Aovelist GRIT.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1115, 5 August 1882, Page 5 (Supplement)

Aovelist GRIT.

A Story of the Paat and Present; of Ordinary men and Ordinary tiling*, In Ordinary language, BY DONALD CAMERON. . AUTHOR OF “IN THE FOLDS OF THE “ SILVERWATEE BEND, ETC.” “ Be sure thy sin will find thee out.” It is a beautiful belief: That ever round our head Are hovering on angel wings, The spirits of the dead. “ Miss White,” she continued, “ is now in very great danger. Poor and alone in a vast city, with a helpless father depending on her, she is harassed by enemies, who try to take advantage of her unfortunate position.” Jack's face flushed crimson, his hands clenched. “ I will see her righted!” he cried in a rage. Then the remembrance of his helpless state came to him, and despai* took possession of his heart. “ Miss White, however,” continued Maggie, “ has not sent me to appeal for help, that I have ventured to do myself. Her message is different. Your father, Mr. Meldon, lies in the next cottage to Miss White's, dying. He is crying out for you, and wishes to see you before he dies, for he has some great secret to reveal.” Jack started, and joy again invaded his heart. Was it possible that Bunakum knew’ aught of that dread secret which had almost escaped the lips of Bridget O’Regan before they were stilled in death ? Would he yet be able to sheet the crime home to the murderer of his mother? His brain became confused. New hopes, new aspirations began to rise. “Don’t delay,” said Maggie; “take the afternoon train to the city, else you may never see your father alive again.” Jack turned round to William in a helpless way. He had no money, and he could not tliink of asking anything out of the few pounds that had been raised on Emily’s heirloom. William divined his feelings. “Yes, Jack,” said he, “you must go.” “ But,’’ said Jack, “ I have no money, and I could not think—” “ Now, that will do,” said William; “ don’t speak of it. You must go; that’s an end to the whole matter.” “ Yes,” said Emily, cheerfully; “wc must not stop to think when a father is dying. He has been a bad parent, but you cannot be absent now.” Jack knew not what to say. Oh, that he were able to reward the love and friendship of this glorious man and woman. CHAPTER LVIII. At this moment a cab drove up, and out of it sprang Obadiah Sweetcomfort and Sniggle Snickers. The former looked at the group with withering contempt, merited as Jie appeared to think, for was he not dressed in superfine cloth, and they in the meanest shoddy ? Yet withal, this doughty man kept a sharp eye on Jack, for he knew how strong was his hand, and he was not overture he might not use it. The two took out of the cab some pegs and an axe. William and Jack at once saw through their intention, and the latter was about to make for Obadiah, when William stopped him. “ Quiet, Jack,” said he, soothingly ; “ you are not fit to deal with these men; your passions would overcome you.” “ The dog,” said Jack, who was red with fury ; “he follows me even here.” “ Never mind,’’ said William, with a sarcastic smile on his face ; “ leave them alone. I’ll soon settle them.” And he walked down to the two “ jumpers” very leisurely. “ morning, gentlemen,” said William, casting a glance at them, such as a man would bestow upon two crawling reptiles. “ Good morning,” was the suyly but somewhat frightened reply. “ What are you doing ?” asked W’illiam.

“ Merely pegging out a claim,” replied Obadiah, doggedly, “But this is my ground,” replied William. “ Oh,” said Obadiah, offensively ; “we’ll see about that.” “ But surely, Mr. Sweetcomfort,” said William, with a bitter sarcasm in his tone ; “ so benevolent a gentleman as yourself, and one so rich; one who own hundreds of acres, would not take my little claim. It is not like you, Mr. Obadiah Sweetcomfort, you would not repeat the parable of the prophet and the poor man’s ewe lamb.” This allusion stung. Obadiah Hushed up. “I don’t care about your speeches, Mr. Brown,” he said; “ I have the law on my side, and I’ll have my rights.” “Perfectly correct,” said William, still satirically; “but are you sure the law’s on your side ?’* “ Yes,” replied" Obadiah. “ You ought to have had two men working on this claim, and you’ve only had one for some time.” “ That’s all very well, Mr. Sweetcomfort,” said William ; “but if you go into the mining registrar’s office in Grit, you’ll find that the owners of this claim applied for and obtained an exemption for three months only two weeks ago!” Obadiah started back with a frown. “Oh 1 that won’t do,” said he, at last, in the tone of a disappointed bully. “ Well,” said William, turning on his heel; “all I have to say is, that you had better examine the records of the Warden’s Court; and at the same time search the scriptures, where you’ll perhaps find a few precepts which won’t comfort you over much. And I give you notice I’ll have you prosecuted as trespassers if you peg out.” And he turned away. Obadiah stood for a minute, his face white with suppressed rage and disappointed hate. Suddenly he noticed Jack, to whom William had narrated what had taken place, make a move as if he were coming down the hill. The celerity with which Obapiah and Snickers got into the cab was wonderful. They disappeared in the twinkling of. an eye, leaving their pegs on the ground, and the cab drove away at great speed. “ Why did you stop me ?” said Jack; “ I’d have revenged the insults of years on that wretch. He offered me money when I was weak and broken down, purposely to insult me.” “ Never mind, Jack,” said William; your day will come. Make haste now and change your clothes, take your dinner, and start for Melbourne. I’ll dig into that sandstone bar. I believe there’s a reef below it; perhaps I’ll find it before you come back.” “ William, you are a king amongst men,” said Jack, his eyes becoming moist; “your wife is an angel. O! that I could repay you.” We do our duty,” said William, quietly, “ and that repays us.” Maggie now beckoned to her cabman, and after giving Bertha’s address entered the conveyance, gently refusing Emily’s pressing invitation to stop for dinner. So she was driven away to Grit while Jack began to prepare for his journey. In a few hours he would be in the arms of her he loved so well, and theirs would be peace and joy forever, while she, like a stricken hart, would have to seek a quiet spot where she could weep in secret. She was driven to the Patriot Hotel, once Bunukum’s, where we saw her first. There she was shown to a room which overlooked the busy thoroughfare and the Park where she had often wandered with Jack when the moon had begun to shed her beams upon the earth. No one recognised in the veiled austere lady the once gay and volatile Maggie. But after all that was the turning point of her destiny.

