Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/86

68 Bill, with his thumb, poked his bride in the waist, "Listen to that"; whereupon his "second," taking him by the elbows, jerked his arms down: "Be quiet, Bill, stow that! Be quiet!" Safely through the service, we went to breakfast, a right merry party, and when the time came for the departure of the couple, Bill carefully gave his bride a hoist up into the saddle, and then, turning to me with a sailor's scrape of one foot, and a courteous bow, said, "Touching that 'ere, sir, of which you and I was speakin' t'other day, it's here, sir! it's here!" and with an expressive gesture he laid his hand on his heart. The marriage, I am glad to say, has turned out a thorough success.

I could, of course, tell you of instances the reverse of this, sad enough, especially in the case of men, well born and educated, who have come to New Zealand with small capital, and have done fairly well for a time, often as Managers of stations. The monotony of their life has become an excuse for the bottle, and some have made complete shipwreck of their lives: "Corruptio optimi pessima." I am thinking of one, a splendid physical specimen of manhood, able, and willing to tackle any sort of work, a fine horseman, and with a natural power of command of men. He had been some time in South Canterbury, and won no small reputation by his clever capture of an enterprising sheep stealer, who had contrived to drive his plunder through unknown mountain country, and sell them to settlers at a distance. My friend followed his tracks and, after a sharp tussle, took him single-handed. He had migrated to my district, and was managing a station in the back country in an almost unknown region; I met him coming over the pass