The door opened, and the hearty voice of Major H. was heard by the listener.  “These are your apartments, Mr. Sedgwick,” he said, “and I trust you will find them pleasant.”

Then the other occupant said:  “But I do not care for any such rich rooms as these; any little corner will suffice for me.”

“Oh no,” said the Major.  “Try these quarters for a day or two, and if by that time you wish to exchange them for others, we will see to it.  We try to please our Australian friends, for we hope for more and more of them throughout all the years to come.”

With that he closed the door.

“Australia!” Grace heard her husband say.  “I’m no Australian; I’m a full-blooded African, a regular Boer or Kaffir, and no mistake.  But, bless my soul, this is a fairy spot!  A way-up place, surely!  From the depths of Africa and the society of Boers and Kaffirs to an enchanted palace!  This must be the bridal chamber of the establishment.  I believe they have made a mistake and think me the King of the Pearl and Opal Islands.  I wish dear old Jordan could see this.  I wish, O God, I wish my Grace, my queen, could see this, that I might first crown her with flowers, and then fall down and worship her!”

She could bear the tension no longer.  Pushing the doors back quickly, she stood pale, but radiant, for an instant, before the astonished man; then stretching out her divine arms, said, “O, my darling!”

CHAPTER XXI.

Shipping A quartz mill.

That evening Major H. met Sedgwick in the office, and, with a twinkle of the eye, asked him if he was really anxious to take cheaper apartments.

The young man smiled and said he rather thought, as he would probably only remain two or three months, it would not be worthwhile to change.

Next morning Sedgwick ordered a forty-stamp gold quartz mill complete, with two rock-breakers, the batteries to be of five-stamp each and low mortars, with a single pan for cleaning up—­a free gold quartz mill.  Instead of one heavy engine, he ordered two, each of forty-horse power to work on the same shaft, to be supplied by six thirty-horse-power boilers to be set in two batteries.  He ordered also one six-inch and one four-inch steam pump, with the necessary boilers, and besides, a donkey hoisting engine, good for an eight-hundred hoist.  The order included all the needed attachments, belting, retorts, duplicates of all parts subject to breakage or wear, a forge, and shoes and dies enough to last two years.

He stipulated, too, that the wood-work of the battery should be gotten out, exactly framed and marked, and that all the pulleys, bolts, etc., should be included.

In two days the specifications were gotten ready, and the contract signed, which included a clause that the whole should be ready in sixty days, or less, from that date.