CHAPTEK LIX. Obadiah drove away from the scene of his discomfiture in a very evil and chagrined frame of mind. That a man of his consequence and wealth should be compelled to fly from so despicable a being as Jack, who had neither property or money—not even a decent suit of clothes ! Obadiah ground his teeth when he thought of the many unavailing attempts he had made to get rid of this fellow. Yet with all this he was ever turning up, and throwing his best laid plans into confusion. While the cab was being driven back to Grit, Obadiah resolved scheme after scheme in his mind, but cast them away one after the other as of no utility. He could think of nothing at present that would humble this man. For the first time he confessed that his wealth and position were valueless; they could not give him revenge. It was a beautiful day. The air was clear and cold, fresh and bracing, the sky as blue as lapis lazuli, yet to Obadiah nature gave no pleasure. He fe't like a baffled demon. But what puzzled liim most of all was a strange unaccountable feeling of sadness and despondency that came over him—a presentiment of evil to come, which he could not explain—a feeling that all was vanity of vanities. Perhaps this frame of mind was brought about by the severe wound his vanity had received. He might have been greatly cheered had his carriage been waiting so that he could drive down the mkin street in all the glory of a chariot and four, humbling the pride of the inhabitants of Grit, and showing to them his exceeding glory. But even this was wanting. He drove through in a common cab. Still it was some balm to his vanity to find that every one turned round and stared at the successful reefer. But had he heard the unkind and scathing remarks that were made, his pride would have received another wound. Sniggle Snickers hardly spoke a word during the journey. His gaze was steadfastly fixed upon vacancy, and now and then with a strange expression of face he would laugh to himself. Had Obadiah not been so occupied with his own thoughts he would have noticed this. But who was Sniggle Snickers that Obadiah Sweetcomfort should trouble his mighty soul about him ! There was the accustomed bustle at the Hesperus Extended. The stampers were rattling -and crushing, and the steam engines puffing and snorting. Obadiah and Sniggle Snickers went into the office, and the former threw off his coat preparatory to donning garments suited for the mine. Sniggle began opening the letters. “ I wish,” said he, when Obadiah was equipped for the underground trip, “ that you would do without me for a little while, I find there is a lot of work to be done. The underground boss will show you round and I’ll be down in a quarter of an hour.” “ Oh ’ as for that,” said Obadiah ; “ there’s no need for you to go down at all, except to show me the newest indications; I think I know as much about the mine as you do. But here is my pocket-book ; it contains the Hesperus Extended scrip. Lock it in the safe, for fear it may be stolen.” “ There is no danger of that,” said Sniggle quietly, but with a strange glitter in his eyes. “•However, I’ll put it in.” And he threw the pocket-book into the safe and locked it. Obadiah walked out, and in a few minutes the signal hammer told he was descending the mine. But did Sniggle Snickers work ? No/ The moment Obadiah left, he placed his elbows on the table, and burying his face in his hands, remained for several minutes in deep thought, occasionally muttering to himself. When he raised his face at times, it was evident a terrible struggle was taking place in his mind. A deep groan would now and then escape him. Presently he rose, and took out Obadiah’s pocket-book. It was very

