CHAPTER IV.—WALTER'S TRUST.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 197, 14 August 1873, Page 2

CHAPTER IV. — WALTER'S TRUST.

To nnd fro along the pntdi "Inch wound through the plantation of firs, walked I&gmald Clmt, so passing the tune away,, nntil he should' have to go to the -tntioti at Drmgton to fetch his daughter. He was not more n-niubly disposed than usual. Miriam's brref and oaiily quePed attempt at opposition had irritated him, coining ant did after he had, with difficulty, inude up his mind to the nuisance of having her permanently at Tlonw. He had not been hurt at the evidence of tire nature of his daughter's feelings convened' in her request ; ho had no tenderness for her, nnd ho wouldL^t sneered at tho idea of her being supposed to entertuj^^B for him ; but she had ventured to questions decision -^^V and that was not to be endured. She must understanJ^^B such opposition must never be mado or contemplatetf/^^B The permanent institution of a woman in the ho'o.^^H might be bullied ad LbKnm, had long been wantm^^^B existence of Reginald Clint ; porhaps lie did not go <^M^" far as to deliberately contemplate his daughter's retuJP" «;« remedy ofi that deficiency, but his frame of mind was-as '***• cidedly menacing to Miriam's future comfort as it amla t», when 1*» turned into the road throug 1 * a gate in the low external wall on tho far side of the fir plantation, and strode away in the direction of Drington. When he reached the railway station, Mr Clint looked slmrplj about him. He had ordored< a dog-cart, the only equipage the Firs boated, to be in attendance on the arrival of the train, and he was almost provoked- when he saw it there, and' also a- hand-cart for the conveyance of Miriam's luggago. It wa3 mi opportunity foe swearing at the groom lost*to him. The approach of the train was already indicated by a- puff of smoke in the distance, and Mr Clint passed at once through the booking-office to the arrival platform. As the train came up, Miriam's handsome head was put out of her carriage window; and she nodded and kissed l>er hand to her father, who stood stolidly still, his bands in his pockets, until the carriage was alongside the plaiform. ' Dear papa,' said Miriam, as she jumped' lightly out — she had been making very good resolutions on the way — ' how good of you to come and meet me yourself" fie neither touched her nor looked at her. ' Where are -your things 9> he said. ' Where's jour maid ?' " 'Those are my boxes they're taking out of the Tan,' said' Miriam, trying not to seem taken aback at this strange 1 welcome home ; ' and my maid is here ;' she turned towards Hose Dixon, who stood behind her, with a travelling-bag im ench hand, and shawls on her nnn. ' See to your mistiess's things,' said Mr Clint ; ' there's a' hand-enrt and a man just outside the gate, to bring them up to the Firs ; he'll show you the way. — Come along, Miriam ;" ho walked abruptly away, and his daughter followed him, to the dog-cart. 1 Jump in,' liff said ; and took her alinotb roughly by the elbow. She did so, nnd he got in bosido her, nnd took the.reins. ' How is she to get home ?• Must she walk ?' asked/ Miriam. ' The woman ? O yes. There's no room for her here. — That will do, Wilkins ; Jet him go !' He started the horse ; the man jumped up behind, and. tliev were of]'. ' I'm afraid she will be very tired,' snid Miriam timidly ; ' it's a hot day, and after the journey' 'What cursed nonsense!" said her father violently. 