Los Angeles herald., 1892-12-04
A BUNCOED BRITISHER.
Ialways had liking for Jack Holder

ing, I first made his acquaintance at
the Palace hotel in San Francisco. in
the summer of 1880, where he had just
returned from a voyage from Melbourne
(where he was born to England, the
home of his two rich old uncles. On his
way back to the antipodes he had put in
a month of idleness at the geysers, Yo
semitic and the rest of the California
sightss Del Monte was not then what
it now is, and as for Coronado and Re-
dondo they were not teven contemplated.
Jack grew eloquent over Yosemite
1T is all that Marcus Clarke pictured
it and even more. His description Of it
was marvellous bit of writing, and yet
ltgives no one a real idea of its grandeur.
see they have place out in Colorado
they call the Garden of the Gods, but |
really can't imagine anything that
equals Yosemite. | am afraid the Blue
mountains of my own country will look
very tame after get back there"
Finally, after two weeks frolicking
about the redwoods in Humboldt county,
we got back to San Francisco with two
or three deer's heads, which Jack had
fixed up by taxidermist to decorate his
bachelor apartments On the Esplanade
in St. Kilda. The steamer was to sail
for Sydney on the following Saturday.
1t was Thursday night and was call
ing at the house OF an old friend on SUIT
ter street, in the 'western addition"
The front door opened softly and light,
girlish figure, with an unmistakable
English face, stepped in from the street
and tripped it lightly up the stair.
Il see you are looking at my little
friend and dying to have me tell you
who she ls. Well" said my hostess,
"here goes for all know. She is Miss
Martha Custance, from Leeds in Eng
land, and has been sewing for me during
the past two weeks. She is well edu.
Gated girl and came here about year
ago to meet an uncle, who was drowned
in the bay only few days before she
reached here. She has two uncles living
in Australia, and as her parents are
dead in England she thinks she will go
out to the kangaroo country. wish |
knew somebody that was going out on
Saturdays steamer"
replied that l had globe-trotting
friend who was going ont on the City of
New York, and would take pleasure in
introducing him to Miss Custance.
"Bring him up here to dinner tomor-
row night and let me see what he is
like" she said.
"Bah what would your husband say?
He never met him."
'That's all the tact you men have
got. Suppose Dick never did meet him.
What's the matter with your going
around to the Office tomorrow and
taking him and Dick to luncheon with
you?"
No sooner said than done. The fol-
lowing noon saw Mr.. Richard Robin,
Mr.. Holderness and myself seated in
California-street restaurant at lunch.
He seemed to like the burly colonist
very we'll. That night we kicked our
shins Gavin yer prisence) together un-
der Mr.. Roblins's mahogany, and Miss
Custance sat next to me. Her rich
chestnut hair was looped back from a
face that bore the delicate pink OF the
heather, lighted up with pair of eyes
that glistened with the blue OF the So
lent.
The conversation was very common
place though very pleasant. We parted
at 8 pm. to meet at the steamers gang
way the following day.
At o'clock gong sounded about the
decks of the crowded vessel. The surg
ing sea of humanity that had taken
three hours to get aboard of the ship
was now going ashore in less than 20
minutes. A great, coarse steam whistle
sounded and Captain Cobb, in full uni
form, walked up the stairs of the
bridge. It was Mrs. Robin who took
Miss Custance's hand. Goodbye,
dear, and God bless you, Mr.. Holder
ness, be good to her and you will have
done me favor" Goodbye, Jack,
oS
and we'll have another camp in the
man." said 1.
"For your sake, captain, and perhaps
for her own," he added in a low tone. I
looked at his big, burly figure and felt
she was in honest hands.
81 cannot tell you how hard it is to
part from you," sobbed Mics Custance,
''you don't seem like people have just
met. God must have directed me to
you" "Perhaps he did, dear child"
said Mrs. Robin, with q choking
throat, "but we only did our plain duty
after all. Now, you'll excuse poor
Dicks not coming down here, won't you
dear? Goodbye, perhaps forever. Tom,
take me ashore-the least said, soonest
mended."
led Sally Robin (sweet Christian
woman, now nearly 10 years dead) down
the gangway to the wharf. The great,
hoarse whistle bfAyed out another
alarm. The stout bawsers slackened
and wefe drawn inboard. Then came
a faint tinkle of the engineers bell
and the vast ship backed out slowly
from the pier. The last thing saw was
Matte kissing her hand to Mrs. Robin
and burly Jack Holderness supporting
her as she stood on the narrow rail and
waved US her parting blessing. We
jumped into hack and drove back to
the city as the dim and dismal mantle
OF fog stole over the San Bruno hills and
the bell on Alcatraz tolled its adieu to
the parting ship.
The voyage to the "most beautiful
harbor in the world" was uneventful.
When Matte asked Jack to 60 and get
her railroad ticket to Ballarat he did
so, and told her the price was G3, when
it was really G5 los. Then he put her
into the car at Redfern station and she
was whisked away through the great
tunnel on the Newton hill.
Arriving in Ballarat the next day,
Matte went to a cheap boarding house,
and then started out to look for her
relatives. Nobody knew any one by the
name of Custance.
"Oh, why did ever leave San Fran
CISCO" groaned the young girl, "they
were 80 kind to me there"
At last she met somebody who told
her that he had never known anybody
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