The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1907-03-07
CHAPTER III.

III the early Gays OF Australia, when
the gold fever was at its height and the
marvellous Melbourne of to-day was more
like an enlarged camp than anything else
there was man called Robert Curtis
who arrived In the new land of Ophir
with many others to seek his fortune. Mr..
Curtis was of good family, but had mar
ricd a pretty girl, whose face was her
fortune, and who was born, as the story
books say, of poor but honest parents.
Poverty and honesty, however, were not
sufficient recommendations in the eyes of
Mr.. Curtis, senior, to excuse such
match; so he promptly expelled his son
from the family circle. That young gen.
tleman and his wife came out to Australia
filled with ambitious dreams of acquiring
fortune, and then of returning to heap
Goals Of fire on the heads of those who
had turned them out.
These dreams, however, were destined
never to be realized, for within a year
after their arrival in Melbourne Mrs. Our
tbs died giving birth to little girl, and
Robert Curtis found himself once more
alone in the world with the incumbrance
of small child. He, however, was not
man who wore his heart on his sleeve,
and did not show much outward grief,
though, no doubt, he sorrowed deeply
enough for the loss of the pretty girl for
whom he had sacrificed so much. At all
events, he made up his mind at once
what to do; so, placing his child under
the care of an old lady, he went to Bal
larat, and set to work to make his for
tune.
He succeeded beyond even mis- own ex-
pectations. Miss Curtis became the belle
of Melbourne, and soon had crowds of
suitors around her. Her father, however,
determined to find q husband for her
whom he could trust, and was looking for
one when he suddenly died, leaving his
daughter an orphan and a wealthy wom-
an.
Her suitors-numerous and persistent
soon returned to her feet. One of these,
penniless young Englishman called Ran
dolph Villiers, paid her such marked at
tention that in the end Miss Curtis, con-
trary to the wishes of her friends, mar
ried him. ...
As soon as Villiers found himself in
full possession of his wife's fortune he
Immediately proceeded to spend all the
money he could lay his hands on. He
gambled away large sums of money at his
club, he BET extensively on the turf. Mrs.
Villiers put up with this conduct for
some time, but when Villiers actually pro-
ceeded to i'll treat her in order to force
her to give up the money her father had
settled on her, she rebelled. She tore off
her wedding ring, threw it at his feet, re-
nounced his name, and went to Ballarat
with her old nurse and the remnants of
her fortune.
She was Of too restless and ambitious
nature to BE- content with an idle life.
and though the money she still possessed
was thcient to support her in comfort,
yet s4.s felt that she must do something,
If only to keep her thoughts from dwelling
ON those bitter years Of married life. The
most obvious thing to do in Ballarat was
20 go in for gold mining. and chance hav-
ing thrown in her way mate Of her
fathers, she determined, to devote herself
to that, being influenced In her decision
by the old digger. This man, by name
Archibald Mcintosh, was shrewd. hard
headed Scotchman. who had been In Bal
larat when the diggings were in the height
Of their fame. and who knew all about the