'P hope you and Miss Monitor have not been suoh fools as tohirn a maid who requires the treatment of a fine lady, and can't use her limbs. By George, she won't get it at theFirs. She looks n poor, pnle, frightened creature I hateRick servants ; and mind I tell you, Mu'iam, if you've brought one here, she shall be sent packing ' ' 1 don't think Pose Diton is at all sickly, sir,' Miriam, hastened to say ; she was lightened at the thought of how powerless to her Walter her father's caprice might make her at any moment ' Sli? is not even delicate, she tells me. Only, she is not a common person, in. eitheo appearance or manner I—and1 — and ' Her further explanation! was cut short by her father's pulling up the horse sharply wiih an oath. The animal had picked up n stone, and in the necessary objuvgations uponi him for doing so, and upon the groom for not being sufficiently quick in removing it. the matter dropped. As they started again, Miriam glanced back at the station ; a man was pushing the hand-cart, with a pile of boxes, throush tho side gate, nnd Ro«e was walking along the footpath, a little in front In another minute the road turned, and Miriam, lost «ight of her The incident was small in itself, but so characteristic, po like the experience and the forebodings which She girl was bringing to her detested home, that it overcame nfl her resolutions. She could not rally her spirit*,, talk to her father, force herself to assume the h\ely and confident nir by which she had proposed to herbelf to secure an casv position as by a cowp-de-main ; sho sat by her father'sside silent, and hnrdlv heeding the summer landscape through which they drove. When the entrance to the Firs lav close before them, she roiucd herself, and said : ' I hope you are glad to see me. papa 9 You have not sa\d so.' ' I never mate speeches about matters of course,' was Reginald Clint's congenial reply. Miriam said no more. Her father pulled up at the entrance of the house, helped her out of the dog-eni t, and slrode into the hall before her, going straight to his 'study,' in wlnVn he neier read, but sulked, drnnk, nnd smoked a good cTe.il. A man-servant nnd twomaids appeared, all three gf rangers to Miriam. She told , them briefly that her maid whs coming, and desired shomight be «ent to her room ; then lan upstaivs to the rooms which had been her mother's, nnd wlnoh the had called herown since her childhood, locked the outer door, flung herself on the bed in the inner room, nnd burst >nto tears, lliey were not all caused by grief; an> n vr and umu hadalaige share in their origin. •I shall hever be able to make it better,' she muttered,, 'and if he sends Rose away, it will be worse. Hie only thing I have to hope for, the only thing I can look forward, to, is to gpt away, and there's only one way of doing that. Til tnke that only way, then, the flist time I can get it, at any price ; nothing can be so bad as home iwid my father.' She got off the bed when the tears subsided, and walked from one room to the other. No preparations bad been mnde for her return ; none of the pi ett messes of a modern.young lady's dwelling cheered the dull old fashioned rooms. There were no flowers, no bright hangings, no draped mirrors,, or pretty bookcases— none of the things which mothers provide for the daughters who are coming home to them ' for good, and which most fathers would cause to be provided jor a motherles gii L Miriam bad not expected any preparation, and yet, the dull ugly rooms vexed her. The reception by her father, the silent drive home, the tumult of her feelings, had driven the curiosity which she had been experiencing to a painfully exciting pitch, during the last two days, into the baekgiound ; she had almost forgotten tliat as\et she had not discovered her brother's motive in inducing her to engage Rose Pixon, that as jet she did not know whoher new maid really was. Rose Dixon had punctually presented herself at thenppointed time at Crescent House, Hampstead, and