The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-05


A hot December dly, with e cinad,es, blue
sky and s.n blazing down on Tire earth.
clothed i'm al the beauty Of al-ncr gar
rncnts Such q description Of Snowy Deccm
Der must sound strange 20 Englsh cnrs, and
4 hot Christina, day must strike c"'n as be
inr az fantastic rs the play in a Midsum-
ncr', Night Dream" did 90 Demct".us, when
ne remarked " it: This il bot i.'a aud won
drous cold fire. But here in .iG,,ralia is
The realm OF topsy turvydom, AID many
things, Ike dreams, 20 by contra",cs
The Frcttlby homestead of Yabha YallooS
station was a long low house. with 40 M
stairs. and with wide vcranG1 running
nearly round il. Cool green blind, zero hung
b,tween The pillars 90 keen out TIE sun, and
al along were scattered l1unginc chairs Of
ba. '.ct wn~,., ...a g.-. .l-,,. a. t..,J so II
bottles and AZ the other evidence that In
Frettlbys guests had been wi.r and stayed
inside during tie noonday heat Maieo was
seated in oae of these comfortable chairs, and
divided hcr attention between the glowing
beauty OF the world outside. which she could
see through narrow slit IN the blind, and q
new novel from Mullcns lying open Oh her
a
through which she had passed had been very
great and had left lis impress of sorrow on
her beautiful face. In lcr eyes, too, usually
50 calm, there was a tioublod look, as, lean.
ing her head upol her hands, SIZE thought OF
the bitterness of the past year
After Brian's acquittal OF the murder OF
Oliver Whytc She had been taken by her
father up 70 the station. ~ the hope that it
would restore Ecr 10 health. The mental
strain which hid boo" o" Eor during the trial
lad ueal, Grodgnt on al atiack oi BRAIN
fever. but here, far from the excitement of
town life, IN the qu,Ct secluslOn Of the conn
try. she had rccO ,rci Ter health. but not
her spirits Women are moro inprcssiv nable
than men, and it is perhaps for this reason
that they age quicker i trouble which
would pass lightly over man leaves an in
delble mark on wo.naT both physically
and mentally, and tie terrible episode of
Whyto's murder had changed Madce from n
bright and merry girl into grave and
beautiful'woman And Brian, lie also had
undergone a change, for there were a few
white hairs now amid his curly. chestnut
locks, and his clmracter, from being gay and
bright, he'd become moody and irritable.
After the rial b. had loit town Immediately,
in order O. avoid meeting with his friends.
and had gone NJ to bis station, which was
next to that OF tie FFettlbys There be
worked hard all day, and smoked hard all
night. thinking over the cursed secret which
the dead woman had told him. and which
threatened 10 overshldow his life Every
now and then he rode over and saw Madce.
but Only when BE- knew her father was away
in Melbourne, for De seemed 10 have taken
"a dislike 20 The millionaire, which Madga
could not help condamnng as unjust.
remembering how her father had stood be-
side him IN his trouble Bnt there was an
other reason why Brian kept aloof from
Nabba Nallook station, and that was h. did
not wish tomeet any Of the gay society which
was there, knowing that since bis trial he was
an object of curiosity and sympathy to every
one-a position which was very CALLING to his
proud nature. At Christmas time Mr. Fret
tlby had asked lot of people Up from Mel
bourne, and though Madge would rather
have been left alone, yet she could not refuse
her father, and had to play hostess with a
smiling brow and aching heart Felix Rol-
lesion, who a month since joined the noble
army of benedicts, was there with Mrs Rol.
lesion, who ruled him with rod of iron.
Having bought Felix with her money, she
had determined 10 make good use Of him,
and, being ambitious to shine in Melbourne
society, had insisted upon Felix studying
politics. so that when the next general cleo
ton came around he could enter parliament.
Felix had rebelled at first, but ultimately
gave way, as he found that when he had a
gocc powell concealed among .pIs nsrlisl1sc:-