TOM GERRARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12833, 5 April 1905, Page 2 (Supplement)

TO M GERRARD.

[PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.]

BY LOUIS BECKE. Author of " fleet and Palm." " By Rock and Pool," " Yorltc. the Adventurer," "Chinkie's Flat," Etc.. Etc. i

CHAPTER XII. Fraser, his daughtei and their two guests wet on the road to Kaburie, and within a few miles of the turn-oft' to Boorala. Kate and the clergyman were together, her father and Gerrard sum hundreds of yards in advance, and all were walking their horses slowly, for the sun was beating fiercely down upon them through the scantly foliaged gum trees, and Kaburie was yet twenty miles away. The girl sat in her saddle with bent* head, mid there were traces of tears on her cheeks. " I am vciy, very sorry, Mr. Forde, for I dc like you very, very much—more than any other man in the world* except my father. You have always been «■ kind to him and to me; but I never thought that you would ask me to be vour wife. And it hurts me to—" Forde placed his hand ou hers. " Never mind,' Kate. It was a foolish dream of mine, that is all. But you were always the one woman in the world to me ever since I first met you two years ago. And it grieves me that I should have made you shed one single tear." His calm, steady voice and the gentle pressure of his hand reassured her. Her father had said to her a few hours before that Ford-- would take her refusal "like a man," and sb;- had replied that sne knew it. She raised her face to his as he bent towards her, and, on the impulse of a moment, borne of her sincere liking for the man, kissed him- His bronzed features flushed deeply, and his whole frame thrilled a3 their lips met and then he exercised a mighty restraint upon himself. " Good-bye, littb woman, and God bless you," he said softly, as ho bent over her. "But why are you goin» away. Mr. Forde? Father will be so distressed, and so indeed will be everybody—for hundreds of miles about."

Forde had drawn himself together again, and swinging his right toot out of the stirrup sat " side-saddle " and lit his pipe. "Well, you see, Kate, my mother has left me two thousand pounds or so. It was that that gave me pluck enough to speak to your father last night. I thought I would go to hint first, Perhaps I made a mistake?"

! " No, indeed! He told me all that you said to him, and—oh! Mv. Forde, 'we shall all miss you so much," and as she spoke her eyes "filled with team again. He looked at the gum tree branches overhead, and went on meditatively, apparently not taking heed of her emotion, though his heart was filled with love for the girl who, with bent head, rode by his side. " And 1 shall miss much—much out of my life when I leave this part of the colony, Kate. But I was never intended k be" a c>rgym;in. I was driven into the Church by ny mothergood, pious soul— who. because my father was in the church, condemned me to it, instead of letting me follow my awn bent—which was eithe. the army or navy or commerce." "But you made a good clergyman," said the girl artlessly He shook his head. "Well, the fact is, Kate, that I was always pretty sick of it, although I must say chat I like the free open life of the bush, and the people; especially the working men, diggers, and Stockmen. And their frank hospitality and rough good nature'l can never forget." " Where d; you think of going?" "Tc Sydney first. Then I'll decide what tc do. I am "very much inclined to follow your lather's example and go in for mining; either that or cattle-breeding. ' But, of course, I shall write and let you know." "Do!" she said, earnestly, and then they quickened their horses' pace, as they saw that- Fraser and Gerrard had pulled 'up at the turn-off tc Boorala, and were awaiting them."

"Well, Forde, old man," said the mineowner, as he bade the clergyman good-bye, " you will leave a big hole in the hearts' of the people about here. Kate and I especially will miss you. -And I hope that we shall meet again." " Nothing is more likely. I like Queensland too much to leave it altogether," and then with another warm grasp of the hand, he said good-bye to them' all, and turned along the Boorala. track. "One of the*whitest men that ever put foot in stirrup," said Fraser a few minutes later to Gerrard.

"I'm sure of it!" assented Gerrard. And then they began to speak of Kaburie, Fraser giving his visitoi every possible information about tie country and ids cattle-carrying capabilities. It was, he said, one of the best watered runs in the north, and a drought had never beeu known. "foe!" be said, pointing to a sandalwood scrub, "that is one of the mustering camps ou the Kaburie boundary, and there are some of Mrs. Tallis' cattle* down there in th« creek. Crack your whip, Kate." Uncoiling the long stock-whip, the girl cracked it once only, but loudly, and in a few seconds hundreds of cattle appeared from the creek, and through the fringe of she-oaks that lined its banks; they clambered up the steep side and stared at the disturbers, and then at a second loud crack of the whip trotted off quietly to th-' camp —bullocks, steers, cows and calves, the latter performing the usual calf antics, curving their bodies, hoisting their tails, and kicking their heels in the ait. Once under the cool, grateful shade of the dark, green foliage of the sandalwoods, they quietly waited to be inspected, and Fraser and Gerrard slowly walked their horses abo'Jt among them. "What d- yon think of them?" asked the mineownef, who was himself a good judge of cattle. " Vsry fair 'lot indml. and all as fat as pigs," replied the squatter, scanning them closely. " Now then, Bully boy, what are yon staring at?" he. said to a sturdy twelve months old bull calf, wb« hod advanced to him. "Ah! job watt to be branded, do ton?" Quite so! Well. I think it very likelv yon will be soon." "Ther? has been to brandies; at Kabnrla for «ix months, Mr. Gerrard." said Kate, who added that there wen; now only Mr*. Tallis* overseer ant l one black boy stockman, on the station, who did nothing more than muster the cattle occasionally on the various camps. Gerrard nodded. " Ladies are bad business people as a rule. There will be a terrible amount of branding to be done now." Kate, unaware of the twinkle in Gerrard's eyes, was indignant. "Indeed, Mrs. Tallis was considered a very good business woman, and knew how to manage tiling:? as well as Mr. Tallis. What are you laughing at, Ml". Gerrard?"

