" the young fellow repeated, hardly knowing
what to say; "why, I wrote to her that if she would come to Australia I
would pay her expenses, and marry her, besides. That was fair, wasn't
it? But she didn't write me that she would come; so of course I thought
that my hundred pounds were a dead loss, and that the girl had got
another feller, which I don't call exactly fair; do you?"

We did not commit ourselves by any opinion, as we did not know but that
some day it would be brought against us.

We formed an opinion, however, respecting the mental capacity of the
youth, for whose sake the poor girl had wandered so many miles; and I no
longer wondered that she saw a difference between her lover and Fred.

"Then you received no letter from Miss Purcel, announcing that she would
sail on such a day, and requesting you to be on the lookout for her?"
asked Fred.

"Of course I didn't," responded the young man, with commendable
eagerness. "That is just what I am finding fault with."

"Then you will be rejoiced to learn that, after great suffering and
privation, Miss Purcel has arrived, and is in Ballarat," Fred said.

The news almost deprived him of the power of articulation, and for a
moment I thought that he would faint, but he didn't. He was too eager to
see her, and welcome her to her new home.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"Not far distant," Fred answered.

"Take me to her without delay," he cried; "I shall die with joy."

"Softly," replied Fred; "there are some things to be explained before we
comply with your request;" and briefly he went over the girl's
narrative, as told by herself, until he gave an account of her narrow
escape from the hands of the miners who suspected her of stealing their
dust.

The lover moaned piteously as he heard the hardships that his mistress
had suffered; and after we had persuaded him to change his clothes and
remove the stains from his skin, we let him accompany us on our return
to the store.

"You must promise us one thing," I said, as we walked along, hardly able
to keep up with the lover's impetuous strides, "that you will be married
this very day."

I stole a look at Fred's face, but he appeared to approve of the plan,
and I could see no traces of disappointment.

If the girl is not obdurate, I thought, I shall save Fred many unhappy
days.

"O, I'm willing to agree to that," replied the lover, with a chuckle.

"You have the mean's to support a wife?" I asked.

"I've got