Then the remembrance of the face in the convent comes back to Sir Barry Traleigh, and he remembers where he has seen that wonderful face before, knows why it has raised such a flood of remembrance in his heart, and almost set his brain on fire. His mind is fully made up, that he will lose no more time in beating around the bush, he will do according to the dictates of his heart. "Faint heart never won fair lady," and Sir Barry determines he will be no coward. He set himself a task, and now when he is about to succeed, is his pluck going to desert him? he thinks not.
CHAPTER XVI.
TRULY, VENGEANCE IS MINE.
"Sit down and dangle your legs, and you will see your revenge."
—Italian Proverb.
It is a broiling day, or has been, but toward evening the same dense, lurid heat reigns over everybody and everything. The Australian sunset is going down in all its fiery glory. The sandy wastes stretch out far and wide, looking in the glowing heat like beds of living ashes. The miners are all out by their hut doors, vainly endeavoring to catch a reviving breath of fresh air, which seems very loth to lend its invigorating presence.
"Jim wants to see the American paper we got last night; here's a Canadian one, too." The man addressed took the pipe he was smoking out of his mouth.
"No, lad, there's nothing in the papers to interest me; lend it to some of the other chaps, there may be something to please them." He puts his pipe in his mouth and finishes his smoke. "May I see them a few moments, please?" asks the man whom no one dares approach with other than respect. He had come there and been very successful with his mine; the men said he was making money fast. He never drank, nor told long yarns with his fellow workers, and they at first feared, then grew to respect his solitude. Through the day no one worked harder than Ned Field, and it stood to reason that at night he was too tired to remain talking when sleep and rest were so much needed. He takes the paper in his own little cabin, spreads the sheet out on the table, and pores over the contents with eager eyes.