The Portland daily press., 1898-01-10
(ALL RIGHTS REsERvED.l

motionless in her berth, were cast off till
presently the great hull was held along
Side by solitary rope at her head and
stern. Sailors were focking up the rig
ging to release the festooued sails, others
were yec-ho-ing at the halliards and
sheets, and within an incredibly short
space of time the towering naked masts
had f1oated into wide clouds of canvas,
swelling softly to the gentle breeze, and
shining white as pearl in the watery sun
shine.
"Come," said Mr.. Brymer, SIT is time
for us to go.''
The final leave taking was brief and
earnest; fervent handshake all round, a
few last expressions of heartfelt graft
tude. wishes for safe and prosperous
voyage home, and then the little party
passed over the side onto the quay just
as the last Of the shorefasts fell with q
splash into the water. They came to a
stand upon the wharf to watch the Strath-
nairn get under weigh, waving their
hands to Cecil and Marian and her aunt,
who overhung the bulwark rail together
right aft. Under the gentle impulse of
her yearning sails the great ship began
slowly to glide ahead, with sailor at the
wheel grinding the spokes hard over to
cant her bows out towards the open bay.
In couple of minutes she was the dis
lance OF nor own lcuSUu away IrOlu uuo
quayside, with the clear brine beginning
to stream out in ripples from under her
bends as she gathered headway; In a
quarter of:an hours time she had become
q huge looming smudge amid the hover
ing mists; and then. like the dying out
Of some dissolving view, she vanished al
together from the sight of the spectators
ashore.
'sGod speed her on her way" said Mr..
r {A11 kI~
group broke up to return to.their homes.
Six months passed without bringing
any news of the Strahnairn or her paasen-
gers to our Sydney friends; then one
morning Mr.. Hartree received a long let
ter from Cecil Rawdon, enclosing draft
for the money he had borrowed. and tell.
ing him that they hadsarrived. fin England
after somewhat tedious, but uneventful
passage, that he and Marian had settled
down at Wincumbe together, with Mrs.
Murray, who was going to live with them
for the future, adding that theylwere all
very well and that his business was flour.
ishing capitally, and winding up by 9
cordial invitation to Mr.. EHartree and his
wife to come and stay with them. The
same.mail brought letter from Cecil to
Clara, giving her the news,,of his safe ar
rival, hoping that she was happy, sand
begging forgiveness for any unintentional
wrongssh might consider he had done
her, concluding with pressing request
forsMr. Brymer to bring her to England.
that he might see her again.
The notion of visiting her old Glouces.
tershire home once more took Clara {
fancy greatly. She had now been hard
upon two years in5Australia, and althouh
the warm, genial climate of the country
suited her well enough, she began to fee
the want of change into more braoing
IL e.. L. L, vIo,,o ~ oIr
thrive, white women usually languish.
Her husband entered into the idea; he
was fond of the sea and willing to dc
anything to please Clara. The delicate
condition of her health, however, rem.
dered her unfit to travel for some little
while to come, but by the month of No
vember, 1865, she had grown sufficiently
strong again to enable her. to undertake
a voyage, which indeed her medical at
tendant strongly recommended as likely
to prove highly beneficial. Accordingly
MIR. Brymer took passage for himself and
his wife in famous clipper ship called
the Star of Peace, advertised to leave
within few weeks bound forlthe River
Thames and almost exactly a year from
the date of their having seen Rawdon of
in the Strathnairn, they sailed from Sgd
ney Bay, and, after an exceptionally
swift voyage, arrived in London about
written to Cecil telling of her projected
visit, and the first intimation of her
coming which the young fellow had was,
on entering his drawing room one even
ing after returning from business, tokfind
her seated there with her husband and
Marian, playing with his fine little six
months old boy, who, she was just de-
claring, was the image of his father.
But this is mere domestic small talk.
The trs1th is that the Story ia now fold
and if the peroration is much longer
protraoted, it will be growing tedious.
To conclude then. After stay of some
few months ia this country, Mr.. and Mrs
Brymer. returned to Australia, having
first of all extracted promise from Cecil
that heiand his wife should come to sgd
ney at the earliest opportunity. After
eral visits; until Mr.. Brymer, beginning
to grow too old to make long ocean voy-
ages, determined to undertake one for the
last time, and to return to his native land
to end his days. Both Mr.. and Mrs.
Lambert had been dead some years at this
period, and Clara herself was woman
of fifty, with more silver hairs in her
head THAI gold ones; and married
daughter, who was beginning to develop
a strong taste for literature, and occas-
ionally threatened to found a novel upon
the subject of her mothers romantic lovs
with Cecil Rawdon. Mr.. and
Mrs. Hartree were each of them alive and
well when Clara eaw them last time.
though both getting very aged, and real
izing that the sun of their existence,
which had shone with undinmed lustre
the long span OF a golden
must now be within a very lit.
tie distance of it's setting, and both of
them quite prepared for that last long
journey which it comes to us all to make.
(The End }