bulky. Sniggle drew back the elastic, and laid hold of the great roll of scrip the book contained. One by one he turned them ever, carefully glancing at their numbers and the names of the original holders. Not one share was in Obadiah’s name. A wild exultation appeared in the man’s face. He walked backwards.; and forwards, stopping occasionally as if to think. At times it seemed that he wavered in whatever purpose he had formed, but the moment he looked at the scrip’irresolution vanished. After a while, his face became grim and determined; the blood vanished from his countenance; it became ashy pale, and the eyes bloodshot. He put the book back into the safe, locked it, and then giving one or two glances round the office, walked out and shut the door. A shuddering came over him when he stood without, and gazed upon the beautiful panorama of Nature. It was winter, and the earth was covered with tender grass, of a beautiful green—for verdure was only vouchsafed even to Grit at this season. The blue sky, the emerald earth, with here and there a deep brown or a rusty red as a contrast, the fresh breeze seemed to bring back bitter thoughts. But the revulsion was momentary. With a smothered curse, he walked to the shaft where a cage was waiting, and stepping into it, noislessly descended into the depths of the earth, the verdure, the sky vanishing from his gaze as peace departed for ever from his mind. CHAPTER LX. The cold and gloom of the mine agreed with the darkness of Sniggle Snickers’ soul. The dripping water, the ogrelike shadows, the mysterious sounds.of the miners at work, well accorded with the gloom of this man’s thoughts. He fourtd Obadiah sitting on a piece of quartz, listening to the explanations of the captain of the shift, who was endeavoring to give a lucid description of the “ country,” through which they would have to pass before they came to the reef. Obadiah was smoking a cigar with a supercilious air. In early life he had neither drank nor smoked, being a staunch teetotaller—for it suited his purpose —but when he became wealthy, he changed hig mind as to what was lawful; and as smoking a cigar was the correct thing for a millionaire, Obadiah indulged; and occasionally he would take a glass of champagne, for that, also, was the right thing to do. There was a sparkle of pleasure in Sniggle’s eye as he noticed this; fate itself seemed in his favor. “ You have gone over all the levels where we are working,” said he to Obadiah. “ I think you had better come with me now and examine the old level where we obtained the great yields. I think if a crosscut were put in from the end we might strike something.” “You’d better be careful,” said the captain of the shift, “that there level’s where we keep the powder now.” “ Oh ! no danger,” said Obadiah jauntily ; “ I aught to know my way about in the mine, fori worked in this claim years enough.” Obadiah said this witheringly. He prided himself upon having risen from the ranks when in the company of workmen, and was ever thrusting before them his perseverance and success—as much as to say tliat it was their fault they were not as well off as he. “ Will I go with you ?” asked the captain. “No, thank yo«.” said Obadiah, who thought two were company and three were not when there was a confabulation in prospect. Lighting two candles Obadiah and Sniggle moved along the level, the former admonishing the men to go on with their work. Sniggle led the way. It was well for his scheme that he did, otherwise Obadiah might have detected in his face signs of the fate that was coming. .After a good deal of turning and winding they at last.came to the opening of a level which liad every appearance of being deserted. The “setts” of timber were decayed, the floor covered with slime and water, which flowed down in the centre, red with peroxide of iron. Close to the mouth a large number of kegs of powder were storedin a drive above.

“ There’s no danger of the powder getting wet?” asked Obadiah in an economical mood. “ Not the slightest,” replied Sniggle, “ You leave me alone for that. It’s safe there.” “ And you are sure it’s not wasted?” asked Obadiah. “ Powder’s risen you kno\v.” “ Certain,” was the reply, “ I know 1 the amount that should be used to a grain.” After travelling in the slippery, damp level for some time they reached the face—a great excavation narrowing to a point. It was here that the reef had tapered out to nothing. “ Well,” said Obadiah as they rested, “there was a lot of gold got out of this, wasn’t there? If that fool Jack had only stuck to his share of it he wouldn’t be digging now.” “ Indeed,” said Sniggle absently. “ Well, fools will be fools,” said Obadiah in a self-satisfied tone. “ If there weren’t fools wise men would not be rich.” A darker shade came across Sniggle’s face. He was one of the fools. “ But what do you want me to see here ?” asked Obadiah. “ Well,” was the reply, “ the truth is that I wanted to give you a surprise. You know when the reef gave out so suddenly I had my suspicions that there were something wp did not understand. And there was. That continued flow of water could not be there unless there was a reef close at hand.” Obadiah was all attention. “Beefs don’t give out so suddenly,” continued Sniggle in a strange tone. “ When they end in one spot, they generally make again somewhere else. And this reef does.” Obadiah could hardly speak with excitement. The very idea of the richest reef ever discovered in Grit being again found, was sufficient to arouse in his avaricious mind visions of a mammoth fortune. “ Well) I brooded over it,” continued Sniggle Snickers, “until at last, after we had abandoned these workings, and turned them into a powder magazine, I came down one Sunday with pick and drill and fuse and worked away at the eastern side of the face. I thought I detected a lava streak and I followed it. It wasn’t long before I came on a vein of stone, and that stone is richer than ever the other part of the reef was.” Obadiah rose in a delirium of joy. “ Show it to me, Sniggles,” said he, “ Show it to me. Good, good ! How rich I will be.” Sniggle looked at him with eyes emitting such baleful fire, that if Obadiah were not almost beside himself with joy at the discovery he would have noticed it. “ You shall have your pay doubled,” said Obadiah, as if he were rewarding the man above his deserts. Sniggle shut his teeth fiercely at this; he was afraid his passion would get the better of him, and his scheme fall stillborn to the ground. He began carefully removing a heap of mullock which was piled against the drive. In a few minutes it had been cleared off, and Sniggle’s filled his hat with water. Throwing a few hatfuls of water over the stone, soon revealed a snowy reef, in which could be easily discerned specks and streaks of gold, some of them very large. Obadiah gazed on it as if spell-bound. “See how it widens out,” said Sniggle. “ It’s bound to grow as wide as the other reef.” Obadiah did not reply. He was making a mental calculation. Ten thousand shares at £2O per. share, would be £200,000; not to mention the‘dividends. “ Will I go and fetch a pick, so that we’ll get a few specimens ?” asked Sniggle, in a voice that told how fast his heart was beating, his whole scheme resting upon the

