihg's^dpws,,eyer^ aggressive, J tojfill J t ,uß Jhe'nooks.aud crannies in.*itthe,i\valleys^~:and . to creep over the hill sides with giant's pace, and the bills themselves reflected on. the mirrorlike llosSm ooathf a the n ßay,' spemed to gaze upon tli'eir % o%d grandeur beioie wrapping *tHSnfiel'ves in their robe of gloom for the .riighVs -reposei ; T scene was one of surpassing eso^.ulej^sifuatildc.tlla'n; ; Dunedin. llt's Bay, placid injs.alm \pather as an inland lagoon,^et presenting in stormy weather all the turbulance of, the ocean, seems entirely/iilandlocked.:, the low-: lying 1 sands of Musselburgh and Ocean Beach can be seen the eternal-like ocean itself, (and can be ; heard its thunder-like roar; separated only by a ver} r narrow neck from.- the ßßar.} r . Opposite to the city lies that miniature loch, of beauty, Anderson's Bay, while the clear cut spires of the. churches and public buildings of Dunedin itself stand ; sharply defined against the high ground of the dark brown, , hush-covered hills, affording a beautiful contrast just as the gold setting does to the clear brilliant. And on the, heights above, peeping out from bush arid wood, smilingly are the white cottages, many of .them almost elegant in their design, while still higher up, separated from these by the Town Belt, and by a dipping valley from each other, are the villages of Morning ton and Eoslyn. It is with the latter that we have more— particularly to do at present. From the, height, of which Rqslyn is the crown, is to be obtained one of the sweetest prospects in the world. True grandeurcan be viewed, sooie even of greater beauty, but, certainly none in which grandeur and beauty are mingled in such" sweet loveliness. Each portion of the scene seems in such perfect harmony with the: other, that when- a note of discord: is, introduced it can at once be detected. . And standing gazing on this scene onth'e evening of which we have have made mention, were on the edge of the Belt outside Roslyn, two persons whose relationship to each other' could be detected at a glance — Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again . Who could mistake the meaning of those looks ? It "could only be lovers who have first experienced the thrill o" the r heart when conscious of loving and being loved. „And;.t hese two were in perfect bar-. mony with their surroundings, for they were in. unison with, each other. Their hearts beat to the same measure, their lives tenfted in the. same direction — she filled" his whole i heart ; he, hers. And therefore as the}'- looked at" the prospect before them they coulfl only pronounce it yery good. listen to what they are saying • * Willie, 'dear, is not -this very beautir ,Mt is,, Nellie. r It ; seems to fill, my whole ' Heart 'with a music far above anything I have ever heard, except your own sweet voice.' ' Ah^ Willie, you flatterer; my voice is sweetgrAp^you perhaps, than to most people^ just as yours is the sweetest in the world to me.' * But this scene before us, I wonder if Heaven itself can be more perfect in its loveliness. I could well fancy this Heaven, if you ;were always by my side.' * And shall I not be, Willie, in a very J snort time, V „;-,. i I trust so, dearest. A very short timej indeed, when we look back and think that three years have now elipsed since first .we; met ; a l° n £ time in looking forward, for I weary when not with £pou, for the time when we shall be constantly \\ith, each. other.'., ...... . 'Oh well, Willie, it will soon pass overr ? *'.Mother ; seems as glnd as we do nearly that we have" decided. definitely to marry this; autumn., For she thinks you,.are, fretting, and. .that I ani not so settled as I would be r if we were wed.' ' Well, my^darling, we can only wait paKently; 1 nl Jtfst f as the sun there, never springsiinto'his full shining for the day at a bouad, but firsr lights^one point, then „anotbetj|Oyer;^mountain top, and through^ the r deep, yale, so we, cannot en'ter*u*pon our work till the' fulfilment; of 6vir duties -To* others' • - : '.'Aird * don't-- you- -think, Willie, we shall be all the happierfor this patience we have been compelled to exercise. May it not be fitting, .us for thelife be.r fore us. You at ariyrate/for I knby yoiTwili BaveHo Exercise 'much? patience witb me.' * " 1 Nonsense, -Nellie -;' have^iMiot seen how .^patient oy.oui have ...bsenx^all, jalpng.. with^that. f wayward.,brpther of, yours. Have I not noticed now you bear with bis vile temper.' J ''"''''" : '' '"' i; -husbp-Willie. " I k¥ow ! you ! speak in love, and-what -would- woiirid me-4eeply^frpni. the lips ... of .... pthers.^n |y_ falls feomyoufts dictated! byxlove. f^Buti H ar^^JigSr'* Harr^ jdp% not be h^rsh 1 wi^j*Kitn/ ", 3 ,iv 4 ='!" : >« 1 ' Nay, Nellie/ 1 love him next to

yourself, \ ! arfd ! .'* do ~ airi*c.puM to lift him ou,t,of the: pit^into which<he has fallen/" "*' '* '" * " * ' X .. ,. JX known you would,- Willie,; but, we will not talk about him just now. It seems almost as f if ? it-Would bring discord into theJiarmony pf^ the scen.e.before iis.' ' Yes, tJ the .; scene, befpre a u.s; I shall never forget. This right shall ever be full, ot sweet reoiethbrances to me.' ' But look, Willie, now that the sun has gone, "how* quickly ;! thV darkness ( gathers, and the stars, those " forget-me-nots of the angels," are beginning to peep-out.' .-' ; .;■: :;•..« ,\ a\ " r 'They on.ly.se, rye,, hpweyer,.to show } the darkness the more. But they are ;f n 1 1 of uope; =As .you; have just said :— They are " forget-me-nots," for they seem to say as messengers from the .sun, "forget-me-not" for I shall come again.' > ' And to me while saying that, they ! also whisper " we are tokens from the angels," whose ministry over you 'is* a .constant one.