bosom half a dozen letters written by
Robert after he had reached the island. In his first he told her of his
stormy passage, and the bad food that he had been compelled to eat to
save himself from starvation; but he was confident and hopeful, and told
her to remember her promise of being his wife, and that if he should
succeed in making money he would send for her, and that they could he
married the day of her arrival. The next letter was dated at Ballarat,
where the lover had proceeded as soon as possible, and where he was hard
at work sinking a shaft, with great hope of taking out gold by the
pound.

The third letter was still more encouraging, for he had cleared in
three months three hundred pounds above his expenses, and yet he wrote
that he had not reached the richest part of the earth which he was
mining. The fourth letter was an urgent appeal for the lady to come to
him without delay, and he would send a draft to pay her expenses.

At this stage of the correspondence the father of the lady died, and
upon an investigation of his affairs it was found that he was insolvent
long before his death. Creditors seized upon every thing, and the matter
preyed upon the mother in such a manner that she, too, died within two
months after her husband. The poor girl was nearly distracted with
grief, and for a long time knew not which way to turn, or whom to
confide in; and during all her troubles another letter from Australia
reached her, upbraiding her for her infidelity, because she had not
written as often as Robert had desired, and because she had not joined
him. The poor girl hesitated no longer. Only a portion of the money
which she had received from the draft was left; but with this she paid
for a steerage passage to Melbourne, arrived there safe, and with barely
sufficient funds to pay her board for a week. She made a number of
inquiries for Robert, but received slight attention at the hands of
those whom she interrogated, for at Melbourne steerage passengers are
not looked upon with that degree of reverence and respect vouchsafed to
those who arrive at our seaports. Besides, there are too many women sent
from the old country, for various misdemeanors, to inspire the
Australians with much confidence that the stories which are told are all
true.

After submitting to numerous insults, for the girl's face was handsome,
and her form was good, (who ever heard of a girl with a very plain face
being insulted?) and after she