Chapter VI. SUSPENSE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1727, 27 December 1884, Page 9

Chapter VI. SUSPENSE.

'Men must work, and women moat weep. At this stage of the proceedings death stepped In and relieved Mr Blake of all further perplexity. He loft home in his usual health one December morning, and was carried back at noon insensible, to die in a few hours from sunstroke. So Faith 1 and her aunt were-, left alone, and, as it soon appeared, penniless. Oi all their new friends Mr Jones exerted! himself the moat in their behalf. Faith owned! to herself that she had not given him caredit for such disinterested kindness ; still it was very distasteful to her to be under such obligation to him.

Th«r prospects looked dark enough, hat Faith did not despair. ' We must open, v school,' she. said to her aunt. 'We shsj} be sure to succeed in a comparatively n.ow place like this ; and, after aIL, it won't Jye- for long— only till Aleck comss< bad*.'

' Aleck !>' repeated Mrs Blake fretfully ; "■it'fo my belief he has forgotten all about you—else, why has he not written ? Or the Hesa mas/ have been lost ! '

' Oh, aunt ! ' And Faith rushed away to. Iter own rootm. That was the dread that haunted her—* Something must have happened to Aleck,' or sha> would certainly have heard from him. Oh, how hard this suspense was to bear i Ifc was far worse for Faith than it need have been, beoauae now, just when she most wanted help,. siia forgot where to go for it. They say women* are mora religious than men. God know& they have need to be ! for it is their lot to sit at: home and sea their dear ones go out to the ends of the earth, risking their lives daily on« the battle-field, or the treacherous sea, or in< pestilential climates. In such a ease, when bei whom shs> would shield with her own life iss far beyond her care, what can a woman do bats pray ? Faith prayed, but half-heartedly, fop her trust was weakj and so she got little con»fort.

Next tim.o Mr Jones called, Mrs Blake, much against Iser niece's will, consulted .him on the school scheme.

' Why take him into our- confidence ? ' Faith said ; ' we a?s under too much obligation to, him already,' ' Tails lot of obligation between friends' V ' I don't oount Mr Jones among my friends." 1 Faith, I'm ashamed of you— after r^jj ne jj a ' S( done, too ! '

Faith was silenced ; still she n^fcusted the* man and his motives.

Whea_ he heard of this FicJjama he at once^ showed its impracticability^ 'You could not keep a school in lodgings,, aud how are you going to rent and furnish &• house, without any capital ? Now I tell you* what : up at my station, Bunda-Bunda, theyare in want oS a schoolmistress. There is &■ furnished qootage, rent free, and pupilo ready? to your Land. Say the word, and I Beeure tb6* t>Jnoa for you.' This offer, while it dismayed Faith, delighted.' her aunt. Mrs Blako was one o£ those womem who cannot take ' No ' for an- answer. Faithf had refused Mr Jpnes, and was promised to>

Aleck, yet her aunt never gave up the hope of persuading her to change her mind. To do Mrs Blake justice she sincerely believed she was acting for the best, since it was ridiculous to suppose Faith would really be happier with a poor man like Aleck than with a millionaire like Mr Jones. So she accepted his offer promptly, bearing down all Faith's objections. To leave Melbourne before Aleck returned was bad enough, but to leave it for Mr Jones' Btation was far Worse. But Faith had her aunt to support as well as herself; if she refused this chance, and then failed to obtain employment in Melbourne, what would become of them ? So she reluctantly acquiesced in her aunt's acceptance of this offer, feeling rather as if she were being entangled in a net. She comforted herself with thinking : ' After all, nothing can harm me as long as I do right, and am true to Aleck.' And then she went to her room to write him a long letter, detailing all that had happened during the last month, and enclosing her new address. Labour lost on poor Faith's part, for one of the mail bags was accidentally burnt on the voyage home, and her letter was among those destroyed. ,