THE NOVELIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2006, 4 August 1892, Page 37

THE NOVELIST.

| Now Fibst Published. |

" Oh, that could not matter in the least," said Miss Jane enthusiastically, for she was fond of making schemes for other people's comfort or advantage, and could not bear that these schemes should be thwarted or interfered with in anj way. "It would not matter in the least, they are supposed to ksep a good cook, and when they have not got one they must be content with what they can get. I shall write and tell her that we know of the very person to suit her, and that you will be ready to go whenever she sends for you. Will that do ? " " The sooner the better. I have trespassed too long on the doctor's kindness, and I shall be glad to earn my own living."

" Are you sure that you are strong enough, my dear," put in the elder sister timidly.

11 Of course she is," snapped Miss Jane ; " she looks quite a different person since she came out here, and another change will set her up splendidly."

Miss Jane wrote to her sister-in-law, and Aline wrote to Dr Longford, and in return came an urgent telegram from young Mrs Graham, telling her sisters to send their friend at once, and a note from the doctor's assistant saying that he was out of town for a few days. Aline decided not to wait for his return, but to go to Mrs Graham immediately, and furnished with the fullest directions she set out for her destination, being placed under the special care of tht driver, a charge in which he was never known to fail.

This long journey into what seemed to her the very heart of the country was quite a new experience to Aline, and was not without its charm. The long sweeping plains, so different from the hills and valleys of Otago, stretching miles and miles away into blue hazy distance ; the plantations of grey sombre eucalypti sparsely scattered here and there, instead of the dense olive-green bush ; the many species of wattle and other flowering trees all new to her, gave a continual interest and charm to the journey. The very people in the townships which they passed seemed of a different type-*-tall, clean-limbed, and willowy in their movements, with an almost Yankee drawl in their voices, and an affectation of slowness in their manner which was very evidently " put on."

At first the long day's drive, sitting for hours in Che same position, was extremely fatiguing ; every limb ached, and she was too tired to sleep at night. But after the second day she bore it better ; the air, which had been too strong at first, put new life into her attenuated frame, and she began to enjoy the journey ; even the jolting coach was not without its merits ; and the driver, beside whom she sat, amused her with his dry humour and quaint sayings. By way of drawing him out, she asked if he had ever been " stuck up," and so let loose a flood of recollections concerning the Kellys, Captain Morgan, and many other famous bushrangers.

" Ah, them was the times. Miss," he said, with a deep sigh. " None of your humdrum drives from morning to night, with nothing to liven a fellow up. Then one was alwayß on the look-out. Every turn in the road, every bit oE scrub might show you the shining barrel of a Colts revolver, and bring the command to " Bail up." And you never knew where those fellows where, or what they were after — here to-day and gone tomorrow. They would stick up a gold escort Ballarat way, and be over here before you could say Jack Robinson. They had good nags — lifted most of 'cm — they knew how to choose the best, and they did not spare them ; plenty more where they came from. Oh, those were grand times."

" Surely you don't regret them."

" Well, I'm not sure. Life on the road's a bit slow nowadays — always the same thing over and over again. The bushrangers gave us something else to think of. We had to be ready for them, and look out for them ; and if they did not come one day, there was always a chance of their appearing the next. Have I read * Robbery Under Arms ' 7 Of course I have, and it is Gospel truth most of it. And I know Rolf Boldrewood too. Many's the time I've seen him on the magistrate's bench. He is a fine fellow, but he does not look much like an author."

"What should an author look like?" inquired Aline, much amused ; but be was not to be caught, and speedily changed the subject.

On the third day they met a small boy on a tall horse, who gravely told them that he was out after cattle, and rode away cracking a stock whip at least twice as long as himself.

" That's a young limb," said the driver, pointing after him, " not more than eight years old, and as independent as you please. Show me another country that breeds 'em like that 1 "

" He ought to bo at school," said Aline gravely.

The accommodation houses interested her, the meals were abundant and fairly well cooked, though the service was of the roughest ; but the sleeping apartments were primitive in the extreme, a frail screen of scrim and paper often forming the partition walls, the very breathing of her next door neighbour being distinctly audiblp. " I scarcely dared to breathe myself," she said afterwards, " and every time he moved I expected to see a great fist come through the wall and hit me in the face." Then, toe, the noise and movements of the bar customers could be heard distinctly all over the establishment, and it was impossible to go to sleep, however tired one might be, until they had subsided.

But what Aline objected to most was the mosquitoes. They proved themselves deadly foes, having what the colonials describe as a special " down " upon her, so that their bites seemed to be actually venomous. They had not been so bad in Melbourne, but as she got further north and inland they became increasingly troublesome, and effectually spoiled the I eauty ot much that would have been otherwise enjoyable ; tor it is a melancholy fact that few persons have so kten an appreciation of the beauties of art and of nature as to be rendered by them sublimely indifltrent to the stings of a bee or a mosquito. Materialists might consider this an excellent proof that the body is a more potent factor than the spirit, and according to oar present conditions there is no escaping from the fact ; we can only hope that we may ultimately attain to a better state of things. Aline had heard a great deal of snakes of

various kinds, but so far she had never encountered any of them. However, at one of their stopping places she was told that no water could be obtained from the great underground cistern because a snake coming to drink had taken possession of it and could not be dislodged. Moved by curiosity she had a peep at the black monster, and found him sleeping peacefully on the surface of the water. A small boy stirred him with a stick, and he put up his head and hissed, but did not offer to vacate his cool quarters.

