Oor ain folk times

260 WILLIE
The station doctor was weary and worn with incessant
service, and Jack one evening insisted on the doctor
resting while he took his rounds for him through the
bazaars. To this his medical friend would not agree ;
but they went out together to minister to the poor
stricken people in the crowded, tainted city. Possibly
poor Jack was sickening for the disease even then.
Very likely the long hot season had predisposed him
to catch the contagion. He was never one to spare
himself, and having been a powerful athlete in his
student days, he may have imagined himself stronger
than he really was. At all events he fell a victim
to the dreaded scourge, and in a few hours a fresh
mound in the English cemetery alone marked the
spot of his final earthly rest. Such tragedies are
common in India. Ah me ! how well I remember
the tall, manly, athletic form ; the kindly brown
eye and ready smile ; the strong, nervous hand-grip,
and the womanly tenderness and loving care, when
I lay a helpless cripple in the cosy, home-like bungalow
which owned Jack as master. A sweet -faced, low-
voiced widow, with a gentle, wistful -eyed daughter,
just budding into winsome womanhood, also remember
dear Jack, and look forward to the meeting by and by.
Willie, the next, lies in a lonely grave by the-
great Australian inland river. He had taken an
honourable position on the London Stock Exchange,
but his health breaking down, he came out to
Australia. After entering the service of one of the
leading banks there, he accepted the position of branch
manager in the far back, pastoral, riverside town of
Wilcannis. Here he was joined by his goodhearted,