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The Story of Wild Will Enderby

Chapter III. "If she will, she will, you may depend on't; And if she won't, she won't, and there's an end on't."

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Chapter III. "If she will, she will, you may depend on't; And if she won't, she won't, and there's an end on't."

"May! May! Lazy May! Come upon deck immediately."

Scene:—On board the Aldinga; loquitor, Philip Grey. To whom his sister, who had been most perversely sick during the voyage, made response in a sprightly tone—

"Oh Phil! Are we near the land?"

"Near! Why we are going up Dunedin Harbour; and it is 'a sight for sair een,' as Janet would say."

And, in sooth, Philip was justified in his admiration of this, the most beautiful harbor in all New Zealand.

On either side arose gently sloping hills of irregular outline, clothed from base to summit with evergreen forests. Here and there, time-tinted rocks peered through patches of green sward, or loomed darkly amidst the dense vegetation. The shores were indented by tiny bays, where the hills came down to greet the sea, and the waves leaped up to kiss the land, and cool rivulets stole forth from their forest homes, to sparkle in the garish sunlight.

Primitive cottages stood in clearings reclaimed from the wilderness by the hardy pioneers of the settlement. The little town of Port Chalmers nestled 'amidst wood-crowned heights,' and many a stately vessel swung at page 204anchor in the offing. Islands, rugged and picturesque, seemingly barred further passage, but between these and the shore were deep channels through which the harbour-steamer held her course, and still throbbed onwards; the scenery ever presenting new features of such interest, that even two intensely stolid cattle-drovers on board were impelled to declare that it was adjectively "fine." Which, from such a source, was a wonderful concession to Nature.

Soon they rounded 'Black Jack's Point,' and the full glories of Dunedin stole upon them—gradually, that is to say. For one of the peculiar effects of this scene is that it unrolls itself, so to speak, from behind the hills, as the voyager passes up the harbour; like a panorama, of which the most distant points are first seen.

The time was early morning. Flying clouds came ever and anon between the sun and the earth, producing splendid effects of light and shadow. At the upper end of the harbor, between two bold headlands, stretched the low white sand-hills of the 'Ocean Beach,' connecting the main land on the west with the beautiful 'Peninsula,' which forms the eastern shore. From beyond this slight barrier came the sullen roar of the open sea, whose breakers there heave and toss in noisy contrast to the still waters of the harbour. On the left side arose a succession of grassy bluffs surmounted by native 'bush.' On the right appeared the infant town or city—call it which you will—of Dunedin.

A town that fringed the bay, and ran up the hills to their summits, and lost itself in the intervening ravines, and peeped out of the 'bush' in unexpected places. page 205In the lower part were shops, and warehouses, and hotels, and churches, and public buildings, of more or less pretentiousness. Above these, clusters of cottages, and villas standing amidst the 'forest primeval.' Behind, and above all, loomed the 'Flagstaff Hill,'—bald and bare—and to the north arose the indented summit of Mount Cargill, clothed with dense 'bush' to the very top;—their crests bathed in the rich morning light, and fleecy belts of uprising mist floating midway around them.

Philip Grey was not one whit poetically inclined. Neither, I think, was Mabel. But both possessed that sensibility to the beautiful, which indicates the line of demarcation between mere animalism and spiritual intelligence: whether the possessor be clad in hodden grey, or walks in silk attire.

John Grey had many friends in Dunedin, and to one of these Mabel had been carefully consigned.

"The Dunstan coach leaves to-morrow morning," said her brother, "so take care of yourself till my return."

"But I am going with you," cries Miss Mabel.

Philip opened his eyes very wide at this. "Nonsense, May; it can't be done."

"Why not, Philip?"

"Oh! because its a terrible journey—more than a hundred miles; and you so ill too.

"That's the very reason why I wish to go. The ride will be so nice. Besides, I want to see the country, Phil dear."

"I dare say you do; and very nice you would find it, squeezed up in a close heavy coach, stuffed with all page 206sorts of rough people, diggers and what not, all puffing smoke in your face, and swearing and talking after a fashion that a sister of mine would not like, I know."

"Now I will not allow you to say that, Phil. I am sure the diggers in Victoria are very civil,—quite polite to ladies, always. And papa says that the very pick of them have come over to Otago, and I know they will not smoke in my face, nor use naughty words when I am there. Besides, I mean to ask the driver to let me sit on the box with you Phil, and of course he will."

But Philip was deaf to entreaty, and set off by himself in the morning. There were many passengers, and amongst them were some decent-looking women, so that he half repented him of his hardness of heart. There was no help for it, however, so he took his seat on the box, and tried to stifle his regret at Mabel's compulsory absence.

Yet as the coach ascended the hill above Dunedin—revealing a magnificent view of the town, the harbour, the Peninsula, and the horizon-bounded ocean beyond—and passed through the picturesque scenery of the Half-way Bush, with its cosy habitations, and rustic cottages constructed of fern-trees, standing in glorious old-world gardens, and surrounded by bright green pastures, and dark clumps of forest—Philip's conscience smote him, for that he had robbed his sister of a great pleasure. And when, surmounting a spur of the 'Flagstaff,' he beheld the broad Taieri Plain, backed by the massive Maungatua Ranges, spread out before him like a map, dotted with farm steadings, and smiling with cultivation, the shining river winding amidst fields where the emerald waves of the fresh young corn page 207rippled joyously in the light breeze;—when, I say, he beheld this landscape, so home-like, that it might have been taken for a scene in some of the midland counties of England, or the Lothians of Scotland—his remorse was complete, and his self-condemnation was great.

At the end of the first stage, Philip dismounted, as it is the established custom of coach passengers to do, at every halting-place. He was about to enter the hostelry, when one of the feminine travellers within the coach addressed him.

"Do you think you could get a cup of tea for a lady, Sir?"

The voice sounded strangely familiar, Philip thought. It was the merest coincidence, of course.

"Certainly," he answered, glancing up at the speaker. She was a young woman apparently, attired in a plain brown dress of some coarse material, with a particularly common bonnet on her head, and a blue gauze veil, which effectually concealed her features. A servant girl probably, en route for the diggings.

He returned with the desiderated beverage.—"Oh! thank you so much;" and the pretty little hand, very unlike the hand of the servant, tendered him a sixpence.

That voice again? The coin fell, unheeded, to the earth, and Philip gazed upon the tenderer, after a fashion which called forth a rebuke.

"Do you not think it very rude to stare at a lady, Mr Philip Grey?"

"Mabel!" cried Philip. "Gracious powers, how came you here?"

"Woman's wit, you see, brother of mine;"—and page 208she threw up her veil. "I hope you think my dress very becoming. And now, Phil, they are all very nice people here; but I do so want to see the country. Can't you get me a seat on the box, dear?"

"Oh you naughty witch! I verily believe that you are in a league with the Prince of Darkness. To outwit me so completely! Come out at once, and have your own way, for have it you will—that's clear. So I may as well make a virtue of necessity."

(Memo.—On the whole, I am inclined to think that a man is well-pleased to be outwitted by a woman, especially when the manœuvre tends to his own gratification.)