UNWILLING WITNESS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7062, 7 February 1893, Page 4

UNWILLING WITNESS.

LITERATURE-

rcoiminjßD.) *Yei, that is the camp/ said Mrs Grtig, in reply to a question from Josephine. ‘Taka care of those pine ■tabs —voa cannot see them with the light in your eyes; won't you take hold of my hand ?’ ‘Won’t yon taka bold of mineP* laughed Josephine. ‘ I am ever 10 much taller than you.’ ‘Yes, but 1 know the ground. I walk here hours and hours by myself. "That is Mr Hillbury—the dark head against the window-curtain ; he is the chief of this party, you know. Ton must notice his buckskins. They are Indian-tanned, made by a London tailor. We have to amuse ourselves with these little contrasts—they are the spice of lift out here/ Mr Hillbury, hearing the footsteps and voice* approaching, came out to meet his guests, sa jin?, ‘ Who are thesa in bright array?’ He looked extremely well in his suit of buckskin, which was of a light grey colour, toned by ose, and set off hi* dark complexion as if chosen for that purpose alone. Thera was the usual indistinct mention of , names as the group of young men around the hre rose to their feet. The camp lamented its deficiencies in tt.e , matter of seats. There was hue ona camp-stool, which, both la lies declining* was bestowed by acelama'ion on Mr’Newbold. ‘l’m the oldest and heaviest/be declared, and accepted it on that basis. The other seats were sactiona of pine logs with boards nailed across the top. Mrs Craig, seeing Josephine balancing herself on one of these inverted pedestals, called to her to come and share with her a eampblaoket spread on the ground. A man reclining on one elbow near them, with bis feet to the fire and his face in deep shadow, gathered himself into a sitting posture and gave them good-evening. ‘ Good-evening, Mr Bodowin ; were you here when we came P’ asked Mrs Craig, leaning forward and speaking across Josephine’s lap. ‘Yes, Mrs Craig. I got up and made my bow with the rest, but the fire was between us.’

* I did not gee you,’ said Mrs Craig —‘ Miss Newbold, this is Mr Bode win.’ Bodewin moved nearer, first knocking the hoi ashes out of a briar-wood pipe and thrusting it into a breast pocket of his coat. * Poor Mr Bodewin ! said Mrs Craig, noting the action sympathetically. ‘Ai the wife of a smoker X can feel for you. You had found such a nice place to finish your pipe in silence and in peace ; now we have interrupted your pipe and broken your silence.’ * ‘Thereis always something to he thankful lor, Mrs Craig/ Bodewin re- , plied. ‘Yon might have interrupted the silence and broken the pipe.’ »I knew you would say that,’ laughed Mrs Craig. ■ Josephine was listening less to BodewinV words than to bit voice, lowpitched and rattier languid, with an accent that was negligently pure. His face she could not see wi'hout turning, too evidently, to look at him. Perceiving that she had a neighbour on her right, Mrs Craig began talking to him, and the group thus diviied it■elf. . ‘ How you must enioy this life !’ said® Josephine,, filling the pause with the first word* she could think of. Before answering, Bodewin 'deliberately shilled his portion so that it commanded a view of her face. * Do you mean the life of the Surrey ? * be asked. ‘Yes/ she said. *lt is a good life, no doubt, but it is not mine.’ ‘ I thought you wore of this party. Bodewin fancied that he had lost a degree of her interest by this admission. ‘No/ he repeated, with bis lazy intonation, * I am not a mining geologist, nor a physical geologic, nor a geologist physicist, nor even a supernumerary on board wages.’ 4 That is what I should like to db*** that last.’ ‘ Why, 'if you please ? ’ ‘ltmust boso easy to earn board wages —especially ’ * When the board is rather bad P ’ ‘ They are not wildly lax-jrious, are they ? * she whispered, ‘ No; the pursuit of science under government is not a luxurious calling. However, it is but fair to the government to say that this is a temporary arrangement. The Survey goes under cover next week, and I dare say they will have a few chairs.’ *Mr Bodewin, haven’t yon some capitaf letters after your name ?’ ‘After my name, Miss Newbold? When had my name the honour to be seen by you V $ 1 think it was—about two weeks ego—in a letter to you from my father/ she hesitated, conscious of a somewhat awk ward reason for the question she had asked—‘and the letters were M. * I believe I am entitled to C.E. after my name, but the M.E. must have been a friendly flight of imagination on your father’s part.’ ‘Are you not a mining expert?. * Ibave been so called. Bui I believe there is no such title in the back of the dictionary.’ Who is talking about dictionaries by the light of a camp fire ?’ Mrs Craig exclaimed. * Are yon beginning at the fountain-head of conversation in the English language ? If Miss JNewbold were a Boston girl, I should be sure she had a dictionary—a German dic- ' tionary—in her trunk, even if it crowded out her best bonnet.’ I’m sore there’s no best bonnet in my trunk,’ said Josephine. Perhaps I ought to be ashamed to say I brought but two books with me, and those I can read without the aid of a dictionary—even an Joglisb oho.’

Mrs Craig thought the contents of a traveller’s trunk were next to a| biography of its owner. ‘lt represents his necessities, the things he cannot leave behind. If we knew those two books Mi«s Newbold chooses out of all those she leaves at home, we should know Miss Newbold/ ‘Suppose she makes a good choice but doesn’t read the books after she has brought them,* Josephine said. ‘ Then we should know Let aspirations They are as much a part of us as our necessities surely.’ * The part a biographer usually leaves out/ Bodewin said. ‘How about the traveller who hasn’t necessities enough to fill a trunk ? How would you write bis biography, Mrs Craig P’ ‘ Ob, a man who has no trunk cannot expect to have a biography. Practically, he doesn’t exist.’ Following the silence Mrs Craig’s peremptory little speech had made, Josephine asked: * Will you toll me, Mr Bodewin what a mining expert is, granting that M E. dosen’c stand for him, and that be isn’t in the back of the dictionary ?’ 'He is, usually, a gentleman who asks a good deal of money to tell you how little be knows, or perhaps, 1 might add, bow much lees some other man knows,’

* That is rather unsatisfactory description.’ *A mining expert is frequently a rather unsatisfactory person. But there is a difference in expert*, as in other people, and perhaps it is but fair to romember that in forming their conclusions they hare to deal with Nature in some of her most unaccountable and fantastic moods. The experience gained in examining ninety nine different formations may be of no use tn the one hundredth. It is business no man can say be has learned absolutely.’ * Then why do they charge so much for knowledge what is not knowledge ? Is it because of the risk to their reputations in sayiaga thing is true, while they reuiiy take the chance of its being otherwise ? ’

(To be continued.)