"When things to outward view are smooth, 'Tis wisest to disturb them not.
Restrain the eye of youth
When things to outward view are smooth;
For should ye seek to learn the truth
Much evil may by chance be .
When things to outward view are smooth,
'Tis wisest to disturb them not."
 
 
When he entered the room Archie looked very pleased, and a trifle excited, which happy demeanour was noticed at once by Mrs. Belswin.
 
"Good news?" she asked, as he greeted her, and walked over to Kaituna with the eager step of an expectant lover.
 
"Very good news," he replied , "the best of news. Toby is going out to Australia to look after your fortune, Kaituna."
 
"My fortune," echoed Kaituna, faintly, raising her eyes to his bright face. "I'm afraid my fortune is a myth."
 
"Not at all! Not at all!" replied Maxwell, kissing her pale cheek. "Your fortune at present is not in the clouds, but in the earth; and when The Pole Star Company find that rich they are now looking for, you will be a female Crœsus."
 
"I hope so, for your sake."
 
"I hope so, for both your sakes," said Mrs. Belswin, bluntly; "and then there will be no more talk of breaking off the engagement."
 
"What, our engagement?" cried Maxwell, in an astonished tone, looking from the one to the other. "Why, what do you mean?"
 
"Ask Donna Quixota there, my dear Mr. Maxwell. She has been talking the high-flown nonsense which the heroine uses on the stage when she appeals to the gallery. She knows you love her for herself alone, and that I cannot live without her; yet she talks about leaving us both on some absurd of honour."
 
"My dear Kaituna, you are surely not in earnest," said Archie, smoothing the girl's dark hair. "Mrs. Belswin is jesting, I suppose?"
 
"No! she is repeating my words in a slightly different way."
 
"But, Kaituna?"
 
"Now you are going to begin a discussion," said Mrs. Belswin, good-humouredly, "so I will leave you for a time. But first, Mr. Maxwell, tell me about your friend. You say he is going out to Melbourne?"
 
"Yes! I got a letter from him to-day. Miss Valpy and his father are both agreeable, and he starts by one of the Orient line in a fortnight."
 
"But the money?" said Mrs. Belswin, in some dismay, thinking of her straightened means. "What about the money?"
 
"Oh, that is all right," answered Maxwell in a satisfied tone. " has tempered the financial wind to the Clendon lamb. He is going to write a series of articles on Australian cities for The Weekly , so the editor of that paper pays his expenses."
 
"Oh!" said Mrs. Belswin, with a sigh of relief, turning towards the door, "I'm so glad. It's a good for the silver mine. I hope he'll come back as prosperous as he leaves. Now I'm going away for a few minutes, so I'll leave you, Mr. Maxwell, to convince Kaituna that things will turn out better than she expects."
 
When Mrs. Belswin vanished, Archie took Kaituna by the chin, and turned her face towards his own.
 
"You wicked young woman," he said, laughing; "how can you speak, even in jest, about leaving me?"
 
Kaituna rose to her feet, and walked and forwards several times in deep thought. Then she paused before Archie, and looked at him with her clear, honest eyes.
 
"Archie," she said, at length, "believe me, I did not speak without reason. While my father was alive there was a chance of our marrying, for I would have persuaded him to consent some time, and Mrs. Belswin would have helped me. But he is dead, and I have not a penny in the world. How then can I marry you, who have nothing but your profession to depend upon, and that profession one which means constant travelling? If you married me you would have to leave me, for we should not be rich enough to travel together. You would find me a drag upon you. Enough for one is not enough for two. I love you! You know I love you! And it is for that very reason that I want to break off our engagement, and not be a burden to you in the future."
 
Maxwell laughed, as she ended this long speech, and seizing her hands drew her towards him.
 
"What a capital lawyer you would make," he said, with an indulgent smile; "but let us look on the other side of the question. Say that these shares turn out to be worth a lot of money, will you expect me to give you up?"
 
"No, no! Oh, no!"
 
"Ah! you see then that the case is the same with me. You love me for myself. I love you for yourself. It is no question of money between us. With you as my wife, I would work hard. I shall only be too proud to work for you. We shall not be rich; but we should be happy. No, my dearest, I should indeed be unworthy of your love did I look at the future from your point of view. I love you! You are mine; and rich or poor, we will always be together."
 
"But----"
 
"But me no buts," said Maxwell, in a tone, putting his arm round her neck. "You know what I say is right. You love me, do you not?"
 
"Yes."
 
"And you will never leave me?"
 
Kaituna kissed him, with tears in her eyes.
 
"No; I will never leave you."
 
Archie pressed her to his heart with a cry of joy, and at this moment Mrs. Belswin entered.
 
"Well, young people?"
 
"I have explained away all objections," said Maxwell, as Kaituna withdrew her arms from his neck, "and we are going to marry on nothing a year."
 
"Meanwhile," said Mrs. Belswin, satirically.
 
"Meanwhile," echoed Maxwell, rising, "I am going to speak to you for a few minutes, and then take Kaituna for a walk in the Park. You'll take on a lonely ba............