Mrs. J. S. O. Allen

“ The months passed on, and I grew to like the life. Everybody was busy, for there was plenty to do. The lowing of the cattle, driven in for branding, became familiar music to my ears. But, isolated as we were, and simple and rough as the life was, I could not complain of any monotony. Sometimes a hawker would visit us with a large van drawn by a team of bullocks. He would camp for days, and do a brisk trade as a general provider of the wants of the little community. He found good customers among the blacks, for they earned a little money during shearing-time. ”

“ A governess came daily on horseback to instruct the youngest child. The eldest son went to college. The young master and some other youths about his age would ask in a gentle way if they could melt some lead to form bullets for their guns. The laundry was not far from the carriage house. While working I could hear them tell of their playful merriment and of the birds' nests, just like the boys in Scotland. It may not be out of place here to add that some of those youths so full of frolic, are men of dignity to-day in this State. ”

“ He then said he was the young man that climbed up the ruins to get me the ferns. His name was Cook, and he was employed in a confectioner's shop in Adelaide. He had a wife and children. I hoped to see him again, but I was away from Adelaide for some time. When I returned I made enquiries, and was told that he bought a place near Blackwood. It was laughable that, not knowing the man, I should be telling a story in which he had a part. If he is alive and sees his name in print I hope he will pardon me.
I still love the beautiful and the true. Nothing lasts, pleasure least of all. ”

“ I noticed the difference between this colony and Scotland. The pleasant evenings we passed would not be understood now. Pleasure with unrest has led and will lead our young girls to spend money they cannot afford to make a show. How did they manage before there were so many clubs and the so-called friendly societies? They all go to the club now, and the home is too dull. The hearth is solitary. Men and women are spoiled for home life. Many would have us believe how good it is to be seen smiling and talking on some platform, and to care no longer for home in the old sense of the word. ”

“ Mr. Mouncey had gone to Glasgow. Mrs. Pringle's brother and his nephew got the boat. I made arrangements with Annie Smith to come with me to see the isle. The days were still long, so we got there in time to see the ruins of the abbey, and to try and read the indiscernible names on the tombs. There were no headstones, but all were lying flat, and were covered over with moss. Such were the graves of the monks. We rushed about to see all we could. The moss was more than a finger in length, and there were feathery-like ferns. The higher up the old building the more dainty they appeared. ”

“ Yet how the people in Glasgow would fear to come away such a distance, for at that time it was like dying to come to Australia. The people in the colony then had to keep on working and thinking with their own powers. There was not so much labor-saving machinery, and to succeed everyone had to work to the best of his capacity, and the boys and girls, too, had to help in making the most of their splendid inheritance.
One gets interested in the people with whom one is brought in contact, even although temporarily. ”

“ Some of the ladies taught me some fancy work, and I taught them how to knit stockings. I was asked by one lady if I would go on to the Continent with them. This was opportune and the one thing I wished, while I had plenty of time to think the matter over before we got to London, if I could only decide what to do.
Until then I did not know how much woman can bear and live through. On board the Morning Star I felt influenced by all that was best in me. We cannot sever right from wrong. ”

“ Forlorn in spirit, I went to Port Adelaide. A lady and gentleman whom I knew had taken the management of a new club there. I thought if I could get a place till I could find a ship that would take me away, I would be glad to do anything till then. Life seemed no worse than at other times. ”

“ Music and singing have always been a pleasure to me. It interested me at favorable times when the young gentlemen who lived on the premises gave a musical evening, with dancing as well. How I enjoyed myself. Life was life to me then. There was a large room over the shop, and as in many other business places the owners of the shops lived on the premises. I was experienced enough to do a little catering for them, and, needless to add, they set value on my efforts. I talk of the dear old times yet when I see some of them. ”

“ I had met other men, who had pleased my fancy, but John Allen had a charm of manner that won my heart. What I regretted most was to break my promise—a promise so marked and solemn, given far away in Scotland, while sitting on the side of heather hill. If I had been a designing woman I could have accepted for my husband the second mate of the [Pg 91] Morning Star, who waited till the two years I had contracted to stop in South Australia were over. Then, what was so real on the ship, seemed only a dream, when he wrote and asked me if I would marry him and go back to England if he came for me. ”

“ I knew that life had once more its depths that not even the nearest could sound. It would not bear thinking about. It was only to be borne. I felt I must work, although I did not think I would begin that day, but I did. Before I got out of the train at the Adelaide station the gentleman who had the management of the club at the port where I lived up to the time I went as stewardess came to me and said he was in trouble for the want of someone to help at a banquet at the Semaphore. He had been to Adelaide and could not find any skilful help. ”

“ I am sure that no negro for whose liberty America was then in conflict was more miserable even in his bonds than those white slaves in the thrall of some of the uncharitable coal masters, who lived away in a grand place in great style in luxury. More than one of these poor women, with hungry children and a hungry husband, has said to me, "See, Annie, this is our last handful of oatmeal." There was some aid or relief organised from a fund that other miners would send, for if they were on strike their comrades in work would help to sustain them. ”

“ People do wise things and foolish things for the sake of love, which they would never think of doing at other times.
So I brightened up, and set about my work with a sense of duty. I was happy; yes, a really happy girl once more. I had allowed myself to believe that at last, after my many disappointments, my husband would really come. He did not positively give the name of the steamer by which he was coming, or when he would arrive. I felt a nameless uneasiness, for I had bought over the goodwill of a boarding-house in Pirie-street, and paid £50 for it. ”

