An Outback Marriage

Now about my girl. If you will take her, and make her as good

a woman as yourself, or as near it as you can, you will earn my

undying thanks. As to money matters, when I die she will of course

have a great deal of money, so that it is well she should begin now

to learn how to use it; I have, therefore, given her full power to

draw all money that may be required. I may tell you that I intend

to leave your boys enough to start them in life, and they will

have a first-class chance to get on. I am sending Charlie out to

the West, to take over a block which those fools, Sutton and Co.,

got me to advance money on, and on which the man cannot pay his

interest. He will be away for some time.

Meanwhile, dear Mrs. Gordon, for the sake of old times, do what

you can for the girl. I expect she has been brought up with English

ideas. I can't get her to say much to me, which I daresay is my

own fault. After she has been with you for a bit, I will come up

and stay for a time at the station.

Yours very truly,

W. G. GRANT.

Reading this letter called back the whole panorama of the past--the

old days when she and her husband were struggling in the rough,

hard, pioneering life, and the blacks were thick round the station;

the birth of her children, and the ups and downs of her husband's

fortunes; then the burial of her husband out on the sandhills, and

her flight to this haven of rest at Kuryong. Though she had lost

interest in things for herself, she felt keenly for her children,

and was sick at heart when she thought what this girl, who was to

wield such power over them, might turn out to be. But she hoped

that Grant's daughter, whatever else she might be, would at any

rate be a genuine, straight-forward girl; and filled with this

hope, she sat down to answer him: "Dear Mr. Grant," she wrote, "I have received your letter. Hugh has

gone down to meet your daughter, but the mails were delayed owing

to the river being up, and he may not get to the railway station

as soon as she arrives. I will do what I can for her, and I thank

you for what you say you will do for my boys. I will let you know

the moment she arrives. I wish you would come up and live on the

station for a time. It would be better for you than life in the

club, without a friend to care for you. If ever you feel inclined

to stay here for a time, I hope you will at once let me know. With

thanks and best wishes, Yours truly,

ANNETTE GORDON."