very night Kate Crawford occupied a room in
the small but cleanly cottage of the Kherwins.
They were very respectable people, the
Kherwins; and Mrs. Macquarie arranged that
Kate was to board with them. I don't know
whether Kherwin and his wife were
recompensed by a payment of money, or a grant of
land, but I am quite satisfied that they lost
nothing by the attentions they showed to
their unhappy charge.

"Whenever the Major and myself went to
Paramatta, we never failed to pay Kate a
visit, and have a long chat with her. On one
occasion she told us that she had received a
reply to a letter she had written to a friend
in England. Her old lover, George Bowman,
she said, had, shortly after her conviction,
become insane, and was a hopeless
lunatic in an asylum. Her father had
married a young damsel, and had by her an
infant son. John Pack, when he recovered,
and came to know of the cruel course of
conduct his father had pursued, quarrelled with
the old man, flogged him in his passion, and
then married Peggy, and became a farmer
on his own account. Squire Pack, too, had
married a young maiden, and had made up
his quarrel with Squire Crawford.

"Kate was only three years a prisoner of
the Crown, or (to speak in the coarser phrase)
a convict. General Macquarie, one morning,
accompanied by Mrs. Macquarie, all the chief
officials, and their wives, journeyed from
Sydney to Paramatta. The cortège drew up
opposite to the chief constable's cottage.
The General and Mrs. Macquarie were the
only persons who alighted. After a brief
absence they returned, bringing with them
poor Kate Crawford, whom the General
handed into his carriage, and then ordered
the postilion to go to Government House.
(There is a Government House in
Paramatta.) There, in the presence of all
assembled, the dear old General presented
Kate with the King's pardon, and at the
same time handed to her a piece of parchment,
sealed with the seal of the colony, and
bearing the General's own signature. It was
the title-deed of a grant of land, of two
thousand acres, within forty miles of Sydney,
and situated in one of the best and most
alluvial districts. This ceremony over, the
old General led her to the dining-room,
where luncheon was ready. The poor girl—
she was then only twenty-three— was
evidently much overcome by her feelings; but
she struggled hard to subdue them, and
succeeded."

"And what became of her?" I asked.

"You shall hear," said the old lady.
"While she was under the protection of the
chief constable, Kate was not idle. She
assisted Mrs. Kherwin in all matters
connected with the household. The cows, the
pigs, the poultry, &c., had each and all some
share of her attention. And she kept the
accounts— for the Kherwins sold the product
of the animals which they reared. In short,
although she did not cease to be what the
vulgar call ' a fine lady,' she made herself a
woman of business, and a shrewd one too,—
not that she ever took an advantage of those
with whom she dealt.

"Now free to do what she pleased, and with
a grant of land in her possession, Kate
resolved upon remaining in the colony, and
devoting herself to farming and the rearing
of cattle. Both the General and Mrs.
Macquarie were so fond of her, that any favour
she asked was at once accorded. She applied
for fifteen convicts; they were assigned to
her. She then engaged a very respectable
overseer— a man of firmness and integrity.
She borrowed three hundred pounds,
wherewith to commence operations, and build a
house. At the end of two years she paid off
this debt, and had a considerable balance in
hand. The wheat and the Indian maize
grown upon her farm always brought the
highest prices in the market, and she was
equally fortunate with her live stock. Many
offers of marriage were made to her, year
after year, by persons in eligible positions
and circumstances; but Mrs. Crawford, as
she now called herself, had determined on
remaining single. She had built for herself
a vehicle called a sulky, a gig which had a
seat for the accommodation of one person
only, and in this she used to drive to Sydney
once in every year. Upon all these occasions
she was a guest at Government House. In
eighteen hundred and twenty-three, she was
the owner of twelve thousand pounds in
money, which was invested on mortgage of
landed property in the town of Sydney; and
in eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, when
I last saw her, and laughingly said, ' You
must be frightfully rich by this time, Kitty,'
she replied, ' Well, if I were to die now,
there would be about one hundred and
twenty thousand pounds to be divided
amongst those who are mentioned in my will.
Your boys are down for a few pounds— not
that I fancy they will ever want them.'"

"Is she still alive?" I asked.

"Yes," replied the old lady, " and likely
to live for the next twenty years; for
although she had many days of sorrow, she
never had one of sickness, to my knowledge."

[Since the history of Mrs. Crawford was
related to me, she has departed this life.
The gentleman who gave me this information
lived many years in Australia. On asking
him what she died possessed of, he answered:
"The value of her estate, real and personal,
was as nearly as possible half a million
sterling."]