“ For me loneliness never had any terror. No one could be less dependent on outward society than I was, yet I could enjoy it, only I never craved after it, nor was it necessary for my existence—I was one who have had always to stand alone. Perhaps the sharpest anguish is that which nobody knows of. I have been so unaccustomed, to sympathy that I can sit still and endure anything ”

“ I was glad to reach the top again. Human hearts must be made of strong material, or else how could those men live in chains, even for a day?
The time came when I felt sadness. After the Prince went away what a change there was. Where life and merriment had reigned, amid the scene of all the late festivities, there was now only silence. For in that stately home Lady Ferguson was ill—seriously ill. She had not been feeling well for some time, and it was rumored that Sir James would take her back again to Scotland if she was strong enough to travel. She died at Government House. ”

“ When people have come to me and told me to say nothing about what has been done to me, and that it is golden to be silent, how little they have known the pain that is in memory when all we prize has gone. ”

“ Sometimes I have been in actual need of money. I had always lent a helping hand in the years gone by, and sometimes those I wanted to help did not seem to have the energy they might have had. What knowledge I had gained I have paid a high price for, and I must confess that the kindly appreciation that I have received from people of the highest culture has often given me joy. If I could not get the kind of place I wanted I determined to take anything to keep me going. A position as cook at the Adelaide Hospital was offered to me. A woman-cook could do the work then, and I went at good wages. ”

“ I ran shrieking to the house, and the kangaroo rushed through the vines down the gully. All the bedroom windows were thrown open, and everyone had seen "him." I leave anyone to guess what I thought I had seen. They had some trouble to find the kangaroo, but it was not put in the laundry again.
On looking back from now I intend to say a few words to young serving maids. If any of the incidents which happened to me in my early life also happen to you, the fact that I got through them may convey some courage to you. I think you will see that pleasure is possible in life as a domestic servant. ”

“ I took notice that, even if it were a tavern, the minister came and asked the lady to let me come to the Sunday-school, and I went to church with Mrs. Macblean. I never went to Sunday-school or Bible-class all the time I was in Glasgow.
What with being healthy and strong, I began to take a bright and hopeful view of life from every point. I could write a little, and was fond of reading and knitting. It was merry and lively. There was a large room upstairs, where one evening every week meetings were held of some lodge. ”

“ The captain, his wife, and child, and maid took me with them to the George Hotel, where I lodged while ashore.
Cape Town delighted everybody. The next morning some of the captain's friends came in a carriage and all went inland for a drive. I wandered about all alone; I saw where the market was and many beautiful buildings, and also the place where the ship's washing was done by men. The people were all so different to Europeans in their dress and manner, as well as in respect to the color of their skin. There were Hottentots and Kaffirs, Zulus, and many others of all nationalities. ”

“ In the rush for and the love of excitement very heavy demands are made on the endurance of the working woman. Perhaps I do not see the humorous side of life, but that no doubt is because it has been all so real to me.
I often went to the coachman's house to see his wife and children, and more so when the carriage was out late. She was a nice, pleasant woman, and there were some pretty little children. We often laughed about the man with the kilts. My shipmate, Mary, the cook, was sought for in marriage by the baker of the ship. I was her bridesmaid. They had the goodwill of everyone. ”

“ To think that a man born there would have a monument like what I saw made me think of my earlier years. I can yet remember the names of the places in passing to and from the place.
Ayrshire has plenty of rivers, and on the Clyde years afterwards I saw where it began just a little burn. It was pointed out to me while I was in the train travelling from London to Glasgow. But I must keep to the far-away times. Ayrshire is divided into districts, and what always perplexed me was when a neighborhood was called a burgh. ”

“ The most painful experience I ever had on that deck was one Saturday morning. I was sitting in my usual place, when I saw a seaman going up in the rigging. All at once I heard a fearful cry, and I saw him fall into the sea. They shut down the skylight to keep the people from causing confusion. On either side of the ship a lifeboat was lowered in a moment, and before I had time to look round I could see the mates and the men in the boats, and the lifebuoys thrown over. The captain had the ship heaved to. ”

“ All must have courage to submit to their own destiny.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Preparations for going away for the summer were hurried on, and there seemed more visitors than usual. I was pleased at the idea of going to the Island of Arran, which had many attractions for visitors, I longed to see the place, having heard so much about its hills and mountains. Miss Heslip, a young friend of Miss Mouncey's, was with them for the summer. From that day things were pleasing and mirthful. One evening, while I was passing the cake-basket in the drawing-room, I held the cake to a tall and dark gentleman. ”

“ Neither Mrs. Macblean nor myself had anything to do with the drink traffic, for which I was thankful. Before I left Maybole we all went to have something woven by those poor weavers. I chose the colors I would like, and saw them put into the loom. I had that skirt in Adelaide as a reminiscence of that time of mixed feelings. Mrs. Scott also knew the housekeeper at the Earl of Cathcart's, on the banks of the Doon. I thought I would try any of the places rather than go to Slamannan, or stop at Maybole after Mr. and Mrs. Scott had gone. I did not seem to fear the people. ”