mmers' in Melbourne, wrote to
say their parting should be for six months; but it did not last more than
half that time, and meanwhile two or three matters of interest had
happened in Waddy. There had been several crushings from the Native
Youth, and the yields justified the highest expectations; Frank Hardy and
Mrs. Haddon had been married, and Joel Ham had departed from Waddy under
interesting circumstances. One evening when reading the Mercury in the
bar at the Drovers' Arms, Ham looked up from his paper and addressed
several members of the School Committee who were present:

'Gentlemen,' he said, 'I'll have to get you to fill my position within a
fortnight.'

'What,' cried Peterson, 'throwin' up your billet?'

'I'm wanted in England,' said the master, tapping the paper.

There was a roar at this, which Joel treated with sublime indifference,
but curiosity prompted Peterson to examine the paper closely when the
teacher had set it aside, and he found the following advertisement:

'If this should meet the eye of Joel Hamlyn, second brother of Sir Just
Hamlyn, of Darnstable, he is hereby informed of the death of his brother
and of his succession to the title and estates. Any information
respecting the above Joel Hamlyn will be thankfully received.' Then
followed a description of Joel Hamlyn that was decidedly applicable to
Joel Ham, and the address of a firm of Melbourne solicitors.

The schoolmaster said nothing to satisfy the curiosity of his committee,
but was more communicative in the presence of Frank Hardy.

'I am Sir Joel Hamlyn now,' he said, grinning down at his white moleskins
and broken boots. 'Just and I hated each other like brothers. He was
eminently respectable, I was eminently otherwise. We parted with mutual
satisfaction, but he had two boys when I left England, both of whom have
since died, or there would have been no anxious and respectful inquiries
for my disreputable self.'

'Well, I congratulate you,' said Frank. 'It will be an agreeable change.'

'I do not know,' said Sir Joel; 'I have got drunk on beer here, I shall
get drunk on champagne there That's all the difference.'

Later, when parting with Frank for good, he said:

'I have a long journey before me, and I have got to make up my mind in
that time in what useful capacity I shall figure in Darnstable teetotal
circles, whether as a shining light or a shocking example--whether, in
short, it is better to live respectable or die drunk.'