f a bishop, and intended to tour the Colonies at the
expense of the inhabitants, feeling satisfied that he had only to make
it known that his father was the Bishop of Doseminster to have the door
of every aristocrat-loving Australian flung open wide in his honour. His
voice had a delightful drawl that attracted the female portion of the
passengers, and the little time of each day that was left to him after
that which was occupied in the management of this characteristic, the
manipulation of his eye-glass, and the exposure of the correct four
inches of shirt-cuff, was devoted to the invention of inane practical
jokes. He had successfully played "ripping good jokes, don't yer know"
on most of the passengers, and one old squatter who was returning with
his "missus" after doing England felt highly honoured at being made the
butt of such aristocratic ingenuity.

"We must invite him to the station, missus," he said to his wife the
evening after that event. "He would be such a catch for our Eliza."

Now Mr. Hugh St. John Wilson-Mainwaring had noticed that Hal and Reg
invariably took possession of a couple of the most comfortable chairs on
deck, which they placed in a sunny corner while they read, smoked, or
talked together, and he determined to have a joke at their expense. He
took the ladies into his confidence in his charming, affable way, and
the Misses Lewis, especially, were delighted to be made partners in the
attempt of a bishop's son to make these two young men who thought so
much of themselves look ridiculous.

One afternoon Hal and Reg, coming on deck, found all the chairs
occupied, and were compelled to seat themselves in a couple of hammock
chairs, ingenious contrivances in which the back is supported in a
notch cut for the purpose. Fortune favoured the bishop's hopeful
offspring, for they were not only convenient for his purpose, but they
occupied a conspicuous position. Reg and Hal were just dozing off, when
he seized his opportunity and crawled quietly on his hands and knees
behind Reg's chair, and tied a piece of string on to the support.
Cautiously, and in the same monkey-like fashion, he returned, paying out
his line as he went, and gleefully drew all his lady admirers' attention
to his huge joke.

"You'll come down directly, Reg. They've tied a string to your chair,"
said Hal, in a whisper.

"Right! old chap. We'll see who will have the best joke. If I come down
my back will be broken: understand?"

"