CHAPTER XVIII.

Additions to the Farm-Winter and Ice-An Unlucky FamilyHow the Floods Rise.

DURING the time Tom and his father had been away from home the men had worked diligently. The garden was in beautiful order, and two more fields fenced in, and ready for anything.

The lambs had grown into fine sheep, and the pigeons doubled their number, by hatching two young ones each. The tame rabbits had got out, and run wild over the hill, where they might be seen in the evening hopping about in great numbers.

The hens were in great force, and had two broods of young chickens; while the old gander stalked about in solitary grandeur, both his wives being engaged in keeping their eggs warm. The turkey-cock was shut up in a coop, lest he should attack Aps, with whom he had a fight the very day the young turkeys came out of their shells, and growing very wicked, Mrs. Graham decided upon imprisoning him until he got more amiable.

The animals brought home by Captain Graham were a cow and a bull, twenty sheep, a couple of pigs, and two deer. Besides this, he brought a box of books, and a very large Noah's-ark for Aps. There was something

coming, he said; a large thing he could not carry, so left it at Lyttelton, to be sent for.

Tom had very little peace between this and the mysterious arrival, Lucy, Beatrice, and even Bridget being continually on the alert to find out what it was that required the waggon and both men; but Tom had promised his Papa not to let out the secret, so said nothing, except "You shall see; have patience."

At last the waggon returned, and on it a high box. Both girls rushed to meet it directly it was in sight, and both at the same time, knowing the shape of the box, exclaimed, "A piano-a piano!" Then leaving the waggon to its fate, rushed in to tell Tom they had found it out.

A piano in the plains is not a very usual thing; but Captain Graham knew how much his wife liked music, and thought it assisted to refine and soften human nature, so meeting with a gentleman who had brought one out as a speculation, he purchased it, and took it home as a present to his wife.

The evenings now were enlivened by music and singing; and so great was the delight with which it was heard by the settlers, that many of them thought nothing of riding twenty or thirty miles to hear Mrs. Graham play and sing.

Lucy and Beatrice had both hated practising in England, but it was quite a different thing here. They were eager to practise; and every minute they were not busy with other things, were anxious to get to the piano.

Lucy had a sweet voice, and soon learnt to sing very nicely; but her playing was dreadful. She never could

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strike the right notes somehow, and was always in such a hurry to play a thing quickly, that she forgot she must practise it slowly first, and that you must learn to stand on your legs before you can run races.

Beatrice, however, was different. She could not sing so sweetly as her sister, but she played more correctly, and was more patient, being content to practise quietly over and over again, until she overcame one difficulty after another, and could play a piece straight through after the first trial.

Letters from George had reached them by the last mail, telling of his passing his "little go," and hinting that he might come out and finish his studies at the Auckland College, and that he only waited an answer.

This, however, his father objected to very strongly, and wrote by the returning mail to tell George, and, if possible, stop him. Still, he left it much to his own judgment, as both Captain and Mrs. Graham thought that their children ought to be encouraged to judge for themselves while they were young, and had still their parents as a home and refuge, in case their plans did not succeed. If all parents acted upon this kind and wise plan, there would be fewer ill-advised speculations and rash enterprises. It is better for a boy to learn wisdom while he has his father and mother to advise and direct him, than to wait until one or perhaps both are gone, and then trusting to his own powers, embark in the voyage of life.

Winter now drew on, and fires began to be welcome in the evening; for although the morning and mid-day were as warm as ever, the evenings often set in cold and wet.

The hills looked whiter too, and had evidently received

a fresh coat of snow, although as yet, the first really winter month, neither frost nor snow had been noticed on the plains. One morning, however, the men going out to the forest discovered a thin coating of ice on the rain which had gathered in a cart track, and that night a slight fall of snow took place, though none of it lay above a few minutes, and was gone long before morning. Heavy rain fell nearly every day, and the river continued rising until it overflowed its banks, and nearly reached the garden fence. In fact, the boat was brought into the garden for safety; and all that could be seen of the island, on which the Christmas Day wreck had taken place, was the bending and struggling tops of the bushes, writhing and twisting as the fierce stream rushed past them. The boat-house kept its ground for a long time, and Tom began to have some hopes of its standing; but a large tree struck it, just as Tom was telling Lucy what he thought; it tottered, bent, the roof fell, and then over it all went, and disappeared under the foam and spray. Tom was very sorry, and nearly cried. He had taken great pains in the building of his boat-house, and had lately been engaged carving the door posts and lining the roof with the mosses which grow so luxuriantly in the forest.

The river kept rising for three days, and on the fourth the rain and wind were so severe, that the foam was blown against the dining-room windows, causing no small alarm, and exciting a fear in Captain Graham's mind, that they had not built the house on a high enough situation. Starting up from the dinner table, he ran out, followed by Tom, and saw the water had actually risen inside the garden, and was curling its dirty yellow frothing foam

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round a pretty plant of pinks. Just then a loud shout from the road drew their attention, and looking round, to their surprise, they saw a waggon load of furniture, beds, etc., and a little crowd of people, crowding up pale and wet.

It turned out to be one of their neighbours, who had settled further up the river, and built his house upon a point of land, having a merry little rivulet on one side, and the beautiful river upon the other. When the flood began they thought very little of it, and went to bed as usual; but, in the middle of the night, they were roused by a clatter in the kitchen, as if all the crockery, pots and pans, had been thrown down. The husband ran down, and found the water up to the fireplace, the pans and dishcovers floating about upon the water.

There was no time to be lost, so, while his wife was putting some clothes upon the children, and the man getting the bullocks and waggon harnessed, he managed to collect a load of furniture, bedding, blankets, etc., and, when they left the house, the water was nearly as high as the front door; but, though rising rapidly, luckily the stream did not touch it, so there was a faint hope, that if the foundations stood the sapping of the wet, the house might escape with a thorough soaking.

Never were any people in a more miserable plight, than the unfortunate family whose arrival I have just told you of. The children had been wrapped in shawls, etc.; but, like all very young children, had a great objection to be fastened up, so had kicked and pulled the shawls off, and sat with their little white nightgowns only on, with chattering teeth, and wondering why they were so cold,-their

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