THE EMIGRANT BROTHERS.

T

CHAPTER VII.

ROBERT AND MARIA.

The Cape had attractions also for Maggie, as one of her best friends had been married about two years before to a clergyman who had gone out to the eastern province of the colony as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

delicate perfumes, the village church peeped in several of the principal towns of the colony, through the foliage in the distance. But and churches and schools erected, or in course Robert saw only the seated figure before him. of erection. The position recalled to him a vision of the past on which he had often dwelt. He saw O RETURN to the home of one's the deep pool of the new world river, and this same figure seated pale and trembling at the childhood, after an absence of foot of the Australian gum tree, and those some years, is by no means an sweet eyes regaining life, and casting up looks unmixed pleasure. In the first place the of thankfulness as he supplied the cool waters. old familiar premises look smaller, poorer, He looked at those eyes now. They met his meaner than we expected. A certain image gaze, and fell. He must bring himself to a was imprinted on the childish mind: as the humbler level throwing his left arm across mind enlarged the image grew proportionably the paling he dropped on one knee, and leangreater; and hence, perhaps, the disappointing his face on his right hand, spoke first of ment when we compare the reality with this that eventful day. The words which followed inagnified picture. The fresh glad heart of we shall not venture to record. Ask the birds, childhood, again, imparted of its own sunshine the insects, or the flowers, and they will tell to the scene. Now we view it in the shade. you. Sure I am they were upright, honourIn the second place, too many of the friends able and pure on the one side; true, simple, of childhood are gone. Some have found and modest on the other. The youthful pair other homes, some have passed away from this had walked out shyly side by side; they relife altogether, some have grown from child- turned arm in arm, and I think a little hand hood up to manhood, and neither in appear- was clasped by one much stouter and stronger ance nor in heart are such as we hoped to find than its fellow. them.

A few days were spent in quiet happy interThe change was felt more severely by Robert course at Fairfield, and then Robert took his and Charles Milbank, who found the home of leave, to return to Litherhithe and consult in childhood broken up, their kind father's seat earnest with Charley as to their future life. empty, and their only sister a guest in Mr. Barclay's parting words were these: "You another's home. Still it was a true joy, in have won a real prize, my boy; and whenever their re-awakened grief, to find her loving and you can say honestly that you are fairly setgentle as ever, and overflowing with thank-tled, with a good prospect of a maintenance fulness for their safe arrival, after the anxiety for wife and family, you may claim her hand." she had suffered in consequence of this their He added, "To my mind you are peculiarly protracted voyage. fitted for colonial life. Maria, also, has both the spirit and the tastes to make an excellent settler's wife; and though circumstances were against you in South Australia, I would not despair of better success elsewhere. I don't think nature ever intended you to be glued to a high stool in a merchant's office."

In a few days the pale cheeks were flushed with the returning hue of health, and the prospect of a home (in whatever quarter of the globe) with her brothers, restored her spirits.

Robert pondered over these words on his journey northward, and had his own thoughts; but would not come to any determination until he had consulted Charley and Maggie, and learnt in what condition his father's affairs were left.

He and Charley were left joint executorswith a recommendation to consult, in arranging their future plans, their father's old friend Mr. Aylward. Half the property was left to Maggie, the remaining half to be equally divided between the brothers. Some months passed before all the outstanding accounts were settled, and the property brought into a compact shape. It appeared from the books that Mr. Milbank's commission business was small, and had been gradually diminishing for some time. Neither of the brothers had any love for a merchant's life, and it was determined that they would make no attempt to retain or extend the connection. Charley had his own wishes, but this was no time to carry them out. Each one's share of the property was too small for independent action. The question was how best to unite their means, for the benefit of all.