"At Mrs. TaUis' smartness. Site has saved herself some hundreds of pound'; by dismissing her stockmen, and leaving the calves unbianded. All the work and expense will fall on whoever buys the station." "Oh. 1 »ec!" and Kate *miUd. "But, after all, I »uppo&e—

"That all is fair in love and war. And buying ft cattle or sheep station is war in a sense between seller and buyer. I should have done the same thing myself, I, suppose."*' .v.. - "I don't believe you would," said the girl frankly. "Mr. Aulain told father and me that you were very Quixotic." "Aulain doesn't know what a hard nail I am in money matters sometimes, Miss Fraser. I'm a perfect Shylock, and will have my pound o' flesh—especially bullock flesh."

" I know better, and so do you, father, don't you?" and her eyes smiled into.Gerraid's. "Mr. Aulain told us all about your selling a hundred bullocks to the French authorities at New Caledonia, and then, because half of them died on the stormy voyage to Noumea, you returned half the money. Was it your fault that the steame. was nearly wrecked, and the cattle died?" " Aulain did not think that it might have only been a matter of my setting a sprat to catch a mackerel. You see I was anxious to establish a big cattle trade with the French people." Kato shook her head decisively, but there was ail expressive look in her eyes that gave Gorrard great content. Towards the afternoon the travellers saw a horseman coming towards them, and Kate recognised him as Tom Knowles, the overseer of Kuburic, for whom Gerrard had a letter fronrMrs. Tallis. He was a lithe, wiry little man of fifty, and Kate and her father exchanged smiles as, when he drew near, they saw that he was arrayed in his best riding " togs," was riding his best horse, and that his long grey moustache was carefully waxed. He had long been one of Kate's most ardent admirers, and had a strong belief that he was "well placed in the running with Aulain and the parson" for the voting lady's affections hand. " Well, this is a pleasure," he cried, as he rode up and shook hands with Fraser and his daughter; "I was coming over to,the Gully to spend an hour or two with you, Fraser, but, of course, you are coming to me?"

" Yes," said tlio mineowner. " This is Mr. Gcrrard, Knowles. He has come to see you on business, and wo came with him." The cverseer, who had at first looked at Gerrard's handsome face with some disapproval, at once became at ease, and in a few minutes, after Gerraid had explained the object of his visit, the party put their horses into a smart cantei, and half an hour later came to a wide, sandy-bottomed creek, fringed with huge tea-trees. On one of these, which was on the margin of the crosssing, was nailed a large black painted board with an ominous inscription in white—" Look out for alligators." " Mr. Tallis had it put up," explained the overseer to Gerrard, "as two men. were collared by 'gaters here. But when the water is clear, and the creek low, as it is now, there is no danger. It is when the creek is high after rain, and the watei muddy, that the crossing is risky. I suppose you have any amount of the brutes up your way''" "Thousands! The rivers, creeks, and swamps are full of them, and I have lost a lot of cattle and horses at Ocho Rios by them." An hour later they arrived at Kaburic, and Kate was, at the request of the admiring Knowles, acting as hostess and preparing supper. '•* CHAPTER XIII. Two days had passed, and Gerrard was still at Kaburie, though Kate and her father had left the previous day; they were, however, to return, bringing with them three or. four stockmen to assist Knowles and Gerrard to muster the cattle, for he had decided to buy the station and leave Knowles there, as his manager. Although there were but four thousand head of cattle on the run they were widely separated in small mobs of a few hundreds each—some high up in the ranges, and some haunting the low-lying littoral and frequenting the flat, marshy land about-the mouths of the numerous creeks debouching into the sea, where they eagerly ate the lush, saline grasses and creepers that lined the coast above- high-water mark—and to round up all the scattered mobs on their various camps, and count every beast, meant very hard work. Then, too, Gerrard intended to have a general branding at the samji time*, and he felt a thrill of pleasure in hir-vehajg when Kafa«!iad said to her father: ~ '" r ' j "Father, why cannot we- help, too?"' You can safely leave the battery and claim to Sam Young for a few days. And as you and I know the country so well, I am sure we should be of some use tc Mi. Gerrard." Douglas Fraser had never said " No" in his life to any request of Kate's since she was fifteen, and he smiled assent. And then in addition to that, lie had taken such a strong liking to Gerrard that it gave him pleasure to afford him all the assistance in his power. "All right, Gerrard!" (men in the Australian bush do not "Mister" each other after a few hours' acquaintance) "We shall be here. And I'll send over to Boorala for three or four good men to help in the mustering." So Kate and her father had ridden away and left Gerrard and Knowles to themselves for a few days; and Gerrard and the dapj>e;little overseer planned all sorts of improvements that were to be effected in the way of making Kaburie ? crack breeding station. As father and daughter rode side by side along the track back to theif home, through the darkening shadow* of the coming night, they talked about Fordo and Aulain, Fraser resting his big brown hand on her knee, and looking wistfully into hei face. "And you see, my child, that I well know that there will come a time when you and I must part. Some man — Never, father, never I liked Mr. Forde very much, but not well enough to marry him, and part from you. And 1 kissed him, clad, when we said good-bye. Do you mind much? I couldn't help it. I felt that I must kiss him. Then tears. I thought I had better tell you, for I feci so horribly ashamed of myself." " There is nothing for you to be ashamed of, child," said hei father tenderly ; " Forde is a man, and. as I told you, he would take your refusal like a white man and a gentleman."

