Catherine Carmichael ; Or, Three Years Running .

or not she could never tell , that he did not know that he was hated . "Now , old woman ; here you'll have a real home , " he said , as ho allowed her to jump out of the buggy in which he had driven her all the way from Christchurch ; "you'll find things tidier than you ever had ' cm away at- Hotitika . " She

jumped down on to tha yard into which he had driven with a band-box in her hand , and passed into the house byabn . ck door . As she did . so a very dirty old woman—fouler looking certainly ,

than any she had ever seen away among the gold-diggingsfollowed her from the kitchen , which was built apart , a little to the rear of the house . " So yon be the new wife , be ye ? " said the old woman .

" Yes ; I am Mr . Carmichael's wife ; Are you the servant ? " " I don't know nothing about servants . I does for ' unwhat ho can't do for himself . You'll be doing for 'un all now , I guess , " Then her husband followed her in and desired her to come and help to unload the buggy . Anything * to be done

was a relief to her . ff she could load and unload the buggy night and day it would be better than anything else she could see in prospect before her . Then there came a Maori in a .

blanket , to assist in carrying the things . The man was soft and very silent—softly and silently civil , so that he seemed to be a protection to her against tho foul old woman , and fchafc lord of hers , who was so much fouler to her imagination .

lhen her home life began . A woman can generally take an interest in the little surroundings of her being , feeling that the tables and the chairs , the beds and the linen are her own . Being her own , they are dear to her , and will give a , constancy

of employment which a man cannot understand . She tried her hand at this , though the things were not her own—were only his . But he told her so often that they were his that she could not take them to her heart . There was not much for a woman

fo love ; but little as there was , sho could have loved it for the man ' s sake , had the man been lovable . The house consisted of three rooms , in the centre of which they lived , sleeping in one of the others . The third was unfurnished and unoccupied , except by sheepskins , which , as they were taken by the

shepherds from the carcases of sheep which had died . about the run , were kept there till they could sent to the market . A table or two , with a few chairs ; a bedstead with an old feather bed upon it ; a washing-basin with " a broken jug , with four or five large

boxes in lieu of presses , made up nearly all the furniture . An iron pot or two and a frying-pan , with some ill-matched broken crockery , completed the list-pf domestic goods . How was she to love such as these with such an owner for them ?

He had boasted that things wcre tidier fchere than she had known them at the diggings . The outside of the house was so , for the three rooms' fronting on to the wide prairie-land of the sheep-run had a verandah before them , and the place was not ruinous . But there had beon more of comfort in the-shanty

which her father and brothers had built for their home down in the gold-gully . As to f ood , to which she was indifferent , tliere was no question but that it had been better and more plentiful at the diggings . For the food she vvould not have cared at all—but she did care for the way in which it was doled

out to her hands , so that at every dole she came to hate him more . The meat was plentiful enough . The men who took their rations from the station came there and cut it from the sheep as they were slaughtered , almost as they would . Peter would count the sheep's heads every week , and would then

know that , within a certain wide margin , that he had not been robbed . Could she have made herself happy with mutton she might have lived a blessed life . But of other provisions every ounce was weighed to her , as it was to the station hands . So much tea for the week , so much sugar , so much flour , and so

much salt . That was all—unless when he was tempted to buy a , sack of potatoes by some itinerant vendor , when he wonld count them out almost one by one . There was a store-room attached to the kitchen , double-locked , the strongest of all the buildings about the place . Of this , for some month or two , he

never allowed her to see the inside . She became aware that there were other delicacies tliere besides the tea , and sugai—jam and pickles , and boxes of sardines . The station-hands about the place , as the shepherds were called , would come and take the pots and bottles away with them , and Peter would score

them down in his book and charge them in his account of wages against thc men , with a broad profit to himself . But there could bo no profit in sending such luxuries into the house , And then , as the ways of these people became gradually known to her , she learned that the rations which had been originally

allowed for Peter himself and the old woman and the Maori had "over been increased at her coining . Rations for three were made to do as rations for four . "It ' s along of you that he ' s it-starving-of us , " said the old woman . AVhy on earth should » e have married her and brought her there , seeing that there Was so little need for her !

Catherine Carmichael ; Or, Three Years Running .

But he had known what lie was about . Little though she found for her to do , there was something which addeif to his comfort . She could cook—an art which the old woman did not possess . She could mend his clothes , and it was something for him to have someone to speak to him . Perhaps in this way he

liked her , though it was as a man may like a dog whom he licks into obedience . Though he would tell her that she was sulky , and treaf her with rough violence if sho answered him , yet ho never repented him of his bargain . If tliere was a " work

which she could do , he took care not to spare her—as when the man came for the sheepskins , and she had to hand them out across the verandah , counting them as sin- did so . But , there was , in truth , little for her to do .

Ihere was so little to do , that the hours and days crept by with feet so slow thafc thoy never seemed to pass away . And was it to bo thus with her for always—for her , with her young life , and her strong hands , and her thoughts always full ? Could tliere be no other life than this ? And if not , could there

be no death ? And then she came to hate him worse and worse —to hate him and despise him , telling herself that of all human beings he was the meanest . Those miners who would work for weeks among the clay—working almost day and night—with no thought but of gold , and who then , when ' gold had been found ,

would mako beasts of themselves till the gold was gone , were so much better than him ! Better ! why , they were human ; while this wretch , this husband of hers , was meaner than a crawling worm ! When she had been married to him about eight months , it was with difficult y that she could prevail upon herself not to tell him that she hated him .

Ihe only creature about the place that she could like was the Maori . He was silent , docile , and uncomplaining . His chief occupation was that of drawing water and hewing wood . If there was aught else to do , he would be called upon to do it , and in his slow manner he would set about the task . About

twice a month he would go to the nearest post-office , which was twenty miles off , and take a letter , or , perhaps , fetch one . The old woman and the squatter would abuse him for everything or nothing ; and the Maori , to speak the truth , seemed ' to care little' for what they said . But Catherine was kind to him

, and he liked her kindness . Then there fell upon the squatter a sense of jealousy— or feeling , probably , that his wife ' s words words were softer to the Maori than to himself—aud the Maori was dismissed . "What ' s that for , " asked Catherine sulkily . "He is a lazy skunk . "

"Who is to get the wood ?" "What's that fo you ? When you were down at Hotitika you could get wood for yourself . " Not another word was said , and for a week she did cut the wood . After that tliere came a lad who had been shepherding , and was now well-nigh idiotic ;

but with such assistance as Catherine could give him , he did manage to hew the wood and draw the water . Then one day a great announcement was made to her . " Next week John Carmichael will be here . " " John !"

"Yes ; why not John ? He will have that room . If he wants a bed , he must bring it with him . " When this was said November had come round again , and it wanted about sixweeks to Christmas .

Chapter Ii.

CHAPTER II .

CHI { IST . MA . S DAY . No . * 2 .

0 H N C A Hill C LI A ti L was to come ! And she understood that he was to come there as a resident;—for Peter had spoken of the use of that bedroom as though it were to be permanent . 'With no direct telling , but by

degrees , something of the circumstances of the run at Warriwa had become known to her . Tliere were on it 15 , 000 sheep , and these , with the lease of ( he run ,

vere supposed to be worth £ 15 , 000 . The sheep and all were he property of her husband . Some years ago he had taken lohn , when he was a boy , to act with him as his foreman orassisant , and the arrangement had been continued till the quarrel