As soon as he was able, Alan sent one magnificent diamond and half a dozen emeralds to Messrs. Frimpton, Long and Beauchamp and received in return banknotes to the value of five thousand pounds. The boys had also chosen some diamonds for Mavis, and had had them set into an engagement ring for the woman Desmond loved. Already they were well enough to leave the hospital, but as Walla Balla was only a very small mining township, there was no accommodation for visitors, so the cousins remained at the hospital as paying guests. One day, late in July, a very pretty wedding took place. The bride was dressed in her nurse’s uniform and the bridegroom and best man were arrayed in unconventional white duck. The ceremony was performed by the local clergyman, and there was a big spread afterwards at the hospital, to which everybody in the township had been invited. Alan felt rather sad as he stood waiting on the platform for the train to come in that would carry off the happy pair to their honeymoon. No woman had ever entered his life. His great ideal was a dream still; and he wondered if the time had passed for her ever to materialize. “You’ll arrange for everything, won’t you?” said Desmond. “Rather. Now don’t worry. The boat leaves Sydney at noon on the seventh of next month—eleven days from now. It’s the Clan Ronald. I’ll book your berths and await you there.” “Good-bye.” “Good-bye.” Their farewells were said, and Alan was left alone. He stayed a few days longer at Walla Balla among the friends he had made, and then travelled by easy stages to Sydney. The country was very beautiful but he longed to get home. He longed to see the smoky chimneys of London, the bustling streets, to hear again the noisy traffic, and at last to enjoy the truly rural beauty of the English lanes and woods. He longed to see his uncle. Was he still alive? he wondered. He was afraid to cable; he was afraid to write. Suddenly an idea came into his head and he wondered why he had not thought of it before. He would write to his uncle’s confidential clerk and friend—Masters. He could trust him to break the news gently. “HOTEL MAJESTIC, “SYDNEY. “DEAR MASTERS (_he wrote_)