Chapter 11.

Otago Witness, Issue 1582, 18 March 1882, Page 25

Chapter 11.

I hold my duty, as I hold my soul— Both to my Gad.

—Harrdtt

And now, having thus unceremoniously conducted the indulgent reader int© mid-ocean, he may fairly demand to know where we have brought him. We have alighted then, dear reader, you and I, upon the deck of the good ship Australia, bound from London to Melbourne with emigrants, and ninety days out, and looking forward to other ninety at least, before she shall complete her voyage, for it is the year of grace 185—, and six months is accounted a very fair passage to or from the antipodes. The Australia is, as I have intimated, an emigrant vessel, and has on board about one hundred steerage passengers. The saloon is occupied by but one family— Allon by name, consisting of father, mother, and two sons. The passage hitherto has been a remarkably prosperous one, not a single gale having occurred to break the continuation of fine weather and fair winds. But this very prosperity has made the emigrants all the harder to govern. Want of excitement,— above all, want of employment— has rendered the men fractious, and the women simply unbearable. Quarrels are rife, and mischief-makers in their glory. Who ever knew a vessel — emigrant or otherwise— without at least one of those unenviable characters on board, whose chief pleasure consists in setting the rest of the passengers by the ears? For instance, Mrs Toinpkins and Mrs Smith, who were fast friends at the beginning of the voyage, are now at daggers drawn, because Mrs Jones has told Mrs Tompkins that Mrs Spinks told her that Mrs Smith had said that sne, Mrs Tompkins, wasn't no better than she should be.

' Which I thought it no more than my duty to let you know,' remarked (.he mischief-maker, with a virtuous air ; 'if it was only to warn you what a wiper you're anussing of in your buzZUUI,'

And the innocent children were the sufferers, as they too often are in such quarrels. If caught playing with children whose mother was at feud with theirs, they were immediately called off, which was an invariable signal for a fresh war of words between the mothers, until the very babies ' took sides,' and lisped abuse at each other. Such a community needed a firm government, but the skipper, Captain Hencke, a slow phlegmatic Teuton, appeared to consider the navigation of his vessel as much as he was equal to, and had made over the charge of his passengers almost entirely to' the doctor, a fiery little Welshman, Gryffyths by name, or Gryffyth ap Gryffyths, as he made a point of always signing himself. But, sad 'to tell, the irreverent emigrants had converted that ancient and honourable name into ' the Griffin,' by which sobriquet he was generally known behind his back. They had a tradition too, that on the eve of every New Year, he solemnly and with mysterious ceremonies, burned the walking-stick he had used during the past twelve months— suggested probably by his peculiar expletive, and by his never being seen by mortal vision without one of those useful articles. The emigrants did say he took it to bed with him, but I am inclined to ihink that assertion was not founded on fact. Impatient and invincible as he was, the little doctor had a really kind heart, though few' but those who had proved it by experience suspected the fact. Of the passengers we shall only notice those in whose fate we are interested. First then the' poor lady, from whose dying bed we have just come. I say ' lady ' advisedly, for such she, evidently was, notwithstanding her present circumstances, and as such she had been in- ' voluntarily treated by her fellow-passengers. Mrs Spinks had met with her at a London lodging-house, and hearing that she wished to get' to Melbourne, had recommended her to take a passage in the Australia. The poor lady had seemed glad to avail herself of the adyice, and had been feverishly anxious until j her berth was secured, and the vessel fairly on its way. During the voyage she had 'kept to herself,' as the passengers remarked, shrinking from contact with the rough and coarse natures around her— a line of conduct which in anyone else, would have been resented mightily, but Mrs Eustace (as she was called, in contradistinction to Mrs William Smith) was so gentle and so ready to oblige, that the emigrants found it impossible to quarrel with her, and gradually fell into the habit of treating her | with respectful consideration, moved by pity ! towards one who had so evidently c seen better I days.'

Kenneth Allon, who, boy-like, had the freedom of the ship, was struck at once by the difference between Mrs Eustace and her companions. Her youth, beauty, and peculiar situation at once interested his chivalrous nature ; and by many delicate attentions he strove to render her position less disagreeable. But though showing that she appreciated Kenneth's kind courtesy, all his efforts could not win ' Mrs Eustace ' from her reserve. And so, as I have said, nothing was known of her beyond the fact that she was going to join her husband in Australia.

