Chapter Iii.

with her . They were to go and find liim , and send him—not to her—but to Warriwa . On his arrival he should find that everything was ready for him . There would lie some small thing for the lawyer to arrange , but that could be arranged at once . When the elder brother asked at the bank about his

sister , the manager told him that all Timaru had failed to understand the purposes of the heiress . That old Peter Carmichael had been a miser , everybody had known , and that a large sum was lying in the bank , and that the sheep were out on the run at Warriwa . They knew , too , that the widow had

inherited it all . But they could not understand why she should be careful with the money as old Peter had been ; why she should live there in lodgings , seeing no one ; why she should be taken out to Warriwa once a month ; and why on these

occasions she should remain there a day or two , going through every figure , as it was said that she did do . li she liked the life of a squatter , why-did she not live tliere and make the place comfortable ? If , as was more probable , the place could hardly be delightful to her , why not sell it , and go away among her friends ? There would be friends enough now to make her

welcome . For , though she had written the letters , and sent them out , one or two at a time , she had told no one of her

purpose till her brothers came to her . Then the banker understood it all , and the brothers probably understood something also .

The } " * got upon his traces at last , ancl found him in Queensland , up to his throat in mud ,

looking for gold in a gully . " Luck ? Yes ; he had got a little , and sjjent the most of it . There was gold , no doubt , but he was not much in love with

the spot . " 'Tis always thus the wandering gold-digger speaks of his last adventure .

\\ hen they told him that Peter Carmichael was dead , he j limped out of the gul 1 y , leaving the cradle behind him

in which he had been washing the dirt , searching for specks of gold . "And Warriwa ? " he said . Then they explained the nature of the will . " And the

money , too ? " Yes ; the money also had been left to the widow . " lt would have been hers any way , " he said , " whether he

left a will or not . Well , well . ' So Kate is a rich woman . " Then he jumped into the gully again , and went to work at his cradle . By degree- *; they

explained it all to him—as much , afc least , as they could explain . He must go to Warriwa . She would do nothing till he had been tliere .

" She says it ' s to be all yours , " said the younger brother .

" II * not from him , then from mc ! - *'

" Don ' t you say no more than you know , ' said the elder . " Let him go and find it out for himself . " " But Kate said so . "

" Kate is a woman , and may change her mind as well as another . Let him go and find it out for himself . " So he sold his claim at the gully for what little it would fetch , aud started off once again for New Zealand aud Warriwa .

He had himself landed at Dunedin in order that he might not be seen and questioned in passing through Timaru , and from Dunedin he made his way across the country direct to Warriwa . I need not trouble my readers with New Zealand geography , but at a little place called Oamaru he hired a buggy

and a pair of horses , and had himself driven across the country to the place . He know that Catherine was living in the town , und not at the station ; but even though the distance were forty iniles , he thought that it would bc better to send for her than to

discuss such things as would have to be discussed before the bankers and the attorney , and all the eager eyes and ears of Timaru . What ifc was that ho would have to discus ; he hardly J'et knew ; but he did know , or thought that he knew , that he

Chapter Iii.

had been banished from Warriwa because old Peter Carmichael had not chosen to have a "young fellow like that hopping about round his wife . " It was thus that Peter explained his desire in that matter of John ' s departure . Now he had

been sent for , because of the property . The property was the property of the widow . He did not in the least doubt that . Christmas had again eome round , and it was just a year—a year and a day—since she had put out her hand to him through the closeel door and hacl bade him good-bye .

lhere she was , when he entered the house , sitting at that little side-table , with the very books before her at which Peter hacl spent so many of his hours . "Kate , " he said , as he entered , "I have comb you see , —because you sent for me . " She jumped up , rushing at him , as though to throw her

arms round him , forgetting—forgetting that there had been no love spoken between them . Then she stopped herself , and stood a moment looking at him . "John , " she said , "John Carmichael , I am so g lad you ' ve come at last . I am tired minding it—very tired , and I know that 1 do not do it as it should be . "

"Do what , Kate ?" "Mind it all—for yon . No one else could do it , because I had to sign the papers . Now you have come , and may do as you please with it . Now you have come—and 1 mav go . "

"He left it to you ; all of it —the money , the sheep , and the station . " Then there came a frown across her brow , not of anger , but of perplexity . How should

she explain it ? How should she let him know that it must be as she would have it—that he must have it all ; and have

it not from her , but as heir to his kinsman '* ' How could she do all this and teach liim at tho same time that there need be nothing of gratitude in it all ,

nothing certainly ot love ? "John , " she said , "I will not take it from him as his widow . I nevtr loved him .

J never had a kindly feeling towards him . It would kill me to take it . 1 will not have it . ft must be vours . "

"And you ?" " I will go away . " "Whither will von go ? Where will you live ? " Then

she stood there dumb before him , frowning at him . What was it to it to him where she might go ? She thought of the day when she had sewn the

button on his shirt , when he might have spoken to her . And she remembered , too , how shehad jirepared his things for him , when he hacl been sent away , at her bidding , from

Warriwa . Avhat was it to him what might become of her ? ' * 1 am tired of this , " she said . "You must come to Timaru , so that the lawyer may do what is necessarv . There must be

papers prepared . Then 1 will go away . "Kate ! " She only stamped her foot . "Kate—why was it that he made me go ?" "He could not bear people about the place , eating and drinking . " " Was it that ? "'

"Or , perhaps , he hated you . It is easy , 1 think , to hate in a place so foul as this . " "And not easy to love ? " " I have hacl no chance of loving . But what is the use of all that ? Will you do as 1 bid you ? " " What !—take it all from vour hands ?"

" xso ; not from mine—from his . J will not take it , coining to me from him . It is not mine , and J cannot give it ; but it is 3 'ours . You need not argue , for ifc must be so . " Then she turned away , as though , going ; but sho knew not whither to go , and stopped at the end of thc verandah , looking towards the spot at which the grave was marked by the low railings .