New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-08
r MISS METHUEN.
A STORY OF TIE BUSH.

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Of a refusal were entertained by admirers OF tllat
robust and popular divine. His chances OF a
much more desirable preferment. if he would put
wait for il, wcre the one hand. CONSIDERABLE
and the other hand was his daughter Evelyn
Miss Methuen, an only unmarried child, was no, no.
the to suffer transportation TO the bush, wiiie
she was the One-Lhe very onc-to influence hel
fathers decision. So said those who knew her'
showing, usual, how little they did know her.
For whatsoever was novel, Notwithstanding, or
unattractive TO her friends most nightly attrac'-
ed Evelyn Methnen: and the Australian bishopric
possessed all these merits Her friends were rigno
about the girls influence in general Win thSit
beloved Canon they did not ovcriate thc welghS
OF her say in this particular matter; out oefoHu
this their fond calculations proved sadiy auii u
Evelyn never even paused to coneider uhe WiinS
say in the light OF transportation ana HEe 9u ~.
she Jumped at it and on this occasion she dld not
Jump back Her father who knew her, gave hea
time for the customary rebound But this u.g
she knew her mind and on the NTH day the WoiIu
learned that the offer Of this Colonial olshopic loi
winch il had never heard before had been deiini'c
~ accepted by the Reverend Canon Metllnen s,o
Miss Methuen had done II, and apparently Eng
knew no regrets. That repentance at leisure "
which her father had disquieting visions. 1ouhueu
on past experience of her, did indeed become C S
spcuous. but only In denghtlni ina,,,iu - Ic.
Mas not, of course, without proper sorrow az ue
narture: the spires at sunset made her pehsiVe )
shs duly cried when the wrench came, out pr
formed that wrench strong-mlndedly, hotwnal-
Standing. This was her accredited characteristic,
strcngta1 of mind 1t enabled her to tear hers1
away from q grand old town for which che had an
unaffected
her life, where her mother lay buried, where Two
sisters lived married: from some precious EA'eh-
son Lectures in the middle of the l'rOwnlng
Course from her own little room naue pie AMY
with her own hands, at small cost, WIN rams anu
Aspinal and photographs in frames from sno :,
very Young men who were foolish about her at
this time: and almost easily, sN weeks la'er,
from tho more mature and less impossible admirers
of the outward voyage But-though. TO be sure;
enc had never had absolute occasion for refusal
of marriage-she would have refused lI0rd Nhleius
L.; tho follow tie voyage OUU.
Her heart was set upon the wilderness, ana on
that Bishops Lodge there, her future home Ana
the only men for her now were tne ga'ah. olsu
rangers of some stories she made polnt oil reauihs
before landing-their kind. at least, which OF
course must still infest the wilderness.
Refore reading these romanccs-that Is. untll
the prospect came of living in Australia-Aliss
Meth,len's ideas of that continent had been very
vague. very elementary, and rather FUNNY. ier
ideas but left them funnier than ever; at All
events. it did not prepare her for the place she
was going to; it did not pretend 10 90 So ula .
romantic literature only Miss Me.uen nau he in
the same style. She was prepared, IN snort lor
culies gum-trees, caves, ranges. kangaroos, opos-
sums, claims, creeks snakes IN the grass aIa cn a
mi, prepared for dead level of sandy dpSert.
broken only by the river-timbers OF narrow, snug
gish stream, nor for a wooden township, where thc
worst Weapons of man were strong drink IN thc
head and strong language on tile tongue: ana tihs
was what she found Great was the dislil'iSloh;
and in every respect; it discounted ana dsc1io1eu
ali things even to the Bishops Lodge. which
with its complete margin of creepercovered
veranda-was charming in everything but sl'ua-
ton. A., .uoos . e
she said rather petulantly TO her father: and, as
she looked at his long dust-coat OF Hght-coioreu
silk, duck trousers. and pth helmet, she might
have added Call you a Bishop'-where arc
'OIa fact, Miss Methuens contentment wore away,
very nearly with the novelty. The Bishop saved
ftalyi hnr
episcopal round up country. lie wore, too. ON that
round his CATERS with new chums stout
shooting-boots underneath and black gar
ments for the cool weather was coming on They
had delightful cruise among the sheep-stations
of the diocese Ia little district the size OF England
their pilot being the Bishops chaplain. who, as 1T
happened, was a son of the soil. They gave the
hospitality of the squatter splendid trial, and
found that celebrated Colonial quality rated not
at all too high. The Bishop held services in the
the respect and admiration of men not prone to
and to s aam bis Ills
aud virity Of every sentence in his simple telling
addresses. Evelyn, perhaps, admired less
but she did not suspect this and she enjoyed her
self vastly. There gcntlemanly young over
seers at nearly all the stations These young men,
naturally taken with the healthy color and good
looks of the English girl, sufficiently at
tentivc, and seemed duly impressed by her con-
versaiion. So they were; but clever Evelyn was
them. and culture, and the "isms;" and they
mimicked her afterward-the attentive young
men. But this size did not suspect either She
returned from the cruise in the highest spirits her
prcconceptons of the bush not realized, indeed
but forgotten; and after weeks among the stations
the wooden town seemed d different and a better
place, and the Bishops Lodge paradise of ease
and beauty
but during the less eventful period Of til,
Bishops ministry at headquarters the delight OF
his daughters part tapcred, as her delights III
variably did in the absence Of variety She bega
systematically to miss things after old England :
aud here the Bishop could sympathize, though tn
forced expression OF his sympathy CALLED his con
tented and tolerant nature. He pointed out tina
comparison was scarcely fair, and limited that
lay with Evelyn, as with himself, at once 10 enjo
and - improve the new environment. But Of cOurS
there were matters for regret, occasions for a sigh
Whcn however, the time came for further epi;
cOpa! visitations, Evelyn, who accompanied he
father before, once more enjoyed herself keenly
Her enjoyment was certainly enhanced by the fac
that the ground traversed was not the old ground
But this turned out TO be her last treat Of the kin
for some time to come The next round OF travel
was arranged with the expires object Of confrma
ton, and the Bishop seemed to feel that this oc
casion the compaInionship of bis daughter nigh
no ono but the. chaplain. So Evelyn was left be
hind with the chaplans wife, and neither lady ha
avery delightful time. The girl spent mcst of her
with feminine minutiae, but pathctically barre
of the adventures which she longed TO recount,
not to experience In particular she corresponds
with some old friends in Sydney. at whose fashion
able residence she had spent night before accom-
panying her father up-country. These people syn
pathizcd with her many sheets Of eXpensiv
note-paper. The letters became mutually gushing
and long before the Bishops return Evelyn ha
arranged to spend the term of his next abscnc
with her Opulcnt friends in Sydney
When he did return Evelyn. as il happened
was not in the house In point of fact, she wa
reading under the gum-trees by the sluggish littl
river, but, as usual, the chaplain's wife was nc
in the unnecessary secret of her whereabouts
Evelyn's book on this occasion had itself stron
odor of the gun-trees. for it CHANGED TO be th
poems of the bush poet, Lindsay Gordon No'
Evelyn, having attended University ExtensiO
Lectures on the subject of Modern Poetry,
was Of course herself an authority that subject
equally of course she found much 70 critcise
these bush ballads. What. however. not eve
Miss Methuen could find fault with the
local color She had il herself up the country
she only wished she had seen more of it-more Z
IL h.,cl. n.,l l1.,,,a L,al. 4