Well, it was a blessing at this juncture that business could be left to him.

Hempel was as straight as a die; was a real treasure--or would have been, were it not for his eternal little bark of a cough.

This was proof against all remedies, and the heck-heck of it at night was quite enough to spoil a light sleeper's rest.

In building the new shed, Mahony had been careful to choose a corner far from the house.
Marriages were still uncommon enough on Ballarat to make him an object of considerable curiosity.

People took to dropping in of an evening--old Ocock; the postmaster; a fellow storekeeper, ex-steward to the Duke of Newcastle--to comment on his alterations and improvements.
And over a pipe and a glass of sherry, he had to put up with a good deal of banter about his approaching "change of state." Still, it was kindly meant.