But it seemed that the trio were not to enjoy each others society uninterruptedly just at present. Mr. Barclay, as a member of the prosperous firm of Evans, Barclay, and Adams, had taken up his abode at Sotherton, a seaport on the south coast, many miles distant from Litherhithe, which receives and sends forth its large commerce from the western shores of our triangular island. Whether Robert's newly discovered yearning for the south coast arose from delicacy of the chest, or a certain restlessness about the heart, we leave to the discernment of our youthful readers. We can only say that he did travel southwards, leaving Charley and Maggie to entertain each other, as soon as he could decently say good bye to his sister after so long an absence; that he received a hearty welcome from his friend Mr. Barclay, at Fairfield, his pleasant country house, a greeting alike, yet different, from the two sisters; and that soon after a private conversation with Mr. Barclay in his study, which lasted a full hour, two figures might be seen walking side by side in the garden. They talked of days gone by, and Robert told of the misfortunes which had befallen him and his brother since Mr. Barclay had left them. The story of the fire was already known by letter, but the dangers of the voyage-the storms, the ice, the darkness, the fears, the hopes, and the rescue-were drunk in by eager ears, and more than once Maria's eyes were filled with tears, and the strong man's voice This recommendation coincided fully with shook with answering emotion. He had Robert's wishes. To remain in this country, thought of her in the hour of their greatest if he could find employment, implied a long danger; but he did not tell her so yet. They and weary uphill course, in which the hour were happy in each others presence; to speak when he could claim Mr. Barclay's promise and listen was joy enough; as if by mutual seemed indefinitely postponed. Nothing but agreement they never looked each other in the face. That would have involved a confession for which they were not quite prepared. They wandered on, happy in the unconscious dream of love, until they found themselves beside the old oak paling which enclosed Mr. Barclay's grounds. Maria seated herself upon the mossy bank, and leaned against the pales. The shadow of chestnuts in full leaf shut out the noon-day heat, sweet flowers filled the air with

Towards the Cape, therefore, all their inclinations were drawn, and preparations for sailing were vigorously made; but unexpected difficulties arose in the final settlement of Mr. Milbank's affairs. Robert and Charles both found themselves obliged to give their whole attention to business for awhile; and it was more than a year from their arrival in England before they were ready to sail.

At length they bade farewell once more to the shores of old England, their sister now with them, and after an average voyage entered Table Bay about the middle of December.

They remained but a few days at Cape Town, and then sailed in the same vessel for Port Elizabeth. They had reached the 25th degree of east latitude, and expected to enter Algoa Bay next day, when a gale from the S.W. sprang up, and gradually increasing to a storm, left them no choice but to scud, under bare poles, until the fury of the storm was spent. After two days of anxiety, rather than of danger, they found themselves nearly 200 miles to the N.E. of Algoa Bay, off the coast of British Kaffraria. The storm subsided: the change in the weather was as delightful as it was sudden, and they were soon creeping westward again, with all sail set, soft airs alternately from sea and land gently swelling their white canvass.

A glorious sun was shining overhead in a cloudless sky; the heat of the south world midsummer, which would otherwise have been overpowering, was tempered by the balmy sea breezes; the coast along which they sailed for several days, clothed with the richest verdure to the very water's edge, reminded them of the lovely shores of Devon; and one of the passengers, who had travelled in Italy, said that he could almost fancy he was cruising off the coasts of southern Italy, where he had seen the oranges all but dipping their green leaves in the sea water.

As they sailed into Algoa Bay Charley gazed with deep interest on the island of Sants Cruz, and tried to discover the remains of the cross which Bartholomew Diaz had planted there nearly four hundred years ago (viz., Sept. 14th, 1487), when those seas were first visited by European voyagers. The vast flocks of aquatic birds which rested on its rocky cliffs, or sailed the air above them, reminded both the brothers of their droll adventures years before in the bay of St. Helena. Then they were comparatively boys, about, as they supposed, to make their fortunes in the new world of the southern continent. Now they were men both in age and experience of life; Here Mr. Barclay's advice came in, and Mr.-entrusted with their sister's welfare, each Aylward recommended South Africa, where a having his own peculiar aspirations, they nephew of his had been settled for some years, were about to enter upon a third sphere from whom he had received a favourable of life, with moderated expectations, and more account of the resources of the country. earnest views, yet perhaps with better founded hopes, under God's blessing, of healthy success. Their past experience had not abated their courage, nor destroyed their proper selfreliance and manly independence; yet it had taught them, while they helped themselves to seek that blessing without which no human energy can avail, and prepared them to submit patiently to such trials as, in the good providence of God, might yet await them. It was Christmas-eve when they dropped anchor at Port Elizabeth.

