"

"Of course not, boy," interrupted Mr Shirley. "Well, now, let me ask
you, Ned, how much gold have you brought back from the diggings?"

Ned fidgeted uncomfortably on his seat--the subject could no longer be
avoided.

"I--I--must confess," said he, with hesitation, "that I haven't brought
much."

"Of course, you couldn't be expected to have done much in so short a
time; but _how_ much?"

"Only 500 pounds," replied Ned, with a sigh, while a slight blush shone
through the deep bronze of his countenance.

"Oh!" said Mr Shirley, pursing up his mouth, while an arch twinkle
lurked in the corners of each eye.

"Ah! but, uncle, you mustn't quiz me. I _had_ more, and might have
brought it home too, if I had chosen."

"Then why didn't you?"

Ned replied to this question by detailing how most of his money had been
lost, and how, at the last, he gave nearly all that remained to his
friend Tom Collins.

"You did quite right, Ned, _quite right_," said Mr Shirley, when his
nephew had concluded; "and now I'll tell you what I want you to do. You
told me the other day, I think, that you wished to become a farmer."

"Yes, uncle. I do think that that life would suit me better than any
other. I'm fond of the country and a quiet life, and I don't like
cities; but, then, I know nothing about farming, and I doubt whether I
should succeed without being educated to it to some extent at least."

"A very modest and proper feeling to entertain," said Mr Shirley, with
a smile; "particularly when it is considered that farming is an
exceedingly difficult profession to acquire a knowledge of. But I have
thought of that for you, Ned, and I think I see a way out of the
difficulty."

"What way is that?"

"I won't tell you just yet, boy. But answer me this. Are you willing
to take any farm I suggest to you, and henceforth to give up all notion
of wandering over the face of the earth, and devote yourself steadily to
your new profession?"

"I am, uncle; if you will point out to me how I am to pay the rent and
stock the farm, and how I am to carry it on in the meantime without a
knowledge of husbandry."

"I'll do that for you, all in good time; meanwhile, will you put on your
hat, and run down to Moxton's office--you remember it?"

"That I do," replied Ned, with a smile.

"Well, go there, and ask him for the papers I wrote about to him two
days ago. Bring them here as quickly as you can. We shall then take
the train, and r