The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 90

Mary presented an entirely different aspect when she appeared, dressed in her well-fitting garments; and although her face and hands were sunburned, and her manners were embarra.s.sed, we did not fail to compliment her on her beauty, and to congratulate her on her near approaching nuptials.

"Let me speak with you for a moment," she said, turning to Fred just before the knot was tied.

Fred stepped a few paces from the group, and waited to hear her commands.

"When I made a promise to that man," she said, pointing to her lover, "I thought that I loved him. I was much younger than I am now, and knew but little of the world. Even when I reached these sh.o.r.es, I thought that my heart was entirely possessed by Mr. Herrets, and perhaps I should have continued to think so had not accident revealed to me what real love is."

Fred looked astonished and remained silent. He did not suspect the state of her heart.

"It would be unmaidenly," she continued, with a slight air of vexation to think that Fred remained cool, "for me to speak plainer, and if you cannot solve my meaning I must remain silent."

"I don't think that I understand you distinctly," my friend said, his face slightly flus.h.i.+ng under a suspicion of her meaning.

"Do you wish to comprehend me?" she said, and her face was cast down while she asked the question.

Fred hesitated for a moment, and only for a moment. He glanced towards me and saw that I was watching the struggle that was going on in his mind, and his decision was instantly formed.

"We must not pursue this subject further," he said. "Believe me, it is better that we should not; for the sake of Mr. Herrets, and your own sake, do not ask me more questions."

"One word," she cried, hurriedly, as Fred turned away, and it seemed as though she could no longer control her emotion; "do you wish me to marry that man?" she demanded, with an earnestness that showed how much she had at stake.

"I do," he answered; and without waiting for another question he joined us.

The girl turned deadly pale, and for a few seconds was silent; but she rallied at length, and signified that she was ready to vow to love and cherish a man that I knew she had already commenced hating in her heart, and looked upon as the author of her misery. The clergyman, who was impatient to get his dinner, soon united the parties, and we saluted the bride.

"Let me go," she exclaimed, as her husband folded her in his rough embrace and covered her face with kisses. "Let me go, for I stifle in this place."

"Take your wife home," I said, "and be a kind husband to her. She will need all your care and attention."

They left the store, and I breathed a sigh of grat.i.tude at the result.

Fred's face, however, looked black and threatening, as though he was not entirely satisfied with his course.

"We have played a mean part in that marriage," he said, at length, "and I don't feel that I have acted justly. The girl detests her husband, and you know it."

"Of course I do," I replied, with great nonchalance; "but that is something she will outgrow in a few days, and if she does not he alone is to blame."

"I am not so sure of that," he replied, gloomily.

"Neither am I, but it will not affect your position or mine. We have done the best that we could, under the circ.u.mstances, to keep her honest, and I will ask you, in all candor, if she would have been virtuous ten days from hence had she lived under this roof?"

He did not answer me, but lighted his pipe and puffed away in silence.

"The girl liked you," I continued, "and you at length discovered it. She is not a suitable wife for you, and I think too highly of your honor to suppose that you would blast her prospects for life and make her your mistress. Your residence here is short, and when you felt disposed to return home, would you desire to present the girl to your friends as a specimen of Australian beauty? Come, Fred, consider all things, and remember that you cannot accuse yourself of her ruin, even if she is not disposed to remain with her husband."

"You are right," he said; "pa.s.sion blinded me for a moment, but now I can see that, your advice is good. Let us talk no more on the subject, but hope for her happiness."

But we did talk on the subject frequently and earnestly; and as Mary's career was much as I supposed that it would be, I will follow it and give the reader the sequel.

Mr. Herrets removed his wife to his tent, and after the first week of his marriage paid but little attention to her comfort or her wants. A coldness soon sprang up between them, and then bitter quarrels ensued.

The husband, while grasping for gold in the bowels of the earth, little thought that his neighbor was paying court to his wife, and that she received those attentions with eagerness. Women in Ballarat commanded a premium, for there were but few, and those princ.i.p.ally of the lowest cla.s.s. A few of the highest officers under government had their wives with them, but the husbands guarded them with more than Oriental jealousy, and it was a rare sight to see them in the street or at windows. There was little cause for wonder, then, that a man, whose good looks were a pa.s.sport, should have ingratiated himself into the affections of Mrs. Herrets, and that one day they should leave Ballarat in company. We were in the store one afternoon, about a month after the marriage, when Mr. Herrets rushed in.

