ogether than you would ever have been
without this mistake. See what I have done for you too, in clearing the
valley of this horrible gold!" he cried, merrily.

"But you've ruined the estate I was to have had," said Mr John. "My
brother and I went down and had a look at it, and it is one horrible
black desert."

"Pish, man!" cried Gunson; "may work for the best."

"What!" cried Mr John; "are you mad?"

"No, sir. Never more sane; for the gold mania has gone. That vale was
grand with its mighty trees, but it was the work of a generation to
clear that forest. Through me, that place was swept clean in a couple
of days."

"Clean?" said Mr John, dolefully.

"Yes; and the ground covered with the rich, fertilising ashes of the
forest. Raydon, what will that place be in a year?"

"Green again; and in two years, when the black stumps are demolished,
far more beautiful and suitable for settlement than it was before. He
is quite right, John; it is a blessing for us in disguise."

"Humph!" ejaculated Mr John; and Mrs John shook her head sadly.

"I do not like disguises," she said; "and I grieve for those lovely
pyramidal trees."

"Trees enough and to spare everywhere," said Mr Raydon. "Don't be
afraid; you shall have a lovely home--eh, Mayne? I think we can manage
that. There, Gunson, the sooner the better. Let's have a happy
settlement there, and no more gold."

CHAPTER FIFTY SIX.

THE GOLDEN HARVEST.

In a year from that time there was not a single gold-digger left in the
neighbourhood, for the news of fresh discoveries further north had drawn
them all away, and Nature soon hid the untidy spots they had made in
Golden Valley with their camps. Gunson had no hesitation in selecting
the black valley for his farm, where, in a wonderfully short space of
time, patches of green began to appear; while Mrs John, in perfect
faith that the place would soon recover, herself picked out the spot at
the entrance of the burned valley, close by a waterfall, and was more
contented by the fact that several magnificent pines were left standing
by the fire, which at starting had not extended so far. Here a
delightful little cottage was built almost in Swiss fashion, the men
from the Fort helping eagerly to prepare a home for one who, by her
gentleness, had quickly won a place in their esteem, without counting
the fact that she was their chief officer's sister.

In a very short time this was surrounded by a garden, in