‘ Yes, yes,” said Obadiah quickly; “we’ll pick down the sides to see if it bulges out. We mustn’t say anything about it till I pick up all the shares, and then the men’ll be put on to try the old workings, and you’ll put in a blast that’ll prevent your work being noticed, but will show the reef.” He spoke to empty air. Sniggle was gone. So Obadiah began to examine the reef, his frame thrilling with rapture. But did Sniggle go for the pick ? No; he merely went to the mouth of the level, and turned to the alcove where the powder was stored. His heart was beating wlidly; his face, hitherto pale, was flushed with the blood that was being driven rapidly through his system. Still he handled the powder kegsi warily, and breaking two of them, he strewed the contents in a train leading from the entrance of the level. After carefully communicating this with the pile of kegs, he retired a little distance, and taking a newspaper from his pocket, he rolled it up in the manner of a flambeau. He then took his stand close to the train, and putting his hand to his mouth, shouted—

“ Mr. Sweetcomfort.” No answer. “ Obadiah Sweetcomfort!” Only the echoes of the caverns replied. “ Obadiah Sweetcomfort!’’ Now Obadiah was heard. “ Yes.” “Come this way.” Then followed a dead silence, only broken by the dripping of the water as it fell from the roof of the drive, and the faint sound of the miners at work and the creaking and clanking of the cages. But soon Obadiah’s light appeared, making darkness visible in the level. “ Stand there !” said Sniggle in a terrific voice, when Obadiah had come within speaking distance. Obadiah shook with fear. There was something so awful in Sniggle’s voice, that it seemed to him like the trump of doom. “What is the matter?” he cried, in a quavering tone. “ Matter 1” replied Sniggle. “ Death is the matter! Don’t stir a foot or you are a dead man.” “ Oh, my God!” cried Obadiah. “ Don’t call upon God, you hypocrite,” said his enemy sternly. “ Listen to me Obadiah Sweetcomfort. You think you are wise ; yet you allowed a man whom you know to be poor, who has been injured by you, used as a tool and poorly rewarded, to see that you were the possessor of half the shares in this mine, when that man had known a long time that there was -within reach a richer reef than had ever*been worked. That’s your ■wisdom.” •

“ You are mad or joking,” cried Obadiah, his coward heart now betraying itself. “Oh ! don’t speak to me in that way.” “ I will speak 1” cried the other, in a frenzy of passion ! “ I will Speak. Have you not made me your tool and paid me nothing? you not humbled me at every opportunity ? I have brought wealth untold into your purse, yet you never gave me a farthing except my wages. Had.,l done for Jack what I did for you he would have made me a wealthy man. You looked down upon me; you thought me a creature not worthy of attention ; yet when you were puffed up with pride at your own cleverness I, Sniggle Snickers, was laughing at you. What I was telling you a little while since was a lie. I knew the reef made again that very night when you and all the rest thought it had gone out forjjver. I bided my time, and that time has come. Had you rewarded me and given me means to buy the shares when they were low this would not have happened. You thought you had made me commit myself so that I could not turn upon you and demand my pay. But see what your plotting has done.” Blind with terror, paralysed with fear, Obadiah sank upon his knees. “ Sniggles, my old friend, my dear friend,” he said, “you won’t do anything. I’ll give you half my shares, half my money, half of everything. We will share and share alike. There will be enough and to spare. O, Sniggles 1 remember our long acquaintance; what we have done for one another.” “ Yes, I do remember,” said the man who had now become mad with rage and hate. “ I do remember, and it is worse for you. I remember the example you set me when you caused Jack to be buried alive in this very mine. You set me the example; now I only follow your lead. As for your promises, I would no more heed them than 1 would the voices of the wind. If I were to give way, the njoment we got above ground, you would hand me over to the law, and there would be no mercy. O, Ido know you.” “ No, no,” cried Obadiah; “as sure as there is a heaven above us, I would not; save my life, and take everything.” “You talk about heaven,” cried Sniggles, with a sneer; “neither you nor I should mention it. Neither of us believe in all that nonsense, although when you were poor, you made a stalking-horse of religion to mount to higher ground. Who betrayed my wife? Obadiah Sweetcomfort. Who broke up my happy home, and made me a by-word amongst my fellow-miners? Obadiah Sweetcomfort.” Obadiah did not reply; he cowered down upon the ground in abject supplication. “ Pity me, pity me,” he cried, almdst inarticulately. “ Not if I pity myself,” replied Sniggles; “ I have your 10,000 scrip, and to-morrow I will be wealthier than ever you were. Prepare to die, Obadiah Sweetcomfort; prepare to meet the God you have -mocked, if there is such a Being; get ready to face the souls you have ruined, at His judgment seat.” And he made a movement to cast the paper, which he had now lighted, into the train. Obadiah uttered an awful cry—one that echoed and re-echoed through the caverns of the mine; one that rang in his murderer’s ears for ever after. But that cry hastened his fate. Fearing that it might be heard, Sniggles threw the flaming paper into the train of powder and rushed away into the darkness.