bad. easily and correctly assumed the functions of Miss Clint's maid. But there had not been a moment's opportunity forMiriam to speak to her attendant unheard ; the ' girls," the teachers, and the servants all swtimed about the popular pupil ii)» to the instnnt of her depart me, and M>ss Monitor accompanied her to the Mat ion. Mirinm had observ^S traces of tears on Rose Dixon's fnee, and theie was a nervous flutter about her which mnde her young unstress kindly anxious to rrassuro her, nnd to shield her from observation. The station wns crowded on their nrmnl, and the noise and confusion sufficiently distracting to render Miss Monitor's recognition of one "figure among the crowd improbable. Thus, while that llndy was taking two first-class tickets forher ex-pujxl nnd her maul, and making the guard sensible of the propriety of seem nig seats for them in a '-arriage w itbother ladies, a Vail woman in a blown silk gown contrived to hover near them, and \o press n hand of each unseen. The journey inflicted a se\erc lual of y»«t«ence on Miriam. The carriage bud three occu| unis in addition to herself and Rose Di\on. One was a -\er\ fine Indy indeed, who signified, as plainly n« look and gesture could comey the sentiment that she objected to the picseneeof a lady's mn'd ; the other two -ne'-e giggling pi' lf of le 1-*1 -* tbun Mi) inm'a own age, ancV who wntcTiecfber with the mllet-s mid ill-bred curiosity o£ their time of ITe She find not a chance of exchanging a word, on any but o'diuary topics, w lib Rote Dixon, dui mg the jbumev", nrd she had It en much surpiised when, in nngfier to her w Inserted qneMini : ' Have you bionght [me any letter firm my bi oilier?' Eoce hnd nrsweipcl 'No.' The windows of Mnvnm's rooms were m front of the house, so that sbe stw Rose Dhnn roirjng along the avenue, by the side of the band-cart, with her luggage. She looked healed and t'red, and Mirmm longed to run down-stairs, nnd save her from carrying oi'y burden up to her room, but she wisely lestinined the impulse. Pre»ently there was at Knock at the door j Miriam unlocked nnd tlnew it open. There stood Rose, deadly pnJe nnd trembling, and looking as if she were going to taint ; while the housemaid, a grinning, large-faced Hnuipthire girl, who had come up'Stairsto •hew her the way, looted at her in wholly unsympathetic surpr'se. 1 How tired you arc,' said Miriam, as she look the travelling bngs fiomßose. 'Tint will do,' addr("*sii<g the housemaid, against wT>om she nncer< moniously shut nnd locked the door. Then, for the first time, the two young women. confronted one another alone. Mirinm had thrown aside her bonnet und shawl, and w.iw a picture of mingled excitement, discontent, and curiosity. Her davk hair was dusty and di-ordered ; her cheeks were smeared with tears; her beautiful e\e> wue bright, troubled, and pitiful ; her strong (nil form wns shaken with the conflicting feelings w it hm her. Ro«e wns pnle to her lips, and looked faint, but she wns quiet, and perfectly cnlni. Pain was plainly to be read in her fnce, but there was courage there too, and something; which told thi»t the ha.bit of endurance vm formed iv hex' character. \) , y»«nw«

'Sit down,' said Miriam, pulling a chair forward, anp pushing Eose Dixon into it ; then standing before her, with a hand on each of her shoulders, she looked into her face. 'I cannot bear this one instant longer. Walter promised to explain— ho has not done it; juu must. Who are you? What aro you to him "' , „. . , Rose Dtion put her hand" un, and gently took Miriam s off her shoulders ; fien, holding them m ln«r-», slu- a lowered as they thus at arm's length looke 1 at each ot'icr : ' He left at to me to tell you. I uni your bi other's w ile !'