"Is she here?" he demanded, his face looking like a demon's.

"Who here?" I asked, calmly, although I suspected his errand.

"My wife," he shouted. "Darn her, I don't know where she is. She is playing some of her pranks, and I'll fix her for it."

He rushed out of the store frantically, and uttered a profusion of oaths as he dashed through the streets, making inquiries of every one that he met respecting his wife. Some laughed at him, while others, after questioning him until they had arrived at the facts, would gravely shake their heads, and express an entire ignorance of the woman's whereabouts.

Herrets then made application to the police office, but was curtly informed that the police had something to attend to besides hunting after men's wives.

Desperate with rage, and vowing all sorts of vengeance upon the frail woman, the baffled husband once more sought our store and implored our aid. He even offered a considerable sum of money if we would unite with him and make search for her; but we refused his money, and declined for a long time to interfere, until at length his importunities caused us to yield, and after we extracted promises that he would be likely to keep, we concluded to help him.

We sent the young husband back to his tent, and bade him make arrangements to be gone at least two days, and to bring back with him some article of clothing that had belonged to the runaway. He obeyed our instructions, and by the time he had returned our three horses were saddled and ready for a start. We lost no time in getting under way, and in less than an hour we were seven miles from Ballarat, on the road to Melbourne, the nearest city that the runaways could reach. Sydney we considered as out of the question, for its distance of five hundred miles was not likely to attract travellers who were journeying for speed and flying for safety.

We pushed on, stopping only long enough to make inquiries of men on the road, and at length we got on the trail of the fugitives. They were travelling on horseback, like ourselves, but were mounted on worthless animals, that threatened to break down at every step; so we were told.

The last farmer that gave us information said that he had spoken to them, and supplied them with bread, and that he did not think they were more than ten miles in advance of us.

This information gave us renewed life, and we spurred on until our horses were in a foaming sweat; and just as we began to think that the runaways had diverged from the beaten path, we caught sight of them riding along as leisurely, and with as munch independence, as man and wife.

Herrets rushed forward, and uttered oath after oath as he caught sight of his wife, while the latter applied her riding whip to the sides of her steed, in the vain endeavor to escape; but finding that we gained on her and her paramour, she suffered her horse to fall into a walk, and apparently took no further notice of us.

Not so with her companion, whose name was Delvin, a young and good-looking fellow; and had we not been present, he would have laughed at the demands of Herrets, for he was as bold as a lion, and was just the kind of a man that a romantic girl like Mary would take a fancy to.

"Villain!" shouted Herrets, presenting an old horse pistol, that looked as though it had seen service in the war of Cromwell, "stop, and account to me for the seduction of my wife, or I'll shoot you as you fly!"

"Shoot and be d----d!" replied Delvin, with a sneer; "but remember, I can use a pistol as well as you." And as he spoke, he drew from his belt a six inch revolver, and coolly waited for Herrets to commence hostilities.

This the latter was in no hurry to do, when he saw that his opponent was better armed than himself; so he checked his horse, and waited for us to come up.

We rode leisurely towards the runaways, and did not think it worth our while to make a show of hostilities, for while we had promised the husband to a.s.sist him, we did not consider that we were bound to fight his battles.

"Put up your pistol," said Fred, calmly, when we had reached the woman and her paramour; "there will be no use for it at present."

Delvin hesitated for a moment, and only for a moment; then, with an oath, he returned his pistol to its case, and waited our proceedings.

As for the woman, she appeared the most indifferent person in the group, and instead of being overwhelmed with shame, actually smiled at the expression of misery depicted upon her husband's face.

"We shall have to relieve you of your fair charge," Fred said, addressing Mr. Delvin; "civilization has hardly arrived at such a point in Australia that a man can run off with another's wife, and expect to escape punishment."

"The woman goes with me!" cried Delvin, fiercely, and his hand again sought his pistol; but seeing that we took no notice of the movement, he withdrew it slowly, and appeared undecided what to do.

"Of course, you are not in earnest when you speak thus," replied Fred, quite coolly; "you must be aware, if you enter Melbourne in company with this man's wife, and we are disposed to lodge information against you, that a long residence at the hulks would be your portion."

Delvin remained silent, but he looked as though he would like to try the issue of the affair with an exchange of shots.

"We have promised this man to help recover his wife, and we mean to keep our word. We have nothing against you, and therefore do not think it worth while to risk our lives exchanging shots; but Herrets, here--"

"Ah, then he can meet me," cried Delvin, eagerly.