colonial life in the woods and plains would
ever suit him. The Cape, though far enough,
was not much above half the distance of their
first voyage; and it would be just so much
easier to return and fetch his bride, when he
had prepared a home for her. Charley read
all the books that he could lay hold of on the
subject, and was glad to find that the country
not only held out a good prospect to them as
settlers, but that there were clergymen settled

How they fared in the land which was probably to be their home for life, must be reserved, gentle reader, till we meet again next month. H. V.

(To be continued.)

THE NEW PENNY MAGAZINE.

his den in the cellars of a comfortable-looking invitation to step inside, where it was cooler.
house, situated on a main-road not far from The smith was a civil honest fellow, and be-
the village. Like the dragons of old, this cause he found the Representative full of chat,
dragon lay in wait for his prey, but did not and was fond of a chat himself, he accepted
attack men openly. He was too wise to do the invitation. The Representative found the
that. He was an artful reptile, and laid the plea-smith as agreeable as the latter found the
santest snares to entrap the weak and the Representative, who, as the talk was dry and
thoughtless There was at the same time a the weather warm, proposed a cup of dragon's
certain degree of candour about him, for, to blood, only he did not call it by that name.
intimate that he occupied the house in question, Agreed, and the cup was brought by the
The contents of the
he had his portrait taken in fine colours, and buxom dame, who greatly pleased the smith
had it suspended to a tall post opposite his by her winning manners.
abode; and, to show that he was of a hospit- cup were pronounced to be excellent, and the
able disposition, he had painted under his smith could do no better than command another.
And lessly that the London carrier had passed the
portrait, in large characters, GOOD ENTER-Time went on merrily, so merrily and care-
TAINMENT FOR MEN AND
There was no help for it, he
to do the dragon justice the signbord told door of the Dragon before the smith was
what was partly true. All was snug within as aware of it.
There were cool breezy would call again to-morrow, and the smith and
one could desire.
rooms in the hot summer, roaring fires in the the Representative parted the best friends in
cold winter, wholesome fare at all seasons, and the world.
his representative (for the dragon, as we have
said, never made his appearance in person) a
stout, rosy-gilled man, with a merry twinkling
eye, had always a civil word for those who paid
him a visit, and his wife, a blithe and buxom
dame, made every one feel at home who crossed
For all that wayfarers saw the
the threshold.
portrait of the green dragon, they had no belief
in his existence. The dragon knew that: it was
one of his wiles. He knew from of old that
evil is never so near men as when they believe
it to be distant.

However, as there was no real danger to the
good knights of old who faced the dragon,
neither was there to the prudent traveller who
entered the abode of the Green Dragon of
Ragland. He was fed and refreshed and went
If he stayed over night
on his way rejoicing.
he had comfortable lodgings for himself, a full
manger for his animal, and went off betimes
in the morning to pursue his journey. Perhaps
the dragon was now and then vexed that he
could make but little of the prudent traveller;
but he found his account in blockheads and
It was these he overpowered by fumes
asses.
and flavours, and when he had stolen away
their senses, he stole away their treasures to
add to his own.