Boys in Flax Mills —The Wtvt/anu! Chrou'Ae sivs We have a system in full swny in New Zealand which is quite as bvl", if not worse, than the " bothy system " of Scotland, ami one which, if allowed to go on unchecked, will seiiously allect the rising generation. We refer to the employment and accommodation given to boys at flax: nulls. From cveful enquiries we learn that large numbers of boys anil youths, i.ingmy from ten to twenty years of age, are employed at the various mil Is throughout the colony, at wages ranging from six shillings to thirty shillings a week and rations. All day long the boys are engaged !«t their vanous posis, and work hard; they also swear hard, smoke haul, and not unfrequently drink hard ; in short, being completely their own masters out of workin ■'hours, they not unnaturally run wild. At night the evil 13 simply monstrous, as the boys huddle together in raupo whares an i hutp hardly fit for human shelter, in which they sit pla^iug cards aud I'ldu) >c in bceutious conversation to an extent th.it is a blot upon our boa&ted civilization. Not bug since a gentleman looked in on one o' those assemblages, and suv some twelve boys occupyiug a filthy hut, r^ ed up with bunks one over the other as on board ship >>ome of the lads were playing euchre, and usin* lan ;aa_;e that would puzzle a Van Demon ; an bullock dcivoi' t<> surpj's in obscenity and blaspl eoiy ; more o[ vbein weie ij.ug on ibe ; r bunks with only theY boots off v rapped up in b'aoliets so filthy tl«at the o, initial coW con'd not. be (>"* cove ed smo^'i^ v'e-sme'lin ; tobacco, and occas o-iaUy tal.iog pi«t in the fieriuent disputes at tbe caul tible, wh'ch, bv Lhe way, consisted of a lo<c inveited over 'our s.ont stAes d iven 'iiLo the ground, fn one co 'Dei* of tbe hut weielin p'a.e3 and pauuikins, just <"s they bad been Ibrown as'de o'ier the evening meal, and looking as though a'l tbe waler ia \he race would not clean them. Out mi "o junfcibays the S'^hl was one so utterly lepo's'te and d'scediiaWe to a colony like tb'S, that he felt consi,iaiuel to spt^k \o the boys, aud afterwards to iheir employers,*f.om all of whom he received grossly insulting ndure as to nvodinq; his adjective bu&'ness, and not poi.ioo lvs arljeclive rose into other people's. Tbe £,reau e\ lof the sysiem is th : s : boys are put to work and housed \\Jih men whose chiiacier is in many cases utterly \ ''c, and w iO contaminate a'l who conic within their reach ; things go on from b.ul to worse until finally the boys are so coirupiied that they aie lipe fo-* ciime. Happily, as yet, tbe crop from tbis he" ; sh seed bas not fully ripened, but tbe nine Tor its ba rveB'j;ogr ve8'j ; og is nob far off. and the sowing is never suspended. If the Government does nob at once take cognizance of lb>s terrible evil and le^'slate for it, tbe co'ony wj'l, -n a fe.v yea^s, possess a criminal popula.io 1 utterly out of p>oportion to the rempinder. Emigrants promi«e to bo strongly competed for by-and-bye. Already New Zealand and Queensland are largely inventing in Mie market, and their agents-general find their hands tolerably full in endeavouring to supply the demand for labor that reiches them from mail to mail. Tasmania, too, ha- been in tin* field, and not altogether unsuccessfully. The latent competitor is New South Wales, and a v.tv formidable one she promis-s to be. Th" a»ent-peneral Sir Charle-, Cowper, has received the first instalment of cash and t lie instructions under which he is to act by the la«t incoming mail, and has lost no time in taking measures to act upon them At the first blush the regulations appear hardly so liberal as might be desired. The payment by the emigrant of one-third of the passage-money will put the New South Wales representative m a somewhat unfavorable position as compared with the agents-general of other emi-grant-desiring coir n'es In very many instances it is found that persons otherwise desirable are not able even to contribute the £1 necessary for their ship kit. How, then, it Is asked, can emigrants be found to pay a third of their passage money ? The answer seems to be very simple. Teach the people of the United Kingdom the good that awaits them in tbe midst of their countrymen in Australia, and thousands who are now m a, state of indecision would not only gladly pay a portion, or indeed the whole of the passage rnone^ , but would land in the colonies with considerable sums of money in their pockets. Such men abound here in hundreds of thousands. They are to be found among the sober, thrifty, first-class agricultural laborer, the men who work and pay for their garden allotments, who put money in the savings banks, and who, in not a few cases, become farmers themselves, not often to their profit, however, for the small farmer has a poor chance nowadays in Britain. Then there are farmers and shopkeeper*, and mechanics, »tho, having families growing up around them, feel anxious as to the future of themselves and children. For the most part the«e people are totally ignorant of the advantages they might possess for them. They, m common with the very poor, are suspicious of a grpat good being tendered to them bv strangers. The\ cannot understand why a lecturer