"I am not so sure of that," said William.
"I suppose," remarked John, "if they can't punish the soi disant Captain Jones they think the wisest thing they can do is to make the best of it by keeping it as quiet as possible; and I have no doubt they will find many a swain who will not scruple to offer the lady a name."
"Well that is dreadful!" exclaimed Eleanor.
"So it is," replied John, "but it is partly their own fault. They were so blinded by the notion of getting a gentleman to marry their daughter that they took no trouble to investigate the man's character, or even to ascertain anything about him; consequently they fell into the trap of a base scoundrel."
CONCLUSION.
"I have done: pray be not angry
That shall I wish you well: may heaven divert,
All harms that threaten you; full blessings crown
Your marriage."
Shirley.
We must again hurry our readers over another period of some three months, and request them to accompany us for a few minutes up the bank of the creek flowing through Fern Vale. At a pretty little secluded spot overhung by the bright acacia two grassy mounds, encompassed by a neat white fence and adorned with two white slabs of wood, pointed themselves out as the graves of the sufferers in the Strawberry Hill massacre.
Leaning over the railing of one of these enclosures was a young man, who might have been recognised as Tom Rainsfield, and at his side, encircled by his arm, our friend Kate Ferguson. After some few moments of silence Tom pressed to his heart the willing form of the lovely girl that graced his side, and said:
"Dearest Kate, why not let us be married at the same time as John and Eleanor? Strawberry Hill is all ready for a mistress, and I am sure the very trees about the place are impatient to have domesticated amongst them the sweet successor of that good and amiable creature who lies beneath that sod. We could not have a better opportunity than John's marriage, for we could all go to New England together, and the double ceremony could be performed at the same time."