'You will see by the heading of my letter where I live. I am not a patient, but I was so restless and anxious until I heard of your safety that I took a situation as nurse in the Melbourne Hospital. There has been a good deal of sickness--fever, rheumatism, and so on--since the gold, and we are all kept hard at work night and day. I was always fond of helping sick people, and the work suits me exactly. So now you know where to find me. Address--"Nurse Hester Lawless, Fever Ward." 'I know, of course, that though Omeo is an out-of-the-way place, you stand a chance of being arrested at any time. So, for _my_ sake, if you value my feelings, be as careful as you can. Don't make friends unless you are certain about them. You have _paid dearly for that_, haven't you? My cousin Kate married Trevenna soon after the trial. They are somewhere about Monaro, and not likely to come across you, thank goodness. He doesn't treat her well, they say, so I can fancy what their life is. _It serves her right!_ You mustn't think me cruel, but I never shall forgive her as long as I live. I heard that Ned had got out of gaol, but am not sure whether it is true. Poor Ned! he was not all bad. I hope he may clear out to another colony, and keep straight for the future. 'I have been rambling on, but must now say good-bye. Good-bye, too, in earnest. I shall not write again unless I hear anything, and want to send you warning. You know my heart--I need not say that if you only tell me to "come" I will follow you to the end of the world. I do not advise you to do it--the other way, indeed--but L---- T---- must judge for himself; though he might easily win a grander wife, but he will never never find a more loving and devoted mate than poor 'TESSIE.' 'A truer woman never breathed!' Lance ejaculated, as he read this letter in the lonely hut. 'But for her I should still be in those beastly hulks--perhaps chucked overboard some morning, with a round shot for a steadier! What in the world shall I do? What can I write to her? If she comes up here it will be sure to make people talk. They always try to find out more about a digger that's married than single, and if they find out too much, that infernal Dayrell, or some other ambitious trooper, will have the office given him, and _both_ of us made miserable for life. No! she's the dearest little girl in the world, and I may as well make up my mind to tour California or South Sea Islands with her for a wife, as she says. England must be for me a foreign land henceforth, and Estelle--poor Estelle--a beautiful dream! England's no country for a man with a stain on his honour.'