"Would you care to go to the Mayor"s garden party this afternoon?" she asked.
"What, a garden party to-day, after dancing till three in the morning!
In England they would just be thinking of having breakfast," said Morris, in surprise.
"Ah, we do things differently in the colonies."
"And a very good thing you do," was Reg"s emphatic reply, as the obliging lady left them together.
"You seemed to find scrutinising those fair damsels an interesting occupation last night, Hal," he observed to his friend.
"So I did, my boy. You see, Tasmanian women have many points of difference compared to those in the other colonies. Tasmania is only a small island and the inhabitants, especially in the South, do not trouble themselves much about business or anything that conduces to worry. They pa.s.s their days in happy serenity so long as they have enough to live upon. Being a very healthy country, the birth-rate is enormous, considering the population. It is no uncommon thing to find families of fifteen to twenty, all alive and well, girls, of course, preponderating. Now, as Tasmania has no factories or important industries, the boys when they grow up emigrate to other colonies to make a livelihood; the girls remain behind, so the proportion of women to men is about ten to one."
"No wonder Wyck came on here," said Reg, grimly.
"The Tasmanian girls," continued Hal, not deigning to notice the interruption, "are noted for their beauty. Nearly all the beautiful women in Melbourne and Sydney are Tasmanian born."
"Well I cannot say I am much struck with their beauty. They have nice complexions, but not beauty of form," objected Reg.
"Wait a minute, I am coming to that. I always compare Tasmanian girls to Tasmanian race-horses, though perhaps the former might not feel flattered. They have here some of the finest studs in the colonies.
There are sires whose foals have won all the leading events of the neighbouring colonies, but strange to say none of them can do anything in their own country. It is only when they are sent to the training stables in Melbourne and Sydney to be properly brought up that they turn out well. So it is with the girls; they have to be finished off in Melbourne and Sydney. Their rosy cheeks and fresh complexion are retained, but their _gaucheries_ of manner and clumsiness of figure are pruned away."
"There"s a deal in what you say, Hal, but I have a liking for this little spot. Everything surrounding you is so peaceful; the scenery is so beautiful that it is an island paradise."
"Yes, it"s a nice place to live in, if you have money to spend; otherwise it is dull."
"Like all pleasure resorts. But there is a delightful air of laziness about it. n.o.body seems in a hurry. It is such a contrast to the bustle of Melbourne."
"And such a harbour, eh?"
"Yes, it"s the finest I"ve ever seen."
"If you ever get to Sydney you will see one better."
"Here"s a note from the telegraph office for you," said Mrs. Eastwood, hurrying in.
Hal opened it and read:
"Sydney.
"S.S. _Flora_, from Hobart, arrived to-day with Villiers Wyckliffe and crew rescued from yacht totally wrecked.
"Agents--T. S. W. Coy."
"That"s awkward. Sydney is a long way off and it gives him a good start.
What"s the paper say, Reg?"
"_Corrinna_ leaves Launceston for Sydney to-morrow at noon. Train leaving here at 7 a.m., arrives there 11.30."
"I"ll wire Goody another copy of this telegram."
"No bad news, I hope, gentlemen," asked Mrs. Eastwood, entering.
"In one sense it is good, in another, unfortunate," said Hal, handing her the telegram to read.
"It"s a pity he was not drowned," she answered, mercilessly, handing the telegram back. "However, it will cost him a pretty penny, as Macpherson valued his yacht very highly."
"We shall leave by the first train to-morrow. I am now going to wire to Mr. Goodchild."
The next morning they were up betimes, and had considerable difficulty in settling their account with Mrs. Eastwood.
"I am sorry you treat your stay beneath my roof as a matter of business," she complained, "You have repaid me twenty times over by what you have done for the Goodchilds. They are my oldest friends, and I look upon May as a daughter. You have made some good and true friends, who will be heavily indebted to you until you give them one day an opportunity of shewing some acknowledgment."
"You are making too much, Mrs. Eastwood, of the service we have been able to render them. We have our work marked out for us, and until it is finished there is neither rest nor leisure for us. When it is finished we shall come and stay with you and your friends, for more hospitable people we have rarely met," said Reg, as he bade her good-bye.
After an uninteresting train ride they reached Launceston, and found, to their surprise, Goody waiting for them.
"Are you going on to Sydney, to-day?" he asked.
"Yes. How is Miss Goodchild?"
"Very well, thanks. She and I are going over too. You had better come to my trap here," and he led the way to a handsome barouche.
"My daughter is down at the steamer making arrangements," he said, when they were seated, and being driven to the wharf. Goody still had an anxious look about him, and seemed somewhat disturbed.
"Here we are, boys, jump out, and never mind the luggage. George will see to that." With astonishing activity the old man ran up the gangway, followed by the boys, and found May waiting for them. Their greetings were of the simplest, and May calling the chief steward told him to shew the gentlemen their cabins, while Goody handed Hal an envelope as they followed. On opening it he found it contained their tickets to Sydney.
"I say, Reg, they seem determined to run the show here," said he. "We have done nothing but what we were told to do since we left the train.
What do you think of it?"
"I think we had better appear grateful. They are evidently anxious to do something in return."
They arranged their berths and returned on deck as the ship was leaving the wharf. Goody and his daughter seemed to be popular, judging from the number of friends who came to see them off. Once started, the two were always together, and it was pathetic to watch the way in which the old man"s eyes rested continually on his daughter. He told Reg they had only made up their minds to go to Sydney when the wire reached them. His daughter wished to go, as she had some plan in her head which she wouldn"t let him know of yet, and he continued, sadly, "she will never be to me what she once was. She was then an innocent child, now she is a resolute woman. She seems ten years older in her manner and speech. She is going to a cousin of hers who has the reputation of being a bit lively, but is an excellent girl at heart."
"I cannot tell what steps I shall take," said May, at the same time, to Hal. "That depends on my cousin, Hil. I shall follow her advice, for I have not the slightest doubt that she"ll a.s.sist me to be revenged."
"Do you mean to follow Wyck up as we are doing?" asked Hal, laughing.
"I can"t say what I shall do until I see her."
"Of course you will give us your address, so that we can keep you informed if we accomplish anything."
""Grosvenor Hotel" will always find us."
"I should like to know if we can be of any a.s.sistance to you before we arrive, because we have our work to do, and goodness knows where Wyck will be by the time we reach Sydney, and we may not see you again for some time."
"If I wanted anything ever so badly, I would not ask you for it, for you have your own work cut out, and in doing that successfully you will greatly please both me and my father."
May evidently wishing to take an independent course, Hal did not trouble her further. He felt the friendship now established between them was likely to be a lasting one, for Australians never forget a kind action.