CHAPTER LXI. When ack stepped’ out of the train in Melbourne, at eight o’clock that evening, the platform was alive with newsboys, who were vociferating, “ ’Erald, second edition, a penny! Horful accident! A mine busted up!” Jack bought a copy; and as he was going down in the omnibus he pulled it out and read the paragraph which nearly every passenger was also scanning. It ran thus: — “Awful accident!” “ A mine collapsed!” “ A rich reefer buried alive!” “ Terrible excitement!” [By special telegram.] “ Grit, six o’clock.” “A terrible explosion took place in the Hesperus Extended mine this alternoon. It seems Mr. Obadiah Sweetcomfort and the manager, Mr. Sniggle Snickers, were down examining one of the old drives, where powder is kept, when the latter left his companion for a pick. Mr. Snickers had hardly got out of the drive when a fearful explosion took place, which completely stunned him, and shook the mine to its centre. When the men had recovered themselves, and Mr. Snickers had regained his senses, they went back to the old drive which they found to be completely blocked up with stone. The havoc was tremendous, and will cost thousands to repair. No hopes can be entertained about Mr. Sweetcomfort, as the explosion must have instantaneously killed him. Even if he were alive,

it would take days to get him out. Mr. Snickers states that Mr. Sweetcomfort asked him to go for a pick in order to test some old stone on the hanging wall. Mr. Sweetcomfort was smoking a cigar, and had a lighted candle. Mr. Snickers warned him to keep away from the powder. The supposition is that he was examining the magazine when some sparks from his cigar fell into the powder, or that he dropped his candle. The timber was very much’ decayed, and must have been swept away by the blast, the collapse of the drive immediately following. Mr. Sweetcomfort was the wealthiest mine proprietor oh Grit.” “It is singular that several years ago in Grit, a miner named Meldon was buried alive in this mine; but he was rescued, and this gives hope to Mr. Sweetcomfort’s friends.” A mist rose before Jack’s eyes* Obadiah Sweetcomfort dead I And to meet his death in so horrible a manner. Jack remembered well the awful peril he himself had escaped. At first a sort of exultation came into his mind, but he quickly repressed it, for he felt it was unbecoming a man, much less a Christian. But there was other business in hand, and great as was the impression this had on Jack’s mind, he almost forget it in the prospect of meeting Bertha anti his father. CHAPTER LXII. After long years we meet again, Never to part. Sorrow is past, happy fates reign, Heart of my eart I But thou, poor erring mortal, straying On death and lifes's coniine ; Long in the land of life delaying, A different fate is thine I Now, God, in mercy and in kindness, Upon thee pity have, And pardon thee thy sin and.bluumess On this side of the grave.

With a beating heart Jack found himself in Willow-street. He would once more see her he loved so dearly ; he would clasp her to his breast, and thenceforward they two would never be parted until death loosed the silver band. How the blood coursed through his veins; how bright visions of happiness in store rose before him, to vanish like shadows when the sun of reality shone upon them. But this would not do; time was passing, and the soul of the guilty man from whom he expected to learn so much might have fled while he was waiting at the door. He had a duty to discharge to Bertha, but he was also under obligation to the dear dead ; and when all came to all, Jack felt the gentle visitings of tenderness when he thought of his father. He had been a bad man; he had cruelly used Janet and himself ; he had been a drunkard, a gambler, a spendthrift; yet, after all, was he not his father ? Hardly daring to breathe, Jack knocked at the door. There was a pause. It was not until he knocked again that a step was heard within, and then the door was slowly opened, not by Bertha, however. Her father stood in the doorway, peering out in a childish way. Jack felt shocked when he saw how greatly altered was the once imperious Mr. White. Time had wrought great change in others as well as in him, and had brought woe to more than Jack. It was not long before Mr. White recognised his visitor. An infantile smile of pleasure passed over his face, and extending his skinny hand, he spoke kindly, as if he had forgotten all that had passed between them. “ Bless me, Jack, is that you ?” said he. “ What a long time you’ve been away. Herding your flock, no doubt ? And how’s father and mother ? Where’s Spot ? I’ve not seen him for a long time.” Jack looked at him pityingly. He saw at once the great calamity which had ruined his fortunes had affected his mind.. Now it was that he understood at a glance the trouble and sorrow of poor Bertha—alone with an idiot father. He felt that instead of mooning about Grit, lamenting his fate, he ought to have put his hand to the plough, and helped Bertha. But what was the use of vain regrets for the past ? The future was all he had to look to now, and that future would be assured if human endeavor was of avail. “ Ah,” said the old man ; “ you’re wondering where Bertha is ! She’s just gone out to look after the flock, and won’t be a minute. Come in and sit down. Jack, we’ve lost Lassy; she took sick of the distemper and died. Lassy was a good dog, Jack ; she knew almost as much as I did.”

