Transfer from Circ. Dept. Riverside Branch JUN 21 1909

0368

A LITTLE MINX.

CHAPTER I.

ARCHDEACON BROWN wanted a curate-nothing more. He had everything else that å reasonable archdeacon, newly gaitered and shovel-hatted, could desire for the present. His new parish was reckoned one of the best out of Melbourne; his congregation was prosperous, liberal, and still aglow with ardent welcome for him and his family; his parsonage, which that congregation had enlarged and improved on purpose for him, regardless of expense, was the most comfortable house imaginable; and his wife was cheerful and amiable in her new surroundings, calling him "Archdeacon" whenever she spoke to him-than which no term of endearment had been sweeter in his ears when they were young together-promising to be satisfied at last with the state of life to which it had pleased God to call her.

Perhaps it is unkind to mention the fact that, like many another potentate both of Church and state, they had risen from very small beginnings— risen such a long way, that the very memory of their fathers and mothers seemed to have gone beyond recall because the new parishioners were not aware of the circumstance, and, if they had been, would have attached no importance to it. Archdeacon Brow was their own archdeacon, the first they hat had at Wooroona; and he was also their new incumbent, their new broom, their potential paragon, the long-desired regenerator of the parish, which had suffered from the shoftcomings of all his predecessors; and they would got, at this auspicious moreht, have heard a word to the discredit of him of his. They opened their arms to him, and to his wife; and to. his daughters—took them all to their hospitable and enthusiastic hearts; and they did not care what the church debt ran up to, so long as the Browns were lodged and provided for in a fitting manner. They doubled the stipend with a stroke of the pen, reckless of the certain consequences in the shape of oftrepeated tea-meetings and a weary sequence of bazaars; and they gave the archdeacon a pulpit with a red velvet cushion on it for him to preach from in church; and for his own use and possession

a piano and a drawing-room carpet, a load of wood, a pig, a clutch of chickens, and a housedog. They lent him a horse-nay, an assortment of horses-and they lent him a milch-cow; in short, they made him as comfortable as any parson in the diocese. There only remained to procure him a curate, who should take the rough bush-work off his hands, and enable him to conserve his precious strength and utilise it to the best advantage.

Inquiries were set on foot which resulted in the selection of the Reverend John Primrose for the post. "I believe," wrote the bishop to the archdeacon, "that you will find him just what you want, and I shall be glad, for my part, to place him with you for a year or so, in order that he may acquire experience and undergo a proper training in bush-work before I entrust him with an independent charge. I fear he is not very strong, for the object of his coming to Australia is to benefit his health; but no doubt your beautiful climate will soon set him up, and counteract the slight consumptive tendency that I hear is all he suffers from. My commissary sends me the best accounts of his character and abilities. He is a gentleman and an M. A. of Cambridge, and he has done well during the two years he has been in

orders, as you will see by the testimonials I enclose. I expect him by the next mail, and will send him up to you as soon as he arrives. He brings his wife with him."

There was much more in the bishop's letter, treating of stipends and other business matters, but nothing of any interest compared with the last-quoted sentence. It was read aloud in the family circle, and was followed by a dramatic pause.

"His wife!" ejaculated Mrs. Brown and her two daughters in a breath; and they looked at each other.

"Dear me!" said Grace, the eldest daughter, with a disconcerted air. "Only two years in orders, and married already!"

"Most unnatural," said Charlotte, the youngest, with a slightly exasperated laugh. "A curate is always supposed to be at the service and disposal of his incumbent's daughters. I quite looked to have him to escort me out and about, and in due time to offer me his hand and heart."

"Why you, more than me?" demanded Grace. "Hush, hush!" said Mrs. Brown. "Don't talk nonsense. I should be very sorry to have either of you thinking of marrying a curate. So far, it is a good thing that Mr. Primrose is out of the

question; his being married will doubtless save us many annoyances. Though I doubt"-looking at her husband-"whether the parish will approve of it."

"I can't see how it can matter to the parish," said the archdeacon.

Mrs. Brown made no immediate rejoinder; she was very thoughtful. "And do you think it is a good thing to have a man of that sort?" she presently inquired. "A Cambridge M. A.-some people make such a fuss of a university degree."

"They don't know anything of degrees here; it is all rubbish to them." The archdeacon cast aside the suggestion irritably, which was not his habit. Having begun his sacerdotal career in the Wesleyan denomination, and never having seen the inside of a university himself, he had a natural prejudice against university men; and he understood exactly what his wife meant when she ap pealed to it. At the same time he was flattered by the bishop's choice, and pleased to be entrusted with the training of Mr. Primrose. "It is a great thing to have a gentleman to work with you," he said, smoothing his silk waistcoat over his portly stomach.

"It is it is," assented Mrs. Brown, who had also recognised the compliment paid to her arch