The heat, too, increased daily, and as it was a particularly dry season the coash moved more or less in a constant cloud of dust, which did not add to the happiness of the passengers. Many a wide plain which looked little better that a desert, was pointed out to her as having been quite green and fertile a few seasons back, the continued drought having completely ruinad the squatters, many of whom had lost everything, and commenced life again as the servants of other men. She was also shown traces of a bush lire, and told of the sufferings of the man and animals overtaken by it.

" See those two or three charred logs 7 " said the driver, pointing with his whip, " that was once one of the happiest homes I over saw. Bill Dyer was a hard working fellow who adored his wifa and child ; she worshipped him. They took up land and built a log hut, with creepers growing all over it. He did a good deal of work bullock punching, for he had a grand team, and could always find something profitable for them to do. He always meant to clear his own land and ftnce off two or three paddocks round the house ; but somehow he never found time, and she liked the shade of the big trees, which are rather uncommon out here. Of course he knew there was danger, for the placa was thick set with bush and scrub, but he kept putting off from day to day, thinking he would do this one job and tben tidy up his own land, and so he never did it, and in the end the fire came. He was away from home with a dray load of goods to an upcountry station. When he got to those hills there on his way back, he saw the smoke and the black line which the fire had left. He left his team, borrowed a hone, and rode like mad, but it was too late — when he got here, that was all he found."

" And the wife and child ? "

" Well, they found two lumps so black and charred that I could make nothing of them, but poor Bill swore it was his Mary, and ho hung over it and kissed it, calling it all sorts of fond names, till the sight brought a lump into my throat and I had to clear out." With stories like this, the way was beguiled, and Aline approached her destination.

At the point where the coach road approached neareit to Buallah a comfortable buggy with two fine horses stood waiting. A stout, prosperous-looking gentleman, scarcely middled aged, with a bronzed complexion and a fine reddish beard ; who was, however, curiously like his thirj, dark-skinned eldest sister, made a sign to the driver to stop, and shouted at the top of his voice.

" You have something for me, Dovine, haven't you."

" I think so, Mr Graham. An Al parcel this time, of the Tery best materials. Consign«d to my special care, and treated accordingly." And then turning to the lady by his side, " this is Mr Graham."

Aline looked down and her employer looked

He saw a lovely young woman whose slender form and delicate complexion made her look even younger than she was, and thought, " what an exquisite creature ; but •he is too good for us, I fear we shan't keep her." Aloud, " Can you get down. Let me help you. If I could only get some one to hold these horses."

" Oh, I can manage quite well, thank you. I am used to it now, though I found it rather difficult at first."

It is difficult to descend gracefully from the box seat of a Cobb's coach, the height and swaying nature of the vehicle rendering agile movements when combined with a long skirt rather risky, but Aline managed it very welJ, and Mr Graham soon settled her in his comfortable buggy.

The coach drove off, and as Aline looked after it she felt curiously forlorn and forsaken. For days it hacl been a kind of home to her, and with it was gone her last link with the past, hhe was a stranger in a strange land, as completely stranded and jcut off from her previous exiEtence as if she had been on Robinson Crusoe's island. She knew nothing of the place or the people to whom she was going except what she had learned from the Misses Graham, who were also strangers ; and for the first time it flashed upon her that perhaps she had not done wisely to leave Melbourne without consulting Dr Longford. However it was done now and she must make the best of it.

" Have we much farther to go," she asked of the gentleman by her side.

" Between 30 and 40 miles. We shall get there about sundown — that is if we are lucky."

" It was very £ood of you lo come so far to meet me."

"I had no choice," ho said bluntly. "I would noc trust my buggy horses to tiny other driver. That chestnut mare is very fidgety. She will probabiy play up before we are done and you will see tor yourself. Are you fond of horses 7 "

" I don'c know much about tbem," said Aline honestly, '• but I chink I should be fond of them if I had a chance."

" You'll have plenty o£ chances now. One can't get about in the country except on horse back."

" But I shall not have much time "

" Ob, I'll see about that. Leave that to me," and he gave her a look of such open admiration as made the hot blood mount up into her pale cheeks, aud she saw at once that her new position would be surrounded by daDgers of which she had not dreamed. (To he continued.)

— Tact. — Old Friend: "Your plan is a most excellent ono; but do you think your wife will agree to it 7 " Married Man : " Oh, yes ; I'll tell her some one else suggested it and I'll call it an idiotic idea."

Exhausted and drowsy feelings indicate an impure and sluggish condition of the blood, which may be remedied by the use of Ayer's Sarsaparilla It is the mo->t powerful and economical bloodpurifier.