Jack was not of an emotional nature, but it was as much as he could do to keep down his tears. He had never expected to find so terrible a wreck. But, after all, was the old man to be pitied? Poor babbling Lear, was he not at least unconscious pf the terrible realities of life ? The handle of the door was now turned. The blood rushed back to Jack’s heart; his whole being seemed paralysed. There at the door stood Bertha—Bertha, beautiful as ever ! Not the grand and glorious goddess of old, indeed ; but a lovely, fragile being; sorrow in her face, poverty in her aspect; but invested with a beauty that was even more irresistible, more touching, than the beauty of the past. She looked at her father first; then she saw Jack. A short cry, a half-joyous* halfstartled exclamation, and her head was on his breast, her hands around his neck, her lips to his! It was the happiness of years crowded into the experience of a minute ! He held her in his arms; he kissed away the tears that flowed down her pale, languid cheeks. Neither spoke. In these few moments the misunderstandings of years, the jealousies, fears, sorrows, of their youth vanished, and were forgotten. Heart was merged into heart; their souls became one. True and full and perfect love was theirs. As a flash of sunlight clears up the darkness that has long hidden nature, so this gleam of true love at a stroke dissipated the mists that had so long prevented perfect union. Blessed moment! Happy are those who have known such an experience; it repays the suffering and afixiety of years ; it gives a pleasure that otherwise could not be obtained. The path to the sweetest extacy is often through sorrow. As he who has thirsted and hungered long almost thanks his abstinence for a hew delight, so did they derive from the bitterness of the past fresh sweetness ! The old man looked on in childish delight, rubbing his hands with glee. The busiest part of his life was now a blank, and for him there was no recollection of the trying scenes of his later days. He thought of Bertha and Jack as only a boy and girl, and the idea occurred to his mind that when they were grown up they would make a splendid pair! “In my happiness, dearest Jack,” said Bertha, “ I had entirely forgotten your poor father. His life is fast ebbing, and you must lose no time in seeing him. Evidently he has some dreadful confession to make, and until he has told you all he will not be at ease.” “ Where is he?” asked Jack. “In the next house,” replied Bertha. “ There is a girl attending him, and Prudence Macinnis is there. I have sent for a minister, too, but your father will not listen to him.” “ Prudence Macinnis,” said Jack, new wonders breaking in upon him. “ I thought she was dead years ago.” “ She is still living,” replied Bertha; “ but it is a long story, and I’ll tell it to you tomorrow. In the meantime let us make all haste.” And taking his hand she led him out. Jack hardly knew what to think of all this. In a moment the whole secret of his life seemed unravelled; Bertha was his; Hector

Macinnis was in his hands. What mystery surrounded Prudence’s existence ? . ' CHAPTER LXIII. Bunakum, upon whom death had now set his indelible stamp, was in the act of draining off a glass of brandy, which had been given him by Prudence, who herself showed evidences of sharing with him, when Jack entered. His eye caught sight of his son immediately, and he uttered a strange cry. “ Come at last,” said he, as if greatly relieved. “ Come to see the old man die.” “ I hope not, father,” said Jack, in a tender tone, for in the presence of death all his anger at his unnatural parent’s past conduct died away.. “ I hope not. We will be able to make you strong by-and-bye.” “No fear !” said the dying man, in his old slangy way “My time’s run ; my shift’s up, and I hear the Great Manager calling me to come for my wages. Wages!” he cried, with a terrible laugh, “And such wages. Jack, you don’t know our manager ; he pays in very hard coin.” “ My good man,” said the minister, a grave personage of reverend aspect, “ The wages of sin is death; but at the eleventh hour the greatest sinner may return.” “ Pooh,” said Bunakum, who now seemed strong and hearty; “ don’t talk to me that kind of stuff; I talked too much of it in my old time not to know its value. Do you think when I’ve been working for the devil every shift during the year, I can go and claim my wages off the Almighty for a few minutes’ spell on New Year’s Eve? Not likely.” The minister and the listeners shuddered. “ You shouldn’t talk that way, Bunakum,” said Prudence, whimpering, taking a sip at the same time ; “ it all comes through your not taking another drop.” “ No, no,” said the old man, “ I’ll have no more just now. I have something to do. Where’s the magistrate ?” “ Here,” said a policeman, who was standing by, and a gentleman advanced to the bedside. The policeman took pen and ink. “ Whatever statement you have to make,” said the magistrate, “be as clear as possible.” “ Yes,” said Bunakum, “ I’ll be clear enough, I warrant, clearer than will be good for some people. Jack, come closer to me.” Jack went nearer to his father. The others gathered round, in a circle. Prudence seized the opportunity to devote herself to the brandy bottle. She argued that Bunakum would require little of it after he had made his confession. “Jack,” said Bunakum, “You remember the night when you fished me out of the creek at Grit, don’t you ? Well, after you’d left I fell in with a fellow—he was afterwards killed at the Southern Cross Company’s mine—and he treated me, which was welcome, seeing the drenching I’d got. After that somehow or other I wandered down the street. I don’t know why I went that way, but I did go. It was a queer night, the moon breaking out of the’clouds accasionally, and the winds moaning through the trees like ghosts talking. When I came opposite where Janet’s tent was—you know, Jack—l heard loud talking. I listened, and sure enough, it was your mother and Hector. They were talking in an excited manner, but as everyone was away, looking after the flood or drinking in honor of the occasion, there was no one to hear them except me. And I wish—l wish I hadn’t heard them.. It might have been better for us all. But I hated her, in my way, which wasn’t much, for so long as I got a glass of liquor, I cant say I had much bad feeling for anyone. Still I had a sore about the way she’d cut me, and it gave me a sort of pleasure to hear her quarrelling with him. I suppose it’s natural. So I heard her accusing and threatening him; and bitter words she used, very bitter; but they were truth, and that made them the more galling. Now and then he’d speak, and I shook in my shoes for fear he’d know I was round. I crept a bit closer, and getting behind a stump, watchad them. He was sitting by the table looking as black as a thundercloud—you know how black he can look, Prudence ?”

