s were instructed by the
second lady-teacher. Martha grew thin and ill-tempered. On several
occasions she was very impertinent to Miss Blake. In church, or when
singing after evening prayers, she hardly ever took her eyes from
Samuel. This was, of course, remarked by the other girls, but a
chaffing allusion to the fact was met by such a burst of fury, that the
experiment was not repeated.

Samuel hardly ever spoke to Miss Blake; in fact he appeared to avoid
her. His usual taciturnity was unchanged, but it did not convey the
idea of moroseness. His general demeanour was as that of one in a
dream, but in Miss Blake's presence he became alert, with almost an
expectant look; and he gave, generally, the idea of being under the
influence of strong, but suppressed excitement.

Miss Blake was very fond of flowers, and on the hills around the
mission, watsonias, purple orchids, and other flowers grew; whilst on
the edges of the kloofs, sweet-scented clematis trailed. Samuel got
into the habit of gathering flowers--generally on Saturday afternoons,
when he was free from duty. After one of his rambles, a bouquet would
generally be sent to each of the teachers and to Mrs. Schultz, but it
was noticed that the choicest selection always reached the senior
teacher.

The Reverend Robley Wilson, a young Wesleyan minister who had been
ordained three years previously, became a more or less constant visitor
at the mission. He was in charge of a station about thirty miles
distant. A tall, spare man, with dark eyes and hair, he had the
reputation of being extremely shrewd. Belonging to the more modern
school, the fundamental axiom did not weigh heavily upon him; in fact
it was hardly a burthen at all, but rather a cloak that could be donned
or doffed as occasion demanded.

Mr. Wilson's attentions to the senior teacher became somewhat marked.
Strange to say, this fact appeared to be quite unnoticed by Samuel, who
still pursued his course of feverish study, and became more and more
abstracted in his manner. The unhappy man was consumed by a passionate
love. It was for Miss Blake that he was striving to qualify as a
minister; it was of her that he thought all day and dreamt all night.
Into his wild and elemental nature, in which hereditary savagery was
simply covered by a thin veneer of civilisation, this strong love for a
woman of an alien race had struck its roots deep down, and absorbed all
into itself. But instead of the savage element