The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-07-21


yhat I had seen now put thing IN me-
yht "So.nI Thought. 'is that NO" W,
Ind liesfn Poor Dick; felt gen9'ne,,
orrv for him. II he had any nope o. eve,
ginning Ella Blaxl.nd's affections 1 'e,. ~
rs. doomed to d sappoin'ment. bu' so'e'
20 knew this himself by this time.
Tina, evening. as Dick aud rode NOME Ut
other from Wyapdra in the moon'sn, i
nd. .Iooka a. if was 4 settled tnihS Ut
room Fila and Hamerton, don't 20"
hinkg' ,,1sou tb,,
:. 900 ,y.s very grave. and | thought some.
.h,, male: but that might have been the |
rnon,i,bt. "Do you think it's really set
/ d." he said. "WelI. We both wish her
n happine>s, don't we?"
There had always been the most friendly
intimacy bet y cen Weir and Miss Baxland.
III, nothing more that had ever discovered
Dicks name had never been one OF those
wen mentioned amoog the a'p'rants 10
Ells's band, though they had Known eac'i
other from childhood, both being natives OF
Willoughby.
II came TO lie matter Of general belief 10
that Leonard himerton was 10
marry Ella Blayland, though nothing def
mite upon this point could be ira ;ea p1ck 10
Wyandra, MEANWHILE. my liking tor Ham
erton did not increaSp. and could no. we"
him a. worthy husband for Miss Oakland.
The strong friendship bad formed for the
pretty, ksdaearted girl made me drs'rous OF
seeing her marry man who would DE wor-
tby Of f,eT, and Hamer'on did NOT impress
me with This idea. | felt that tbs n'ght De
In great measure prejudice, but some OIL
IF
specially laudable. Weir and found him
freenent niyht.yisitor OF the billiard
room of the WiIloughby Arza., and this
no. with the merely innocent object OF en-
loving game. Hrncr seemed to care TOT
rlaripy unlc,s for money-stak-s, and ne was
slGsys prepared to plav as high az bis oppo'
ncn,s would 90. He almost invariably won !;
and when be did not it struck me that ne pa
b;. own reasons for it. In fact, he dld much
what be liked with such opponents rs ne met
IT the WlIougnby Arms, though they were
slow 10 see il and his Fl NJ talent TOT the
Uame no doubt brought him in cnmiortaoir
lit,lc addition to his income. lie employed
his knowledge Of cards whenever oppof'
unity offered with the same results.
The winter of 1864 IS still remembered in
New South Wales as thlt in which one OF
the largest fl ,ods that the colony has ever
been subjected TO occurred. Tue Hunter
River district suffered especially, and we 10
Willoughby did not escape the general de.
struction. The rapidity with which ti>oi
occurs in Australia is not readily realized By
people IN the hOme-coupiry. The rain began
10 fall in WillOughby at noon Of one dry, and
by dusk of the next the river had risen
thirty feet. By next morning half the town
was submerged, the water completely cover
ing tue ground floor Of many Of the houses.
Our bank premises stood comparatively high,
but we were Obliged to abandon the frs, II Dor
on the second morning Of the flood. Boats
were being employed all that day in convey.
ing the inhabitaniSf from the lower parts Of the
town. and the houses i'm mediately con iguous
to the river, to those situated on more ele.
waited ground farther back from the stream.
Ut course, at such time all business is at an
end. Every one who could be of any service
employed himself in manniug The boats for the
rescue OF the flJOded-out families. Weir and
hid been hard at work all day with the
boats, and were resting from our cXertions
10 our little sitting.ro0m, after our O'Clock
dinner. We were both pretty tired. and did
not propose ding anything more thu night
unless some urgent demand were made upon
u. As we sat smoking In silence, Weir said
suddenly: "By-the bye, did il ever occur TO
you how the Wyandra people may be get
ting on!'
NO" answered, somewhat slowly. /" 1t
never struck me; but suppose they're ali
right they don't lie very low, and they We
tue bOa's."
"They don't lie very high" replied Dick,
rising to his feet. and standing with his back
TO the fire; "aud as TO the boats, it they
have 10 take them, who's to man them? You
know Mr.. Bl,Xland never pulls, and the tw 0
gardeners are. sboud think, poor enough
hands at it, There's good lot Of women
folkabout the place, and very few men al
this time OF the yeir-none, in fact, l cX.
poet, except the gardeners and a boy. BY
J,vr Jack, We should have thought of this
before. But there's no time TO be lost. we
must find boat aud get up TO Wyandra tn
night Are you game for it, old man? Don't
20, il you donrt tecI up to it. soali elsiIy
be able to pick up crew at The Wllloushby
Arms"
Ppm quite ready, Dick" l answered.
"You'ie right; We should have thought OF
it before
We got four men at the hotel, whom we
knew to be all study pulerS, and boat.
Wyandra lay up the river, and in making
tor it we followed the course Of the Stream.
Had it been in the davtinc we might baye
saved something by taking 4 cro>S-cut, but
there was not sufficient light To make such
course now judiclouS. 1t was still raining
in torrents from the heavy, low-hung hca-
vens, that seemed TO be slowly settling do Hn
lower aud lower upon the earth. The cur
rent OF the swollen river was very strong,
rendering pulling extremely difficult. We
ho bn,t f,En ~,
Wyandra. Rowing across what was a day
or two ago smiling garden. we approached
the house from that front. and found the
ground-tl)or completely submerged. There
was an omin0us silence about the place. and
1t was with no slight feelings of misgiving
that Weir and l climbed from the boat
through the windows Of the second flor and
entered the house. We found the whole
household gathered together in one room
MIR. and Mrs. B'aXland and their daughter,
three women domcstIcs, TWO men-seryants,
and the boy. They were seated, with white
faces and covering forms, around the diving
cmbers of WOOD fire. and the whole group
presented very pitiable sight. As We en-
tered the room Johu BiaXland starred 10 his
feet, and when he recognized us gra>ped the
hands of both Of us with conpulslYe energy.
"My dear boys" he cried, "you are lust
IL time; half an hour more, and the water
will be knee. deep in this room All our fuel
Is useless, too, and we have been haitian.
i>hch with cold'
Dear me, Mr.. BlaXlaDd," said, " we
never imagined you would have been in such
plight; but ii was very though,ess of us.
Didn't you think Of trying TO get away in
the boats al tirst:"
awe put oil till it was too late. The two
skitfs are such light things, you Know, md
none of US understood much about the man.
agement OF bouts. We didn't fancy trusting
TO them, tbut's the truth"