Page 149 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

‘I hope so, my dear.’
‘Papa!’
‘Yes.’
‘Will Danny wear his yellow jacket in Heaven, or go as a
free man?’
Frere burst into a roar at this.
‘You’re an impertinent fellow, sir!’ cried Sylvia, her bright
eyes flashing. ‘How dare you laugh at me? If I was papa, I’d
give you half an hour at the triangles. Oh, you impertinent
man!’ and, crimson with rage, the spoilt little beauty ran
out of the room. Vickers looked grave, but Frere was con-
strained to get up to laugh at his ease.
‘Good! ‘Pon honour, that’s good! The little vixen!—Half
an hour at the triangles! Ha-ha! ha, ha, ha!’
‘She is a strange child,’ said Vickers, ‘and talks strangely
for her age; but you mustn’t mind her. She is neither girl
nor woman, you see; and her education has been neglected.
Moreover, this gloomy place and its associations—what can
you expect from a child bred in a convict settlement?’
‘My dear sir,’ says the other, ‘she’s delightful! Her inno-
cence of the world is amazing!’
‘She must have three or four years at a good finishing
school at Sydney. Please God, I will give them to her when
we go back—or send her to England if I can. She is a good-
hearted girl, but she wants polishing sadly, I’m afraid.’
Just then someone came up the garden path and saluted.
‘What is it, Troke?’
‘Prisoner given himself up, sir.’
‘Which of them?’

1 For the Term of His Natural Life