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Rh hopeless for him than that of Melbourne, and he returned from vain enquiries more dispirited than ever.

Amy suggested that if he could not get employment as a writer he might as a teacher, because he knew so much, and was so pleasant to learn from. The idea was new to him and he acted upon it at once. His advertisement in the Adelaide newspapers attracted Mr. Hammond's eye, and the engagement had been made without delay. Mr. Hammond had been so prepossessed with Amy's manners and appearance that it had determined Staunton to accept a situation where he might make friends for his darling child. But it so happened that no friend was made in that quarter. Mrs. Hammond's heart had been hardened to her by a long course of events and feelings in her own life, and Amy's strong resemblance to her mother awoke the old dislike and jealousy; so that Amy Staunton, the grand-daughter of an Earl, the sister of the heir to a splendid fortune, was left in the bush of South Australia with no better or more powerful friends than worthy Hugh Lindsay and his wife and family, who were very much disposed to be kind to her, and to train her to be of some use to them.