The dragon cast many a wistful eye towards
the prosperous little village of Fairham. There
was abundance to prey upon; but how to
entice the prey within his reach was the ques-
tion? From the village to the Green Dragon's
lair the road was round about; but at length
his representative obtained permission to lay
down a foot-path across some meadows, and
to erect a bridge of planks over the trout
stream, and a hand-post was set up, on the
Fairham side, intimating the nearest way-not
at all to the Dragon, that would have been
stupid, but, to the high-road to London. The
simple villagers looked upon the new bridge
and the neat foot-path as an act of pure
benevolence. They had yet to know the wiles
of the Dragon.

For some time the Dragon's representative was taken at his word, and the foot-path was legitimately used by the villagers as a near cut In days not long gone by there was a pretty to the highway. Some indeed stared as they village which went by the name of Fairham. passed the portrait of the Dragon, and wondered It lay in a pleasant dale, in the midst of perhaps what occasioned the merry laughter pleasant woods and fields. Through it ran a they heard from within. The rosy-gilled retrout stream, clear as crystal. The houses presentative, or his buxom wife, would somewere well-built, well-thatched, and tidy. Roses and honeysuckles clustered round the windows and porches, and neat gardens testified to the It happened, however, one warm day in industry and taste of the inhabitants. It was Rosy summer that the blacksmith had to go as far a home of cheerfulness and content. children played before the doors, or chased as the high road to meet the London carrier. butterflies and gathered cowslips in the green meadows, or slid on the village pond and played at snow ball in the winter, and all were happy as the day was long. And this lasted until some of the heads of the village, who ought to have been wiser, yielded to the wiles of a dragon, and then the village changed its name and was called Ragland.

This dragon was a green dragon, that had

then; it was far better to be a loser in argu-
ment than to lose a client to the Dragon.
Every time the buxom dame entered with the
cup of dragon's blood she would feign to
listen to the dispute, and nodding to the cob-
bler, that nod said to him as much as "bravo,
my lad!"
Thus encouraged, the cobbler
waxed eloquent, and demolished his antagonist,
to his own mind, as easily as a child demolishes
a house of cards. The smith was sometimes
of one opinion, sometimes of another; some-
times he was on both sides at once, and the
end was that neither he nor the cobbler knew
whether there was any side at all. The blood
of the dragon did it; and that night the
dragon chuckled in his cellar.

Again the London carrier was forgotten, and the blacksmith's job was still unfinished. The cobbler had no mind to go after the squire's top-boots next morning. He recollected the approving smiles of the buxom dame, and he was now in search of new arguments wherewith to silence her Pittite husband, the Representative. As he was leaning over the half-door of his stall, seeking apparently for a crusher in a paving stone, who should pass by but the maker and mender of garments for the entire village. An industrious man, and pe: ceful as his calling, was the tailor. He

66

was slightly orange in his political tendencies; going over the meadows for a stroll, the tailor
the cobbler was deep blue, and in every thought he would bear him company.
"I was
skirmish was able to trip the tailor up. just going up to the rectory to measure the
"Good morning!" called the latter to the doctor for a new coat," he said to himself,
former. "Good morning!" returned the "but that I can do to-morrow. The doctor
cobbler waking from his reverie, "just the has two coats not much the worse for wear."
man I want to see!" This was an afterthought; The tailor and the cobbler set out together,
but, at the instant it occurred to him what a and half-way across the meadows they were
glorious thing it would be to cast the tailor overtaken by the smith, who was, once more,
into the scale of the Representative, and, to use going to meet the London carrier; but the
a familiar expression, lick them both together. seat of the Dragon was his real destination.
How he would rise in the eyes of the buxom The Representative was as happy to see the
dame, how in the eyes of the wavering and tailor as he had been to see the cobbler, and
doubting blacksmith! "Saw you and the when told that he was orange, shook his hand
blacksmith coming over the foot-bridge last till he almost dislocated his arm.
night," observed the tailor with a roguish The ceremonies of the reception over, the
twinkle of the eye. The cobbler recollected cobbler fell to reading the "St. James's
of a sudden how he had been indebted to the Chronicle," to discover the topic of the day,
assistance of the left-hand and the smith to or the turn of the last parliamentary debate.
that of the right-hand rail of the bridge, to The tailor was soon in the good graces of the
get safe into the village; but he replied in- buxom dame, and as she wished to have a new
differently, and led the conversation so as to cloth mantle for the winter he was to have the
expatiate on the sterling qualities of the Repre- measuring and making of it when the time
sentative and his buxom dame, telling him came. The Representative and the smith
how the former was decided orange, and the joked and laughed until it was time for the
latter decidedly rosy; but said nothing about former to drop the spark which instantly set
the blood of the Dragon. The artful cobbler the cobbler on fire. To it they went. The
touched the tailor in two weak points, and tailor backed up the Representative. The
when he informed the latter that he was just smith acted on this occasion sometimes as

