nd
him his assistance in driving the sheep; and, therefore, there appears
something inexplicable in his remaining inactive at Strawberry Hill.
Could it be that any feeling of admiration for his entertainer's fair
cousin had exercised any spell in his detention; or that he was merely
pleased with the people with whom he found himself, and desired to
cultivate their acquaintance? We suspect, rather, that the fascination
of the young lady was the secret cause, though, perhaps, unknown even to
John himself. 'Tis true, he could not divest his thoughts of her image;
from passing events they continually wandered, and incessantly reverted
to a contemplation of her calm and placid features. In his thoughts,
Eleanor Rainsfield was ever present; and though each meditation of her
intruded itself without causing a thought of the nature of the feeling
he was fostering, he at last found himself deeply involved in a mental
enunciation of her charms; which concluded in the decision, that she was
indeed a creature to be prized; and if not perfection itself, the
nearest approach to it, that it is the fortune of mortals to witness.

"She really is a charming girl," he mentally exclaimed; "but why am I
continually thinking of her? I have no desire to be married; besides
which, her cousin taxed her with an engagement, and, by the bye, she did
not relish the allusion. I wonder what it can mean; she seemed dejected
too; and, now I remember, she appeared to lay particular stress upon the
requisites that ensured happiness to the married state. She must already
be engaged, and that engagement, if I divine rightly, cannot be
congenial to her spirit; there is some slight mystery that requires
solving. Dear me!" he continued, after a few moments of inert
meditation, "I can't get that girl out of my head. I can't think what
makes me take such an interest in her affairs; it is surely no concern
of mine. I must shake off the thoughts of her:" and with that amiable
determination he commenced whistling a popular air to delude himself,
while he turned to his companion, who had in the meantime stopped in his
walk to watch his abstractedness.

After spending some time in looking over the domestic arrangements of
the station, the two gentlemen bent their steps to the Wombi river. In
the course of their walk John Ferguson remarked, that he thought the
present crossing-place did not appear a very judicious choice, and asked
his companion if a safer and more e