“ Don’t I!” interrogative reply of Prudence, as she hastily put by the untasted glass. “ Well, by-and-by, it seemed as if he could stand it no longer. He stood up looking so terrible, that I felt a could sweat breaking out all over me, and I shook like a l^af—as Ido now. ‘ Stop this talk,’ said "he, ‘ I’ve had enough of you and I am resolved never to see you again. If it wasn’t for the law I’d kill you.’ ‘Do,’ says your mother; ‘l’d sooner be dead than live as Ido now. But if you leave me, you shall never marry another woman. You’ve told me your past life, and the world will know it to-morjrow.’ You aught to have seen him then. If ever I -saw a devil in human shape it was Hector at that moment.” It was terrible to see Jack just then. His face was pafe, his eyes flashed with excitement, his breast heaved and fell. At last the long wished for revelation was at hand. “ He stood stock still for a few minutes,” continued Bunukum, “ and then he said between his teeth: ‘ Fool I was to trust a woman !’ For a bit, he seemed to hesitate; but all at once he made a rush at Janet and caught hold of her by tlip throat. O! the dreadful things that followed. I heard her give one cry, then there was a sound of struggling. When I looked again he was kneeling over her. She never moved. He got up and turned his face towards me.” Jack’s emotions could not be controlled. He sprang up, his face flushed, his eyes darting fire. “ Peace, peace,” said the minister, “ Delay not the confession that seals the doom of the murderer.”, But it was not until Bertha took his hand in hers and soothed him, that Jack was quieted. Then he sank upon a chair and burst into tears. The picture of his mother’s murder was more than he could bear. It was as he had so long thought. “ That face !” cried Bunukum, himself now dreadfully excited, “ I’ve never forgotten that face. It was not the face of a living man—it was the face of a corpse. He glanced once more at your mother, and rushed out of the tent. I don’t know how it was; just then I lost my head and jumped up. He saw me at once. I felt as if I,d been turned into stone. Up he came, his eyes afire. ‘ You saw all this ? I couldn’t speak ; I dropped down on my knees. ‘ I will kill you too,’ he said in an awful voice, and he caught me by the throat, but I found time to cry out ‘ Hector, don’t kill me ; I’ll never say a word about it. I’ve been your true friend, and I’ll ajjvays be. You were provoked to do it.’ He stopped then, and-I pleaded in every way I knew, for when your life’s at stake and you see a chance of escaping being euchred, your tongue loosens a bit, and mine was always ready. So, after a while he seemed to change, and especially when I told him I had as much right to be annoyed at Janet as he had.” Jack made a frenzied movement. “ Now, now, my boy,” said Bunakum, “ don’t be rash; consider the peril I was in. God knows I’d never harm Janet; I never harmed anyone but myself. So he made me swear a terrible oath; and there and then promised never to see me without money. And he’s faithfully performed that promise. But I don’t want his money now. I’ve had enough of it. The more I got, the more harm it did. me; I never kept it. When I knew death was coming I couldn’t rest until I had told all, and to you, Jack. Janet would come evefy night to my bedside, and there she would remain, until I had promised to speak