should take the trouble to tell them of a far-awn v land in which all the hills are green, and where nil n>o well to do. Let these same people be taught by ordmm, though indirect news, of the ways of life in Australia md they would soon seek for homes there. Such a mode of procedure need by no means interfere with the procuring of po\erty-stricken, though valuable emigrants ; but it would add an elpinent to colonial populations of n very admirable character. The mere fact of a man being poor doe* not indicite ln« unfitness for the work of colonisation ; but it is bv no means a reason why he should be specially selected This latter has been 100 much the rule with the benevolent and sentimental promoter of emigration, nud in consequence quite as valuable a class of colonists have been, to a great extent, lo«t sight of The powers entrusted to Sir Charles Cow per, when becomes to exercise them, will tend to remedy this, and wo look forward to the experiments he is about t«> make with considerable interest. He has already commenced making arrangements for putting in force the regulations transmitted to him, and we hope shortly to have to record the commencement of his success. His heart is thoroughly in the work, and he brings to bear upon it every advantage of manner, position, and will. — Home News. An editor in Reading advertised the other day that he "would take a good dog in payment of one year's subscription for his paper." Tbe next 'day forty-three dogs were sent to the office. The day afterwards, when the news had spread out into the country, four hundred farmers had sent two dogs a piece bv express, with eight baskets full of puppies all marked C. O J) In the meantime the offer found its way into the neighbouring States, and before the end of the week there were eight thousand docs, tied up with ropes, in the editor's front and backyards! The assortments including all the kinds from bloodhounds down to poodle". A few hundred broke loose and swarmed on the stairways and in the entries and «tood outside the sanctum and howled, and (had fights, and sniffed under tbe crack of the door as if they were hungry for some editor. The editor climbed out of the window, up the water-spout and out on the comb of the roof and wept. There was no issue of the paper for six days, and the only wav the friends of the eminent journalist could feed him was by sending lunch up to him in balloons At last somebody bought a barrel of arsenic and three tons of beef, and poisoned the dogs ; and the editor came down only to find on Ins desk a bill from the mayor for eight thousand dollars, being the municipal tax on dogs at one dollar ppr head He is not offering the sa'iip inducements to subscribers now, and he dosen't want a doc; The Queen's laborer's have been getting up a strike Tt appears that there has recently been a combination by a number of laborers on the Osborne estate, with a view of pressing certain demands upon their royal mistress Utterly ignoring the steward, ihe men addre&se 1 themselves to the Queen in the form of a memorial, which they signed in a "round robin." Tn this memorial the laborers asked Hey Majesty for 2s lOd per day instead of 2s 4d, and for a shortening of the working time by one hour dailv. They also requested to be allowed to leave work on Saturday afternoon at four o'clock, so as to enable them to " tittend their domestic duties, prepare for the Sabbath, and improve their minds." Further, they complained of the beer hitherto supplied, and they asked the Queen to grant them six pints of good beer per day during the hay and harvest seasons. Extra pay for carting wood, coal, &c, was also solicited, and the men wound up with a request for fid an hour, when working overtime. Her Majesty ordered the memorial to be sent to her steward at Osborne, with instructions to make inquiries The command was duly obeyed. the men bein/ called one by one before the steward, who has since discharged seven of the memorialists and given them notice to leave their cottages injflve weeks' time. There is (says the Standard), no want of directness about the conrse adopted by the Commissioners of Education in Ireland. They do not «eek to hide the fii6t that they have neeppted the supremacy of Cardinal Cullon. It remains to be seen whether Parliament will accept it aho, and permit a vast public grant, to which the population of England and Scotland contribute, to be administered at the pleasure of the Papal legatp in Dublin. In 1807, out of 6,500, schools, 4,182 were under the management of Koman Catholic prieits. Bow the schools are about seven thousand, and of these considerably moro than two thirds are under this clencd patronage. And it is as regards these thousands of shcools, maintained for the most part out of the pockets of the English people, that, the Commissioners of Eluc.ition declare that they are only the airoH» of the Cardinal. They hare their rule«, but h higher power Jhnn their w (hat r.| Roman episcopacy. Wo cannot doubt that Mr Binivcrie't motion will show that a higher power itKll is that of Parliament. \ Why is a hen-pecked husband like art opera hat? Be cause he's very big when he's out, bat immediately shutf up when he gets home.