umpire, sometimes like the wicked fellows who smith had not seen the London carrier; the screams of women, and the cries of children set dogs together by the ears. Whenever the cobbler had not gone for the squire's top- for bread. The morning showed men with cobbler was giving way the buxom dame had boots; the reverend doctor's new coat was bloodshot eyes and haggard faces, women in encouraging nods. Never did the tailor feel forgotten. tatters and marked with bruises; and sullen himself so eloquent, so confident. He conAnd so it was for weeks and months, and looks and moral dilapidation were seen everysidered his arguments to be straight and all through the winter. The smith, the cob- where. So travellers who had to pass through pointed as his own needle, and compared the bler, and the tailor gradually drew after them the village called the name of the place Ragcobbler's, with a boldness that almost surprised to the lair of the dragon the majority of the land, on account of what they beheld there. himself, to being crooked as his own awl. The men and youth of Fairham. The winter fire But the Dragon of Ragland grew greater Representative, however, contrived to preserve was so cozy, the dragon's blood so inspiring, and bolder, and every night rejoiced in his peace, and when both sides were wearied with a strange weed kindled in a bowl, and the cave over the blood which had been drawn debate, a man in a corner of the room called fumes inhaled through a long tube-another from him. The smith never met the London out for a song. Except the Representative of the dragon's devices-so lulling, the stories carrier, and never finished his job; the cobbler and the buxom dame, none of the village trio so droll, and the songs so merry, that the den did call for the squire's top-boots, but never had observed the entrance of strangers. Now of the dragon was deemed preferable to the had heart to stretch them; the tailor did call the tailor had taken several cups of Dragon's snuggest parlour of Fairham. at the rectory and take the measure for blood in the course of the debate, and feeling And how, meanwhile, fared it in that once the doctor's new coat, and began to make, exceedingly fortified he considered himself the pretty village? All was going to wreck and but never finished it. The trio in time proper person to respond to the call of the ruin." There were doors off their hinges, observed that they were not so favourably stranger. He had a sweet voice and was moreover broken windows stuffed with rags, the roofs received at the dragon's den as at first. leader of the village choir, and when he had admitted both wind and rain, weeds grew in The Representative was sometimes cold and sung something about "Cuckoo, gentle bird of the gardens, honeysuckle and rose-tree hung sour, the buxom dame saucy. The cobbler spring," it was received with rounds of applause. tattered from porch and window. Dirty and was no longer called upon to debate, the tailor The tailor was the hero of the evening. How ragged children squalled and tumbled about to sing, nor the smith to tell a funny story. often he sang or volunteered to sing is not in the miry streets; the pretty school-house They were at discount even in the estimation recorded; but certain it is that he awoke next was shut up, and the church, which still of their fellow-villagers. The fact was, that morning with a strange singing in his head. pointed its spire heavenwards above the green the Representative had chalked over two whole Again the Dragon laughed in his cellar. The woods, was almost deserted. At night were cupboard doors as a testimony against their more blood he lost the faster he grew. The heard the sound of angry voices and the credit. One night he refused to chalk any