--She, silly
goose that she was! who had once believed Jinny to be the picked object
of his attentions.
But she grew serious again: could he tell her, please, why Mr. Smith
wrote so seldom to Tilly? Poor Tilly was unhappy at his long silences--
fretted over them in bed at night.
Mahony made excuses for Purdy, urging his unsettled mode of life. But it
pleased him to see that Polly took sides with her friend, and loyally
espoused her cause.
No, there had not been a single jarring note in all their intercourse;
each moment had made the dear girl dearer to him. Now, worse luck, forty
odd miles were between them again.
It had been agreed that he should call at her brother's private house,
towards five o'clock in the afternoon. He had thus to kill time for the
better part of the next day. His first visit was to a jeweller's in
Great Collins Street. Here, he pushed aside a tray of showy diamonds--a
successful digger was covering the fat, red hands of his bride with them
--and chose a slender, discreetly chased setting, containing three small
stones. No matter what household duties fell to Polly's share, this
little ring would not be out of place on her finger.
From there he went to the last address Purdy had given him; only to find
that the boy had again disappeared. Before parting from Purdy, the time
before, he had lent him half the purchase-money for a horse and dray,
thus enabling him to carry out an old scheme of plying for hire at the
city wharf.
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