that he was justly
annoyed that the permanence of his sober habits should be doubted;
whereas, in truth, the sting was in this, that the reading of the letter
dragged out from some dark recess of his consciousness the conviction
that, with all his high resolve and good intentions, he was standing on
an utterly sandy foundation, and leaning for support on a brittle wand
of glass. And thus he was but ill-fortified to wrestle with his special
temptation when he settled down, a few weeks after his arrival, in a
commodious cottage not very far from "The Rocks." His new dwelling was
the property of a settler, who, having realised a moderate fortune, and
wishing to have a peep at the old country, was glad to let his house for
a term of three years at a reasonable rent. The rooms were small but
very snug, the fittings being all of cedar, which gave a look of
refinement and elegance to the interior. There were good stables,
coach-house, and offices, and a well of the purest water--a great matter
in a place where many had no water at all except what dropped from the
heavens, or had to content themselves with brackish wells. There was a
lovely garden, with everything in fruit and flower that could be
desired; while, in the fields around, grew the aromatic gum, the
canidia, or native lilac, with its clusters of purple blossoms, and the
wattle, with its waving tufts of almond-scented flowers.

When Jacob joined his master in his Australian home, he hardly knew how
to express his delight and admiration.

"Well, Jacob," said Frank, "you're likely to have plenty of fresh air
and exercise if you stay with me. I shall want you to be gardener,
groom, and valet. Mrs Watson,"--(a widow who had undertaken the
situation of housekeeper)--"will look after the house, and the eatables
and drinkables."

"Indeed, sir," said Jacob, "I'll do my best; but I shall have to learn,
and you must excuse a few blunders at the first. I shall manage the
garden well enough, I reckon, after a bit, though I'm not certain which
way the roots of the flowers grows in these foreign parts;--the
cherries, I see, has their stones growing outside on 'em, and maybe the
roots of the flowers is out in the air, and the flowers in the ground.
As for the horses, I'm not so much of a rider; but I must stick to their
backs, I reckon. They'll be rayther livelier, some on 'em, I suppose,
nor our old pit horses, as hadn't seen daylight for ten years or more.
But as for