out. But when the day came 1 always went back on it. Then she would come with hundreds of horrible beings and make me promise again. And she’s been here tonight, up to the very time I finished. Now she is gone, and with her all the horrors. I feel better now, better, better I” It was very easy to see, however, that the temporary excitement which had borne him up was dying away. Imagination had so far tormented him by calling up terrible images, but now that he had lifted a load off his mind she let him rest. “Is that all down in black and white?” asked Bunakum, faintly. “It is,” replied. the magistrate. “ Now sign.” * Bunakum signed. It was a strange signature. At his best he never pretended to write a good hand'; but the caligraphy on this occasion was more than ordinarily hieroglyphical. “ You’ve not explained,” said Jack, “ how Bridget O’Regan and her husband became mixed up in the affair.” Bunakum winced. “ Hecter’s fears alone made them dangerous,” said he; “ Bridget O’Regan saw us coming from the direction of Janet’s place, and of course had she said all she could have said the circumstantial evidence would have been strong. But you know them times, Jack. We gave a good explanation to our friends about Bridget’s seeing us and they arranged to give the old couple a few shiners to keep them quiet. But it was a bad investment; for they never ceased to persecute Hector afterwards, and though he told them they knew nothing, yet he always gave them money. About their death I’d sooner say nothing; it’s about the only thing that weighs heavy on me. I could have saved them.” “ I feel so easy now,” said Bunakum, “ and you, Prudence, can bear witness to a great deal mdte.” “That I can,” was the ready reply. “He rehearsed the scene often enough in his dreams by my side. A small drop old man ?”

“ Yes, yes, I’m tired out,” said Bunakum, taking a glass; but it fell from his nerveless hand. Prudence put another glass to his lips and he drained it off. “Jack,” said Bunakum, in a low voice; “ you’re young yet. Take an old man’s advice and never taste a drop of drink. You see what it has brought me down to. You know I might have been rich, respected and happy, only for my fondness for drink. Don't be lazy ; that’s the father of all that’s bad.” Jack did not reply; he was thinking of the course he would adopt to bring Hector Macinnis to justice. His lofty position would prove an obstacle, for who would believe such a terrible accusation against so eminent a man; especially when the principal accuser was a half lunatic drunkard. He was aroused from his reverie by a cry from Bunakum. “ I believe I’m going,” said he; “it seems as if I was all water, and I’m sure I haven’t taken much of that stuff.” “ Shall I pray ?” asked the minister. “If you like,” said Bunakum. “ The lights are going out fast, and the drive’s getting very dark. I see a lot of people. There’s Harry, and Jim and Joe, all dead years gone by. Look out boys; the old man's going home to meet you. He's lived in (A-it until everyone’s forgotten him. But you know me, old friends, old pals, in the great digging days when gold was plentiful. It’s mighty dark, though, and the bar is hard, very hard—all sandstone. Miners of Grit the old man’s going home! home! and the tyrant will have it all his own way, up in his pleasant palace on the hill. Strike, men of Grit! Strike hard! the rock’s going! there’s the light of the candles. Ah! Is this the Reef?” And Bunakum was dead. There was one person who did not witness his death, Prudence Macinnis had slipped out of the room unobserved.

CHAPTER LXIV. A fearful explosion; a blast as of a great furnace; a sharp and terrible pain—and then followed unconsciousness. When Obadinh •woke to life again, it was to find himself cold and damp, surrounded by a thick darkness, the air having a thick sulphureous smell. No sound broke on the ear; there was a terrible stillness. At first the man gazed helplessly into the gloom, as if expecting to see there the awful spectres of another world, and the flames of torment. But gradually his senses awoke to the real situation, and it was with a thrilling joy that he found himself once more in the land of the living. How he had escaped in that tremendous convulsion he could not think; it was suflicicnt for him to know that he was saved at least from immediate death. Perhaps, after all, an outlet had been left; and and even if there was an opening, the miners might be able to save him, as they had saved Jack. God might be merciful to him. He would be brought to light again, and then he would visit with swift vengeance the man who had betrayed him. In the prospect of life the fears that had preyed upon him when he had become conscious, died away, and once more hope, on her golden pinions, hovered around his head. What wealth and power would be his if he once more breathed the air of heaven ! He would never more risk his life again in a mine. But who could imagine that Sniggle Snickers, whom he had taken out of the dirt, and raised to the position<of manager of the Hesperus Extended, would have turned upon him ? In this delirium of hope, he thought he heard the miners picking away at the rock to release him; but in a few minutes he became convinced it was all imagination. A still more profound and fearful silence followed. The slightest sound would have been a relief, but none was heard. He now tried to raise himself, so that he might search for an opening whereby to escape. But the slight movement he made, caused him to shreik, and the hollow cavern resounded with cries like those of the tormented in the abode of doom. His legs and arms were broken ! Terror now mastered this wretched being. He uttered cry after cry, scream after scream ; he called and called; he implored mercy, assistance; he prayed in his agony to heaven, and vowed that if his life were saved he would devote it to the service of the Great Being, whom he had despised. But there was no answer save the echoes which mocked and jeered him. On every side arose the spectres of those he had ruined and wronged, gibing and mocking at him. Could his face have been Heen in that thick gloom what a picture it would have made of that of one of the lost ones in the Hall of Eblis. But no eye could see him, no ear could hear his cries. He was soon unable to cry or move; the loss of blood had completely exhausted him. For a time, indeed, he gasped out incoherent appeals to heaven, to men, to demons; praying and blaspheming by turns. Then Nature refused to assist him further, and he shrank back into the gutter, where he was lying, a helpless clod. (To be continued.) Two millers thin, Called Bone and Skin, Would, starve us all, or near it; But be it known To skin and Bone, That flesh and blood can’t bear it. —Byron,