- . =.When-we appear it is in darkness,' to tell you to fear not for you are under our eye,' and we shall ; report to our Master- should any danger threaten to come nigh you.' ' >*■ And to me/ then, each one seems to whisper as they twinkle there now, ■'■* We know your secret," and they name to me- the/dearestname on earth ; not so dear, however, that I do not wish to change it. But } r ou are beginning to feel chill. Let me throw, you cloak over your shoulders.' And with much gentle coyness Nellie Connor allowed Willie Anderson to throw the cloak over her shoulders. And Willie must have been very awkward about itj for it took him a longtime to get it properly arranged and fastened, and we fear that some of the fairies who dwelt in the flax bush near where the two lovers were standing 1 would tell their neighbour fairies of a marriage of lips which took place there. Oh, Love ! Love ! Thou master passion who bendest all hearts as thou wiliest, who bringest together those who, .when they first enter the world seem most distant, who levelle.st f»ll castes, and respectest not the palace of the King nor the hovel of the beggar; thou art, indeed King of all. But the hour now approached when Willie and Nellie should wend their way home. And so, ere the moon with her silver rays began to throw her gentle light over the earth, and to give all things that weird charm which is so dear to lovers, they left the Bf>lt, and after Willie had seen Nellie safely to her, mother's house, and spoken, as well as kissed good night, he returned to Dunedin, where he bad his place of residence. Willie Anderson' and Ellen Connor had been born in verydifferfint cireum-' stances of life. He was the only son of his mother, and she a widi>w, who had been left in very straitened circumstances, so much so that it was only by the most strenuous exprtions on her part, and by patient ■ self-denying, that she was able to give her son those elements of education, of which not even the children of the poorest in Scotland are deprived. But Willie well repaid all the care that had been bestowed upon him. For he worked hard as soon as he could do anything for his mother and himself, and- before many years had passed over his head, comparatively, he had the pleasure of seeing his mother spared any but the lightest labours. And, for his own advancement, in the evenings after his bard day's toil was over, for he .worked in a foundry, when? the duties were heavy enough, he would get out his slate and some class book, and work away hard till he had mastered some fact in science- or worked out some problem in mathematics. And so the 3'ears sped till Willie. was about twenty, when his mother passed awa} r , thus breaking loose the one great tie that bound him to home. And hard times came to the mechanics in the Old Country, for'by this time Willie could rank himself as such, and new fields for the energy of Britain's sons having opened themselves in the Australian Colonies, Willie had emigrated to New Zealand in the hops of seeing the world and of raising himself if possible in it. But Willie, although pious, was not one of those bigoted individuals who cannot see the Supreme Being through the light of any optics but their own. He was liberal in his theological views, and it was perhaps this more than anything: else that him to Harry Connor, his comrade in the workshop. The latter was; however, of a very reckless disposition, almost atheistic in his views, and unfortunately strongly ad-, dieted to intemperance. He was shuh-i ned by most of his fellow-workmen as being a worthless fellow, out of whose cbrnpany no good could be obtained. But Willie, as soon as he entered the workshop 'shortly after his arrival in Dunedin, made friends of his comrade, ; and for sometime managed to induce him to give up his intemperate habits. ; But alas, the demon had too strong possession; the old passion returned rwith redoubled force, and Harry fell back into the 'slough: whence rhe had seemed to be emerging so bravely. ' 1 Meantime,, : VKil]iß ii; had; paid sundry, visits to Harry's home, and thus met . his mother and sister.- With the latter'he soon fell deeply in love, and when some shortl time;after he^putithejtestmg, i ques'l tion, he found that his , affectipn was /recTpfocatecl: gagement, but, unlike many . others >:> [ tuey postponed their union at Willies

desire^tig^Kouia; h^sfcged in business for^^himsplt.-,. w As/ however, there was a y^eriba of" 4ttnshine and a period of shade as'; well in the commercialAvorld, ,threo ye'arsf ha/i r daps.edjsi;iroe the engagement, and the marriage was yet u'hcdh'summate'd;.- "Ttieir'hfopei&f'hdw'-* e v.er, , d id n o t ; , ,appfia r x as .iff,,, th eyjAV&ul d be deferred much longer, for as we have seen ; from their '^conversation' thethar' riage.^was to he cele.bratecL in. :J %about three months. : Nellie 'Con nbr'8 i:: faThßr- had- -Keen a wealthy., merchant ;; in .the- rCity.j of Londun, and she arid her only 'brother Harry hi;d'until"'th"ey'reaoh'edß the respective ages, of .tvve t lve. v anfl fourteen, i been brought up unconscious of any j want exoe'pt sueh I ' as rrioneyucould not ' buy. A time of depression, however, ; came upon business, when every nerve 'required straining to keep the, ship afloat;"' ' Robert ■ 'C6 : rinoi'', .h'bweyery in- ; stead of this, seemed to lose heart and j betook himself to tlieVottle as the only solace* for ■ the? > bard i tithes .?that were 1 pressing hini., ; The result can easily be ; 'a-uessedT'Tßmn quick and complete, ] broken reputation,: •> and: .-last-,' sinking; i 'constitution. '.As. a last resource his j friends persuhaed' him to em'i^ratQ ' to ] New Zealand, which""' he did but had ] hardly ' arrived ' in- the '• Colony' 1 when ■ death" claimed, him, as its o\yn. ( ; : The lew 'pounds i ."which were left to Iris, widow were utterly^. insufficient for the VVatsn ts of her family,' ' s'6 ' both Hariy and iNellie L had :to ; :seek .work,., .This they found and by their united efforts kept the wolf from the door. Things went on happily enough, until Harry, bright brilliant,, 'clever^ Hafryl took to the vice which had been his father's ruin.