"He did. And I could not help crying over it."

Foi some minutes they rode on in siience, then Fraser said:

"When is AuJaiu coming*;'' " As soon as he is able to sit a horse, he said," and then her face flushed. "I wish he would not come, father, and yet I do not like the idea of writing to biui and telling him —especially when b« is ill " Eraser nodded. "J understand. Still I think it would be the better course to take. I had imagined, however, Kate, that you thought more of Aulain than you cared to admit, even to me." " So I did ; and so I do now, but I would never many him, father, no matter how much I cared for him."

i Her father looked at her inquiringly. j "I think lam afraid of him, dad, sometimes. He is so dreadfully jealous, and he | has no right whatever tc be jealous of me, '■ for we were never engaged. And theD there ! is another thing that is an absolute bai to my marrying him, though I feai 1 am too i much of a coward to tell him sc : he is a Roman Catholic. And whenerei I think of that I remember the awful tragedy of the Wellington family." " I think you ore quite right, Kate," said the miiwowner gravely. " Frankly, whilst I think Atilalti is a. fine fellow, an** would make yon a good husband, 1 must confess that the thought of your marying a Roman Catholic ha* often filled me-With un*>*iue»*." "Don't be afraid, dad," abe said, decisively. "In the firit place, I at? not going to marry anyone, abd shall grow into a pretty old maid": in the »fcotid, : it' 1 wag dying of love, nothing in the world would induce the To many a Rottaft Catholic. Whenever I think of poor Mr. Wellington as w» saw him lying oft th« grass with the bullet hole through his forehead, I shudder. 1 loathe the very name of Mr*. Wallington. end consider her and Father CoJTegio the actual murderers of that good old man." She spoke of an incident that had occnned when she was sixteen. Wellington, a wealthy Brisbane solicitor, had gone to England on a six months' visit. When he returned, lie found that his wife am! only daughter, a girl of five-and-twenty, had fallen under the influence of a Fathei CorregiQ, and had entered the Roman Catholic Church, and his long and happy married life was at an end. A week later he shot himself in his garden. " I am afraid that poor Aulahi will cut up pretty roughly over this, Kate," said her father presently. "I can't help it, father. And I think, alter all, T. had belief write to him to-mor-vow. I really do not want him to vvsnt to ilK.GuU*.''

• And she did write, and Aulain's face was not. pleasant to.see as he read her letter. "fly —!. if it is the parson fellow. 111 sboot'him like a rat," he said, and then lie cursed the fever that kept him away from Kate. I .'. ■•■••• . _ ■ • , He went over to the Clarion office and saw Lacey, who was quick to perceive that something had occurred to upset the darkfaced sub-inspector. . , i "How are you, Aulain V Any ' snakes to-day?" he asked, referring to the recurring attacks of ague from which Aulain suffered. "Oh! just the usual thing," replied his visitor irritably, as he sat down on a cane lounge, and viciously tugged at. his moustache. " I thought I would come over and worry you with my company for a while, and got you to come across to the Queen's and share a bottle of fizz with me. They have some ico there, I hear— up by the Sydney steamer last night." . Lacey's eyes twinkled. " I'm with you, my boy. 'I've' just finished writing a particularly Venomous leader upon mine adversary the Planter's Friend, and a nice cool drink, such as you suggest, on a, roasting day like this will tend' assuage the journalistic rage against my vile and hated contemporary." (To be continued daily.) . J NEW DOMESTIC STORY, From the pen 'of MR. F. FRANKFORT MOORE, Entitled "THE RED-HAIRED GIRL." The opening chapters of the above serial will appear in the Hkbai-d on Saturday, next (April 8), and we would advise our readers to secure a copy and commence the perusal of this charming story.