William Smith, whose wife had been so kind, to 1 her, and now had charge of the little orphan, had been a small fanner in England^ and was going to Australia with the determination of making his fortune at the goldfields, which was also the intention of the Allons, who were the only saloon passengers. Francis Allon was the, younger, son of a peer of the realm, and was 1 possessed of as aristocratic a figure, as faultless ' a toilet, and as selfish a disposition as you need j wish to see. He had married, early in life, the daughter of a pai'venu, partly for her pretty face, but a good deal for her pretty fortune. Both, however, had vanished long ago, the one through disappointment and chronic discontent, the other through extravagance. The ' grand smash ' had come a month or two before, after having by various expedients been staved off for an incredible length of timeTitled relatives had — to save an ancient and I honourable name from being dragged through the mire— brought their influence to bear, enabling him to 'go through the court,' and had shipped the whole family off to Australia, and the swindled tradespeople were left to their own reflections. Mr and Mrs Allon had but two children — Francis, aged nineteen; and Kenneth, seventeen. Francis was like his father, both in appearance and dispositionhandsome and worthless. Kenneth resembled neither parents nor brother. His features were marked, decided, and plain almost to ugliness ; his sturdy, broad-shouldered frame contasting with his brother's slim gentility. And whereas Mr Allon and Francis eschewed business as vulgar, and principle, on principle, as inconvenient, Kenneth was possessed of practical business-like habits, and a thorough, downright honesty, and hatred of all littleness whatsoever. The difference between the two brothers might, in some degree, be accounted for by the fact that Ken>neth bad, at an early age, been consigned to the care of a wealthy maiden aunt of his mother's, on the understanding that she would make him her heir. But the old lady still lived, and seemed likely to do so for an indefinite period, much to the aggravation of her dutiful niece ; and Kenneth, whose first knowledge of his father's embarrassments came with the announcement of the bankruptcy, decided that it was his duty to accompany his parents to the land of their exile ? and assist in earning money wherewith all claims might be satisfied in full. His aunt opposed that decision vehemently, her love for Kenneth being only equalled by her dislike for the rest of the family. Not a penny of her hardly and honestly-earned money Bhould ever go to pay for their extravagance. She would make her will forthwith (a thing she had hitherto obstinately refused to do), and Kenneth must promise to remain with her, renouncing hi& quixotic idea absolutely, or expect to be left. out of it altogether. But Kenneth, much ab he loved and respected his aged relative, had, nevertheless, decided principles of his own, and a sturdy independence, which could by no means be brought to submit to the old lady'a conditions. So they had parted ; coolly enough on her side, but without any quarrel. And the opposition Kenneth had had to encounter at home had been scarcely less. Mrs Allon, in an unintermittent stream of whining complaint, bewailed his rupture with her aunt. ' Could you not have promised anything? she cried, 'rather than quarrel with her! After she is dead, what will it matter how you spend the money? Though you would be a fool to throw it away on those greedy, grasping creditors. They have not the slightest claim on your father now, much less on you Did ho not go through the court, and pay half-a-crown in the pound? What more would you have? Of course we shall make our fortune on the goldfields — everybody does ; but you won't catch your father being such a fool as to spend any of ifc paying debts from which he has received a legal discharge.' And an emphatic ' I'd like to sco myself doing it !' from Mr Allon, showed that for once he fully endorsed his wife's opinion. Kenneth's clieek burned with shamo and indignation as he listened to this, and remembered some of those debts. Their non-payment had, he knew, entailed utter ruin upon more than one unfortunate creditor. And call it Quixotism,

or boyish enthusiasm, or what you will, he I mentally registered a solemn vow to devote his life to the one object of discharging them. He fully realised the fact that upon his own exertions alone must he depend for the fulfilment of that vow ; and was conscious, in a great degree, of the burden and responsibility which he j was taking upon himself. But Kenneth would not suffer that consideration to ( deter him ; ] right was right, and he felt that it would be \ impossible to enjoy life in peace until that act of justice had been accomplished^ At present' every meal seemed to choke him ; nor could he walk the streets without experiencing a feeling of shame and humiliation, which to a mind like Kenneth's was intolerable. But this decision had not been arrived at without a struggle, Kenneth's great desire had been to follow the example of the friend of his boyhood, and become a medical missionary to India. It was a great sacrifice, but no sooner was it made than Hope, which ' springs eternal in the human breast,' more especially in the youthful breast, sprang upon his. As his mother had said, they would be sure to make their fortune at the diggings. A year or two would suffice to clear off the debts, and then—. Well, were there not heathen in Australia as well as in India? No objection was made by Mr Allon or (Francis to his going with them. Both had a constitutional antipathy; to work or other 'disagreeables,' from which, they foresaw, Kenneth's presence would relieve them.