Subsequently, I did meet Lady Franklin, who had
much character, allied to womanly gentleness. Everybody admired her
laving persistence to unravel the fate which had overtaken her husband in
the Arctic regions.'
It was almost a discovery to Sir George, with his wide knowledge of
Australasia, that he had never set foot in Tasmania. He passed it
variously, on board ship, yet had not been ashore. How was that? 'Maybe,'
he replied, 'because all my life I made it a rule, not to let anything
turn me aside from what I had immediately in hand. If you set out for a
place, with some definite object in view, your road should be the most
direct one. Don't branch off, because there is something elsewhere which
might gratify your curiosity.'
Sir George disciplined the hours, holding himself accountable for them to
his fellow-men and to the Great Accountant.
VIII PICTURES IN BLACK AND WHITE
There had been a reception in London, by Gladstone, following the usual
dinners which ministers of the Queen give in honour of her birthday.
To Sir George Grey, who was in the splendid crowd, came the wife of an
eminent member of the Government, carrying to an old friend a woman's
eager news of her own dinner. 'Oh,' she whispered in that still small
voice which rises a clarion note above a general buzz, 'oh, everything
went off admirably, and Bob's delighted.
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