The Snips of tiik Future — At the Royal Academy banquet Sir J. Pakington, in responding for tho navy, said : " It is with a pang of regret wo no longer ace depicted on your walls by Stimfield, bv Tivner, nnd ninny oilier of our mirine artist 0 , tho<e beautiful i tuu^q'ie ilups winch usod t> contribute alike to our m-t^iic tn»tes and our national p-ide. Those- si i,is are now the •Oups o( the pa-t If w«? turn to tho shins of the future, I imi afr.iul tliere is no chance t'lat anr artist will ever lie induced to give us the portrait of the Devastation. The V'ips of tlie future will have no canvas upon them, and I fe.ir we 3111111 never see them on c nvas. Our beautiful sups are now changed to un-ightl.\ monsters, which I fear will ne\er be seen on the walls of the Royal Academy ; but we trust and fully believe that they will be better adapted, perhaps, than any others have been to the protection of our shores ; and of this I am quite certain—whether or not these ships of tho future bo exhibited on these walls, they will be commanded by officers as able and as brave, and by crews as gnllant and true, a* have ever done honor to our flag, and fought the battles of England in times of yore in our wooden walls." Another Epidemic ov Trichinosis.— About 200 persons who iiad eaten raw ham, purchased at the shop of a butcher in Magdeburg, have been attacked, reports tho London Medical Record, with grave symptoms of the flesh-worm disease, due to tho incision of their tissues by hosts of living trichina). One is dead. The living trichina having been found in numbers (as is usual), in small parts of the muscle and removed by a little instrument devised for the purpose, and from the arms of some of the patients (of whom twelve are in tho hospital), among them being the butcher who sold the diseased pork. The swelling of the face nnd limbs nnd the acute muscular pnin characterising the disease havo been observed in all the cases, and some are still considered to be in danger. The penalties of the Germanic custom of oat ing raw ham are severe. An Improvement. — The Post says: — " Few people who hue been much in the Government Buddings during the rtting of Parliament, but have experienced the annoyanco of a messenger running past ringing a large bell, and producing an almost deafening sensation. This nuisance is to exist no longer, for a series of small electric bells ha\ c been arranged throughout tho building, so that the clerk at the table, bv a simple motion of his hand, can convey to every pait of tho house the information that a division is about to take place. A similar system is in operation in the House of Commons, and it is a vast improvement on the methtd hitherto adopted here. A writer in the Calif ornian delivers a Sunday School address, of which the following is an example :— " You boys ought to be kind to your little sisters. I once knew a bad boy who struck his little sister a blow over the eye. Although she didn't fade and die in the early summer time, when" the June roses were blowing, <vith the sweet words of f irgivenes? on her pallid lips, she rose up and hit him over the head with a rolling-pin, so that he couldnt'goto Sunday school for more than a month, on account of not being able to put his bpst hat on." Some attention has been aroused in the medical world by the treatment of cancer which is now being pursued in London. The doctor who has introduced this method is a Hungarian, named Glob. He contends thnt cancer is not a local but a general disease ; that it arises from the presence of a poison in the constitution ; and that the knife w ill never cur the disease but only postpone its fatil effect. His remedy consists in setting up another disease— fever — under the influence of which the blood poison which causes the cancer is thrown off. Wo are told that ho has made some marvellous cures. A Chinese widow in California being found fanning the tomb ol her deceased husband, and being asked the cause of so singular a mode of showing hpr grief, accounted for it by saying that he had made her promise not to marry again while the mortar of his tomb remained damp; and as it dried but slowly, she saw no harm in aiding the operation.