Chapter Iii.

CHAPTER III .

CnutsT . MAS DAY . NO . O .

was , on the morning of mas Day , with thc ferryhat old woman , with the ioy , and the body of her nd ! She was so stunned

that she sat motionless for hours , with the corpse close to her , lying stretched out on the verandah ,

with a sheet over it . It is a part of the cruelty of the life which is lived in

desolate places , far away , that -when death comes , the small incidents of death are

not mitigated to the sufferer by the hands of strangers . If the

poorest wife here at home becomes a widow , some

attendant hands will close the glazed eye and cover up the limbs , and close the coffin which is there at hand ; and then it will be taken away and hidden forever . There is an appropriate spot , though it be but under the poorhouse wall . Here there was no appropriate spot , no ready hand ,

no comn , no coroner with Ins authority , no parish officer ready with his directions . She sat there numb , motionless , voiceless , thinking were John Carmichael might be . Could it be that he would come buck to her , and take from her that ghastly duty of getting rid of the object that was l ying within a yard or two of her arm '' .

She tried to weep , telling' herself that , as a wife now widowed , she was bound to weep for her husband . But tliere was not a tear , nor a sob , nor a moan . She argued it with herself , saying that she would grieve for him now that he was dead . But she could not grieve , not for that ; onlv for her own

wretchedness and desolation . If the waters had gone over her instead of him , then how merciful would heaven have been to her ! The misery of her condition came home to her with its full wei ght—her desolation , her powerlessness , her friendlessncss , the absence of all interest in life , of all reason for living ;

but she could not induce herself to say , even to herself , that she was struck with anguish on account of him . That voice , that touch , the cunning leer of that eye , would never trouble her again . She had been freed from something . She became angry with herself because it was in this way that- she regarded

it ; but it was thus that she continued to regard it . She had threatened once to kill him , —to kill him lest he should speak a word as to which she bade him to lie silent . Now he was dead , —whether he had spoken that word or not . Then she

wondered whether he had spoken it , and she wondered , also , what John Carmichael would say or do when he heard that his kinsman was no more . So she sat motionless for hours within her room , but with the door open on to the verandah , and the feet of the corpse within a few yards of her chair .

The old ferryman took the horse , and went out under the boy ' s guidance in quest of the shepherds . Distances are large on these sheep-runs , and a shepherd with his ilock is not always easily found . It was nearly evening before ho returned with two of these men , and then they dug the grave , —not very far awav ,

as the body must be carried in their arms ; and then they buried him , putting up a rough palisade around the spot to guard it , if it might be so guarded for a while , from the rats . She walked with them as thev carried it , and stood there

asthey did their work ; and the old woman helping them a little . But the widow spoke not a word , and then returning , seated herself again in the same chair . Not once did there come to her the relief of a tear , or even of a sob .

J he ferryman went back to his river , and the shepherds to their sheep , and the old woman and the boy remained with her , preparing what food was eaten . The key of the store-room

was now in her possession , having been taken out of his pocket before they laid him in his grave " , aud they could do what they pleased with what it contained . So she remained for a fortnight , altogether inactive , having as yet resolved upon nothing .

Chapter Iii.

Ihoughts no doubt there were running through her mind . What was now to become of her ? To whom did the place belong , and the sheep , and the money , which , as she knew , was lying in the bank ? It had all been promised to John , before her marriage . Then the old man had hinted to her , in his

coarse way , that it would be hers . Then he had hinted again that John was to bc brought back , and to live here . How would it be ? Without the speaking of words , even to herself , it was settled in her heart that John Carmichael should be , ought

to bc , must be , the owner of Warriwa . Then how different would Warriwa become ? But she strove gallantly against feeling that , for herself , there would be any personal interest in such a settlement . She would have kept her thoughts away from that if it had been possible;— -if it had been possible . - At tho end of a fortnight there came out to her from

Timaru a young man , who declared himself to be the clerk of a solicitor established there , and this young man brought with him a letter from the manager of the bank . The purport of the letter was this : Mr . Carmichael as he had passed through Timaru on his way home from Christchurch after his marriage ,

had then executed a will , which he had deposited at the bank . In this he had named the manager as his sole executor , and had left everything of which he was possessed to his wife . The

writer of the letter then went on to explain that there might have been a subsequent will made . He was aware that John Carmichael had been again at Warriwa , and it was possible that Peter Carmichael mi-jilt have reverted to his old intention

of making his kinsman his heir . There had been a former will to that effect , which had beeu destroyed in the presence of the banker . There was no such-document afc Timaru . If anywhere , it must be at Warriwa . Would Mrs . Carmichael allow the

young man to search ? If no such document could be found , then the money and the property would be hers . It would be well that she should return with the young man to the _ town , and take up her abode there in lodgings for a few weeks till things should have settled themselves .

And thus she found herself mistress of Warriwa , owner ot the sheep , and possessor of all the money . Of course , she obeyed the counsel given her , and went into the town . No other will was found ; no other claimant came forward . Week after week went bv , and month after month , very slowly , and at

the end of six months she found that everything was undoubtedly hers . An agent had been hired to live at Warriwa , and her signature was recognised at the bank as commanding all that money . The sum seemed so large that it was a wonder to her that the old man should have lived in such misery at

home . Then two of her brothers came to her , across from New South Wales . They had come to her because she vvas alone . No , they said ; they did not want her help , though a little money would go a long way with them . They had come because she was alone .

Then she laid a task upon them , and told them her plans . Yes : she had been very much alone—altogether without counsel in this particular matter ; but she had formed her plans .

If they would assist her , no doubt they would be compensated for their time . Where was John Carmichael ? They had not heard of John Carmichael since they had left him when they went awav from Hotitika .

Thereupon she explained to them that none of all that property was hers—that none of it all should ever be hers ; that , to her view of the matter , the station , with the run , and the sheep , and the money , all belonged to John Carmichae ! . When they told her that she had been the man's wife , and ,

therefore , much nearer than John Carmichael , she only shook her head . She could not explain to them her thoughts and feelings . She could not say to them that she would not admit herself to have been the wife of a man she had ever hated—¦ for whom , not for a single moment , had she ever entertained

anything of a wifely feeling . " I am here , " she said , " only as his care-taker ; only as such will I ever spend a farthing of the money . " Then she showed them a letter , of which she had ¦ sent copies addressed to liim at thc post-offices of various towns in New Zealand , having spent many of her hours in making * the coiiies , and the letter was as follows : —

" It you will return to Warriwa , you will find that everything has been kept for you as well as I have known how to keep it . The sheep are nearly up to the number . The money

is at the bank at Timaru , except a very little which I have taken to pay the wages aud just to support myself , till I can go away and leave ifc all . You should hurry to Warriwa , because I cannot go away till you come . GATJII-JKINK . "

It was not , perhaps , a very wise letter . An advertisement in the New Zealand papers would have done better , and have cost less trouble . But that was her way of sotting about her work—till her brothers had come to her , and then she sent them forth upon her errand . It was in vain that they argued